Japanese whaling fleet vessel Yushin Maru No. 3 sprays water cannons at Sea Shepherd activists in a dinghy boat during their clashes in the Southern Ocean on Friday in this photo released by Sea Shepherd on Sunday.
© Japan TodayBattle at sea
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paulinusa
David vs. Goliath
jam_sandwich
Imperial Forces vs Rebel Alliance (Japanese sailors look Storm Trooper-esqu)
Zenny11
Guys, I told you.
Forget the Water cannon, flatter the SS guys by using Glass-Bottles with Butyric Acid.
paulinusa
Check out the blood?/paint? on the bow.
Fredster
*If we're going to split hairs about Butyric Acid JUST being rotten butter then we will have to concede that those water pistols they are shooting are far from CANNONS...
I've had more dangerous showers...
NuckinFutz
Japanese tax money hard at work (waste)?
davidattokyo
Dealing to eco-terrorists is always worth it, and always will be worth it. Governments should never give in to eco-terrorism.
DentShop
The blood sprayed all over the boat name is very symbolic!
m5c32
You know, I never had anything against whales. I think they are marvelous animals. It's the people of the SS and their antics and tactics who make me wish all whales would become extinct. They make me want to hate whales.
WilliB
Ah, Japanese marine biology scientists at work in the field! Can someone remind me where the research results are published?
delrennich
Yes, look at where our taxes go...to killing whales. Just horrible.
Tamarama
The fine tools of cetacean research on display. What a service they provide for the international community....
Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land
I could think of plenty of better things to shoot at the SS wackos than a water hose. How about some less-than-lethal methods like rubber bullets? Or maybe just catapult loads of fish heads/guts/whale offal, etc...into their little dinghy. That would be a lot more interesting.
SolidariTea
"The fine tools of cetacean research on display"
Agreed. the Sea Sheperd eco-terrorists are a bunch of tools.
Disillusioned
Have a look on you-tube for the 'whale safe beer commercial'. You will see the full whale restaurant experience.
WilliB
SolidariTea:
But they don´t claim to be doing scientific research, do they?
Potsu
What a waste of money.
jinjapan
they should change the water they are shooting to sea shepard seeking missiles . just blow the little buggers out of the water & be done with it .
bicultural
Disagree, cause then there'd be nothing to argue about on JT! Besides, the stories of the battles between these 2 keep me entertained.
Laguna
Wouldn't call that a dinghy; that's a Zodiac. Bit of a difference, nuance-wise.
MrDog
Who are you? Chuck Norris?
Institute of Cetacean Research homepage. If you bother to look at anything other than what the fat "captain" says you can.
WilliB
Mr Dog:
LOL! Yeah, take a look.
theFu
Neither if these "sides" are in the right.
There are cultural reasons for whaling. I can respect that. There are animal-lover reasons to dislike whaling. I can respect that too.
The eco-terrorism of the SS team is wrong, but not nearly as wrong as claiming that taking 900+ whales annually is "research." Call it what it is - culturally based hunting - and stop using modern techniques to do it 8,000+ km from home.
irishosaru
From the ICR homepage:
This characterization is part of the anti-whaling rhetoric. In fact, the purpose of Japan's research is science ? science that will ensure that when commercial whaling is resumed it will be sustainable.Lol at this - they've already decided the outcome - that commercial whaling will resume because it is sustainable - without the research. I'd consider the ICR research on whales about as objective as William Morris research on the dangers of smoking.
irishosaru
Sorry, the above quote is messed up for some reason. The quote from the ICR page ends with the words 'will be sustainable'.
eigokun
Rotten butter is weak. Just for the fun of it, SS needs to get some torpedo's and blow those whaling ships into smithereens.
USNinJapan2
irishosaru
Who's William Morris?
Shrkb8
Go Sea Shepherd! Stop the poaching under the guise of "research". The IWC and it's Scientific Committee have denounced this lethal "research". Another harpoon vessel taken out of the hunt is a good thing.
Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land
Every one of the SS nutters should be arrested and taken back to Japan to stand trial.
WilliB
shrkb8:
That is my point too. If they want have a debate about whaling, let them do that. But to go whaling under the lame excuse of "research", that is just insulting.
eigokun
Just an ordinary work day for both. SS bothers whaling ships to receive paychecks from conservation groups, and whalers hunt whales to get paid by the fishery agency. It's six of one, half a dozen of the other.
MrDog
You asked where the research could be read, and I told you. I have no idea what is so funny.
Rotten butter is maybe weak, Butric acid certainly isn't. And if anyone should be torpedoed, it should be the attention-whoring terrorists.
It isn't "poaching", and if you have a problem with research whaling, would you rather have Japan leave the IWC and start commercial whaling without limits?
There is nothing to debate about whaling. Who said anyone wants to debate about whaling. Japan are doing their whaling legally, so no need for debate there, and the SS want a complete stop to whaling, so they won't debate.
davidattokyo
theFu,
... But it is research. They are doing long-term population studies to facilitate modeling of population dynamics so as to enable us to optimally utilise these resources in future.
They could lie and say that they aren't doing research, but what would be the point of that? Just to placate the ignorant people who don't understand what they are actually doing?
davidattokyo
irishosaru,
You read it wrong. It says that the research will ensure whaling is sustainable when it is resumed.
And if it is going to be sustainable then there is no reason why it shouldn't be resumed.
People arguing against the research are arguing against sustainable whaling - therefore they are arguing for unsustainable whaling? Doesn't make sense.
arrestpaul
That's a nice picture of the eco-terrorist SS finally finding the ship that has been following them. Oh, look, they're right behind us.
irishosaru
@davidattokyo
And that's my point. They've already decided that hunting will resume. So, therefore, the results of the research will show that it is sustainable to do so.
Why use an 'if' when a 'when' will do, eh?
Shrkb8
Tokyo Dave,
The poachers lie now by saying it is not whaling. They should say they are whaling (poaching) and they happen to gather data on their poached whales.
MrDog
@Shrkb8
Show some evidence to prove your statement that the Japanese are "poaching". Not just your broken record SS baseless garbage.
The Japanese are whaling within the limits of the law.
I hope they stop research whaling, leave the IWC and go on full out commercial whaling, with no catch limits. I also hope the Faroese come along to back them up too. Then the SS will find another group of people to annoy. Isn't it strange how as soon as they get the crap kicked out of them they move on? They must really care about what they do.
arrestpaul
That's exactly what happened when the Canadian Coast Guard seized the eco-terrorist scow Farley Mowat and Canadians ran Watson out of town and cut his ship loose from it's birth. Watson doesn't mind letting his "volunteers" risk their lives but he turns tail and runs when it his butt on the line.
He would never try to violently bully the U.S., G.B., Russia or China because they would sink his rust buckets and arrest the survivors. The Japanese are too polite. The Japanese whalers have a right to defend themselves from attack by inept pirates. The SS has NO legal authority to attack anyone.