The Steve Irwin gets underway, departing Australia today to be able to intervene in the Japanese whale slaughter some time in December. Sea Shepherd is alone this year, as Greenpeace has opted to not send a ship and neither the Australian nor the New Zealand governments have the collective morals to do anything at this point.
Actress Daryl Hannah is onboard for the first leg of the trip. Hopefully, the Whale Wars series will continue and will cover this year's campaign.
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Activists vows to protect whales from Japanese
By ROD McGUIRK – 1 hour ago
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A radical conservationist said Wednesday he will not shy away from violent confrontation with Japanese whalers, even though his group will be alone in tracking this season's hunt in the remote, ice-strewn Antarctic Ocean.
Environmentalists Greenpeace and the Australian government have ruled out sending ships to shadow the whaling fleet again, and renegade activist Paul Watson said his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society stands alone in defense of the whales.
"Japan's been putting a terrific amount of pressure on everyone. We just haven't buckled," the Canadian told The Associated Press by telephone from the Australian east coast city of Brisbane.
Watson, a Canadian who has boasted about ramming whaling ships to save the marine mammals, said his crew would not use tactics that endanger life in the remote and treacherous southern seas, but that he expected the whalers to be on the offensive. Sea Shepherd activists have disrupted the annual hunt for the past three years, causing economic losses for the fleet, he said.
"They'll most likely be more aggressive toward us this year than last year," Watson said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hsHv9pJ7Ey7Nt0kwv93b7Z8ECgPwD94RAQU80