Sea Shepherd enlists fast ship to outrun Japanese whaling fleet

Many things don't make financial sense in Japan, until you realise there is a budget - care of the taxpayer - that has to be used up. No government department - especially part of the Ministry of Agriculture - wants to lose that budget. This is practically all that impels this activity (and many others). So, my guess is that doing nothing probably would not lead to cessation. Though foreign opposition can be used profitably as justification by being spun as "attacks on our culture".

Whales are sentient beings with feelings, memories and a language. The time has come to stop hunting them in such barbaric fashion please Japan.

You might not like Sea Shepherds aggressive tactics, but these people are not thugs or 'eco-terrorists' - they just want to help end the hunting of wild animals. It's 2016, surely we have progressed beyond hunting down and killing wild animals. Japan has more than enough fish and meat, leave the whales alone.

Fast ship? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Outrun Imperial trawlers. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you old man.

Give them hell SS!

AFP should be thrown out of Japan. oh ok lets throw out any organisation that doesnt look favourable to the Japanese political ideals, hold on thats sound more like a communist / dictatorship. I forgot is Japan a democracy or not!?

I wish more people would actually read the March 31st, 2014 ruling by the International Court of Justice. They never quoted an International Law and if you search the document the terms "illegal" and "poaching" don't appear in it.

Here are some quotes that some people might find rather interesting :

"Based on the information before it, the Court thus finds that the JARPA II activities involving the lethal sampling of whales can broadly be characterized as “scientific research”. There is no need therefore, in the context of this case, to examine generally the concept of “scientific research”." - Paragraph 127

"The Court notes that the Parties agree that non-lethal methods are not a feasible means to examine internal organs and stomach contents. The Court therefore considers that the evidence shows that, at least for some of the data sought by JARPA II researchers, non-lethal methods are not feasible." - Paragraph 133

"The Court sees no need to order the additional remedy requested by Australia, which would require Japan to refrain from authorizing or implementing any special permit whaling which is not for purposes of scientific research within the meaning of Article VIII. That obligation already applies to all States parties. It is to be expected that Japan will take account of the reasoning and conclusions contained in this Judgment as it evaluates the possibility of granting any future permits under Article VIII, paragraph 1, of the Convention." _ Paragraph 24

Built with financial support from the Dutch, British and Swedish lotteries, Ocean Warrior could make a real difference, Sea Shepherd said.

Once again, piss-poor reporting by AFP. Ocean Warrior was not funded by any of the listed national lotteries, it was private lotteries which provided the funds.

Tokyo was forced to call off the 2014-15 hunt after the International Court of Justice ruled its annual Antarctic foray was commercial, masquerading as science.

This ruling still stands, but Japan chooses to ignore it. Shouldn't they be held in contempt for ignoring it? They did state the restructured their whale hunt by reducing the number of whales hunted by around 15%, which means bugger all because they have not been able to fill their quota for many years due to the actions of SS.

Violence must be the answer?>

Of course, you don't consider harpooning large mammals to be violent do you?

Fast ship? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. Outrun Imperial trawlers. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you old man.

Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements.

nfijapanAug. 31, 2016 - 10:55AM JST AFP should be thrown out of Japan. oh ok lets throw out any organisation that doesnt look favourable to the Japanese >political ideals,

That's not what I said, try reading it first. Nothing wrong with having an agenda. But repeatedly publishing articles specifically leaving out facts to deliberately misinform the reader and guide public response isn't exactly anyone's idea of "journalism", Has NOTHING

Built with financial support from the Dutch, British and Swedish lotteries, Ocean Warrior could make a real difference, Sea Shepherd said. just shows that SS can get its funding from many different sources other that the US and the whalers have a long long way to go if they think they can kill this monster theyve created, bring on the pain SS LMFAO

the Australian goverment needs to step out and stop these environment terrorists before they cause more harm

Whales are sentient beings with feelings, memories and a language.

So are pigs and cows.

Strangerland, that wouldn't work.

Seeing as it hasn't been done/tried you cannot say that.

Just sink the the pirate boat, there's more than one boat, lets see if Japan has the nads to kill people to have their ideals realised. SS has killed nobody during its time in the southern oceans, but the whalers have killed 3 of their own in the last 9 years, all of their own incompetence

It is amazing to me how many supposedly rational people would express support for an quasi-terrorist organization like Sea Shepherd. No doubt there are all kinds of people in the world who know nothing of any issues and are bent on destruction or the desire to go to any lengths to impose their own particular views on everybody else. We only have to look at ISIS or other terrorist organizations, who believe they are "doing the right thing." Organizations like Sea Shepherd are no different, they have an ideology they wish to impose on others. When it comes to the Australian government I doubt if they have any particular concern for whales, their motivation comes from a deep-rooted racism and some kind of sense of 'moral superiority' and the desire of some politicians to support any issue they think will win them some votes. Very odd that we never hear a peep from Australia (or New Zealand) about the overfishing in Southern Oceans by China, or the catching of 'endangered species' by Chinese fishermen.

Whaling has been going on in many cultures for centuries. The ignorance shown by many about whaling is mind-boggling - until you realize that many people are ruled strictly by emotion, or prejudice, or racism. Certainly not by rationality or logic. Brainwashing works, make some animated movie about some cute whale and suddenly all kinds of people are lovers of whales. When large numbers of people (or governments) place more value on animals than on people, or when thy express support for criminals rather than law-abiding people, support and encourage criminality, then there is no hope.

sf2kAug. 31, 2016 - 11:48PM JST A Realist Pretending the waters off Antarctica are now where "Whaling has been going on for centuries" is a lie.

Whaling in Antarctic waters has a long history. And the nations that decimated the stocks there did not include Japan. Australia only closed it's last whaling station in 1977.

"Antarctic whaling began on a large scale in 1904 with the building of a whale processing station at Grytviken, South Georgia."

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/whales/whaling1.php

"Whaling has been going on for hundreds of years, but it wasn’t until about 100 years ago that the first whaling station was established in Antarctica. At first, whaling there took a few hundreds of whales a year. But within a decade, advances in shipbuilding and the invention of the harpoon cannon drove the death toll into the thousands. By the mid 1920s, the arrival of British and Norwegian factory ships pushed the slaughter still higher."

http://www.bluevoice.org/news_whalesantarctica.php

Two facts which you are ignoring are; (1) those Antarctic waters are NOT Australian waters. (s) Japan's Scientific Whaling with a goal to lift the moratorium on commercial whaling for certain abundant species is in keeping with the spirit of the IWC Charter; to manage whale numbers so that they can be harvested sustainably.

I agree with Strangerland on his point about ignoring the issue. Although I would not put it in those words.

Sea Shepard is an offshoot of Greenpeace. They parted ways on the tactics of halting commercial whaling (and a clash of personalities).

Greenpeace favored an approach of education and negotiation. If this course had been followed it would have allowed the Japanese to quietly step away from (expensive, unecessary) whaling.

SS went for the direct confrontation method. Japan is still stubornly whaling.

Not 100% sure that Greenpeace approach would have worked.

But we have not progressed very far in almost 20 years of the SS way.

That is NOT true. SOME of the crew are volunteers, but a number of them ARE paid very nice salaries for their work. paid or not many of them put their lives on the line for a just cause. SS crew are in far more danger than the whalers, yet the 3 deaths in the southern oceans have all been at the hands of the incompetent whalers

How many commentators here have ever eaten whale? Pig, Horse, Cow, Shark, Pheasant etc. This is sll so culturally biased.

sf2kAug. 31, 2016 - 11:48PM JST

A Realist

Pretending the waters off Antarctica are now where "Whaling has been going on for centuries" is a lie. Maybe just eat the whales around Japan? And if they're all gone, then congratulate the culture I guess."

Do you know anything at all about the history of whaling? Once it was a big industry in many countries and whaling ships went all over the world, including the waters off Antarctica, to hunt whales. Most of those countries did not even eat whale meat, the purpose of hunting whales was whale oil. In some countries and cultures whale meat was part of the diet and still is. Island nations that have a small land base have always depended on the sea for part of their food, and some cultures have hunted and eaten whales for centuries. The waters around Antarctica are NOT Australian waters. they are INTERNATIONAL WATERS - do you understand that? No country has the right to impose some kind of "whale sanctuary" in international waters any more than I have.

Most species of whales are NOT endangered, certainly not the species hunted by the Japanese whaling fleet and they take a very limited number. I presume you are one of those brainwashed people who knows very little about the issues or whaling or whales at all and have somehow elevated whales to the status of 'noble animals' or even some kind of superior beings as many of your ilk seem to have done. Have you ever seen an Orca (killer whale) kill seals or sea lions just for the fun of it? And why do you misguided whale lovers not express the same animosity toward Iceland and Norway, countries that hunt more whales than Japan?

"You might not like Sea Shepherds aggressive tactics, but these people are not thugs or 'eco-terrorists' - they just want to help end the hunting of wild animals"

Aggressive? How about dishonest? I just can't get the image out of my head of the Sea Shepherd guy lying about being shot on that documentary. He just grinned and lied about it. He does not care what he does or how far he has to go to distort reality as long as it saves a whale or two.

That kind of "the end justifies ANY means" logic will never get my support. It has been used for waaaay too much evil in this world. The tactics are used by Stormfront, the Branch Davidians, The Westwhatever Baptist Church, ISIS. It taints any movement that embraces it. Kicking him out of Greenpeace was the best thing they ever did.

There are many great reasons not to kill whales. But I am not going to oppose it just because the SS tells me to.

The "Ocean Warrior"? How about calling it the "Can't Get a Real Job". And "Operation Annoying". why would they want to get a real job since all the SS staff are volunteers giving their time for free, yes they should change the operation to "Recalcirtrant Pride" or "Taxpayer Blackhole" or "Ocean Slaughter" take your pick

Igloobuyer, right on.

and refrain from granting any further permits.

Yes, and anyone can selectively quote to prove just about anything. But when you read the FULL ruling you find that they were ordered not to grant any further permits under the JARPA II research plan, NOT any further permits ever. In fact the ruling went on to give them guidance in writing a new plan that would be in compliance. The people that continue to claim Japan is violating the ICJ ruling are either sadly misinformed or are intentionally lying.

A Realist

Pretending the waters off Antarctica are now where "Whaling has been going on for centuries" is a lie. Maybe just eat the whales around Japan? And if they're all gone, then congratulate the culture I guess

Louis AmselSEP. 01, 2016 - 04:19AM JST the Australian goverment needs to step out and stop these environment terrorists before they cause more harm

Australia have already tried to stoop Japanese whaling but they just keep saying it's their right to hunt whales just like the eco-terrorists they really are.

since all the SS staff are volunteers giving their time for free

That is NOT true. SOME of the crew are volunteers, but a number of them ARE paid very nice salaries for their work.

"Tokyo was forced to call off the 2014-15 hunt after the International Court of Justice ruled its annual Antarctic foray was commercial, masquerading as science.

But the hunt resumed in late 2015, with the fleet returning to Japan in March this year after having killed more than 300 whales"

AFP at it again, deliberately leaving out the fact that the ICJ ruled that the JARPA II program did not meet the critera to be scientific whaling. And that Japan complied with the ruling, stopped JARPA II, made revisions as recommended by the ICJ and commenced JARPA III. This type of clearly BIASED journalism is what leaves the uneducated to believe that Japan is not complying with the ICJ ruling. AFP should be thrown out of Japan.

OssanAmerica

Japan lost its court case with the ICJ in March of 2014 making all previous statements irrelevant.

"""On March 31, 2014 the ICJ ruled that "Japan must revoke any extant authorization, permit or licence to kill, take or treat whales" in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and refrain from granting any further permits.[135] Following that ruling, Japan proposed to launch a "reviewed" research hunt. In response, the IWC voted and concluded on 18 September 2014 that "Japan should abide by an International Court of Justice ruling", but Japanese officials have vowed to continue whale hunting in the Antarctic in 2015."""

It'll never end. Japan can't follow laws so will continue frankly until they're stopped.

Nothing you said has anything to do with the narrative of the point I was making

It's 2016, surely we have progressed beyond hunting down and killing wild animals.

Why would that be the case? What's wrong with it?

Antarctic waters are NOT Australian territory, they are international waters and Australia has no right to impose any "whale sanctuary" there any more they have a right to make any other international waters some kind of "sanctuary." If someone one to uses violence to try to impose their beliefs on others then they are no more than terrorists and should expect violence in return. The founder of Sea Shepherd, one Paul Watson, stated the lives of whales were "more valuable than human's," that is the kind of ideology those morons have.

This ruling still stands, but Japan chooses to ignore it.

No they didn't, they implemented all the requirements that the ruling imposed upon them.

such slanted and biased reporting by afp.

“Disappointed by the lack of action from the international community, Sea Shepherd Global is preparing to return to the Southern Ocean to protect the whales with a new patrol vessel, the Ocean Warrior,” it said in a statement.

the international community acts through the norms and rules created to settle disagreements between couintries. the international community doesn't act arbitrarily and in a terrorist manner to settle disputes.

Why not spend your time helping australians and leave the rest of the world alone.

the International Court of Justice ruled its annual Antarctic foray was commercial, masquerading as science.

Where does this nonsense come from? I checked the ruling the other day and that wasn't what the ruling said

I'm thinking the best way to stop the whalers would be to ignore them. By pushing them, they have turned it into an emotional issue, where the whalers are doing it out of a sense of pride in 'we aren't going to let you bully us'. But it doesn't make financial sense, so if they just ignored them, I think there would be a good chance they'd stop on their own, rather than wasting money.

Disappointed by the lack of action from the international community, Sea Shepherd Global is preparing to return to the Southern Ocean to protect the whales with a new patrol vessel, the Ocean Garbage Scow. It looks as if the eco-terrorists SS intend to continue their violent actions. I'm sure there will be dozens of people who will, once again, advocate for the violence of the eco-terrorist SS. Violence must be the answer?

Wasn't the eco-terrorist SS garbage scow Ady Gil faster than the whaler's vessels? Unfortunately, the eco-terrorist's managed to sink their own toy boat.

The "Ocean Warrior"? How about calling it the "Can't Get a Real Job". And "Operation Annoying".