The Ady Gil's bow was torn off.
Posted on 01/07/2010 6:52:08 PM PST by myknowledge
The Sea Shepherd's anti-whaling speedboat Ady Gill has sunk after it was sliced in two by a Japanese whaling vessel during a clash in the Southern Ocean on Wednesday.
Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson told ABC News Breakfast the Ady Gill went down shortly before 3:30am AEDT while it was being towed to a French research base by the group's Bob Barker boat.
"I think they were towing for about six or seven hours," he said.
"Even the act of towing was taking more water on. The Japanese vessel had cut the vessel completely in half and made it unseaworthy."
Six Sea Shepherd crew members were almost thrown overboard and one crew member suffered broken ribs when the Japanese whaling security ship, the Shonan Maru 2, ploughed through the bow of the high-tech Ady Gill on Wednesday.
Both the Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd crew blame each other for the incident, which happened in Antarctic waters.
But Mr Watson has defended his crew and says the risk of dying on the high seas is worth it if it allows the group to save whales.
"My crew are well aware of the risks that we have to take to protect whales down here. I think those risks are worth taking," he said.
"I can tell you now that if the oceans die, civilisations collapse and we all die.
"People die everyday to protect oil wells and real estate and we call them heroes and pin medals on them. I think protecting the diversity of oceans... is a far more noble cause."
'Harassment and attack'
But Glenn Inwood from Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research says Mr Watson has a dangerous attitude.
"Paul Watson has said before that he's willing to give any Japanese vessel what he calls a steel enema by ramming his ship into the stern of any Japanese vessel," Mr Inwood said.
"He also proudly displays the number of vessels he's sunk on the side of the Steve Irwin.
"You can understand why the Japanese have put security vessels down there.
"To say Japan has broken maritime laws can't be justified in this instance when you're under constant harassment and constant attack from these ships."
Mr Inwood says Japan's whaling program is internationally recognised as legal.
"The International Whaling Commission (IWC) have sanctioned it. The New Zealand government recognises its legality, and many members of the IWC do as well," he said.
"Sea Shepherd is trying to prevent Japan from conducting what is a legal operation under the rules of the IWC."
Yesterday Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard asked the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to investigate the incident and said the findings would be made public.
She says the Government reserves the right to take international legal action if diplomacy with Japanese officials fails, and has warned that evidence has already been collected to launch such action.
New Zealand is also investigating the incident because the Ady Gil was registered there.
'An act of war'
Mr Watson says an insurance payout on the Ady Gill is unlikely because the incident was a deliberate act.
"It's a $1.5 million loss for our organisation," he said.
"I think the Japanese deliberately took that vessel out; they saw it as a threat and they were under orders to take it out.
"It would be an act of war so there wouldn't be any insurance on it."
Mr Watson says two Japanese harpoon ships were nearby but did not offer any help after the incident.
"They were responsible, they destroyed the vessel ... I think they should have offered some sort of assistance but they refused to acknowledge any distress signal," he said.
Mr Watson says they were able to remove all the fuel from the speedboat to prevent any pollution.
Mr Watson is urging the Federal Government to take a tougher action against Japanese whalers.
"In the six years that we've been doing this, we've never caused an injury to anyone, we've never broken a law... and now they have sunk one of our vessels," he said.
"[Federal Environment Minister] Peter Garrett has become the master of restraint. He made a campaign promise to end whaling; now let's see him [do something]."
Mr Watson says the Government should send a boat to Antarctic waters, where the Sea Shepherd's other boats - the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker - are continuing to pursue Japanese whalers.
Mr Watson says the boats are chasing the Japanese fleet and the whalers have not killed a whale in two days.
Diplomatic approach
Meanwhile, New Zealand officials have met with representatives from the Japanese embassy in Wellington to discuss the situation.
The ABC understands that at the Wellington meeting, Japan said it regarded the incident as "regrettable" but a "low-key event".
This morning a spokesman for the New Zealand Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, said contrary to media reports, Japan had not lodged a stern complaint with the New Zealand Government.
He said Japanese officials agreed with New Zealand that their citizens needed to have better regard for people on the high seas.
The spokesman said legal action over the collision had not been discussed, because it still had not been established who was at fault.
Maritime New Zealand has launched an investigation.
Man - that first gal has quite the chest. Is that Oak?
I’m with the old bumper sticker: “Nuke the gay baby whales”. You don’t like what the Japanese are doing, fine. But it’s not illegal. What the watermelons do is. Kind of like saviing owls by spiking trees in old growth forests where lumber’s being cut.
Want to artificially flood the Everglades to keep the Apple Snail Kite flying? Want to stop someone who’s purchased property from developing it because of some friggin’ salamander? Want to veto hydropower because of a mugwort? Want to watch the Imperial Valley dry up and blow away because of some damn smelt? Because the logic you apply to whales applies to those species as well.
You have a pet whale?
Actually I think it is against international law.
The Japanese don’t say they are whaling for consumption.
They call their whaling ships “research vessels”. They say they are doing “whale research” to get around the law...
So I think what the Japanese are doing stinks and I think Paul Watson is a complete idiot. I’m not sympathetic to either side.
“Why is a whale different from any other food source?”
Why’s a dog?
Just sayin...
I remember when they did that. Oregon coast back in the 1970’s. Lots of TNT. Bit chunks of whale pieces went flying in the air and some landed on cars. Lucky no one was hurt. And a large part of the whale was still on the beach. Idiots. Should have called in the USS New Jersey instead.
Endangered Species in the Pacific Islands
Threatened and Endangered Species
Listed Mammals
Humpback Whale Endangered Pacific Islands
http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/teslist.html Threatened and Endangered Species on
National Wildlife Refuges Database
Mammal Humpback Whale Endangered Kodiak NWR AK
Mammal Humpback Whale Endangered Alaska Maritime NWR AK
http://www.fws.gov/refuges/databases/ThreatenedEndangeredSpecies/ThreatenedEndangered_Display.cfm
At first I did not notice the chest. Must be an optical illusion. But upon further inspection, I would have to say dark walnut.
“Oh, nevermind, I understand now: YOU don’t like that fact that certain cultures consider whale meat FOOD!”
“Tough bananas, buddy. I eat things that you don’t like, and you eat things that I don’t like, and the Japanese eat things that you and others don’t like. So bloody what? As I said to another poster here: Get Over Yourself!”
______________ Just for you buddy. And THE AUTHOR IS JAPANESE. Whaling in Japan: Power, Politics, and Diplomacy By Jun Morikawa http://books.google.com/books?id=6Rid73dnTmgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false
whale huggers...
heh heh heh...;-)
President Ronald Reagan
In 1976, the quota for Southern Hemisphere Bryde’s whales was set to zero by the IWC. However, Japan proceded to take 225 of them during the 76-77 season by issuing itself a permit to take whales for scientific research under Article VIII of the ICRW. Following this event, the IWC recommended all future applications of Article VIII be reviewed by the IWC scientific committee.
In 1986, Japan introduced a similar proposal and later issued itself a scientific permit to take 825 minke whales and 50 sperm whales every year for ten years. Despite the fact that the IWC scientific committee rejected its research proposals Japan continued whaling.
The IWC adopted a resolution in 1987 recommending Japan not proceed until disagreements over its research proposals were resolved. A second resolution was also adopted on February 14, 1988 recommending Japan not proceed. On February 9, 1988 Japanese whalers killed the first minke whale in Antarctic waters under the new “self issued research whaling” permit.
President Ronald Reagan responded by cutting off Japanese fishing privileges in U.S. waters on April 6, 1988 under the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment.
President Ronald Reagan: “Given the lack of any evidence that Japan is bringing its whaling activities into conformance with the recommendations of the IWC, I am directing the Secretary of State under the Packwood-Magnuson Amendment to withhold 100 percent of the fishing privileges that would otherwise be available to Japan in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Japan has requested the opportunity to fish for 3,000 metric tons of sea snails and 5,000 metric tons of Pacific whiting. These requests will be denied. In addition, Japan will be barred from any future allocations of fishing privileges for any other species, including Pacific cod, until the Secretary of Commerce determines that the situation has been corrected.” - U.S. President Ronald Reagan, 1988
Is that supposed to be an insult?
Is that supposed to be an insult?
The Ady Gil's bow was torn off.
You are operating on emotion. I do not deny that.
I've seen plenty of whales. I live on the seacoast I, too, live on the coast & I've seen whales & I am thrilled beyond words everytime I see them...no matter how many times I see them, I doubt I would ever find myself saying, "I have have now seen 'plenty' of whales.
I don't see any reason to believe they are better or worse than any other mammal we consume daily.You, not 'we' consume daily...I do not 'consume' any mammal...whales, deer, cattle, bunnies or any other animal.
As seen in THIS VIDEO with a front-on video view. They rammed it right smack into the starboard-side stem of the Japanese ship and they had the choice of cutting or turning and avoiding in my estimate. Pay particular attention to the 00:20 mark of the video which is of the front on video view.
Caveat for all: Japanese TV video stream per link above may be good for a day or so more only--link may go down or to another video; may not play on all PCs; and finally and one must hit the "white triangle" at the link superimposed on the freeze frame of the photo).
I eat at Podunk Center in Madison County Iowa about twice a year.
I watched some of the videos of these guys, this is a very emotional issue for them, if only they were that way about abortion. But most of the time environmentalists are prochoice.
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