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.
You’re right. After the “activists” get their boat cut in half, of course they cry to a sympathetic media about the horrible mean Navy. They’re well-funded by all kinds of govt. and leftist money, so they go after the captain and try to sue him personally (since suing the US Navy gets them absolutely nowhere, and even if they won, it would take literally 20 years). Bunch of dogs. On second thought, why give dogs a bad rap?
I watched a few episodes of the show Whale Wars last season.
My wife forbids it now, I kept waking the kids yelling “Ram them! Just turn and RAM THEM!!” at the TV.
...I implore you to go to Alaska during the Summer and take a boat ride to look at the humpback whales.
The Inuit of Alaska hunt whales, tho' probably not humpbacks. Are they "scum of the earth," too?
I had an anthro prof who had some whale meat in her freezer, a gift from her Inuit friends. She cooked and ate it, as far as I know. Was she "scum of the earth"?
Sink their boats and machine gun the survivors.
The eco-facists were involved in PIRACY by its complete and proper definition, they were flying the jolly rodger, seen in your photo on the left, still on one of its flagpoles, they were attempting to interfere in the lawful commerce of the other ship. That’s Piracy and to top it all off the Japanese ship didn’t ram their boat, they ran themselves into the side of the whaler.
The whaler would have been completely within their rights to not have rescued the pirate crew and left them with their scuttled ship to die as it sank.
WHEW! Thats a relief! Thats the first thing I think about while my ship is in distress, going down.
The video shows it was clearly the fault of the Ady Gil, 100%.
They might have been getting into position to deploy a prop fouler ahead of the Japanese Whaling boat. Found this info online:
"A prop fouler is designed to wrap around the propeller of a ship and shut it down. If Sea Shepherd can foul the prop of a whaling ship, the ship goes home."
“””the Ady Gil clearly rammed the Japanese ship.””””
A Farrari against a garbage truck.
“Lets see if we can make this garbage truck stop. I have a $1million dollar Farrari. Lets ram it!”
stupid is as stupid does
Nuke 'em from orbit.
It's the only way to be sure.
Humpback whales are mass murderers ~ voracious carnivores, they filter feed tiny crustaceans, plankton, and small fish (including herring, mackerel, capelin, and sandeel) from the water.
Why did our Creator make whales so tasty? Hence, probably the reason why they are “slaughtered” in the first place. If numbers are too low I am sure some type of official stance will be taken but there seems to a relative healthy amount of Minke to “sustain the eco-balance and harmony of the earth” so these "research" boats can continue. If they poach then it is up to that individual country, not some kangaroo pirate with a TV $$$how, to enforce the law.
Obviously not all Japanese want or need whalemeat, but why should that give a bunch of ecofreaks the right to commit genocide against that minority, and why should I get the warm and fuzzies about genocidal ecofreaks?
Does not compute.
I'm applying for a permit to take seal myself.
I see that there are FReepers who have bought into the whole magical mythical unicornian whale BS that GreenPeace indoctrinated America’s children on for the last 40 years.
Whales are just another mammal.
I’ve seen no evidence that baleen whales are any more intelligent than cattle. Those mystical whale songs don’t really sound much different than the noises I regularly hear from the cattle ranch down the road.
I don’t really like eating octopus or sea weed, but I’m not against the Japanese eating that stuff. If they want to eat a few non-threatened whales, big deal.
And yes, I’ve been within 20 feet of a California Gray and her calf out in the Pacific. I thought it was pretty cool. I’ve had the same feeling watching deer walk around under my tree stand and turkeys strut around for my decoy hens.
Like other have said, I respect the beauty and magnificence of many animals. I also kill and eat them.
Amen. Trying to foul the propellers of my ship in the open ocean is tantamount to killing the entire crew. Its like a cop confronting a druggie with a needle. Does the needle pose an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury? No! However, not knowing what is in the needle, a citizen or a cop has a right to stop the attack (including lawful deadly physical force) if they reasonably fear that they could contract a deadly, communicable disease from the violent crack addict.
In this situation, attempting to foul the screws does NOT immediately threaten the lives of the crew members, but a ship without propullsion in the Southern Ocean can easily, easily capsize, and kill the crew. Even if they made it to the life rafts, you cannot count on the eco-terrorists to make a real attempt at survivor recovery, and with the cold EXTREME COLD water, no survival is guaranteed, even with a ship closeby.
I am with you. As soon as these cretins get within 100m, (ESPECIALLY AFTER STRIKING A LEGAL NATIONAL FLAG AND HOISTING A PIRATE FLAG) fire a Mk19 or .50 cal M2 across the bow. They cross the 100m threshold....aim for the boathouse with the grenade machinegun, and use the M2 with SLAP rounds below the waterline.
If these religous zealots want to die protecting large sea cows, so be it, but as captain of a ship, I value the life of my crew and would protect them from open seas terrorism.
Now they polluted the ocean. Good going.
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