![](http://www.seashepherd.org/images/stories/news/2011a/news_110101_1_5_Japanese_whaling_fleet_on_the_run_from_Sea_Shepherd_8024_large.jpg)
The Southern Ocean - 62 Degrees 30 Minutes South & 147 Degrees 25 Minutes West
Saturday, January 01, 2011 1100 hours AEST
“What an awesome way to begin the New Year,” said captain of the
Gojira, Locky MacLean of Canada. “Our three vessels dancing dangerously through the ice packs locked in confrontation with the three harpoon ships of the Japanese whaling fleet. It was both deadly and beautiful. Deadly because of the ice and the hostility of the whalers and beautiful because of the ice, and the fact that these three killer ships are not killing whales while clashing with us.”
The three Japanese harpoon vessels the
Yushin Maru,
Yushin Maru #2, and the
Yushin Maru #3 attempted to block Sea Shepherd’s vessels including the
Steve Irwin,
Bob Barker, and
Gojira from the pursuit of the
Nisshin Maru factory ship.
The entire Japanese whaling fleet is on the run, and when they are running they are not killing whales. Sea Shepherd’s ships are chasing the slower factory ship the
Nisshin Maru, while the faster Japanese harpoon vessels are chasing after Sea Shepherd’s fleet. Despite their speed, the harpoon vessels are not faster than the
Gojira, and the
Gojira, with aerial surveillance assistance from Sea Shepherd’s helicopter the
Nancy Burnet, is hot on the tracks of that floating abattoir the
Nisshin Maru.
“We’ve got them before they were able to kill a single whale. They are not whaling today and our challenge now is to make sure they don’t kill any whales in the coming days,” said Sea Shepherd campaign leader Captain Paul Watson. ...
Dancing with Death Machines at the Bottom of the World