David @ Tokyo

South Park always was my favourite TV show...

I've never seen an episode of Whale Wars but South Park's makers have made Paul Watson's reality TV show the butt of the joke in episode 11 of South Park's 13th season. You can watch the episode online here at South Park Studios.

Warning: if you aren't familiar with South Park and are easily offended, best not to watch! Paul Watson fans also will not be impressed, as the big bellied vegan gets heavily scorned.

Labels: Humour, Sea Shepherd, South Park

Well, I've been a busy busy of late - who isn't in December? But I did have time to snap off some screenshots of an FNN (Fuji News Network) online news article with accompanying video in early December, which came up when Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah spent a couple of days on a Sea Shepherd cruise down the east coast of Australia (A Sankei newspaper journalist subsequently noted on his blog his surprise at the speed at which Hannah departed the crusade).

Unlike Greenpeace, who have been expending great efforts trying to gain sympathy for the arrest of the "Tokyo Two" (more aptly, the "Two Tokyo Thieves") following their committing acts of trespass and theft in pursuit of their anti-whaling propaganda agenda, the Sea Shepherd organization has actually been getting some media coverage here in Japan.

Not that it's been particularly good for them.

The FNN video gave some air time to Hannah's airhead nonsense about whale "assassinations" and so forth. Paul Watson himself gets a few words in at one point when staff member Taro Kimura is shown in a phone conversation with him:

As seen in the subtitle of the video, Kimura is saying to Watson: "You injured Japanese crew members".

Watson's response, shown in the image below is "No we didn't".

Kimura continues: "No, you did".

And that was it for Watson. Perhaps he'd get more airtime if he stopped telling porkies.

Young announcer Koji Oana continues the report with some comment from the Japanese side. Oana was apparently born in Nagano (an inland part of Japan) in 1982, the year the commercial moratorium was agreed to, and being of a young age and coming from a non-coastal part of Japan is unlikely to have had much chance to eat whale meat during his time on earth.

His report covers the negative impact on whale consumers from Sea Shepherd's obstruction - prices have gone up 6% and the Kyodo Senpaku antenna shop, Yushin, is likely to close in 2010 as a result of the obstruction.

A part of the caption in video reads "whale terrorism: the aim...".

Oana heads of to the Hatsumomiji restaurant in Shinjuku to find out more about whale meat:

And so here is a whale dish, says young Oana.

Can we get a closer look at that, please?

It was a couple of weeks ago that I watched the video, but I think this is the "kanako" part of the whale. It's meat from the lower jaw of the whale, and this cut is one of those that fetches a high price.

No doubt Oana was putting this one on FNN's bill. But it's not just for looking at. Oana tries it out:
That's right, dip it in some soy sauce...

As the video cuts away to show more close up shots of the meat, Oana comments that the whale is "delicious".

With respect to both Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd, it's hard to see how their actions are likely or even designed to bring about a change in the sustainable use policy of the government here. On the contrary their actions do often appear to be working against their purported aims.

Labels: Japanese media perspective, Koji Oana, Sea Shepherd, whale gourmet

Y/H-san kindly wrote with information about a magazine report here in Japan. I will reproduce his comment here (less the Japanese characters from the original comment):

David-san & all,

SAPIO, a magazine of Japan,widely reported the violence of SSCS as special report.

The outline of SAPIO is here.

The title is "The Japanese research vessels attacked by the eco-terrorism of the radical NGO ."

The summary of the article is as follows.

1. The dangerous behaviors of SS.
2. The difficulty of the arrest of the insane group.
3. The relation of SS and GP.
4. The discussion at the government to cope with the crazy group.
5. The worry about the big accident(including human death)at high sea in the near future.

(edited)

My view is as follows.

The terrorism of SS should be widely known with many voices criticizing the insane group. Our government should let more people know the fact and put the stronger pressure to the Japan Marine Police to give direct punch to the crazy group. At least, some of the Japanese Marine Police members should attend at the next research of this year.

Sadly to say, the cooperation of New Zealand was not enough but they did some assistance to Japan.
We should appreciate for it.

On the other hand, regarding Australia, their behavior were unbelievable. They should have let the crazy group get out immediately in order not to be regarded as the terrorist supporting nation, not only by Japan but also many countries over the world. They should know better since IWC knows it.

David-san, sorry, I took wide space for this comments.

Y/H(Japan)

Thanks for the info Y/H-san, your information is more than welcome. I will also look to pick up a copy of SAPIO.

Labels: Sea Shepherd

The Japan Whaling Association recently updated their page of Japanese news articles.

There were a few interesting ones in relation to the obstruction / piracy that the JARPA fleet has been subjected to in the last couple of years.

This story covers a meeting of an alliance of Liberal Democratic Party parliament members backing whaling held on the 17th of May.

... a resolution was adopted relating to obstruction of JARPA.
The resolution contained two items, in light of the dangerous and malicious obstruction of anti-whaling groups, which ought to be called criminal acts, conducted towards the JARPA research fleet:
1) By various methods such as making strong requests to each related country through diplomatic channels, suppress the sailing of vessels belonging to groups such as Sea Shepherd that undertake obstructive activities
2) In the case that it is not possible to see this realized effectively, defend the research fleet by other means such as dispatching a vessel from an organization with jurisdiction within the area of ocean under survey
...

A subsequent news item covered the group's meeting again on June 13, where they received a report from the government on the IWC 59 meeting. This article is mainly about the Japan's re-evaluating it's approach to the IWC, but at the very end of the article:

... Additionally, regarding the state of affairs with Sea Shepherd's obstruction activity towards research whaling, it was explained that Japan will proceed by cooperating with Australian officials on the matter. There were calls for much more progress to be made.

It was a few days later that Sea Shepherd was reported to have been granted the "flag" of an Indian reserve in Canada.

For their part, Sea Shepherd have finally reported this news on their own homepage (here). Says their news release:

The presentation of the Mohawk flags for the Robert Hunter and the Farley Mowat is an historical event. Never before has there been deep-sea, foreign-going ships flying under the colors of the Mohawk nation or any other indigenous American sovereign nation.

I'm no legal expert, and no offence to these indigenous peoples, but I don't think international law will recognise them as a "sovereign nation", nor their flag as valid. It's not the first time Sea Shepherd have made it up to suit themselves as they go along though, so no surprise there.

The flying of the Mohawk colors will open up some controversial legal issues involving indigenous rights that Sea Shepherd is quite happy to champion.

That is one side show that I probably won't be covering here, unless it somehow remains relevant.

Labels: Sea Shepherd

Having been stripped of it's ship registrations in Canada, Belize, the UK, and presumably the Netherlands as well (don't know why it took them so long), Sea Shepherd have now reportedly resorted to a group of sympathizers in the "Mohawk community of Kahnawake" for legitimacy.

Kahnawake is apparently an "Indian reserve" located in Quebec, Canada.

The Farley Mowat and the Robert Hunter ... will now sail under a Mohawk flag registered with the Mohawk Traditional Council, one of Kahnawake's three longhouses. Paul Watson, a Canadian cofounder of Greenpeace, and now captain of the Farley Mowat, was presented with the papers for the two vessels, currently moored in Australia and the Galapagos Islands.

The caption from the article reads: "Paul Watson, founder of Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is given a 5 Nations Confederacy flag by Longhouse members to use in his efforts to try to stop Japan from over fishing."

So apparently killing whales is "over fishing"

However, there was no consensus in Kahnawake over the community's foray into international whaling waters.

Two of three Mohawk longhouses were absent from the ceremony, reflecting political divisions within the community over this move.

Watson's latest self-promotion stunt appears to an attempt to play the Canadian federal government (and perhaps Australian port authorities) off against the "First Nations".

"There's all this talk that they are a sovereign people," said Watson. "We'll see."

Watson has previously described the recognised state of Tuvalu as a "rinky dink" "nation of whores".

There have now been two IWC resolutions calling for states to take actions "as appropriate to prevent and suppress actions that risk human life and property at sea" with regards to Sea Shepherd in particular. It seems that the Netherlands has now acted accordingly, but the response from Australia remains to be seen.

Labels: Sea Shepherd

In their last ditch at media-glory, Paul Watson and his band of rogues have attacked two of the ICR's vessels - the Nisshin Maru (mother ship) on Friday, and more recently the Kaiko Maru - a dedicated sighting survey vessel.

Sea Shepherd's actions have been condemned across the board:

USA IWC Commissioner (and new Chair) Bill Hogarth:

“I’m disappointed Sea Shepherd took an action that risked lives,” said U.S. IWC Commissioner, Bill Hogarth. “We passed a resolution last year to discourage this type of rogue activity. The United States is extremely concerned that encounters like this could escalate into more violent interactions between the vessels. We still oppose Japan’s research whale hunts, but the way to resolve this is through the IWC process. These dangerous confrontations in the Southern Ocean must stop before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.”

“The safety of vessels and life at sea is the highest priority for the United States and the nations that respect the rule of law on the high seas,” said Hogarth. “I ask all parties to respect the Commission’s wishes and immediately refrain from any acts that risk human life or safety at sea.”

NZ Conservation Minister Chris Carter:

``What they are doing is putting their lives at risk and ... I feel, compromising a very strong conservation message because I think most fair-minded people would see it as extreme overreacting to put your life at risk,'' he said.

New Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull:

Australia's Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull tonight said that while Australia remained opposed to whaling, Sea Shepherd activists should refrain from dangerous action.

"We again call on Sea Shepard to conduct their operations in a safe and peaceful manner," he said in a statement.

"The type of action they are now proposing - such as ramming vessels - could result in a tragedy."

And of course the ICR:

“Sea Shepherd is conducting a campaign of outright destruction and terrorism. We have serious concerns that someone will be injured or killed in its destructive terrorism.”

“Sea Shepherd is not an environmental group. It is a terrorist vigilante group that operates outside of the law. Their two vessels are currently sailing flagless after England and Belize didn’t want to be associated with eco-terrorism and de-registered them,” Dr Hatanaka said.

As for Watson:

Mr Watson said today the Farley Mowat was almost out of fuel and he was considering giving the Japanese whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, a "steel enema" by ramming it.

Mr Watson said his boat was now seen as a pirate vessel, and he would rather lose it in defence of whales than to bureaucrats.

We can only keep our fingers crossed that none of the ICR crew come to harm because of this outrageous behavior.

Labels: JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

The Nelson Mail ran an editorial in relation to the request for medical assistance for a stricken whaler from Japan to the New Zealand government:

Conservation Minister Chris Carter, an outspoken whaling opponent, says New Zealand helped "because that is the Kiwi way" but he could equally have said that it is the way of decent people everywhere.

... it is also right not to provide the whaling fleet's location to others. In particular, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is showing a fanatical zeal in its efforts to prevent whales being killed.

New Zealand's case would not be strengthened by showing these campaigners where to harass the whalers and put their own and Japanese lives in danger.

It's always heartening to see level-headed opinion like this example coming out of the New Zealand media.

Paul Watson still just doesn't get it:

Apparently, helping conservationists oppose illegal whaling is not the Kiwi way.

People sailing unregistered vessels fitted with "hydraulic can opener" weaponry and issuing threats of ramming other vessels on the high seas will always struggle to find support from civilized governments, even if they try to claim the noble cause of conservation as their objective. Sea Shepherd's true goal is not conservation, but individual whale protection. The conservation of biodiversity on the other hand is a goal which is mutually compatible with sustainable use. And even the New Zealand government recognises that Japan's activity is not "illegal".

Andrew Darby also provides an update. As I mentioned in my own previous update, Sea Shepherd will probably be departing the Ross Sea sometime this week to refuel. It sounds like this is about to eventuate:

... after nearly five weeks in polar waters, the hardline activists of Sea Shepherd are set to leave the Antarctic without having found their quarry, and now are pleading with Australia to let their "pirate" ships land here.

... with fuel running low and claims that the Japanese have used satellites to spy on them, Sea Shepherd are in trouble with shipping authorities

...

Captain Watson said the New Zealand Government had told him that as an unflagged vessel, the Farley Mowat would be arrested if it arrived there. He is asking for a guarantee that the ships and their crews will not be arrested if they come to Melbourne.

...

Captain Watson said he was convinced the whalers were using commercially available satellite surveillance data to track and avoid the Sea Shepherd vessels.

But a spokesman for Tokyo's Institute of Cetacean Research, Glenn Inwood, blamed Sea Shepherd's problems on poor seamanship.

...

[Watson] said it was interesting that New Zealand would help a sick whaler but banned an anti-whaling ship, even when it carried New Zealand citizens. "The authorities said we would be arrested and detained if we attempt to enter a New Zealand port." He said a meeting today between NZ customs and Maritime New Zealand would decide Sea Shepherd's fate.

In Canberra, the Transport Department confirmed it was having discussions about the Robert Hunter.

"They are canvassing options," a department spokesman said. "At this stage it is not an application."

Captain Watson said the case was also being considered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

No more Sea Shepherd for this season, and I'd not be surprised if this is the last we ever see of them in the Antarctic. They've simply taken things too far with their threats of violence.

Meanwhile ...

Greenpeace's Dutch-registered ship, Esperanza, was yesterday picking its way through the Antarctic sea ice, and spokeswoman Sara Holden said they were still confident they would find the whalers within days.

That's it for this week.

UPDATE

Sea Shepherd now claim that they have found the whaling fleet. Who knows what last ditch attempt at madness they will attempt.

Labels: JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

Today's update starts with a big bravo to the New Zealand government.

I've been critical of Chris Carter in the past on whaling policy details, and will probably continue to be critical as long as the New Zealand government's policy does not change. Nonetheless, this season New Zealand has acted as a responsible world citizen, firstly by refusing to provide the co-ordinates of the ICR whaling fleet to protest groups for safety reasons, and now secondly, in making medical assistance available to a crew member on board one of the whaling ships who fell ill:

New Zealand Enables Medical Aid To Japanese Whaling Crew Member
12:34 pm, 04 Feb 2007

New Zealand has enabled medical aid to be given to a crew member of the Japanese whaling fleet who fell gravely ill in the Southern Ocean, Conservation Minister Chris Carter said today.

"The crew member is now receiving medical attention in New Zealand following an urgent request for assistance from the Japanese whaling fleet," Mr Carter said.

"Despite New Zealand's strong opposition to Japan's whaling activities, and our diplomatic efforts to bring a halt to them, we do have a responsibility as a nation to act in a humanitarian way. A person's life was at risk. Under the international law of the sea, New Zealand could not ignore a call for help from a ship operating in an area of sea where New Zealand has responsibility for search and rescue.

"The crew member was delivered by ship to the edge of New Zealand's territorial waters late last week and transported ashore in a New Zealand helicopter," Mr Carter said.

"At no time did any vessel from the Japanese whaling fleet cross New Zealand's 12 mile territorial boundary, and nor has the New Zealand government provided any fuel or supplies to the Japanese fleet. All the costs of the crew member's transport and treatment will be paid for by Japan.

"I stress again that New Zealand's opposition to whaling is unchanged. There is no need to kill whales in order to study them. New Zealand will continue to bring diplomatic pressure to bear on Japan encouraging it to drop its scientific whaling programme.

"We have helped in this case because that is the Kiwi way," Mr Carter said.

ENDS

So as I said, Bravo to the New Zealand government.

It is unfortunate however that NZ's Conservation Minister finds himself releasing such a defensive comment explaining and justifying the action to the public. Surely no sensible person would criticise New Zealand or any other nation for taking such a responsible "humanitarian" action in such circumstances? (Hold that thought anyway, as this news has only just broken... you never know)

Another small question mark I have is why the Conservation Minister has found himself conducting media conferences in relation to video footage taken by RNZ Air Force aircraft, and now releasing this statement on medical assistance. I'm no expert in portfolio matters, but surely both these issues would more appropriately have been handled by the Defence Minister. Chris Carter wasn't Defence Minister last time I checked.

Best wishes to the stricken Japanese crew member...

UPDATE 17:45 PM: According to a Monsters and Critics article the crew member had a "a life-threatening gastric condition", and NewstalkZB reports that "he is suffering from acute intestinal problems and requires intensive care."


In other recent news, a post at Greenpeace's "ocean defenders" weblog reminiscent of now sacked Australian Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, raised an eyebrow. "Sara" from Greenpeace, while stressing that ...

Greenpeace does not work with Sea Shepherd ...

... complained about the British authorities' move to strike the new Sea Shepherd vessel, the Robert Hunter, off their register:

... it would seem they are happy to actively help the Japanese government de-flag a vessel that has not been involved in any criminal activity.

For years Greenpeace has campaigned to get governments, including the UK and Canada to de-flag vessels that are illegally fishing or polluting. I can't begin to tell how often we are told how difficult it is to take action and it most certainly can't be done without physical evidence of a crime being committed. How then, can the Robert Hunter be so quickly dispatched?

This is blatant hypocrisy. Mr. Blair - stop de-flagging vessels that have no criminal history ...

Perhaps one of Sara's more mature and level-headed crew mates ought to sit her down and whack it into her head why Greenpeace has a purported policy of not working with Sea Shepherd.

• It is unacceptable to deliberately ram a vessel at sea, particularly so when you have "can opener" weaponry affixed to the hull of your ship.
• It's no use pleading innocence when you've openly stated in the media that you intend to inflict damage upon other vessels on the high seas, as you have done in the past (vessels involved in illegal fishing activity never openly announce such intentions through the media, as SSCS has done with regards to their plans)
  
• Having a ship registered is a privilege, not a right, and those who abuse the privilege should not be so self-righteous as to expect some nation like Britain or Belize to take responsibility for such behaviour.

One would hope that not all the Greenpeace crew have such a lack of ability to think things through objectively.

Incidentally, the Scotsman tells a different story to Captain Watson:

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ... said the UK was acting on a request by Tokyo after its flagship, the Farley Mowat, was deregistered by Belize.

...

However the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency said Japan had not influenced the decision, which was made because the vessel's activities did not conform with its status as a pleasure vessel on the register.

...

David Wright, the UK Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, said the Robert Hunter's activities with Sea Shepherd are "inconsistent with her status as a pleasure vessel".

"The registrar general therefore took the decision to remove her from the register. I was made aware of these activities by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office," he said.

I personally will take the UK Registrar General on his word, rather than put my faith in Captain Watson.

The Scotsman article also has a nice summary of international law:

• THE United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea sets out the duty of all countries to "co-operate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy on the high seas".

Piracy is defined as "any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or private aircraft, directed against another ship or aircraft or the people and property on board".

A vessel is considered to be a "pirate ship" simply if the people in charge intend to commit any of the above acts or have already done so.

Article 105 says: "On the high seas, or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any state, every state may seize a pirate ship or aircraft, or a ship or aircraft taken by piracy and under the control of pirates, and arrest the persons and seize the property on board."

However the convention also says seizing a ship without adequate grounds will make the country liable for any losses or damage.

Today we are entering what is probably ninth week of research for this season. One assumes that despite the ill crew member, the JARPA II activity has been running smoothly. Assuming normal conditions prevail I would expect that there are at least another five weeks to go, but this is the first season of JARPA II in Area V and the western part of Area VI, so another 40 days at least can probably be expected.

Sea Shepherd will probably be departing the Ross Sea sometime later this week to refuel (unless they decide they want to have New Zealand come and rescue them), which should see the end of them (for this season at least, although I don't think they will ever again have much luck with ship registrations). Late-comers Greenpeace have apparently just entered the Southern Ocean, and will probably need to waste time and fuel if they are to locate the ICR fleet at all. I think they'll need more than just luck to do it. Surely some of their supporters must be asking whether there aren't more productive things to be doing?

Labels: JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

It looks like a confirmation today that the New Zealand RNZAF Orion that filmed the Japanese whaling fleet last week was sent there expressly for that purpose:

Spokesman Nick Maling said the New Zealand Air Force was in the area to film the whalers' tactics so they could release the footage to the public.

Surely the Orions have better uses to be put to than this, but given the highly politicised nature of the whaling issue in New Zealand, perhaps no one sees this for the waste of resources that it is (Nick Maling has the rather dull videos up at YouTube).

The linked article is, by the way, just a frustrated whinge from Sea Shepherd about the government not releasing the co-ordinates. The government is doing the right thing and standing firm:

Mr Maling said the Southern Ocean was "vast and very dangerous" and the Government did not want to be connected to such activities.

There may be some very minor domestic political backlash over this, but it's a darn sight better than smearing one's own name in the international community.

Speaking of which, Sea Shepherd's second ship, the Robert Hunter, is now known to have been registered with the United Kingdom. However, like Belize, the UK has confirmed that it will deregister the vessel:

This month, the Robert Hunter joined Mr Watson's slower flagship, Farley Mowat, which is sailing without a national flag after authorities in Belize deregistered the ship, citing a Sea Shepherd press release saying it planned to inflict damage on whaling ships.

Soon after, the Japanese Government asked Britain to move against the Robert Hunter.

A British Foreign Office spokesman told The Age that Japan's embassy asked Britain to "control" the Robert Hunter's activities as far as was legally possible, as Sea Shepherd had said it was aiming to disrupt Japanese whaling operations.

The spokesman said the office informed the British Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen of the approach.

Registrar David Wright said the Robert Hunter was registered as a pleasure vessel and her activities with Sea Shepherd were inconsistent.

"The registrar therefore took the decision to remove her from the register," Mr Wright said. He gave Sea Shepherd 30 days' notice from January 12.

So, just another two weeks now before Sea Shepherd is officially operating not one, but two pirate vessels. Also just two weeks left before they have to go and get fuel from somewhere, as well.

Greenpeace? Probably still a couple of days away from the Ross Sea area, and they've also got to try to find the whaling fleet as well. Sea Shepherd seem to have an advantage in this respect, as they have two vessels rather than just one. Yet they've been unable to find them, so the chances for Greenpeace are probably not much better.

Finally, want to see some more bad taste anti-Japan propaganda? Click here. It's D-grade rubbish.

Labels: JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

In the aftermath of the excitement around the rather dull RNZAF Orion video footage of some of the ICR vessels in action, predictably Sea Shepherd are upset at their lack of ability to find the whalers (the Farley Mowat has been at sea since December 29). They have put up a plea for assistance on their website, offering a reward to anyone who will leak them the co-ordinates of the JARPA vessels.

A Frank Watson article appearing in various Australian media provides some extra colour:

Two Sea Shepherd ships have unsuccessfully searched for the Japanese whalers in the Ross Sea for the past 12 days.

"The New Zealand Air Force flew over the whaling fleet in the Ross Sea on Friday and filmed them killing whales, but the Government won't reveal the co-ordinates," Captain Watson said from the protest ship Farley Mowat.

"We'll offer a $25,000 reward to get someone to leak the co-ordinates.

"We'll save that much on fuel."

Captain Watson said the air force plane had been searching for illegal fishing but did nothing except take pictures.

As usual, Watson likes to blame the Japanese for everything, including his own inability to make good use of the donations he attracts:

"Japan requested New Zealand not to release the co-ordinates . . . That makes the New Zealand Government complicit in criminal activity, as what Japan is doing is illegal."

Previously, Chris Carter told media (see "view video") that "for a public safety reason we won't be releasing these co-ordinates to Greenpeace". Once again later, responding to Japanese concerns about the safety of the ICR crew, he confirmed that the co-ordinates would not be released.

Sea Shepherd ships Farley Mowat and Robert Hunter have another three weeks before they must return to port to refuel.

This is the real problem for Sea Shepherd now, and it's just a matter of time. They have to dock again somewhere to re-supply, but I don't think any government - even those of Australia and New Zealand - will want to risk the condemnation of the international community that would follow if they allowed Sea Shepherd to set out for the Antarctic again, now that the Farley Mowat is sailing without a flag.

"We believe the whalers are within 400 nautical miles of us, but we have information the Japanese are using satellite tracking to find out our position every day. That way they can keep clear of us," Captain Watson said.

"We have also found out US Naval Intelligence has been tracking us by satellite and giving information to the Japanese."

So apparently now, not only Japan and New Zealand but the USA too is colluding against him. Are his suggestions true? Probably not. Last year he claimed that he had "received a tip from a reliable source in Japan, that Japan has dispatched a warship to the Southern Ocean" which never eventuated, giving the impression that it was an hysterical fabrication.

The real concern out of all of this is that depending on how frustrated Watson is, he may take even more seriously dangerous actions to try to make the most of his last chance to do what he said he would set out to achieve. I'm sure the ICR folks are aware of this, and will surely be doing everything they can to ensure their safety.

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza left Auckland on Friday and will reach the Ross Sea late this week to join the hunt.

But the two groups hate each other almost as much as they hate the whalers.

Greenpeace said it did not know the co-ordinates of the whalers but would not tell Sea Shepherd even if it did.

"We have a principle of peaceful protest, which Sea Shepherd does not," Greenpeace spokeswoman Sara Holden said.

Being a great big nuisance is apparently still "peaceful" by whatever standards and principles Greenpeace holds itself to, even though it only results in delaying the inevitable. The ICR will remain in the Antarctic until they are done - simple as that.

Labels: Chris Carter, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

There is little in the way of interesting news coming out of the Australian and New Zealand media. The story is only barely getting coverage in New Zealand, and while there are more reports coming out of Australia, a lot of them seem to originate from a single reporter (Andrew Darby - he comes up with some useful info from time to time).

So this update is just a brief round-up

1) Sea Shepherd left Australia around the 9th of January, and were reported to be ready to start "hunting" the whalers a week later (see Update #8). It's the 25th of January today and they haven't yet found them.

2) On the 15th, Ian Campbell unleashed a volley of rhetoric, saying "I will not grant permission to Japanese whaling vessels or support vessels to use Australian ports ... They are banned from Australian ports as long as I'm the Minister."

No big deal. The ICR vessels don't stop over in Australia on their way back to Japan, anyway.

3) Sea Shepherd responded again to Ian Campbell's previously coddling of the Greenpeace activists:

The water cannons are easily avoided. We have never been hit with them for the simple reason that we have not placed ourselves in the path of them. Greenpeace activists deliberately place themselves in the path of the water cannons for dramatic effect. ... We are not the victims down here and Greenpeace should not be trying to make themselves the victims. ... We are not interested in stories of people whining about how violent the Japanese are to people. If someone gets knocked into the water by a water cannon then that is the reason they came down here. Besides that is what survival suits are for.

4) Still, on the 19th, New Zealand "Conservation Minister" Chris Carter, issued a "yeah, and us too", in this press release:

"Japan's whaling fleet is not welcome in New Zealand ports".

Speaking at a reception onboard the Greenpeace vessel – Esperanza in Auckland today, the Minister also urged all parties involved in this year's whaling protests to exercise restraint.

Before entering a New Zealand port any ship carrying whale products would need to apply, under the provisions of the Marine Mammals Protection Act, for a permit from the Minister of Conservation.

Chris Carter said he would not grant such a permit and reiterated the New Zealand Government's strong opposition to Japan's whaling programme in the Southern Ocean.

So no big deal there. In the same press release he also expressed concern about Greenpeace activists getting squirted with water cannons. Does Carter get all his ideas from Campbell or something?

On Sea Shepherd:

"I am very concerned by recent statements made by Captain Watson and the battle modifications made to his ships."

Carter shares his own master plan:

"The best way of solving this issue would be for Japan to abandon whaling and join other nations in respecting and conserving marine species that could be facing extinction ".

Astute and constructive stuff there from the man in charge in New Zealand...

5) On the 23rd, Ian Campbell was dumped as Environment Minister by John Howard, to be replaced by a chap named Malcolm Turnbull. This article describes Campbell as "colourless", his replacement as a "razor-quick lawyer and businessman".

I reluctantly have to say farewell to Ian Campbell - I will miss his huffing, puffing and excited bluster, as it has provided good humour value, but on a more serious level, my impression has always been that Campbell doesn't seem to have much common sense. Perhaps I have this impression because Campbell has had to try to defend Australia's hypocritical policies regarding resource management issues, so maybe I am being a little bit rough.

Bad luck, mate.

6) Oh yeah, Greenpeace. After hanging out in Auckland for 2 weeks, apparently they are leaving tomorrow, after the ICR fleet has been whaling for almost 7 weeks already.

TVNZ has a 5 minute video clip from "Close Up", giving Greenpeace the media attention that they crave. If you don't live in New Zealand and want to see a good example of typically biased coverage of the issue, I can recommend it. Greenpeace Japan's Junichi Sato also makes an appearance, basically regurgitating standard Greenpeace propaganda.

I've had a bit to say about the partiality of TVNZ previously...

Greenpeace's whalelove webpage has also now got it's content underway. I've not viewed it yet - and am still wondering whether I should bother :-)

Labels: Greenpeace, Ian Campbell, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Malcolm Turnbull, Sea Shepherd, whale love

Following on from Ian Campbell's attack on Sea Shepherd previously, Paul Watson didn't let us down by responding quickly.

Here's a couple of highlights:

We have a gift from the Dalai Lama on our bridge. It is an icon named “Hayagriva” and it stands for the compassionate aspect of Buddha’s wrath. The Dalai Lama explained the meaning to me himself when he said, “You never want to hurt anyone, but sometimes when they cannot see enlightenment, you scare the hell out of them until they do.”

Hmmm, so now the Dalai Lama supports terrorism? To be honest, I'm not so familiar with the Dalai Lama, but everyone except the Chinese Government seems to like him...

Your blessing of Greenpeace activities is interesting. So, Greenpeace is now officially government approved. I’m not surprised – governmental approval is not hard to come by if one does little but posture and talk. While we are down here in Antarctic waters looking for whaling ships, the Greenpeace ship is at berth in New Zealand looking for memberships.

Watson's criticism of Greenpeace for being docked in New Zealand is the same as mine, but who cares about them anyway.

He finishes with style:

And if our passion and our compassion sets your “movement” backwards and into “disrepute,” then I’m sure the whales won’t care, Sir.

They will be dead.

Thank-you

If Campbell has any political smarts he'll "no comment" any media approaches regarding this.

Labels: JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

Ian Campbell's on/off love affair with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was on display once again in the media today, with Senator Campbell, who Sea Shepherd last month described as "honourable", now declaring that:

"Sea Shepherd are bringing the cause of whale conservation into disrepute.''

Presumably Campbell has realised that it was politically unwise to call Paul Watson and wish him well, particularly since in other parts of the world such as the United Kingdom and Belize, officials there were seeing it fit to strike the Sea Shepherd terrorist vessel (what else is a vessel with a "can opener" ramming implement attached to it?) from their registers.

Despite today's clarification, I wonder if Campbell would still welcome Sea Shepherd vessels to Australia's Antarctic bases in anything other than an emergency?

Stupidly, however:

Senator Campbell praised the more peaceful efforts of Greenpeace in recording the "gutless'' whale slaughter and using small vessels to disrupt the hunt, saying the group's efforts had his blessing.

Campbell would do well to stick to his own policies, rather than snuggle up to Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd. Greenpeace's tactics are possibly going to end up on the wrong side of the new IMO guidelines, as well as Sea Shepherd's more overtly unacceptable behaviour.

Anyway, we can again await Watson's reaction, remembering his rather upset tone from last season.


The ICR has another press release out today, this time on public opinion polls. They've too have picked up on the fact that Greenpeace Japan misrepresented the results of an opinion survey that they themselves commissioned. I previously detailed the misrepresentation here, based on a Japanese version of the poll result, but the ICR has helpfully found an English translation (here for those who care to take a look).

The ICR also states that:

"Whalemeat is a popular meal choice by the Japanese public despite a drastic decrease in supply and, contrary to claims by Greenpeace, demand is increasing each year."

This basic trend is of course what we've been observing through stockpile figure analyses (November figures should be out any day now, maybe on the 12th)

Labels: eco-terrorism, Ian Campbell, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

No confrontation in the Antarctic for at least about another week it seems:

... activists from the group Sea Shepherd said their two ship navy, which aims to disable the whaling vessels, would reach Antarctic waters and begin to hunt for the fleet in about a week.

There's more detail about the Farley Mowat's piracy paraphernalia as well:

Engineers have fitted a solid steel hydraulic ram with a bulldozer-strength blade to the Sea Shepherd's flagship, Farley Mowat, which has been stripped of its registration in Belize and could now be considered a pirate vessel under international law.

Sea Shepherd's president, Paul Watson, said the "can opener" was operational and far more serious than a version used last year to scrape the side of the Japanese resupply ship, Oriental Bluebird. He said its placement at deck level meant it could damage, but not endanger, the hull of another ship.

He said Sea Shepherd had never caused human injury in its direct actions, and he hoped to inflict just enough damage to a whaling vessel to force it to return to port.

In this day and age, one would hope that a ship with such an implement attached to it would be consider a pirate vessel, regardless of whether or not it was registered.

Apparently the new SS vessel has been named the "Robert Hunter", after one of Watson's late mates.


The Japan Whaling Association has another press release regarding Sea Shepherd's de-registration from Belize's registry.


As for Greenpeace? (Who?)

Greenpeace is also preparing its eighth campaign voyage south, later in the whaling season than ever before.

They've never been less serious about "saving whales" than today, it seems. This season's effort looks to be little more than "us too" tokenism at best, or merely donation attracting video footage generation at worst.

Australia's ABC Local Radio AM programme also has comment from GP's Sarah Holden and ICR spokesman Glenn Inwood, here.

Labels: eco-terrorism, Greenpeace, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd

Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson has responded to the Farley Mowat's de-registration by IMMARBE. Unfortunately it appears that the vessel was able to leave Hobart just prior to the de-registration:

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Farley Mowat is now officially a pirate vessel.

We are at sea without a flag, in search of illegal whaling operations in hostile and remote waters at the bottom of the world. The Farley Mowat cleared Australian Customs in Hobart, Tasmania on December 29, 2006 only hours before the nation of Belize struck our flag.

The Belize registry had only been issued ten days before on December 19, 2006. The registry was sought in Belize after Britain pulled the registry in early December the same day it was issued.

In October, the Farley Mowat registered under the Canadian flag since April 2002, had the registry suspended by Canada.

Sea Shepherd also had trouble earlier in 2006 when South African officials detained their vessel.

The Sydney Morning Herald has a little more:

An email sent by a registry official to Captain Watson said port authorities in Hobart, where Farley Mowat was docked, would be asked to ensure the ship did not leave port with Belizean registration. But Captain Watson said he had left hours earlier. "My instincts told me that we had better 'get out of Dodge'."

All of this creates an interesting situation, with the vessel having left port before the authorities could prevent it:

• Apparently stateless ships have no protection under international law. The whaling fleet is essentially owned by Japanese public-interest corporations now, so any actions taken against the fleet directly affect interests of the Government of Japan. There are laws and precedents for stateless vessels being boarded on the high seas, but as far as I've been able to find, they usually involve stateless ships suspected of illegal fishing activity or transport of weapons.
  

• Where will the Farley Mowat refuel and resupply? The Australian ports have been aiding SSCS to date, but with their flag struck off yet another register, one wonders whether they would seriously consider letting the Farley Mowat dock and the depart once again.
  

Back in December 2005 Watson said that he had "received a tip from a reliable source in Japan, that Japan has dispatched a warship to the Southern Ocean", speculating that they might seize the Farley Mowat in accordance with UNCLOS provisions. Obviously his tip wasn't reliable at all, and I doubt we'll see any such actions from Japan, but if a US Navy ship happened to be in the region - who knows.

As I suspected in my previous post, Watson has started his whinging about Japanese influence again:

This is all apparently part of a strategy by Japan to use its economic muscle to lean on any nation that allows us to be registered under their flag.

Another possibility that Paul should consider is that no sane registry would want to be seen to aid and abet his organizations actions.

Watson also says that:

"If anyone wishes to stop us from protecting whales they will have to sink us"

and the SMH quoted him as saying:

"I say in absolute seriousness at the risk of sounding dramatic, but my crew and I are prepared to die for these whales if need be."

The Farley Mowat isn't capable of keeping up with the research vessels, even if they are able to find them, so I don't think they'll have the opportunity to prove their madness.


Meanwhile, the "whale safe beer" campaign is coming in for additional criticism:

Don't get me wrong, I am in no way in favor of needlessly killing whales. Frankly I don't know much about the issue. The WSB people's position is that Japan, the country, with a wink and a nod allows its fisherman to catch whales despite a world wide moratorium on the practice. Therefore any beers brewed in Japan or beer companies that are supported in any way with Japanese money are responsible. What? Could there be a more insane position? Lots of countries allow pretty despicable things to happen but does this mean that all industry from that country should be boycotted? What is Japanese beer supposed to do about the whale killing? I hope beer lovers will see this cheap, baseless sales tactic for what it is and ignore Bluetongue's proposed boycott.

Labels: JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd, whale safe beer, Whaling

As one would have expected, it's been a quiet Christmas / New Year's break in whaling land (why protest when there is no one watching TV?) but there has been one interesting development.

As I mentioned in my first JARPA II 2006/2007 update, states to which the Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace protest vessels are flagged have a responsibility to take actions with respect to inappropriate behaviour by these vessels.

Subsequently, we learned that Sea Shepherd had struggled to have it's slow Farley Mowat vessel registered in Britain, but had been successful registering with Belize (Belize somewhat famously voted against the pro-sustainable use bloc at the IWC meeting in 2006 on every measure, despite previously having been accused of selling it's vote to Japan by Sea Shepherd and others).

The big news today is that Belize has already taken actions with respect to the Farley Mowat - apparently it has torn up the registration:

Belizean flagged ship de-registered for threatening whalers

It is a common practice for vessels that engage in illegal fishing to be punished by the nation whose flag they happen to fly. But last week, instead of a rogue fisherman being sanctioned it was a ship suspected of engaging in radical environmental action that lost its papers. According to a release from IMMARBE, the International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize, the motor vessel "Farley Mowat" was registered to fly the Belize flag on December fifteenth as a pleasure craft that would also conduct research on the Belize Barrier Reef. Subsequent investigations, however, revealed that the ship was in Australian waters about to embark on an all too familiar mission to ram and otherwise interfere with ships engaged in whaling. The owners of "Farley Mowat" admitted to IMMARBE that the ship would be put on loan to the Sea Shepard Conservation Society, a militant environmental group which since 1979 has engaged in various aggressive actions against the whaling industry, including sabotage and ramming. According to the IMMARBE release, although Belize has voted with the anti-whaling bloc at the International Whaling Commission, it cannot condone acts that threaten life and property at sea. Consequently, the "Farley Mowat" was de-registered by IMMARBE on December twenty-ninth. Although in its early years as a "flag of convenience" registry IMMARBE earned a reputation for laxity, it has recently cleaned up its act to the point where it is one of only nine registries in the world to hold the U.S. Coastguard QUALSHIP 21 certification.

Presumably this once again puts Sea Shepherd in a bit of a pickle - the Farley Mowat is apparently also carrying a helicopter which will be indispensable to them in searching for the whaling fleet, once they arrive in the Ross sea vicinity. Their other newly purchased ship, apparently fast enough to keep pace with the whaling fleet, will be rendered ineffective without a location with which to find the research vessels.

There's no mention of this situation on the Sea Shepherd website yet, but one would not be surprised if Captain Watson gives it a mention, and turns back to his previous accusations of Japanese influence in Belize in light of this. Then again, maybe Greenpeace will again be the subject of Watson's ongoing frustrations.

Labels: Belize, eco-terrorism, IMO guidelines, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd, Whaling

Japanese representative Hideki Moronuki has hit the nail on the head with the following statement being reported in the aussie media, with regards to SSCS's openly conceded tactics of vessel ramming:

"The activity is very, very dangerous and whenever you look at the website of Sea Shepherd, they say they haven't killed or injured anybody, but their activities may kill or injure people".

That's completely right.

If Watson thinks his tactics won't harm human life, why does he think the whalers should be worried about his tactics?

Last year he liked to claim that the whalers were "running away" whenever his ship appeared. Wishful thinking? A more accurate assessment would seem to be that the SS flagship was simply to slow to keep up, which is why SSCS have purchased a new vessel for this year.

Another article gives another angle on Watson's tactics:

THE hardline anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd plans to disrupt Japan's summer whaling program in Antarctica by inflicting just enough damage on the whaling vessel to force it to comply with strict Japanese safety regulations and return to port for repairs.

Sea Shepherd's president, Paul Watson, told the Herald yesterday that he had no intention of endangering life. Sea Shepherd activists have sunk 10 whaling vessels in the North Atlantic since 1979. Last summer it tried to foul the propellers of the whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru, the vessel it will soon be chasing.

Of course, SS already tried such things last season, without success (thankfully). What's more, such actions clearly seem to run afoul of relevant international agreements (as the ICR pointed out last year). For example, Article 101 of UNCLOS reads:

Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;

(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).

Of course I'm sure Watson has some big fancy porkie to excuse himself from this, but I wonder how much longer the officials will be patient.

Watson has also been having other problems:

... the Farley Mowat's departure was delayed over its registration.

Attempts to shift the registration from Canada to Britain had to be abandoned when British authorities refused to allow the ship onto their books.

Captain Watson alleged that the British were told by Greenpeace that his organisation was an eco-terrorist group. He eventually obtained a registration from Belize.

Belize? Depending on how far SS go with their obstruction this year, the Belize IWC representative might be in for an uncomfortable IWC meeting next year. It seems likely that further resolution be passed related to the safety of whale research vessels.

Anyway... As for Greenpeace:

Greenpeace confirmed it was sending one vessel south: the Esperanza, a fast ship that stayed with the fleet for 29 days in 2005-6. Its campaigners, equipped with fast inflatables, cameras and satellite access, opened an unprecedented window into the whalers' activities.

Esperanza left Mexico on December 11 for Auckland, and is unlikely to reach the whaling fleet until late January. Last year whaling ended on March 20.

So only one ship from GP this season (no Arctic Sunrise), and they won't show up until such a point in time that the research fleet will already be a long way towards it's quota. But then, as Watson has charged, Greenpeace appear to be more interested in this for the fundraising opportunity presented than any genuine concern for the environment.

Labels: eco-terrorism, Greenpeace, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd, Whaling

What a boring austral summer this is turning out to be.

Tonight we've got more news from the "whale-safe beer" kufuffle.

"Australians are wise enough to make their own decisions as to whether this is a multi-millionaire trying to stoke racism in the Australian community to try to make a buck."

-- Lion Nathon spokesman

Elsewhere, Greenpeace is still trying to deceive the western public about the whale meat consumption trends here in Japan. According to Greenpeace:

it's clear that they don't have a high demand since more and more whale meat is getting stockpiled.

As readers of this blog know, consumption has actually increased by more than 50% since 2004. Greenpeace is however a "campaigning" organization, not an educational organization. They must campaign to continue to raise funds, and they must raise funds to continue to campaign. More silliness:

There doesn't appear to be any logical explanation why the Japanese government supports whaling on the high seas and since the majority of the Japanese public are also against it - isn't it about time they stopped?

Greenpeace draws their own illogical conclusions, which is why they can't understand the Japanese government's position. Meanwhile, readers of this blog also know that it's an outright lie that the majority of the Japanese public "are against" whaling.

Finally, Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace are busy whinging at each other (see here and here). Greenpeace is still not even anywhere near the Antarctic, and doesn't plan to be there until sometime into the New Year. The most likely reason to my mind is that last year they wasted lots of valuable media time in the Antarctic over the Christmas / New Year's period. It's hard to get media attention at this time as everyone is on holiday (that's why we saw them ram the Nisshin Maru on January 8th last year).

Labels: eco-terrorism, Greenpeace, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd, whale safe beer, Whaling

The JARPA II fleet left port back on November 15th. Almost a month has passed.

In the meantime, the extremist organization Sea Shepherd has apparently successfully acquired a fast new ship which is capable of keeping pace with the ICR research fleet, and Greenpeace, who also last year rammed the nose of their ship into the side of the Nisshin Maru, are also sending vessels to the Antarctic.

Already Sea Shepherd are trying to pump up their media hype machine, boasting that they are prepared to "instigate an international incident" in the Antarctic. While we can hope that this is just a load of huff and puff to attract attention and with it donations, again I recall the IWC 2006 Resolution on the safety of vessels engaged in whaling and whale research-related activities, which encouraged

"Contracting Governments to take appropriate measures, consistent with IMO guidelines, in order to ensure that the substance and spirit of this Resolution are observed both domestically and internationally."

I imagine that the Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace vessels are flagged to states that have adhered to these agreements, and I expect that these nations will fulfil their responsibilities should a repeat of last year's dangerous events reoccur this year.

Finally, a report out today suggests that:

The Japanese fleet is believed to be near New Zealand and should be ready to start hunting in two weeks.

In fact, I believe that with almost a month passed since they left port, they will likely already have commenced the research. This year the research is being conducted in Area V and the western part of Area IV (map). In previous years when this area was covered, for example 2004/2005, the fleet departed Japan on November 12 (Japanese ICR link), and the actual research in the Antarctic commenced on 7 December (IWC/SC 2005 pg. 52). With chief eco-terrorist at Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson reporting that they won't be in a position to obstruct the ICR fleet until the last week of December, we can probably estimate that the research fleet might catch 100 or so minke whales between now and that time (not to mention the 10 Fin whales). Of course, as the eco-terrorists themselves admit, they may not be able to find the fleet immediately either.

Incidentally, despite attempts at obstruction last year, the 2006 IWC/SC report indicated that the JARPA II sampling efficiency for minke whales was 95.6% (that's the percentage of whales taken to the number of whales selected for sampling). In the previous 2004/2005 cruise, the sampling efficiency was 94%. In 2003/2004, it was 93%, and in the 2002/2003 cruise, 92% (based on the IWC/SC report for each year). So despite their best efforts, it appears that Greenpeace failed to achieve much last year in terms of their stated aim of "saving whales" (although they must have reaped a lot of donation money). It remains to be seen how extreme the actions taken by Sea Shepherd will be this year, and the extent of any obstruction of the research. They apparently plan to go back to Australia to re-fuel so that they can stick it out for the whole summer, but one hopes they would have their ship impounded by the authorities if they do commit any illegal activities during the first leg of the trip.

Labels: IMO guidelines, JARPA II 2006/2007 Updates, Sea Shepherd, Whaling

Y/H-san brought my attention to a further illustration of just what a disgraceful, unpleasant, extremist organization Sea Shepherd really is.

Has the world ever seen propaganda like this?

Japan to Murder 260 Whales in the North Pacific this Summer

(1) Misuse of the word "murder": "the unlawful killing of one human by another". Whales are not humans. One may subscribe to an animal rights philosophy that tries to equate the two, but trying to redefine the English language to help meet that aim is silly, as well as futile - just ask the non-English speakers of the world about it.

The outlaw whalers of Japan are ignoring world opinion and have announced they will target 260 whales in the North Pacific this summer.

(2) Misuse of the word "outlaw": "A habitual criminal". Legal opinion in both the most ferocious of anti-whaling nations, New Zealand and Australia acknowledges that there is nothing at all illegal about Japan's research programmes. Sea Shepherd needs to move on and accept reality.

(3) Dishonest assertion that "world opinion" is against whaling. "World opinion" consists of anti-whaling sentiment in a small number of otherwise apathetic, largely anglo-saxon nations. In larger international forums than the IWC such as CITES, a majority of nations have been seen to vote along the same lines as the pro-conservation / sustainable-use nations. Suggesting that "world opinion" is against whaling is equivalent to suggesting that the voices of a select group of westernized nations are the only ones that matter.

“This level of imperialist exploitation has not been seen since the Japanese army swept in and slaughtered the Chinese people and invaded their lands,” said Founder and President of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Captain Paul Watson.

(4) Misuse of the word "imperialist": "The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations." Japan's actions are completely in line with the International Convention for the Regulation of whaling, and quite legal as is now universally recognised, and noted above.

(5) Overt racism. The events of World War II have nothing to do with modern day whaling. Trying to make such an association between an army and a cetacean research programme is ridiculous.

(6) Disgraceful and insulting comparison. Recently a New Zealand student magazine published an article which put "Chinese", along with animals like poisonous snakes and penguins, in a list of "Top five species we should be wary of". The supposed "joke" upset the Chinese community and caused huge protests from both Chinese students and the Chinese Embassy. The likening of a research programme that involves small numbers of whales being killed to events during World War II is likely to be even more offensive to the Chinese who suffered during the time. Exploitation of marine resources is an activity that virtually all nations with a coastline undertake, and certainly the Chinese themself are no exception to this.

Although the Japanese claim research as their motivation, the only research they are undertaking is product development and marketing of whale meat.

(7) Outright lies. Anyone who cares to look can find and learn about the objectives of the JARPA and JARPN research programmes. Rather than spreading misinformation about the objectives of these programmes, Sea Shepherd should simply state their disagreement to the aims of these programmes and the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

Sea Shepherd is concentrating on securing a fast ship to oppose the plan by Japan to kill over one thousand whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary in December 2006.

(8) Even more outright lies. There is no plan to kill over one thousand whales in the Antarctic in December this year (or indeed the entire austral summer), the numbers are 850 minke whales plus +/- 10%, and 10 fin whales.

And if all this was not enough, in another press release Sea Shepherd refered to Tuvalu as a "rinky-dink" "nation of whores".

The ICR also has a document on the history of Sea Shepherd violence and lawlessness.

Labels: Sea Shepherd