[Talking_Mouse]

I thought human shields were supposed to be willing to die for what they shielded.

[AmericanMade1776]

Greenpeace activists sit in their inflatable boat after a harpoon fired from a Japanese whaling ship narrowly missed them in the Southern Ocean January 14, 2006. Greenpeace said the harpoon had been fired directly over their boat into a Minke whale, but their boat got caught up in the rope coming from the harpoon back to the whaling vessel. One of the activists fell overboard and grabbed the rope to climb back aboard. REUTERS/Greenpeace

[Jaxter]

Never bring a rubber boat to a harpoon fight.

[starfish923]

Greenpeacers think more of nature than of people.
Their priorities are wrong. People are first.

[DoughtyOne]

Too bad they can't catch these Greenflease activists in fishing nets instead of dolphins.

[CyberSpartacus]

As I understand it when Greenpeace interferes with or tries to board ships engaged in activities with which they disagree, they are engaging in piracy. The Japanese therefore have the right to use force against them. Or even hang them as pirates.

[Lurker]

Theses GP thugs are interfering with a ship on the high seas. Just sink them.

L

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

A harpoon from Japanese whaling vessel Yushin Maru No.2 was fired directly over the Zodiac inflatable boat, which was shadowing a minke whale in Antarctic seas.

This may be something for concern.

The Minke whale is not a very large whale...they only grow to be about 25-30 feet long...and is not normally hunted as other species are by those nations who still hunt whales.
Could it be that the Japanese are turning to other species due to the inability to now find the species they normally prey on?
Or has the Japanese predilection for odd meat products expanded to include the Minke whale? The are definitely too small to be of any interest for their oil.

[rlmorel]

"...when a Japanese whale harpoon was launched across an inflatable boat in the Antarctic seas yesterday. The incident has forced Greenpeace to rethink their human shield style protest against Japanese scientific whaling in the Southern Ocean..."

Ya think?

[taillightchaser]

Damn--that Jap needs to go back to harpoon aiming school!!

[IronJack]

"We continue to do our utmost to ensure the safety of the activists,

Why?

I suspect a cannon-fired harpoon would make pretty short work of an inflatable watercraft.

[Drew68]

"He may have swallowed some seawater and whale blubber but he is all right,"

Can he still claim to be a vegetarian?

[Batrachian]

I don't want to defend Greenpeace, who are a communist front organization masquerading as environmentalists, but the Japanese are not hunting Minke whales for "research". They are doing it to keep their whaling industry alive. It's purely economics. Economics is fine. I'm all for economics, but whaling is an ugly business that I would like to see end once and for all. Yes, because I like whales.