Enforce the 'bloody law' over whales - Sea Shepherd

By MICHAEL FIELD - Fairfax Media | Thursday, 20 December 2007
Australia's sending of a fisheries patrol ship to shadow Japan's whaling fleet near Antarctica has been condemned by a frontline environmental group as a waste of time.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has its ship Steve Irwin - named after the late Australian crocodile media star - off Antarctica waiting to confront the Japanese whalers.
In a statement from the ship Captain Paul Watson says rival environmentalists Greenpeace have monitored the whaling for 20 years and this latest announcement from Canberra was nothing new.
"We need enforcement and we need action on this atrocity," said Captain Paul Watson, "we don't need anymore pictures of dying whales. Greenpeace has been taking pictures for years and it has not stopped the killing of the whales....
"Our response to Australia's announcement of their 'plan' to protect the whales is to drop the camera and pick up your guns and enforce the bloody laws, mate."
Sea Shepherd in previous seasons has been involved in close conflict with the whalers, including an incident of collision at sea between ships.
Yesterday Australia's foreign minister Stephen Smith and environment minister Peter Garrett announced they will send a fisheries patrol ship to shadow Japan's whaling fleet near Antarctica and gather evidence for a possible international court challenge to halt the yearly slaughter.
The icebreaker Oceanic Viking, used for customs and fisheries policing, would leave for the Southern Ocean in days to follow the Japanese fleet.
To avoid a high-seas incident and ease concern in Tokyo, heavy machine guns on the ship and side arms used by boarding crews would be locked in storage below decks, they said.
Japan's whaling fleet plans to hunt 935 minke whales, 50 fin whales and, for the first time in 40 years, 50 humpback whales for research over the Antarctic summer.
Humpbacks were hunted to near extinction until the International Whaling Commission ordered their protection in 1966.
Patrols by a low-flying A319 Airbus jet used by Australian Antarctic scientists would also follow and photograph the Japanese fleet, Foreign Minister Smith said.
"We are dealing here with the slaughter of whales, not scientific research. That's our starting point and our end point," Smith, whose centre-left Labor government won elections last month, partly on a promise of tougher anti-whaling action.
Smith said photographic and video evidence gathered by the ship and aircraft would be used before any international legal tribunals to "make the point that what we are seeing is not scientific research, but the slaughter of whales."
"If you read Australian lips, you'll say that slaughtering whales is not scientific. It's cruel, it's barbaric and it's unnecessary," Garrett added.
A Greenpeace ship left Auckland yesterday to chase the Japanese fleet.

PM backs anti-whaling campaign

By NATHAN BEAUMONT - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 20 December 2007

The prime minister has swung behind a campaign to stop Japanese whaling, as Australia prepares to send planes and an armed ship to monitor the whaling fleet near Antarctica.
Helen Clark's support, and that of other political leaders, came as New Zealand whaling commissioner Sir Geoffrey Palmer branded the International Whaling Commission - which has failed to bring an end to scientific whaling - "one of the worst international organisations in the world".
The Dominion Post began a campaign this week to halt the slaughter by Japan of up to 50 threatened humpback whales, 50 endangered fin whales and 935 minke whales.
By last night, more than 2100 people had signed an online petition urging the Japanese Government "to abandon its abhorrent whaling programme", including actress Lucy Lawless, singer Hollie Smith and radio and television presenter Marcus Lush.
Signatures had come from Papua New Guinea, France, the United States - and Japan.
Miss Clark said through a spokeswoman that she commended the campaign, which "reflected the values of New Zealanders".
Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick said the campaign - which began with Dominion Post editor Tim Pankhurst delivering a letter of protest to the Japanese embassy - would increase the pressure on Japan.
"Every effort that exerts pressure is constructive and helpful. We need to do it collectively ... so there is a concerted strategy here to say we find whaling something that really does set the hearts and minds of New Zealanders against it."
National leader John Key said his party did not support the killing of endangered species. "We're pretty bipartisan with the mainstream view on our abhorrence of whaling."
Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said: "This is a crucial time for the world community to send a very strong message to Japan that what they're doing is not acceptable. There is no market for the whale meat."
Sir Geoffrey called for the IWC to be remodelled to end Japan's annual whale slaughter.
The commission is powerless till at least 75 per cent of the IWC delegates vote to change Article 8 of the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling - the right to scientific whaling - which was approved in 1946.
Anti-whaling countries have tried to change the treaty several times, but failed each time to muster the required support. Recent IWC meetings have been plagued by allegations of vote-buying.
"The IWC is one of the worst international organisations I have been involved with," Sir Geoffrey said. "It is a massively challenging environment.
"Sometimes it feels like I am banging my head against a brick wall. I have spent a lot of years trying to understand the situation, but I still can't get my head around this. It is becoming a joke."
Australian planes and a ship will watch Japanese whaling ships off Antarctica, collecting photographic and video evidence that its government could use in legal action to stop the whaling.
Greenpeace ship Esperanza left Auckland yesterday for the Southern Ocean.

any thoughts on this? or do you guys think it's a matter for the south pacific only?

In principle - there sure be an enforced global ban on this disgusting practice. Zero tolerance.

People kill cows all the time. Pigs as well. Neither animals are very stupid. As long as they're not being hunted into extinction I don't see what the big deal is.
Yes, apparently dolphins are number 2 in intelligence in the world. Then don't whale for the intelligent dolphins.

actually they do, in Japan... but that's not important right now.

Whaling has been done for thousands of years. If these people want to get into a boat and chase after a whale in the pacific, then that's their choice.

Originally Posted by Infern0

any thoughts on this? or do you guys think it's a matter for the south pacific only?

Personally I am a fan of outlawing the process except in terms of traditional methods. ie if you want to row a boat off shore and spear one for food more power to ya but it should be stopped as a commercial process and if any of them get near our waters we should make a statement by blowing them out of the water.

Obviously you can outlaw the practice in your own waters.
But whaling is just another form of harvesting. If you outlaw whaling, you'll also have to outlaw culling of cows. If whaling is socially acceptable over there, then that's the way it is.
Unless whaling presents a clear and present danger to your country's security or economy, I don't think there's much ground in going after it.

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

Obviously you can outlaw the practice in your own waters.
But whaling is just another form of harvesting. If you outlaw whaling, you'll also have to outlaw culling of cows. If whaling is socially acceptable over there, then that's the way it is.
Unless whaling presents a clear and present danger to your country's security or economy, I don't think there's much ground in going after it.

it IS and economic consideration for both NZ and Aust due to the eco-tourism parts of our economies

also, comparing whales, to cows is a red herring. cows aren't endangered, long lived, or slow to breed as whales....we had a fair crack at wiping some species out of the ocean....lets not do it again.

remember, japan says it's for "research"....a claim that most marine biologists call a crock. and that the only reason japan has got away with such and obvious lie, is due to their buying off poor member countries part of the IWC.


personally, i wish sea shepard the best of luck in their "hunt" for these japanese murder ships. i'd be much happier if our navy put a couple of shells into their wheelhouse though

On a moral standpoint, comparing killing whales to killing cows is not red herring.
However, on an economic standpoint comparing killing whales to killing cows is completely incorrect.
Obviously this stuff is not for research.
But your argument is that of moral, not economical.
"personally, i wish sea shepard the best of luck in their "hunt" for these japanese murder ships."
That is why I compared killing whales to killing cows.
Being away from the environmental crowd for a while I kinda forgot these things are badly endangered. You're right, whaling should be banned. Whales should be preserved. Someone's gotta bio engineer some kind of quickly reproducing whale to be farmed in Japan or something.

If the practice was necessary to preserve life on this planet it would be adifferent matter as far as I am concerned, but the current situation stinks.

I would like to see it as a bullfight. Now people say bullfighting is cruel - but how about one man against one whale in a set area. Luvly! Maybe the whale could be persuaded to manage without a harpoon. If the man loses we could make candles outa him. The more I consider it - the better it sounds. Hmmm. Or we could can all the losing men like sardines. Big cans with bloody great keys. We could call them Texas Sardines.

Originally Posted by Infern0

personally, i wish sea shepard the best of luck in their "hunt" for these japanese murder ships. i'd be much happier if our navy put a couple of shells into their wheelhouse though

Yes but I am sure you can now see why I believe New Zealand needs an air combat force, a Japanese whaling boat may be able to out run a frigate but I am prepared to bet they wont outrun an antiship missile.

Seriously perhaps its time we pushed our claim on the Ross Shelf a little further and added the 200 mile economic zone down into the Antarctic possessions, if Aussie followed suit much of the southern ocean would become territorial waters.