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Anti-whaling boat sinks off Antarctica

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What a joke, arguments regarding whaling aside, only a fool would believe that a sunken boat would not have some form of environmental impact on such a pristine environment.

Indeed, irrespective of their actions, Sea Shepherd should be held to account for venturing into the Great Southern Ocean in such a flimsy craft which was obviously not up to the rigors of the voyage. Sure, it was the Japanese whalers that did them in, but it could have just as easily been an ice flow or some other natural occurrence.

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Some sunken boats have a positive effect on marine environment! Look back to old ships being sunk to create artifical reefs for aquatic life to live in.

Hope that is the case here. Hope they have managed to remove everything that could contaminate the water

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RIP Ady Gil.

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Sayonara Andy Gil!

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Looks like Bethune finally found a way to settle all those debts he picked up building his boat - providing the insurance company pays, that is.

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Bye Ady Gil, bring new one in !

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hahaha.. awesome!!

Whaling ships: 1

Terrorists: 0

Scotch at 02:13 PM JST - 8th January Some sunken boats have a positive effect on marine environment! Hope they have managed to remove everything that could contaminate the water.

Except for the small factor that the boat is made from chemical compound resins which hold the composite hull together. Other than that, the debris should sink to the bottom.

What they SHOULD be worried about.. (if they actually care) is the ropes and cables they let drift across in front of the whaling ships trying to disable their props.

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The only reason the Japanese hunt whales is because they don't want people telling them they cant. Whaling should have been the first thing to be stopped in a recession. Unnecessary government spending. I am sure it costs a hell of a lot more than it profits.

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Why did they let it sink and say it was all stuffed? I'm no expert, but surely it's possible for a professional to glue the front back on. My bet is they just wanted to make a statement and use this event to further incriminate the Japanese.

I'm against whaling, but these guys can be complete lunatics (just because they're against whaling, doesn't mean I support all their actions!)

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First clean up the mess in the sea,Seashepherds (name sounds very biblical)and then worry about other's business. Oh by the way, Seashepherds should have a proper leagl status to do what they are doing. I really hope their voluntary work does not involve getting easy visas.

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... surely it's possible to glue the front back on.

What you say about making a statement might be true, but it's also very difficult to save a ship once it's taken on too much water, and if the engine is flooded, it's pretty much a lost cause - sometimes it's cheaper just to replace the whole boat.

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Sirgamble...really you're not an expert? Actually we mended the hull of an A-Class catamaran once by essentially 'gluing' it back together... or a high-tech version of. The problem is that the stresses involved require the kind of intrinsic strength found in single-molded sides, hulls, etc. Also weight becomes a factor when repairing them. But, yeah, you could glue it back together for puttering around the bay...

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Question: Can someone tell me why the SS guys needed to buy such an expensive boat? Surely any fast, manouverable boat would have done? Why did they get a really expensive space age one?

My guess is because they are immature little ****s that wanted to play Batman and look good on their TV show, but I am interested to hear if there is an actual reason for the purchase of such an advanced boat for a protest mission.

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sirgamble,

cluing aside for a moment, what makes you think the front of the boat wasnt on its way to the depths.......

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dbung10 -

They didn't buy it. Peter Bethune, the owner and skipper of Earthrace (Ady Gil's former name) allowed it to be used in this operation by SS, but he was always at the helm.

It's well known that he took on a lot of debt with the Earthrace - both in the construction and circumnavigation attempts. Just speculation on my part, but this really looks like a high profile insurance job to me - given the structural problems they encountered in '07 and '08, I've been scratching my head over how they thought it could withstand a few months bombing around the Southern Ocean...

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Good!

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did u see the size of the Ady compared to the whaling boat? you mean to tell me that the whaling boat out manouevered the high tech lightweight Ady and rammed it??? no way could this tank of a whaling boat have the capability to stalk the small boat and ram it.

those sailors on the Ady are serious a holes. why dont they find something more productive to do

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Thanks Hokkaidoguy. Although Im a bit sad that I have one less reason to think these guys are real jerks though...

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Can you say, "INSURANCE SCAM"???

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bdong,

Question: Can someone tell me why the SS guys needed to buy such an expensive boat? Surely any fast, manouverable boat would have done? Why did they get a really expensive space age one?

They didn't buy the boat. The owner of the boat decided to join them. Sorry but your guess is totally wrong.

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those sailors on the Ady are serious a holes. why dont they find something more productive to do

I'm sure they can find better things to do with their lives than freeze their butts on the antarctic.

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The only reason the Japanese hunt whales is because they don't want people telling them they cant.

This is very true. Japanese are proud people and don't want to be told. Has anyone tried asking very nicely? We love these animals. Can you be so kind not to kill them please??

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If any of you saw the video, you can clearly see the AG giving it the gas at the last second that put them in front of the whaler. I guess they thought no one would be filming. Sea Shepherds have really become extremists by placing animal life above human life...

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I guess they thought no one would be filming.

They know both sides are filming, constantly.

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That is a good news to hear about it. SS should have called their Navy rescue operation as soon as possible. $2 million thing is all gone now in vain.

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$2 million thing is all gone now in vain.

That is remaining to be seen. I'm still hoping this is carefuly planned and will get J-hunters in some trouble. They did not slow down, neither answered the stress calls. This is pure criminal action.

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Damien15

If you're such a seasoned sailor, care to explain to us what in hell is a 'stress call'?

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I think these anti-whaling protesters need to chill out and find a new issue to worry about. Whales are beautiful, intelligent animals and all that but there are thousands of injustices done to human beings all over the world. I'm all for protecting endangered species but these fanatics have really gone too far.

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Hey, before saying criminal action, SS is considered "terrorists" organization on the black list by FBI. They all are "wanted" by INTERPOL because they have been breaking the international law. SS guys are very welcome to Japan's nice prison for years.

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Two things are abundantly clear to me after watching the video footage shot by the crew of the Shonan Maru No. 2 that is available to see on youTube...

Immediately prior to the collision the AG goes from NOT being under power ( as can easily be determined by seeing that no wake or prop-wash is being generated by the AG ) to being under what would appear to be FULL FORWARD power ( as evidence by the sudden and substantial prop-wash generated by the AG )

If you wait till the VERY end of the video you can easily see that the Shonan Maru's Prop-wash trail clearly shows that it was Traveling in a Port-ward direction AWAY from the AG ( as evidence by the wash that trails away from the SM to it's rear port side ) In other words the SM was turning to the left to avoid the AG

Regardless of anything else these two facts - in of themselves - are enough for anyone to be able to determine the cause of the collision...

Insurance Claim & Propaganda Fodder is my guess...

Cheers,

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I'm all for protecting endangered species but these fanatics have really gone too far.

I wish there were better ways to deal with the whalers too. Seasheperd is only doing what they are doing, because they can't think of other ways to stop them killing whales. If you have better ideas, I'm sure they'd love to know. Where does love to the animals/whales stop and fanatism starts? How much is too much for the love we have for these animals? hard questions indeed.

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So now it's the Ady Gilugulgulugulug.

I'm totally against the Japanese whalers, but these guys are little more than attention whores.

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Quick request to people who cannot spell 'shepherd'. Lots of them on this site. An easy was to remember it is think of herding sheep. A herd of sheep. Shep the sheepdog. Now put shep- and -herd together and Bingo!

Sea+shepherd think of themselves as herders of the sea, protecting their flock from wolves.

The boat was floating happily for the longest time. After towing it for 37 km it sank, full of water. I suggest that either deliberately or out of carelessness, the Bob Barker pulled her full of water and caused her to sink.

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@Fredster, thanks for the analysis and I 100% agree.

Quick request to people who cannot spell 'shepherd'. Lots of them on this site. An easy was to remember it is think of herding sheep. A herd of sheep. Shep the sheepdog. Now put shep- and -herd together and Bingo!

Or shorten it to Sea Shepherd to SS, which I know they would absolutely hate, which is why I do it.

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Wonder if Ady Gils 2 million would buy a whaling captain.

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Im not 'pro whaling', but I am very much against the SS guys and am glad that their boat sunk (I am also glad they were not hurt in the incident).

You dont have to be 'pro whaling' to see these losers for what they really are - attention whores.

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MINKES ARE NOT ENDANGERED! That's all there is too it.

Now if you insist on accusing them of killing endangered animals, then change your argument to "WE WANT THEM TO STOP KILLING ENDANGERED WHALES, BUT TO KILL MINKES IS OK".

This is the only argument that can be accepted with any validity whatsoever. Go ahead, I dare you to be rational.

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Seasheperd is only doing what they are doing, because they can't think of other ways to stop them killing whales

And who authorised them to take care of the whale population. I repeat, I am against all kinds of killing and there are many fighting to stop this. Nothing actually stops the killing. Not only of the animals, but also the human beings.

Before casting stones at Japan, look at what is going on in your country. Seashepherds must first stop the wrongdoings in their country and then come out to stop whaling and other killings in the rest of the world. What would have been the plight if someone had been killed or injured from either side in this stupid drama of theirs? In short, SS should find something worthwhile to do.

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As I've stated on these debates many times I couldn't give a toss either way re the Whale Hunters vs the Whale Protectors. No axes to grind.

BUT.......after watching ALL the videos available on the collision, there is no doubt as to the intent of the Maru - veer right and hit the AG.

Whether the AG should have been there and their own personal pursuits and whether the Maru has rights are beyond the pertinent point in this case.

DID or DID NOT the Maru intentionally steer into the AG?

Cute whales & Tradition aside - the Maru rammed the AG. I couldn't give a stuff, BUT that's what happened.

LOOK at ALL the evidence.

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womanforwoman - You are thinking what pro-whalers are doing is wrongdoings but all pro-whalers do not think that way, rather they think right thing to hunt sustainable amount of whales.

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@browny

I also have no axe to grind but from what I can see the AG is to blame. To be honest I dont even care anymore. Hope they all sink.

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There is one think I don't understand. Why did not SS make stronger/bigger boat to protest there? AG seems to be very fragile, very weak, not strong and is made of carbon plastics, not steel. As you see, Antarctic water is very very rough, strongly windy,,, and there are many big/small chunks of icebergs all over there. I though that AG might hit icebergs somewhere while running so fast all over. After all AG hit bigger vessel instead of ice.

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In my opinion the arctic is the last refuge of many species. they are already having a hard time with climate change. we have wild life reserves and parks in every developed country, and in 2nd and 3rd tier worlds.

The arctic and the species that live their should be preserved. If the whales roam into Japanese waters then wail away but the arctic should be preserved.

There are no sanctuaries for ocean life.

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Kwatt - wrong!

Ag did not hit bigger vessel.

Bigger vessel hit Ag.

Right or wrong don't matter - but surely the BIG boat HIT the little boat.

Look and you will see.

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Bobbafett, the whaling is occurring in the southern ocean which is known as the antarctic not the arctic.

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Bobbafett, the whaling is occurring in the southern ocean which is known as the antarctic not the arctic

thanks for the correction

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But after watching Whales Wars I see it this way. Paul Watson is a mini Hitler wanabe who fluked a niche for himself and the Japanese Whalers are just doing their job, sanctioned by their government. I feel more sorry for the Japanese crew than the Whales.

The sea Sheppard crew are a bunch of anti social tossers. Why don't they get a real job! They cannot. At least the Japanese crew has a real job.

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BTW feel sorry for the Antarctic in all of this. I wish for its preservation.

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well said michaelgtodd..... many posting here seem to have no concept of integrity.

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We did the best we could with the situation we were given

Should read " we created ". The intent of the protest vessels is to hamper the whalers and whether the motive is right or wrong still puts every one in harms way. There would surely be no way this would have happened if they were not pursuing the whaler in the first place.

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SS will have to get a bigger boat and return the favour. And WforW, the problem with cleaning up the messes in your own country before protesting what other countries are doing is that there is really no one to protest here in Japan. The Japanese in all their apathy would be content to watch themselves destroy the whole world without even caring that they are doing it. Boiled frog anyone?

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there was actually a good South Park piss take of this whole whale/dolphin hunt thing recently - very funny...

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Ady Gil did not sink as SS said. The ship was abandoned by SS and still floating around in the sea. Oil is leaking and some lethal arrows were found nearby. See the latest news. SS, the terrorist organisation just lies as always.

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The Japanese in all their apathy would be content to watch themselves destroy the whole world without even caring that they are doing it

unfortunately this is close to truth but they have also been happy to destroy their own country for the last 20 years for the same reason.

the haves in Japan decide whaling above the have nots. they will be served social justice in a decade or 2 and I am sure that whaling will be off the financial agenda by the end of the decade by a desperate Japan.

But by then the world will not care. Japan will be long gone and little miss China and gorgeous Sth Korea will be dictating the terms around here.

Japan will be lucky to have a merchant ship in the Ocean after 20 years.

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"SS, the terrorist organisation just lies as always", YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

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I am not taking any sides, but if this was a traffic crash in Japan the larger vehicle would automatically be at fault.

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Once abandoned I would have pulled the boat in (like a dead whale) and brought it back as a "reward" -that would have really pissed S.S. off.

But now the crabs have some fiberglass and carbon-fiber to chew on.

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Bobba:

" sanctioned by their government. "

Does the Japanese government have jurisdiction over the Antarctic?

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Lets see, the boat was made out of carbon composites which is very strong but it is also very brittle. It tends to splinter instead of a clean break. I have some knowledge of carbon composites from aviation. This was NOT a Plastic boat. Seeing the extent of the damage it would of been impossible to keep the boat afloat. There must of been a lot of small leaks that over time was impossible to control. The Ady Gill was a total loss even if it would of been salvaged. Steel also is very brittle in the extreme cold. Remember the extreme conditions in the arctic, things go wrong there much more often. Ah I thought the Ady Gill went into full reverse to avoid the collision. Why not before? Who knows I favor the possibility of engine trouble or better yet they did not anticipate the Trawler turning to make a ramming run.

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I saw Garrett speak on TV! Is he the Midnight Oil guy? It was exciting for me to see him all bald and all. He looked angry, but not as angry as in his videos, so I had a chuckle.

I also am not taking sides, but I feel kind of bobbafettish about it. The video I saw seemed to show the protestor ship try to ram the larger steel vessel from starboard, which is cheesy and which had predictable results. I am glad that someone is protesting, but ... how shall I put this... the world used to hunt jillions of whales. Now it is a few. Someday it will be fewer. Getting people killed just to move things along by a couple of years does not seem too smart. Wrecking their own boat was also not smart.

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This story has no good guy. Both sides make me pretty sick.

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" wish there were better ways to deal with the whalers too. Seasheperd is only doing what they are doing, because they can't think of other ways to stop them killing whales. If you have better ideas, I'm sure they'd love to know"

Greenpeace is already working to diminish domestic demand for whale meat within Japan. They are advancing their anti-whaling agenda in a lawful non-violent manner and they have and continue to condemn SS's actions.

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You all seem to act like its the first event and japanese was the first to hit another ship in this issue NO

The sea sheppered has rammed many ships as this link shows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXQq78lvKrU

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This was a busted self staged ramming. Strange that SS don't understand that more focus will only hurt them.

I love how they pull the victim card. Just floating around having a good time when suddenly...

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For anyone in doubt over who rammed who, here are the last few minutes of the Ady Gil, captured by animal planet... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CofJkRr2IZM

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Japan, government sponsored environmental terrorists, & terrorists on the high seas... By your own description of the words, a terrorist, someone who uses violence to destroy , threaten, or injure another, property or person, to get what they want...

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I really hope that the insurance company(ies) take a good look at the videos and refuse to pay out on the deliberate damaging and sinking of the Ady Gil by her own skipper. Further this guy should have any licenses he has earned revoked immediatly.

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LOL as they were saying, good work there!

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Japan lacks the balls and the people in charge lack the brains to see what their "whaling research" brings for our oceans.

I just contributed $1000 to the campaign of the Shepard!

Please know that the world is watching you Japan!

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For $1000 you could buy one of those inflate-able balls that float and you can walk around inside and christen it the HMS JL-Moral. -Not sure how the whales would like it.

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Next time, bring a real boat.

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"Japan, government sponsored environmental terrorists, & terrorists on the high seas... By your own description of the words, a terrorist, someone who uses violence to destroy , threaten, or injure another, property or person, to get what they want..."

I think the FBI are far more qualified to determine who the terrorists are.

"Since 1977, when disaffected members of the ecological preservation group Greenpeace formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and attacked commercial fishing operations by cutting drift nets, acts of "eco-terrorism" have occurred around the globe. The FBI defines eco-terrorism as the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally-oriented, subnational group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature."

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For anyone in doubt over who rammed who, here are the last few minutes >of the Ady Gil, captured by animal planet...

One side is on a declared mission to hunt whales, which, whether anyone likes it or not is legal. The other side is on a self declared mission to harass them and interfere with their operations, which, by the laws of any civilized nation is illegal. Only an idiot could have any doubt that the Ady Gil should not have been there in the first place. SS got what they asked for, actually a lot less than they deserve.

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YEP!!

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Actually, nobody has observed the boat sink. Sea Shepherd towed it out of sight, where the tow-line mysteriously snaps, and the "Bob Barker" steams away, abandoning the boat. SOMEONE is going to be embarrassed if a ship passes the still-floating hull a couple of days from now (or worse, rams it in the night). Sea Shepherd has quite some gall to declare that the Ady Gil was a navigational hazard for only three hours when they never stuck around to say for sure. But what else would you expect from an outlaw organization?

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JAPANLACKSMORAL: I just contributed $1000 to the campaign of the Shepard!

Woho I just deposit 1 million dollars to the Japanese whaling industry.

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The number of posts, i.e. the interest and publicity generated was more than worth the 2 million, and served their intended purpose. You would easily pay a PR firm that much to get the depth of exposure Paul Watson and company wished for.

Also, with those commenting on why they would choose such a fragile boat - keep in mind that the Earthrace wasn't like some sort of speedboat you might see on your local lake. It was specially designed to endure rough seas and climate, with the ability to submerge for a bit without damage, etc. Not something bought at your local boat shop. And while it looked high tech mainly for the interest of setting a speed record, it wasn't quite as fragile as some seem to incur. For example, I think it had a triple hull design, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I still think SS are jackasses.

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THis whole thing seems just silly. It's like little kids fighting over some dispute at the playground. Move on.

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Whaling ships: 1

Terrorists: 0

Whales: -1,200

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But now the crabs have some fiberglass and carbon-fiber to chew on.

And Spongebob squarepants and his friends will also be very angry with ady gil fools. The Shepards should take a break from all of this. And I like the part about how they prevented the oil spill from the wooden boat. hahahaha

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Seasheperd is only doing what they are doing, because they can't think of other ways to stop them killing whales.

Which should tell you just how unintelligent they are...

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Seasheperd is only doing what they are doing, because they can't think >of other ways to stop them killing whales.

Sea Shepherd are doing what they are doing because they are an eco-terrorist organization with a lunatic at the helm. Here is a list of over 40 anti-whaling organizations who advance their agenda without resorting to criminal terrorist activity.

http://www.whalewatch.org/coalition.htm

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Sea Shepherd are doing what they are doing because they are an eco-terrorist organization with a lunatic at the helm.

Yeah, just like Earth First! or Environment Liberation Front. I wonder how other legitimate environmental organizations see Japanese whaling on Antarctica right now.

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