Japanese Whalers & Sea Shepherd
Endless War?
ANTARCTICA — One day, the Sea Shepherd powerboat that was
sent to harass Japanese whalers was rammed and sliced in two in its very first
clash, activists said, dramatically escalating hostilities in icy
Antarctic seas. The futuristic Ady Gil which is a trimaran, which holds the round-the-world record and
was enlisted by Sea Shepherd activists for this whaling season, received
"catastrophic damage" and was sinking, they said. All six crew, who earlier hurled stink bombs at the whalers to disrupt their
annual hunt, were rescued unharmed by Sea Shepherd's Bob Barker ship. Activists
described the attack as unprovoked and said it was captured on film. Read the full report, here.
And the next week, Sea Shepherd shuts down all whaling activities
by the Japanese whaling fleet. Not one whale has died in the last week,
and Sea Shepherd's next goal is to turn this shut down into a second
week and then a third.
Sea Shepherd activists have harassed the Japanese fleet over the past six
hunting seasons and claim to have saved the lives of hundreds of whales.
An international moratorium on commercial whaling was imposed in 1986 but Japan kills
hundreds each year using a loophole that allows "lethal research" on
the animals. The objective of Sea Shepherd's three-ship campaign is to bankrupt
the illegal Japanese whaling fleet and to sink them economically.
"This year, I have three ships, four small boats, a jet ski, a
helicopter, 77 crew, and a bagful of aggravation for the Japanese whale
poachers," said Captain Paul Watson. "We intend to make life miserable
for the whale killers over the next month and a half."
Included in the crew is the Animal Planet crew filming the third season of the hit television series "Whale Wars."
The Sea Shepherd crew number 77 from 16 nationalities including
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana,
Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa,
Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Bob Barker: Crew of 30, Captain Chuck Swift (USA)
Steve Irwin: Crew of 41, Captain Paul Watson (Canada)
Ady Gil: Crew of 6, Captain Peter Bethune (New Zealand)
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