Whaling

I’m Australian by birth, and I have often been asked by Japanese people to share my feelings about issues such as those set out in “The Cove”, and also, more commonly, about the related issue of whaling. Whenever I’ve been asked to give my own opinions though, I think people have been surprised to hear them.

Pete Bethune, Sea Shepherd activist, who illegally boarded a Japanese whaling ship may be brought to Japan to face charges of trespassing.

Greenpeace on Friday urged Japan to give a fair trial to two of its activists who sought to expose embezzlement in the state-funded whaling industry but were instead arrested for theft and trespass.

New Zealand's foreign minister says his country's maritime agency will carry out an investigation into a collision between a Japanese whaling vessel and a boat belonging to the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling protest group.

The clash took place in the Southern ocean, in waters which come under Australian and New Zealand maritime authority.

The Ady Gil was a fiber glass and kevlar ship built for speed, it was stopped in front of the stopped Shonan Maru No.2 when they started heading towards the Ady Gil, the Ady Gil attempted to get out of the way. The Shonan Maru No.2 rammed the Ady Gil at high speed cutting it into two. Crew of the Sea Shepherd Ship "Bob Barker" launched a rubber craft and rescued the Crew on the Ady Gil.

“Australia needs to send a naval vessel down here as soon as possible to protect both the whales and the Australian citizens working to defend these whales,” said Steve Irwin Chief Cook Laura Dakin of Canberra.

Famed Catamaran is sinking in the Southern Ocean

Six crewmembers Rescued by the Sea Shepherd Ship Bob Barker

In an unprovoked attack captured on film, the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2 deliberately rammed and caused catastrophic damage to the Sea Shepherd catamaran Ady Gil.

Hobart, Tasmania - Sea Shepherd’s new fast interceptor vessel, Ady Gil, cleared customs on Friday, December 11 at 11:38 AM. The vessel is heading south to convene with Sea Shepherd’s Steve Irwin for the 6th Whale Defense Campaign Operation Waltzing Matilda to end illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

This is a conversation between two people after watching the documentary, “The Cove,” a real-life-mission-impossible-mission to film the dolphin slaughter/harvest in a small cove in Taiji, Wakayama.

The Australian media is reporting that there has been an surge of hate directed at Japanese people in Broome Shire, a town that had a sister city agreement with the Taiji, a town in Wakayama prefecture.

Today is World Earth Day so it at least seems insensitive to world opinion on whaling to start a new whale kill. Four whaling ships and one research ship will set sail from Ayukawa port in northern Miyagi prefecture and hunt whales within 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the coast until late May.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) says a raid on the anti-whaling ship the Steve Irwin was a result of a complaint made by Japanese authorities earlier this month.

A government-affiliated Japanese whaling crew was moving a whale from the harpoon ship to the factory ship on Friday when they saw the Steve Irwin approaching.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel, Steve Irwin, has collided with a Japanese harpoon whaling vessel. (Crikey!)

Japan said Tuesday it will reject any proposal by the International Whaling Commission that halts its research missions in the Antarctic, making it unlikely that a compromise plan for limited coastal whaling would work.