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BOAT PEOPLE ATTACKED
A threat from those whale-savin’ sea-vegans:
Hardline anti-whaling activists are threatening to sacrifice their ship in Antarctic waters by ramming a Japanese whaler …
[Captain Paul] Watson said his boat, currently north of the Balleny Islands, west of the Ross Sea, was now seen as a pirate vessel, and he would rather lose it in defence of whales than to bureaucrats.
He intends to take drastic action, probably in the next 24 hours, to slam his vessel into the Nisshin Maru’s slipway, preventing it from hunting more whales.
Shortly afterwards:
Anti-whaling activists say one of their vessels and a Japanese whaling ship have collided near the Ross Sea, sparking a distress call from the Japanese crew.
A statement from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said the whaling vessel, the Kaiko Maru, issued the distress call, which the group had acknowledged, about 3.20pm today.
These Sea Shepherd people are insane.
Piracy is still a hanging offence in some parts of the world. Where’s that yardarm? I reckon Captain Watson needs to be hanged, and then left to decompose publicly in a gibbet just like William Kidd in 1701. At least Captain Kidd had an excuse, all that loot plying the tradewinds on the Batavian route in the Indian Ocean. What’s the Sea Shepard’s motive, insanity? Get the rope and put the curs out of their misery.
I like these Sea Shepherd people. Their word is their bond. All too rare these days.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 02 12 at 02:58 AM • permalinkThis bit sums up the left’s policies for me:
Captain Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said on Monday his vessel, the Farley Mowat, was almost out of fuel
Eco-mentalists completely ignore practical realities in areas such as economics and logistics to make a meaningless feelgood gesture which leaves everyone worse off.
Posted by Art Vandelay on 2007 02 12 at 03:01 AM • permalinkSo the nutjobs say they’re going to do something nutty and then do it and we, like, act surprised? “But it’s such a nutty thing to do!” we cry.
When Iranian nutjob, Armindinnerjacket, says he’s going to wipe Israel off the face of the map or Venezuelan nutjob, Hugo Chutzpah, says he’s going to nationalise everything then our response is to not believe it because nobody does stuff that nutty?
Posted by Jack Lacton on 2007 02 12 at 03:03 AM • permalinkThey are now deliberately endangering lives in a perticularly unforgiving part of the world. A criminal offence under the laws of the sea surely? Maybe someone here with expert knowledge might elaborate.
As for running out of fuel, my guess is that as they earlier said they were about to give up without finding any whalers, and now have rammed one, this is a final crescendo before turning for port. If they had more fuel they would loiter and interdict longer.
Where will they go? Auckland for a media circus?
Does anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling?
Posted by fightdemback on 2007 02 12 at 03:14 AM • permalink#8 - Hey man, in these culturally relative times, who are we to judge? If it tastes good, eat it.
What is your position on indigenous whaling? And 2 supplementary questions - Are you a folder or a scruncher? Both socks on first and then the shoes or sock, shoe, sock, shoe?
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 02 12 at 03:24 AM • permalinkDoes anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling?
I do, and Norwegian Whaling as well. We hunt deer, elk, and other mammals for meat and byproducts (e.g. deerskin gloves and antler racks). We shoot pheasants and angle for monkfish, walleyed pike, trout and countless other finny creatures. Think of a whale as a giant aquatic moose or a seriously overgrown tuna, and you’re there.
Does anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling?
It’s a lifestyle thing. Just like we have to approve of poofters.
In the same way, we have to approve of whalers and the Sea sheperd gang.
In fact we have to approve of everything, except amerikka
Posted by Jack from Montreal on 2007 02 12 at 03:41 AM • permalink"Does anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling? “
Jeremy Sear already asked Matt Hue
Do have a have point to make or are you going to run away again.
Posted by armageddon on 2007 02 12 at 03:49 AM • permalinkDont approve of whaling, but as long as its not compulsory I dont care.
Sea sheep-herd should just “dissapear”, unmourned and unmissed an intersting chapter in mental illness come to a close. They have deliberately placed themselves outside the law and are acting as mad dogs. They need putting down.
If they want change then why not get “scientific” whaling overturned? Why not put all that passion into getting that banned? Because it doesnt engage their mental illness?
Im about to write to my MP demanding that they not be allowed to dock in Australian port. It will achieve bugger all I suppose but They are scum.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2007 02 12 at 04:32 AM • permalinkThese ratbags self-righteously believe they are above any of man’s laws - and who does that sound like. These are pirate vessels and should be dealt with as such. Any attempt to enter Australian ports should result in the arrest of the crew and the sinking of the ships. The crew should be then extradited to Japan to be tried for piracy. If they are allowed to get away with these acts, it opens the door for other ratbags to attack ships on the high seas that are carrying uranium, coal, oil, cars, Australians or anything or anyone else deemed an abomination.
Sent off a email to Mr Turnbull as environment minister I thought it might fall into his area. Also sent a copy to the Japanese consulate here in Perth.
Will be interesting to see if either reply…Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2007 02 12 at 04:52 AM • permalinkI think the Japanese should re-float the Yamato and send it down to sort out the Sea Shepherd nuts once and for all. With the range of her main guns they should also be able to get most of their land based offices as well......
I support whaling. Whales are the cows of the sea. No problem with hunting and eating them provided the population is looked after. Interestingly despite the fact that we eat cows they are one hell of a long way from being extinct.
"Does anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling?”
Yes. I also approve of harpooning anti-whaling activists.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2007 02 12 at 05:23 AM • permalinkAny policy against whaling should be based on species’ numbers and endangered status. That is perfectly defensible. What is not defensible is opposing other countries’ whaling on the grounds that whales are some special kind of animal. We might think so but the Japanese, Norwegians and Icelanders certainly don’t (well they might consider them special tasting). That is their opinion and they are entitled to it. Arguments against whaling based on this special view of whales are flimsy and easily rebutted by whaling countries.
And the Sea Shepherd is acting illegally for all the reasons other commenters have outlined.
I believe whale oil is unsurpassed as a lubricant in some types of machinery. Ambergris is another valuable product.
These anti-whaling types are selective in their goodness. My family eats shark most weekends, and shark is not too far removed philosophically from whale.
You just can’t be a true Victorian unless you like regular feeds of fresh-battered flake and chips, cooked to crisp perfection in trans-fats with lashings of salt.
Posted by walterplinge on 2007 02 12 at 05:40 AM • permalinkDoes anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling?
#8, Are you a Western cultural imperialist?
#26, rickw, they’re already one step ahead of you:
(unfortunately they’re probably too busy fighting Gamilons to take on the hippies)
Posted by Art Vandelay on 2007 02 12 at 05:47 AM • permalinkI’d rather the whales were left alone. I particularly don’t like the disingenuous “scientific research” banner under which the whales are hunted. It’s about as scientific as a high school globawl warmening project.
Idiots at sea is a worry. I can imagine them turning their moral radar at other industries. If they get enough public opinion behind them, I reckon their next target may be P&O…
In answer to #8 No I don’t approve of whaling. We eat meat yes, but a sheep is a brainless bigmac on four legs bred for the purpose, not a whale. I am stongly pro conservation, that’s pro CONSERVATION, not pro marxist scumbag trying to advance a leftist agenda by hijacking an eco group now that his Soviet sugar daddy is broke.
The problem is that too many formerly worthy green groups have become soft left political advocacy groups. It reduces their credibility and their effectivness and it’s the reason they’re met with so much instinctive hostility from the right.
As for the Sea sheperd nuts, at least they’re actually prepared to risk themselves for their convictions, can you imagine Micheal Moore or some Code Pink asswad doing that? They may be pretty crazy, but then anyone who kills whales is an asshole so it’s a tie.
#36 - Don’t happen to have a pet whale, do you?
Posted by walterplinge on 2007 02 12 at 06:34 AM • permalink#29 I’m not sure that whale oil is the premier lubricant but certainly it was highly prized at the beginning of the industrial revolution due to its superior lubrication properties against other known lube sources.
IIRC it allowed cotton gins to spin 30-40% faster than other lube types and was a key component of industry.
I suspect that much of the lighting ran on whale oil also as there was no petroleum industry as such.
Once gas and fuel oils became popular, whale oil and whaling disappeared.
UNCLOS Treaty:
Article 100
Duty to cooperate in the repression of piracyAll States shall cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy on the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State.
Article101
Definition of piracy
Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).
Article103
Definition of a pirate ship or aircraft
A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it is intended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose of committing one of the acts referred to in article 101. The same applies if the ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act, so long as it remains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.
Article104
Retention or loss of the nationality of a pirate ship or aircraft
A ship or aircraft may retain its nationality although it has become a pirate ship or aircraft. The retention or loss of nationality is determined by the law of the State from which such nationality was derived.
Article105
Seizure of a pirate ship or aircraft
On the high seas, or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State, every State may seize a pirate ship or aircraft, or a ship or aircraft taken by piracy and under the control of pirates, and arrest the persons and seize the property on board. The courts of the State which carried out the seizure may decide upon the penalties to be imposed, and may also determine the action to be taken with regard to the ships, aircraft or property, subject to the rights of third parties acting in good faith.
Sea Shepherd are pirates
iN relation to offences on the high seas, THE MEANING OF PIRACY is necessarily indeterminate; since the term is not used in the criminal jurisprudence of the Admiralty in the technical sense of the common law. Lord Coke long ago stated, that a pardon of felonies would not pardon piracy, for “piracy or robbery on the high seas was no felony, whereof the common law took any knowledge, &c.; but was only punishable by the civil law, &c.; the attainder by which law wrought no forfeiture of lands or corruption of blood.”
So pirates are offenders against the law of nations: that is, they define themselves by their acts as common enemies of all mankind when theior acts occur on the high seas.
As such, the hand of every man must be turned against them. Any warship of government vessel of any nation is REQUIRED to force them to surrender, arrest them and deal with them under their law as pirates. If they resist, they are required to sink or otherwise destroy them.
MarkL
CanberraListen Tim, I know the Greenpeace folk are rolling-eyes level hipster nonsense, but the whales really are in danger of being taken out by Japan and the other recalcitrant nations. There really isn’t any alternative to stopping the hunting of whales or they’re going to be gone, and with them a good portion of the particular system that works with whales to… what? He RAMMED them?
Oh, ok, that’s just nuts.
Posted by mencken_cynic on 2007 02 12 at 07:04 AM • permalink#8 Yes, emphatically. I’ve had whale in Tokyo and I must say it was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten (that said, I’ve heard most cuts are less scrumptious). And I think the Nipponese are smart enough not to make them extinct.
Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2007 02 12 at 07:28 AM • permalinkNow, if only the whaler had some of these on board…
Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2007 02 12 at 07:31 AM • permalink"Piracy is still a hanging offence in some parts of the world”
Indeed. In NSW the last two offences you could be hung for were “Treason” and “Piracy with Violence” - both of which were downgraded in the early 1980’s.
More’s the pity.
Posted by Apparatchik on 2007 02 12 at 07:39 AM • permalinkSpeaking of nutbag animal rights activists, I am sure you would all be entertained by the class act in last weekend’s Gold Coast Bulletin (unfortunately, no link is available, but I will send a copy of the offending article to Tim – he can share it, and the pic, if he wants. It is such comedy gold that I suspect the journo, Mr Doug Parrington, is taking the mickey.
Some choice extracts:
“Joy Verrinder is part way through describing a graphic lobbying campaign on behalf of domestic animals when she breaks down. She lets out a soft sob and excuses herself from the table so she can find a tissue. This clearly is a memory that comes at a high price…..
“As someone who has been committed to sparing animals pain or suffering at the hands of humans and as a hands on activist on behalf of animals, she is somewhat of a paradox. She is, after all, allergic to cats, dogs and horses.”….
”Verrinder could have had children but chose not to. She candidly admits that animals became the all consuming passion during her child bearing years, but she doesn’t regret that for an instant.” I give them love and they love me back”…..
She has recently hooked up with a new husband, who rejoices in the name ‘Lewis Shobbrook” who has five kids and a mess of grandkids, who no doubt view the new grandma with the same fascination that a cobra holds for a rabbit. Fortunately for them, Ms Verrinder is more “content to look after her own brand of “children” – two dogs, two cats and four chooks…”
This woman uses quotes from former greats, such as Ghandi, Schweizter, Bentham, and of course the god of animal rights activists, Peter Singer, to argue her position (“I have to say that book [by Singer] changed my life”). She is a vegan, and even though she loves shoes, she is prepared to spend more for Italian vinyl shoes “…To satisfy her fashion passion and keep her soul at rest, she now orders handmade Italian vinyl shoes…..If you believe in something, you have to follow it through to the end, even if it means more expensive shoes”, she says laughing”
Just like the Italian shoes manufacturers’ belief in the profit motive and that a sucker is born every minute.The article is really about her campaign for compulsory desexing of cats and dogs. She claims the Qld primary industries minister, Tim Mulherin, has not replied to her correspondence. Leaving aside how tempting that may be for the big Tim, I find it hard to believe, particularly when it becomes clear later on in the article when she is talking about her regular discussions with the DPI, Mulherin’s department.
Ms Verrinder appears oblivious to the irony that a champion of animal rights, who believes there should be no difference between the rights of humans and animals, to be lobbying for the compulsory desexing of dogs and cats. But hey, its how you feel, right?
This woman is a luvvie cliché. She did an education diploma in the early seventies, and taught in Queensland public schools, reaching deputy principal, a fact that reinforces my need to send my kids to private school. At least she took early retirement at 49 before more harm was inflicted on the kiddies.
The best bit is the picture of Ms Verrinder in what looks like a padded cell with a rooster, cat and dog. Head tilts ahoy!So [Sea Shepherd] are offenders against the law of nations: that is, they define themselves by their acts as common enemies of all mankind when their acts occur on the high seas.
I have to wonder where the people constantly nattering about the Geneva Conventions and “international law” are on this. I have a feeling I know—firmly behind Sea Shepherd. If so, that makes their stance on other matters purely political and a prime example of hypocrisy.
On the other hand, perhaps they’re not hypocrites, because they consider international law only as a brake on western, developed nations, and have no concern with the actions of “non-state actors” and third-worlders.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2007 02 12 at 07:45 AM • permalinkMs Verrinder appears oblivious to the irony that a champion of animal rights, who believes there should be no difference between the rights of humans and animals, to be lobbying for the compulsory desexing of dogs and cats.
You’re assuming she’d be against spaying and neutering humans.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2007 02 12 at 07:47 AM • permalinkThese Sea Shepherd people are insane.
But they really make Greenpeace look like pussies . . . .
Posted by Young and Free on 2007 02 12 at 07:57 AM • permalinkOK, I’m an Antarctic eco-tourist, so I would rather pay $25,000 to sail on an Australian, UK or a US ship to Antarctica rather than pay $20,000 for a berth on a Russian icebreaker. What are my alternatives? My travel agent didn’t know of any. Hear this, Aurora Australis owners: while you are supplying the Australian scientists you can entertain a couple of hundred tourists (OK, maybe fewer) and make a lot of money, possibly enough to cover the cost of the resupply expedition. I would rather spend my money in AUD$ than in rubles.
#26 rickw
I think the Japanese should re-float the Yamato
They already have.
Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2007 02 12 at 09:43 AM • permalinkLogic and common sense demand that these lunatics be arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned. Unfortunately, Western society has chosen to treat morally self-indulgent imbeciles such as these the way a father would treat a rebellious teenager. As long as we continue to infantilize them the way they have infantilized themselves, they will continue to ratchet up their naughtiness until someone gets seriously hurt.
These are adults who are knowingly breaking the law. They do so not out of the courage of their convictions, but out of the freedom from consequences.
Funny, I actually thought I’d manage to go my whole life without agreeing with Greenpeace on anything. But damn, these guys are a bunch of cocksmokers. And to think the whalers actually stopped to help look for those buttplugs who got lost. I bet they’re wishing they’d harpooned the rubber ducky instead and sailed away.
From Watson’s Wiki bio:
The first Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sea Shepherd, was purchased in December 1978 with assistance from the Fund for Animals. Sea Shepherd soon established itself as one of the more controversial environmental groups, known for provocative direct action tactics in addition to more conventional protests. These tactics have included, at times, ramming illegal whaling ships at sea, and the scuttling of two ships in an Icelandic harbor. Watson remains the leader of Sea Shepherd today and uses the title “Captain” in reference to his role in the organization.
“Captain” Watson cracks me up. Almost anyone else who’d cherish the rank, self-designated or not, would consider that a condition of holding it is your stewardship of the ships you command and the passengers and crew on board. I wouldn’t board a ship Watson captained if it were anchored in the wading pool at the playground next door.
Posted by rick mcginnis on 2007 02 12 at 10:38 AM • permalinkInfantile naughtiness sure runs out of excuses this far away from home. These guys are from the “let’s all rope up our karabiners and die gloriously together” tribe of Greenographic Channel adventurers from hell. There’s a well rehearsed element of desperation going on here.
Ol’ Whalebone could be well past ‘bingo fuel’ for at least one of his ships and he knows he’s flying the wrong flag for a cheery welcome back in port anyway. Pirate or no, if it comes down to a moment of personal glory, and he feels he has everything to prove and nothing to lose, he does have the option of transferring crew to his companion ship and taking the helm alone. Then he’d be free to become the millennium’s first self-styled Master & Commander fuckin’ martyr.
If he really wanted to, who’s there to stop him?
The “ramming” in this case seems to be a sea-borne fender bender. But two ships hitting each other at sea could easily become a catastrophe, because they can’t be turned or stopped on a dime. So I think we can conclude that the Sea Shepherd people don’t really care about human safety.
If this were a sane world, the Japanese Coast Guard would take the Sea Shepherd ships into custody, tow them to Japan, and imprison the crew for piracy, property damage, and attempted murder. I cite Article 105, listed in #40 by MarkL.
Re: #40
Article103
Definition of a pirate ship or aircraft
(A) A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it is intended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose of committing one of the acts referred to in article 101. The same applies if the ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act, so long as it remains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.
(B) A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if the crew goes about saying things like, “Arrr, me hearties...” Eye patches and parrots are optional.
"Does anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling?"
In regard to that question, I am curious as to fightdemback’s reaction to this quote on the previous post:
"A child sex-offender has won a discrimination case against the Queensland government because he was denied food prepared in accordance with Muslim religious laws ... “
I can imagine many multi-culti leftist types getting on their high horse about a muslim prisoner’s food offerings in this era of of multi-culturalism and diversity. All cultures are equal and have to be accommodated properly, after all. Otherwise, we’d be guilty of the cardinal sin of Islamophobia (an argument which makes no sense, of course). But I think it would be quite easy for the Japanese to make a nearly indentical argument about their cultural traditions and social values and their need and right to eat whale meat. Surely we are not in a position to tell them what to do? Their culture is at least as equally valid as ours, no?
Well, Whalebone Watson has a skull & crossed bones flag on his ship, allright. These jokers must think they’re very funny and righteous, but I bet they don’t know Japan still has the death penalty in place. Ramming ships on the frozen seas is no kidding matter in my book. Wonder what’ll happen when the pirates run out of fuel…
I’m firmly against commercial whaling. If the Icelandic and Norwegian people want to hunt whales using traditional equipment and methods (ie no harpoon guns) they can go for it, but the Japanese attitude to it just pisses me off. Scientific research my ass.
Furthermore, Australia is a signatory to the ban on commercial whaling, and it is in waters that Australia has declared as her own that the Japanese ships are (or at least were) working. Instead of this Sea Shephard idiocy, there should be an Australian warship down there taking custody of the Japanese whaling fleet, impounding their ships and imprisoning their crew.
></////*> a lost whale.......
sing song time.....
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.Take me koala back, Jack,
Take me koala back.
He lives somewhere out on the track, Mac,
So take me koala back.
All together now!Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down, sport,
Tie me kangaroo down.For the Yamato afficiendoes.
As for the comments on territorial waters, etc, the answer is 12 nmiles from land. A “contiguous zone” extends a further 12 nmiles as a regulatory buffer zone.
The “Economic Exclusion Zone” extends 200 nmiles from land, and gives economic and environmental oversight but not territorial ownership. Beyond the EEC limit is the “High Seas”.
For the viewer’s pleasure: Law of the Sea.
Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2007 02 12 at 06:56 PM • permalinkFrancis H - Doesn’t matter if other countries refuse to recognise our claim. A warship sent down there could sort them out even if there is no claim on those waters. It seems we are diligent when enforcing the illegal fishing (bonefish was it? the boat they chased over halfway back to South Africa) but not whaling.
Note I’m not suggesting they place any lives in danger, simply that Australia uses it’s naval forces (and airforce I guess) to enforce international law.
aarggh, throw ‘em to the welsh, Cp’n Ahab.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 08:38 PM • permalinkHmmmm.
Does anyone here actually approve of Japanese Whaling?
I do.
It amounts to about 500-600 Minke whales and 10 Fin whales a year. More than that die of old age each year.
Posted by memomachine on 2007 02 12 at 08:42 PM • permalink#8 There is no problem with hunting. It’s quite natural. Smart hunters will not rapaciously denude the land or sea of game. If demand was that big, then farming of the hunted species should be created. So, I am opposed to the rapacious despoiling of the oceans, but not against sensible hunting and farming practices.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 08:45 PM • permalink#26 Refloat the Yamato? Good god man, what are you thinking!! That’s a potentially great dive site.
What depth is it at?
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 08:52 PM • permalink#82 Wimpy Canadian
300 meters and broken in two. She blew up rather spectacularly, too, so there’s not much left to “refloat”.#26 Refloat the Yamato? Good god man, what are you thinking!! That’s a potentially great dive site.
What depth is it at?
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 02 12 at 09:21 PM • permalinkOkay, more on Captain Watson here:
In 1960, Paul was a member of the Kindness Club, founded by Aida Flemming in New Brunswick. After trappers killed one of his beaver friends, Paul set out, at the age of nine, to confiscate and destroy leg-hold traps. He was also known to disrupted deer and duck hunters, and to prevent other boys from shooting birds.
.
.
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Paul Watson was one of the co-founders of the Greenpeace Foundation. His involvement began with a Sierra Club protest on the U.S. and Canadian border in October 1969, against the nuclear testing at Amchitka Island by the Atomic Energy Commission.
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In 1975, Watson served as First officer under Captain John Cormack on the voyage to confront the Soviet Whaling fleet. In June 1975, Robert Hunter and Paul Watson were the first people to put their lives on the line to protect whales when Paul placed his inflatable Zodiac between a Russian harpoon vessel and a pod of defenseless Sperm whales. During this confrontation with the Russian whaler, a harpooned and dying sperm whale loomed over Paul’s small boat. Paul recognized a flicker of understanding in the dying whale’s eye. He felt that the whale knew what they were trying to do. He watched as the magnificent leviathan heaved its body away from his boat, slipped beneath the waves and died. A few seconds of looking into this dying whale’s eye changed his life forever. He vowed to become a lifelong defender of the whales and all creatures of the seas.
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.In June 1977, Paul Watson resigned from the Greenpeace Foundation because of disagreements with the emerging bureaucratic structure of the organization. Patrick Moore had replaced Robert Hunter and was opposed to direct action campaigns. Moore had informed Watson that he would not be allowed to lead another seal campaign.Paul left Greenpeace because he felt the original goals of the organization were being compromised, and because he saw a global need to continue direct action conservation activities on the high seas by an organization that would enforce laws protecting marine wildlife.
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.On the political front, Paul has run for Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre in the Canadian Federal elections. He ran twice for the Green Party. He also ran on the Green Party ticket for Vancouver Parks Board in 1987 and for Mayor of Vancouver in 1995.These are just a sample of the drivel on the Sea Shepherds site.
I do confess that I have been a supporter of them in the past, but these days I find there are more pressing issues than the Japanese harpooning a few hundred whales.
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2007 02 12 at 09:58 PM • permalink#82 Wimpy Canadian
Good god man, what are you thinking!! That’s a potentially great dive site.
No, it’s not. It’s a war grave.
Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2007 02 12 at 10:01 PM • permalink#47 Entropy, she may claim to be in retirement, but she needs to be de-sexed.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 10:03 PM • permalink#62 No rebeccaH, I prefer Thommy Shanks’ solution at #45
Sink the buggahs, aaarrrggh, Jim lad, sink the buggahs.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 10:15 PM • permalink#80 - Ed,
I was watching a program on the exploration and mapping of the sea floor and investigating the animals that lived there. The scientists were excited that they could study the use of a blue whale carcase by the various inhabitants, and stated that undertanding was important because 65,000 whales a year died, and most sank to the bottom. That puts the Japanese harvest in perspective.#75 1.6818 (if I can remember your name correctly)
Where is the beef? or whale?
Race my whale with a snail, Gail
race my whale with a snailJust don’t let me inhale, in jail
Just don’t let me be in jailPosted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 10:27 PM • permalink#84 Sigh :-(
Maybe 1000 feet is too deep for me :-(
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 10:37 PM • permalink#86 MuzzieZapper, what is your point? Anywhere you walk in Europe is, de facto, a war grave. That doensn’t stop one from walking.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 10:43 PM • permalink#75 1.6818 (if I can remember your name correctly)
Where is the beef? or whale?
Race my whale with a snail, Gail
race my whale with a snailJust don’t let me inhale, in jail
Just don’t let me be in jail ..Hi Wimpy Canadian...I just wanted to say my sing song Tie me Kangaroo down seems easier to sing…
Tomorrow is “Share a Shower day and save our water supply” and Valentines day.....
1.6818 Is your name’s significance thaqt it is the square root of e?
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 02 12 at 10:49 PM • permalinkFun fact: the ratio of any two adjacent numbers in the fibonacci sequence approximates the golden ratio. As the numbers get larger, the approximation gets better. It can also be expressed as 1+1/(1+1/(1+1/(1+1/... or 1+sqrt(1+sqrt(1+sqrt(1+sqrt…
The fibonacci sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 ... where each number is the sum of the two previous numbers (except the first two, which are one).
If you like mathematics go check out the Wikipedia page, it’s fascinating, if a bit disorganized.
#86 MuzzieZapper
#82 Wimpy Canadian
Good god man, what are you thinking!!
No, it’s not. It’s a war grave.That’s a potentially great dive site.
This is true, but so are Truk Lagoon and Iron Bottom Sound and people dive those wreck sites…
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 02 13 at 12:09 AM • permalinkI’m against commercial whaling of most species. Minke whales may be an exception, they’re no brighter than cows, if humane methods of hunting are used, and in no danger of extinction.
I don’t consider any of the methods commonly used as “humane”. This is not like bow-hunting, where the arrowheads are so sharp the animal doesn’t even know it’s been hurt till it bleeds out.
Neither is it like hunting deer with a .30-06, where the animal will be in shock before it can feel pain.
This is more like hunting deer with a 9mm hollowpoint pistol.I’m against “scientific” whaling where the kills end up in tokyo tables, on the grounds that it encourages the current hipocracy. Such things should be forbidden in our EEZ.
As for the Sea Shepherds - based on this incident, they are a pirate organisation and any future ships liable to confiscation.
Although the ones at sea have left themselves open for condign military action (sink on sight) this would be an irrational over-reaction. By all means capture and imprison the crew, extradite them to Japan, confiscate or sink the vessels. Hopefully if they try to make port, otherwise scuttle at sea when they run out of fuel.
It would be cruel just to leave them to die out there. Legal though. But I suppose we’d have to mount some sort of rescue - but make Sea Shepherd’s financiers pay the costs of it.
To call the Sea Shepherds “pirates” is technically and legally correct: but they are not in the same league as the many groups who pray on merchant ships to our north. Consider the stolen Australian-registered ship Erria Inge whose crew was found burnt alive in a meat locker when the ship was being broken up in China after being “fenced”.
But it’s getting better : from the ICC :
In 2006, there were 239 attacks on ships, compared to 276 in 2005 and 329 in 2004 says the annual report, which is based on statistics compiled by the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in Kuala Lumpur.I have no data in the number of crew killed though. Don’t put the spoilt children of the chattering classes who make up the Sea Shepherds in the same category.
#92 Wimpy Canadian
Anywhere you walk in Europe is, de facto, a war grave.
Bullshit.
#101 Yep, and it’s distasteful. If not, then let Pearl Harbor be opened for dive tourism.Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2007 02 13 at 12:19 AM • permalink#104 Presumably that was a poor attempt at a joke. If not, it’s an opinion unaffected by any real knowledge of the Japanese.
Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2007 02 13 at 12:50 AM • permalink#103
I think the difference may be that the Yamato went down in what is effectively Japanese waters (and the Arizona in US waters - and a currently active US Naval base at that), while Truk and Guadalcanal are neither. (And both of those places’ economies are heavily dependent on tourism.)
A good question would be, when does a shipwreck stop being a “grave site” and become a historic or archeological curiousity?
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 02 13 at 01:16 AM • permalink#106
A good question would be, when does a shipwreck stop being a “grave site” and become a historic or archeological curiousity?
Difficult question, but I suppose when someone would be offended within reason by the grave’s ‘desecration’. Of course, the definition of ‘within reason’ is subjective. For example, I would not be offended if someone pissed on mohammad’s grave, but one or two muzzies might be. BTW, re Truk and Guadalcanal, I suspect all accessible remains have been removed by now, but I can’t find any info from a quick google.
Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2007 02 13 at 01:43 AM • permalink#104 - Who writes your jokes? John Kerry?
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 02 13 at 01:50 AM • permalink#102
In 2006, there were 239 attacks on ships, compared to 276 in 2005 and 329 in 2004 says the annual report, which is based on statistics compiled by the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in Kuala Lumpur.
Zoe, I’m afraid this diminishing pirate influence is not all good news. It means that there will now be accelerated global warming, as proved in this graph.
The only argument against whaling is that is does appear pretty hard to kill the buggers humanely. Not sure I would like to be on the end of one of those Jap harpoons.
Not sure what whale sushi tastes like - but in these culturally relativist times if it tastes good do it.
Posted by Hump B Bare on 2007 02 13 at 02:52 AM • permalinkBlink: (#72)
Furthermore, Australia is a signatory to the ban on commercial whaling, and it is in waters that Australia has declared as her own that the Japanese ships are (or at least were) working. Instead of this Sea Shephard idiocy, there should be an Australian warship down there taking custody of the Japanese whaling fleet, impounding their ships and imprisoning their crew.
Blink, be careful what you wish for. If an Australian warship or government vessel was present, they would have to act… against the pirate. They would instruct them to stop and be boarded. I kinda think the Sea Sheepshagger lot would not do so. They would then have to use force to stop them. Their ship has a 25mm ice-strengthened hull, so I doubt that .50cal MG fire will penetrate it once the situation escalates past ‘firing at the bridge to disable the ship’ to ‘disabling the steering by firing at the rudder-head.
So they would have to use 127mm (five-inch) gunfire, and this would be extremely likely to sink them. No loss in my opinion.
Note that we would be OBLIGED BY INTERNATIONAL LAW to do this, and to protect the Japanese vessels. They, after all, are duly registered ships proceeding about their lawful occasions. At sea, you are what you DO. Words mean nothing, actions mean everything. Australia has declared but never enforced the sanctuary area. If it is not enforced, it does not exist. It was a touchy-feely thing to make the greenies purr and vote for whoever invented the stupid idea. if we were serious about it, the Navy needed to immediately receive a funding boost, six ships as a minimum like the UT class deep sea patrol vessels (requiring a base in Hobart), and about 400-550 more people. Six ships would put two on station for most of the year, but the area is so vast and remote that to cover it properly, y’know, actually ENFORCE it, you’d need eight ships on station, 24 hulls and maybe 1,200 additional people in the RAN. This is because there is no possibility of having any aerial patrols to back up the ships, enforcement would have to be done the old fashioned way, small ships in dangerous waters. In those waters, the biggest ship ever built rates as a small, small ship.
But they got NOTHING anf were NEVER tasked with the job. So it was never a serious issue because we have never enforced it and obviously never intended to.MarkL
Canberra#104 I was pissed off.
I’m no bleeding heart liberal - far from it, just don’t see why we should trash something just so a few Jap fisheries can collect subsidies for something nobody really wants.
I hope we never get like those lefties and have taboos we can never question. Personally I like surfing next to dolphins, diving in the reef and no whale ever called me nigger.
I hope we never get like those lefties and have taboos we can never question.
Since your apparent alternative is a blithe comment insinuating that the Japanese should all die because you disapprove of their stance on whaling, I dare say you need some work on that “not being like a sanctimonious lefty” thing already.
#108 - contrail, what have you got against sheeps brains? I am aghast that more restaurants don’t have them on the menu, along with blood pudding, pigs trotters and things made out of liver.
If you want to know if a chef is any good, eat their brains.
brains, brains.....
Posted by mr creosote on 2007 02 13 at 07:25 AM • permalinkI assume that Rainbow has taken on the role of “Duty Troll” for our entertainment, he is pretty good at it, take that last line in his post of #114. It is brilliant.
I always say the best troll comments are those that make you think both “This guy has a “rough diamond” sort of talent for irony that should be encouraged” and “This guy is a serious nut case who could use the help of caring professionals.”
I prefer to believe the former.
”...no whale ever called me nigger.”
No whale has ever called me Mr. Surls, either.
This is because whales can’t talk.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2007 02 13 at 09:56 AM • permalinkSpeaking of racist whales…
I was out swimming last week and I noticed a humpback giving me a hard stare. He didn’t come right out and call me a nigger, but I could tell he was thinking it.
So, I harpooned his sorry ass.
Nothing I hate worse than a cetacean bigot.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2007 02 13 at 10:14 AM • permalink#122
True. The current terminology would be “tilt-headed leftist clown”.
Posted by Dave Surls on 2007 02 13 at 01:33 PM • permalink#113- Your lurid thoughts are less real than hypothetical and theoretical- now, as a Southerner I like a story as good as the next fella, but whaling vessels still have the entire cockpit and related top bits of the engine room above the hull signature: there are PLENTY of things to hit with a Ma Deuce (.50) to get someone’s attention with.
Plus, you forget Oz patrollers have 40MM grenade launchers (for massed flares in big sea rescue ops and light shore bombardment). Not to mention they have 20 mil M203 launchers. Yes, it’s arty, but very light arty. There are plenty of options left to a captain looking to slow a ship without sinking her.
Posted by mencken_cynic on 2007 02 13 at 04:53 PM • permalink#109--If anyone is still reading this thread, I had the pleasure of diving Truk seven years ago on a five-day live-aboard and it was simply the best wreck diving ever.
The Japanese removed all remains in the early 60s and Shinto priests did their thing at that time, so there’s no reason to be ashamed of diving there.
Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2007 02 13 at 09:42 PM • permalinkMarkL—You could send one Collins-class and let the Greenies worry about whether they’ve been spotted or not.
Mk48 warning shots are kinda final, tho…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 02 15 at 03:20 AM • permalink
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Hardline anti-whaling activists are threatening to sacrifice their ship in Antarctic waters by ramming a Japanese whaler …
There goes the insurance policy… funny if the Japanese had to rescue these idiots at sea or doesn’t that apply in the case of piracy or warfare (yes, it’s war!).