Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor of The Times
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Japanese whalers and a group of self-styled environmental “pirates” called a temporary truce today to save the lives of two activists who spent seven hours adrift in the freezing waters of the Southern Ocean.
A dinghy carrying the two campaigners from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society got lost in fog during a violent confrontation with the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese factory ship which is hunting a thousand whales in the name of “scientific research”.
It was the latest incident in an increasingly dangerous struggle being fought in the watery wilderness of the Antarctic.
Sea Shepherd dinghies attempted to bolt metal plates over outlets in the hull of the Japanese ship, to prevent the outflow of the blood of butchered whales. The Japanese government said that two sailors suffered minor injuries after being struck or splashed in the eyes by canisters of butyric acid, a harmless but noxious “stink bomb” fired from the anti-whaling ship.
“We wanted to remind them what rotting whale flesh smells like,” Jonny Vasic, the international director of Sea Shepherd, told The Times by satellite telephone from the ship, Robert Hunter.
“When they see us, they run, and when they’re on the run they can’t kill whales. Whales are living, not dying, when we are around.”
The two activists got lost in fog after their satellite navigation and radio equipment failed. Sea Shepherd called off their “action” and began to search for the missing dinghy, with the help of the Nisshin Maru. The two men, an Australian and an American, were found unharmed after seven hours. They later said they had tied their boat to an iceberg for protection from icy winds and to stop them drifting away.
Sea Shepherd is lead by Paul Watson, a founder of Greenpeace who broke away to form his own more radical group. Its confrontational and sometimes violent tactics are opposed even by those who denounce Japan’s whaling programme, such as Greenpeace and the governments of Australia and New Zealand.
“It really puts the cause of conservation backwards,” Ian Campbell, the Australian environment minister, said last month. “I implore Captain Watson to comply with the law of the sea and not do anything to put at risk other vessels on the high seas and therefore human life.”
The flagship, Farley Mowat, is equipped with a “hydraulic can opener” which could seriously damage the hull of another vessel. Hideki Moronuki of the Japan Fisheries Agency said: “This accident caused by Sea Shepard is an illegal act and very dangerous not only for the Japanese fleet but for themselves.
“They are threatening people’s lives. We strongly protest and request them to stop immediately. Their conduct is that of pirates – we call them ’Eco-Terrorists’.”
Sea Shepherd justifies its actions with the claim that the Japanese are themselves breaking the law by hunting endangered whales. The Nisshin Maru carries out its hunt in the name of scientific research, but almost all the 1000 animals targeted this year will find their way on to the commercial market.
“It’s like taking the gun out of the hands of a bank robber, or stopping an ivory poacher,” said Mr Vasic. “These are criminals perpetrating illegal acts.”
Today’s confrontation was the climax to a five-week chase in which two Sea Shepherd vessels, the Farley Mowat and Robert Hunter, attempted to find the Japanese whalers in millions of square miles of ocean. Sea Shepherd claims that the Japanese Government has been tracking its two boats using satellite imagery and passing on the information to the whalers to help them evade detection.
In desperation, the organisation offered to pay US $25,000 to any member of the Australian or New Zealand military who leaked the co-ordinates of the fleet. Both countries have been tracking the Japanese fleet, and last week New Zealand evacuated a sick whaler by helicopter.
But the organisation says that it will not be paying out the reward, having found the whalers yesterday through its own efforts. “After five weeks it was getting very discouraging,” said Mr Vasic. “We had a hunch where they were based on past experience, and we hid out in an ice field where it’s difficult for them to track us because they can’t identify the wake.”
To complicate matters further, a ship owned by Greenpeace is also making its way towards the area, having been given the co-ordinates by Sea Shepherd.
The two Sea Shepherd votes are literally pirate vessels, having been struck off the shipping register of the countries under whose flags they were sailing. The government of Belize deregistered the Farley Mowat last month, and the British authorities are in the process of striking off the Robert Hunter.
Under the law of the sea, unflagged vessels can be boarded and seized and their crews arrested.
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senseable whale harvesting is ok. no need to hurt humans, lets be honest one whale can feed a lot of people. now this doen't mean we take them all, just a sensable amount. I'm no tree hugger, but agree there is a need for you enviro-nuts. It keeps everything in balance. I never have had whale meat I wonder what it tastes like?
tropical tim, panama city, USA fl
Alan Tampling, Melbourne, Australia
The waters in which the Japanese are hunting and killing Whales in the Antarctica is a sancturary for the Whales and all other creatures. The Japanese have been murdering Whales in the Australian waters for quite a few years using a loop hole in the International Whaling Commisions charter saying that Whales can be KILLED for Research purposes. In all the years when tens of thousands of Whales have been killed the only scientific evidence that has been discovered by the Japenese is that Whales can eat Fish. When will the World wake up to to the fact that the Whales have to be saved and the only people that has ever saved a Whale are the Sea Shepherd People. All the Governments, all the people even Greenpeace have never saved a Whale. I suggest any person interested in saving a Whale visit "www.seashepherd.org" and make their own decision on the best way of doing it. What is the world goung to be like in ten to twenty years. Makes you wonder .
Alan Tampling, Heidelberg, Victoria
I just don't understand why the whaling ships don't return fire with real bullets. The crews of those ships are in put in danger by these idiots and they should exorcise their right of self defense. I am not so sure the eco-terrorist morons would have rescued the whalers if the situation had been reversed. As we all know liberals are not as tolerant as they claim to be.
A couple bursts from a 30cal machine gun and the liberal terrorists might reconsider their stink bombs and "hydrolic can openning" the whaling ships.
Jason, Denver, Colorado
It is only when all the whales are gone, and our oceans are listless pools of lifelessness will we look back and say, "hey, maybe we should have listened to those sea shepherd guys..."
for those who care, maybe it is time you make a personal committment and do everything you say sea shepherd should be doing.
at the least - they are doing the best they can to ensure a better world for everyone in the future. what are you doing besides eating sushi?
Mike Grace, Victoria, BC
Killing whales may not be the best idea to maintain ecological balance in our oceans, but endangering HUMAN lives in the process of protecting whales doesn't make any sense either! Do these eco-nuts really believe that human lives are less important than the lives of animals?
Gary Kearns, Portland, Maine
I fully support Sea Shepherd. They would never bring someones life in danger, they only want to save the whales. We could stop buying Japanese products, but the whalehunt continues. That's why there must be action at sea. It's unfortunately the only way to stop the hunt.
With all my heart I hope there comes a perment stop, in the meanwhile we have to take action and confront the hunters.
ellen, Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands
Whaling, probably not the most acceptable form of getting food from the sea, and not one I support overly much, however if this was so far out of international law, it seems to me the U.S. , Australia, and New Zealand would step in seeing how theytake such serious anti-whaler stands. And as far as the Japanese aiding in the search and rescuse operation....you really have no choice but to give them some credit. If unregistered ships (priates if you will) began lobbing acid onto my deck and driving nails in my hull, I would defend myself in a similar manner.
Tony Craven, Wasilla, Alaska / USA
TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE IT RIGHT.
Performing illegal actions in defense of a legal activity is WRONG.
Send your money to Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, or Easter Seals. Quit supporting illegal actions by a bunch of nuts!
Justa Thought, Indiana , USA
Well, at least Sea Sheperd has the guts to do something to stop the Japanese whalehunters. If the whales are taken for scientific purposes, then praytell how do they ultimately find their way to restaurant table? In their quest for the ultimate plate of sushi, the Japanese show blatant disregard for IWC rules as well as international opinion so I can only applaud and cheer the efforts of Sea Sheperd. My only regret is that they don't have an old U-Boat in the Sea Sheperd fleet.
George Hayduke, Denver, USA
So let me get this straight they are going to sink ships full of fuel and other harmful materials into the ocean to save the ocean creatures?
J, Germany,