Posted on 01/08/2009 5:41:49 AM PST by Abathar
SYDNEY (AFP) – Militant environmentalists harassing Japan's whaling fleet in the Antarctic will be allowed to refuel their ship in Australia despite a plea from Tokyo, according to the government.
Japan has asked Australia and other countries to ban the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel the Steve Irwin from docking, accusing the activists of "sabotage".
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that while no request to dock had yet been received from the Steve Irwin, which is on its way to the southern Australian city of Hobart, there was no reason to keep the ship out.
"Should such a request be received, then the Steve Irwin will be permitted to dock at an Australian port. There is insufficient reason to prevent the Steve Irwin from doing that," she told reporters.
Paul Watson, captain of the Steve Irwin, has said the ship expects to refuel in Hobart on January 15 after more than two weeks pursuing the Japanese whalers through the Southern Ocean.
This is the fifth year Sea Shepherd activists have trailed the whalers and attempted to impede their hunt, prompting the Japanese government-backed Institute of Cetacean Research to accuse them of "eco-terrorism".
The whaling group said on Wednesday that the Sea Shepherd vessel had used a distress signal sent in the search for a missing Japanese crewman to track down the fleet and had then attempted to disrupt rescue efforts.
But Watson denied the accusations and said they were only trying to help.
Australia opposes Japanese whaling, but Gillard stressed that protests at sea should not put lives in danger.
"What we have said to the Steve Irwin is ... that when the Steve Irwin is in the Southern Ocean that is obviously a dangerous stretch of water, it's very far removed from land," said Gillard.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
There are certain species of whales that even Greenpeace admits could be harvested each year without cutting into their birth/death ratios if done properly.
I don't see the difference between harvesting whales or harvesting salmon. Regulate it conservatively and let the resources be used. I know we over-harvested 100+ years ago, but why are plentiful whales off limits? Are they special or different than any other mammal we eat?
The Australian magnetic barnacle has a preference for Greenpeace hulls. Once the barnacle is firmly attached to the hull, its’ explosive breeding cycle begins. Very unique in nature.
yup I pretty much root for the whalers.....I hunt and eat the meat I hunt. I do not hunt threatened or endangered species and suspect the japanese do not either....
Are they special or different than any other mammal we eat?In my opinion, yes. In the same way that monkeys and apes are special, or that dogs are special.
Koreans eating dogs are hideous mindless savages, in my opinion.
The same goes for Africans eating primates.
And for Japanese eating whales.
That's just my opinion and I'm sure I'll be flamed for it and I'm not going to get in a big argument about it because it's not my "thing", just my opinion, and it's not my reason for being on FR, to hawk "animal rights" (which I don't even believe in, I believe in "animal welfare" not "animal rights").
But since this thread is here I'm just stating my opinion and then not speaking up on this issue anymore.
Over and out.
Fair enough, everyone is entitled to their opinion and this one seems to be polarizing at best.
Ive watched Whale wars and like other posters im sure i felt like stealing a battle ship and sink a few 18’ shells into the Steve. Im Suprised the Japs have let this go as long as they have they should send naval escorts with the whaling fleet for now on
In my opinion, it is time for the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force to defend its fishing fleet and send the pirate ship Steve Irwin to the deep. I would not shed a tear for her crew of overgrown hippies.
They are infected by the same disease which the Republicans are ... "NoBalls-itis"
I tend to agree. When you consider the intelligence level of these mammals, it is like eating a primate. The Japanese whalers have been know to take illegal numbers of whales in the past and the means of doing so is quite cruel. There is no real need to harvest whales for their oil in light of the development of synthetic oils and protien can be had from other meat sources. This to me is the same as harvesting sharks for their fins (shark fin soup anyone?) and then throwing them back in the sea to die. I hate PETA and the crap that they espouse, but I think the basic reverence for life applies here. Anyone who is an avid scuba diver as I am has a real sense of awe concerning these animals.
Like the saying goes; if God does not judge us He should apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.
I watched one episode of Whale Wars and was wondering why they don’t just sink the bastards.
Looked like sabotage and piracy, to me.
“We’re not a protest organization, we’re a policing organization,” Paul Watson has said of his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS).
SSCS’s mission is to stop fishing of which it disapproves. Its preferred methods? Ramming and sinking fishing ships, throwing butyric acid on their decks, and firing machine guns. Watson argues that United Nations resolutions authorize him to commit violent acts. But he regularly interferes with fisherman and hunters who are committing no crime. He serves as judge, jury, and executioner — while enjoying the same tax-exempt status as universities and churches.
Some of the animal-rights movement’s most notorious terrorists got their start with SSCS. One of them, convicted arsonist Rodney Coronado, had Watson’s approval to plan and execute an attack on Iceland’s whaling industry. He and a colleague sank two of the fleet’s four ships and destroyed a processing facility.
Joshua Harper has also served as a SSCS crewmember. Harper describes his goal as “the complete collapse of industrial civilization.” A young man with an impressive criminal record...
http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/347
I agree with both of you. I like whales & I am sure I will hear about it too.
“I watched one episode of Whale Wars and was wondering why they don’t just sink the bastards. Looked like sabotage and piracy, to me.”
Likewise. In the one episode I saw the several greeniacs illegally boarded a Japanese whaler at sea, and when taken into custody started screaming to the media that their people were kidnapped and held hostage. Personally I thought the japanese should have thrown the boarders overboard.
I saw them throwing some noxious acid on the deck....chemical weapons use in violation of international treaties.
I saw them try to get a long rope into the propellor....sabotage on the open seas.
I also saw them board the ship....and whine about them holding their man prisoner in violation of international law......shoulda tossed him astern.
What they need is to mount .50 cals on all sides....and then have the sack to use them on the aggressive boats......just start putting holes in ‘em when they get close....blow the engines...put ‘em out of commission.
I won't knock anyone's love of whales and anti-whaling sentiment, but the methods the Sea Shepherds use are illegal, and risk human lives. they value whales above humans. Their mission might be "saintly" but they and their methods certainly are not. They are, plain & simple, ecoterrorists.
Don’t look now, but most of the meat we eat comes from mammals.
Actualy, wasn’t it the French who developed and tested that barnacle on one of Green Peace’s vessels at the dock a few years ago??
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