Australia to monitor Japanese whalers as conflict looms

Hellokitty123 - but surely it was the Japanese who rammed and sank an SS ship then sailed on without picking up the crew. Japan has a bad record of ramming ships it does not like, be they Korean, Chinese or SS.

I have no idea what incident you are talking about. If you're referring to the Ady Gil, it was Watson who ordered the Ady Gil cut adrift from his ship, according to ex-ecoterrorist captain Bethune. It's assumed that the Ady Gil then sunk.

It's the eco-terrorist SS who have an established history of, and bragging about, the 10 (ten) vessels the eco-terrorist SS have sunk.

@HelloKitty123

then sailed on without picking up the crew

Except the SSCS's own video shows the Japanese ship standing by to assist and the SSCS refusing their help.

@HelloKitty123 I recommend you to get familiar with the rules of piloting a ship: if you cut in front of another ship so the other doesn't even have enough time to evade then that's who's fault? That's what the SS (and Chinese fishers) did so far.

as for rescuing: I'm not surprised the whalers don't come to help the SS after having been harassed for hours by them.

@Tokiyo

I think if its actual endangered animals we care about here, we should be focusing our efforts on other animals in more immediate threat of being wiped out. I think people get too worked up on this particular case simply because it has the media in a tizzy.

I agree.

I think if its actual endangered animals we care about here, we should be focusing our efforts on other animals in more immediate threat of being wiped out. I think people get too worked up on this particular case simply because it has the media in a tizzy.

Maybe the jet will make lots of noise and scare the whales away from the area.

A zero 'research' catch this year would be great.

It is amusing that the SS have complained about this. Much harder to hide illegal actions when they have a full view of it.

@wtfjapn

doesnt matter who fishes the tuna if Japan didnt eat so much of it there wouldnt be a tuna shortage

Yes actually it does matter. If those other countries (Australia is one of the major ones) didn't catch the tuna then Japan couldn't buy it. No matter how much Japanese want the tuna if it was available they couldn't have it.

“We will deal with unlawful activity in accordance with relevant international and domestic laws,” the four anti-whaling nations said.

That is a plain lie. There have been clear violations of the law by SSCS, like boarding a vessel at sea. And yet none of those countries have done anything.

Andre Hut - Its important to understand that Sea Shepherd Australia is active in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, not Sea Shepherd USA. Sea Shepherd USA is under a US injunction and cannot participate. Specifically, Captain Paul Watson is not involved this year, being a US citizen and mentioned in the injunction. They have the same goals, but are legally separate non-profit corporations.

Your "Captain Paul Watson" is Canadian and he surrendered his U.S. passport when he fled Germany. He's still legally considered a fugitive from justice.

Watson will again be directing the eco-terrorist SS garbage scows and their crews violent attacks. He's "stepped down" in name only. The U.S. branch of the eco-terrorist SS are still under court order not come within 500yds of the whalers. The U.S. eco-terrorist SS may very well lose their non-profit status because of their repeated acts of violence.

Andre HutDec. 23, 2013 - 04:40PM JST Its important to understand that Sea Shepherd Australia is active in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, not Sea >Shepherd USA. Sea Shepherd USA is under a US injunction and cannot participate. Specifically, Captain Paul >Watson is not involved this year, being a US citizen and mentioned in the injunction. They have the same goals, but >are legally separate non-profit corporations.

This is called Subterfuge and a well known concept among judicial systems and Tax revenue agencies. They are about as totally separate and unconnected as ExxonMobil USA, ExxonMobil Europe and ExxonMobil Japan.

How about these nations warning the sea shepherd lunatics NOT to go there in the first place?

If these nations were truly concerned about preventing violence, then they would have condemned sea shepherd and told them to take a hike.

Obviously they didn't, so they're trying to have it both ways. Give the appearance of showing 'concern' about potential violence, yet do not outright criticize sea shepherd for going there in the first place.

Losers all.

Nostromo hut the nail on the head. It's all a diversion for tuna.

Hellokitty123Dec. 23, 2013 - 02:25PM JST "@ CGB Spender "The SS are a bunch of ruthless terrorists who don't shy away from jeopardizing the life of adversaries",

but surely it was the Japanese who rammed and sank an SS ship then sailed on without picking up the crew. Japan >has a bad record of ramming ships it does not like, be they Korean, Chinese or SS.

Nice pile of erroneous information (aka lies) spewed by SSCS. The Ady Gil was "not rammed" by a Whaling ship as investigations conducted by both the Australian and New Zealand coast guard equivalents reached no such conclusion. Peter Bethune himself admitted that he was instructed by Watson to scuttle (that means sink) the Ady Gil afterwards. Please post substantiating evidence of Japanese ships "ramming" Korean or Chines ships. In the video of the 2010 Chinese trawler incident the Chinese boat can be seen chasing and ramming the JCG vessels from behind, TWICE.

Stewie

A bit hypocritical for an american telling others its none of there business, the good ol USA doesnt have a very good track record there, if fact their econmy revolves around sticking their noses into other countries affairs.

Classic ad hominem. So I'm an American, and my country is rather active on the global stage and considered intrusive by some/many. So what? What does that have to do with this case, and more importantly, how does that affect the validity of my comment? As I stated, the fact is Japanese whalers are conducting their research whaling in international waters far away from any Australian jurisdiction so the Australian government has no business in what transpires between the Japanese whalers and Sea Shepherd. The Australians have every right to send a government aircraft to "monitor" the two sides, but there's absolutely no point to it because they don't have the legal authority to do anything whatsoever about what they "monitor" out there. And this...

“The purpose of the Customs mission will be to record the incidents on the high seas. It will be to ensure there is a presence to make sure that there is no conflict between the parties,” Hunt said.

As if all events aren't already being recorded thoroughly by the Japan Coast Guard, ICR, and Sea Shepherd, and filmed in HD by the Animal Planet. And what does "make sure that there is no conflict" really mean? It's meaningless talk. A commercial airliner with fancy cameras flying overhead isn't going to have any effect on either side's vessels and what they do on the surface.

@ USNinJapan2. A bit hypocritical for an american telling others its none of there business, the good ol USA doesnt have a very good track record there, if fact their econmy revolves around sticking their noses into other countries affairs.

Its important to understand that Sea Shepherd Australia is active in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, not Sea Shepherd USA. Sea Shepherd USA is under a US injunction and cannot participate. Specifically, Captain Paul Watson is not involved this year, being a US citizen and mentioned in the injunction. They have the same goals, but are legally separate non-profit corporations.

Butt out Australia. The whaling is not being conducted in territory that belongs to you (12NM) or under your control (EEZ). It's. None. Of. Your. Business.

The truth is, the election promise to send customs ships down to monitor the whaling was a red herring. Those activities occur in territory that, whilst Australia claims is theirs, few other countries recognise as such, so boarding and arresting a Japanese ship on the high seas would create quite the international incident.

And whilst the Australian case against Japanese Whaling is still in the International Court, they don't need that.

@ CGB Spender "The SS are a bunch of ruthless terrorists who don't shy away from jeopardizing the life of adversaries", but surely it was the Japanese who rammed and sank an SS ship then sailed on without picking up the crew. Japan has a bad record of ramming ships it does not like, be they Korean, Chinese or SS.

@Nessie where do you think 80% of the worlds tuna ends up!!?? on Japanese dinner plates. doesnt matter who fishes the tuna if Japan didnt eat so much of it there wouldnt be a tuna shortage. bit like blaming the Arabs for peak oil....

Ossan +1! The SS are a bunch of ruthless terrorists who don't shy away from jeopardizing the life of adversaries just for the sake of their own publicity. They are clearly deranged and need to be arrested!

Australia is already the most expensive place in the world to live - I bet fellow Aussies are happy to see their taxpayer dollars being put the work with daily flights running for THREE MONTHS. C'mon!

Japan continues to empty the seas of tuna

Remind me again why the Mediterranean tuna is under threat of extinction. Must be all those Japanese tuna boats in the Mediterranean.

arrestpaul

eco-terrorist SS violence.

Love it. You aren't prone to sensationalising things, are you.

Tamarama - I agree, this is a meaningless token gesture.

It highlights why what the SS do is so much more direct and effective.

I'll suggest that someone in the Australian government's effort will leak the whalers locations to the eco-terrorist SS in order to promote more eco-terrorist SS violence.

"“The purpose of the Customs mission will be to record the incidents on the high seas. It will be to ensure there is a presence to make sure that there is no conflict between the parties,” Hunt said."

Good. The aggressive actions of Sea Shepherd vessels against the Research Whalers will be recorded. The question is will the Customs vessel attempt to stop Sea Shepherd from approaching the whales? Or just watch as they carry out acts of violence?

“The flexibility and the range of the A319 allows it to operate across a large area at great speed and therefore it can identify any breaches,” he said.

“So this is an important asset… it gives us the ability to cover not just one point in the fleet but a variety of points within the whaling fleet.”

This sounds like Australia has changed it's mind about overflights of the eco-terrorists SS activities. A few years ago, a few Aussies were whining about the Japanese using a plane to monitor the eco-terrorist SS activity.

The eco-terrorist SS is still required by the U.S. court to stay 500 feet away from the whalers.

I think they need to repaint the ship removing the whales face since it turns ss more agressive.

I agree, this is a meaningless token gesture.

It highlights why what the SS do is so much more direct and effective.

This means nothing, its a ploy from Abbott to make it look like he is doing something, when he broke his 12 promise to the Australian people "saying he would send ships out there". Now its plans are are going to report what?? Rubbish and waist of tax payers money.

Something needs to be done here, they need to stop selling whale burgers in takeaway chains like the west does with beef burgers.

You cant just take away there culture, but not selling whale burgers as takeaway food is a 100% must do. If there going to sell it, it should only be once every month or 3 times a year "in fast food chains". Restaurants should sell it, but at a hi cost.

At least this way everyone that is not rich can buy it mutable times a year. If you want it bad, you can get it but its not the price of takeaway food.

That is the best thing i can think of, to stop mass kicking of whales, why letting them eat whale within reason.

The Japanese whalers need to be very careful with their navigation and stay out of the Oz EEC and keep their distance from Macquarie island.

yes, the eyes of the world are on the whaling circus... meanwhile, Japan continues to empty the seas of tuna .....