Posted on 12/24/2011 6:19:00 PM PST by ColdOne
Anti-whaling activists said they had intercepted the Japanese harpoon fleet far north of Antarctic waters Sunday with the help of a military-style drone.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society spokesman Paul Watson said the unmanned long-range drone, launched from the anti-whaling ship the Steve Irwin, had located the Japanese fleet and relayed the coordinates back to the activists.
Watson said Sea Shepherd, a militant activist group which annually shadows and harasses the Japanese whalers, had caught up with the fleet at 37 degrees south, 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) above Antarctic waters.
No whales had been killed so far, he added.
"This is going to be a long hard pursuit from here to the coast of Antarctica," said captain Watson.
"But thanks to these drones, we now have an advantage we have never had before -- eyes in the sky."
Though three Japanese security vessels were now tailing the Steve Irwin to prevent it from following the Nisshin Maru factory ship, Watson said the activists had the upper hand with their two drones, donated by a US port security firm.
"We can cover hundreds of miles with these drones and they have proven to be valuable assets for this campaign," he said.
While the Steve Irwin was being tailed by the harpooners' security detail Watson said Sea Shepherd's other vessels the Bob Barker and Brigitte Bardot -- which can travel faster than the whalers -- were free to chase the Japanese south.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
(The Japanese have no right to kill whales in the Whale sanctuary. Its a big world, let them kill whales elsewhere, if they must. There is no legitimate reason for killing whales. I hope they stop Japan from killing a single whale.)
Wrongo!! Read post #14 The idiot crew from the anti-whaling ship last year lost a very fast chase boat when it “accidentally rammed”a whaler.
Just the opposite from you I hope the Japanese give back to the harassing greenpeacers as much trouble as they can.
A good harpoon’er can knock that sucker out the sky.
These “sea bums” don’t work for a living and seem to get their money from some magical hole...and a hell of a lot of it.
You are right that the harvest is limited to the permitted number allotted only. On land, it’s called “wildlife management” but on the sea it’s called “needless, senseless, MURDER!”
I’ll just bet the Japs have started a secret chain letter called the “Get Captain Cocoapuffs & His Smelly Sea Hippies” fund, to be awarded to anyone who sends that motley crew to Davy Jones.
American ships???
You are sadly misinformed. Sea Shepherd ships sail under the Dutch flag.
Watson was a co-founder of Green Peace. Both Green Peace and the World Wildlife fund endorse his eco-terrorist tactics. And Sea Shepherd doesn't limit themselves to terrorizing just the Japanese whaling fleet; the tuna industry is in their crosshairs, too.
What in the world is wrong with you? The Japanese are perfectly within their rights to whale.
Don’t like the Japanese, huh?
>>The Japanese Navy accidentally bombed the crap out of Pearl Harbor and killed my grandfather almost exactly 70 years ago.<<
Holy Crap, have you considered counciling?
It’s been 70 years. Time to get some help if you are still bitter. Forgiveness will set you free.
Japan is an ally.
The Japanese have been over fishing for decades. They would have dragged netted the Sea of Cortez to death if it wasn’t so deep and mountainous.
Why don’t you read up on Japanese fishing history. Everything from shark fins to oyster beds for pearls.
>>The Japanese have been over fishing for decades.<<
Oh please. Stop using Greenpeace as your reference.
Give it a few years and there won’t be enough Japanese to fish for anything.
Hippies Failing Badly!TM
Please let me know if you want on or off the Whale Wars ping list.
The Japanese don’t publish a crew list for their whaling ships, but I’m pretty certain that none of the people on board participated in the bombing of Pearl.
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