Japanese Whalers Playing Dangerous Games in the Ross Sea

[Annces]

At 0500 Hours Sydney, Australia time on February 4th, the three harpoon vessels of the Japanese whaling fleet literally attacked the Steve Irwin.

The Yushin Maru #2 has rejoined the fleet after leaving the area on December 20th with propeller damage. All three harpoon ships moved in to flank the Steve Irwin as the Sea Shepherd ship continued to chase the factory ship Nisshin Maru.

The Yushin Maru #2 initiated the attack by cutting dangerously close across the bow of the Steve Irwin from port to starboard in seas that were far from calm. The other two harpoon vessels Yushin Maru #1 and Yushin Maru #3 made the same dangerous maneuvers

The movements of the Japanese vessels are especially dangerous in the choppy seas and dense fog conditions.

"It has given us some very dramatic footage for the next season of Whale Wars," said Captain Paul Watson. "But if their intention was to intimidate us, it did not work. When it comes to playing chicken on the high seas, we have much more experience than the whalers."

Today is day four of the Steve Irwin's pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet and four days in which not a single whale has been killed.

"The crew is feeling very good, very happy and we are all enthusiastic about keeping the whales safe for as long as we can," said Amber Paarman of South Africa.

The whaling fleet is crisscrossing the Ross Sea erratically. The whalers appear to becoming increasingly frustrated and angry that Sea Shepherd has shut down their whaling operations.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-090203-1.html


related story

Japan rejects plan to limit whaling to its waters

TOKYO -- Japan said Tuesday it will reject any proposal by the International Whaling Commission that halts its research missions in the Antarctic, making it unlikely that a compromise plan for limited coastal whaling would work.

The proposal would allow Japan to hunt whales commercially in its territorial waters in exchange for phasing out its research whale hunt in the Antarctic Ocean.

Japan quickly said that wasn't good enough.

"We cannot accept a proposal that discontinues our research hunting," Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020300286.html

[flvegan]

1. They want Sea Shepherd off the tail of the floating Death Star.

Guess it didn't work.