Sea Shepherd Joins Search for Missing Japanese Whaler

[flvegan]

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin has joined the search for missing Japanese seaman Hajime Shiraskai 30. Shirasaki fell off the Kyoshin Maru No. 2 and is believed lost at sea.

The Steve Irwin is presently with the Japanese whaling fleet at the position of 62 Degrees 17 Minutes South and 144 Degrees 50 Minutes West. This is 1800 miles Southeast of Dunedin, New Zealand and 2600 miles Southeast of Hobart, Australia.

Captain Paul Watson informed the fleet that the Sea Shepherd crew had no intention of harassing the whaling vessels while they are engaged in a search for the missing crewman's body. Captain Watson offered the Steve Irwin, two boat crews and a helicopter to assist in the search.

The Yushin Maru No 3 responded and declined Sea Shepherd's offer of assistance saying that they would not accept help from an "eco-terrorist organization."

Captain Watson answered that the Sea Shepherd crew would assist in the search nonetheless and would not interfere with the whalers while engaged in the search mission.

The Steve Irwin has deployed two boat crews and a helicopter to search the area for the body of the missing seaman.

The Steve Irwin has over extended it's time to join in this search and will have to cut off and begin to return to port within 12 hours

Hobart is 10 days away and Dunedin is 7 days away. The Steve Irwin is planning on heading back to Hobart in Tasmania.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-090106-1.html
(everything in this thread, posted in entirety with full permission)

Now onto additional news. Why is the Steve Irwin heading to Hobart and not New Zealand which is closer?

It's challenge time...

Will Peter Garrett Ban the Steve Irwin from Oz?

After chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for over 2,000 miles the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin must return to port for fuel.

Although the ship is as close to Puntarenas, Chile as it is to Hobart, Tasmania and even closer to Dunedin, New Zealand, Captain Paul Watson has decided that the ship will return to Australia.

"Peter Garrett made the decision for us really," said Captain Paul Watson. "When asked how he would respond to a Japanese request to bar the Steve Irwin from Australia he answered that the government would take the request into consideration. The fact that he would even consider such a request from pirate whalers was enough for us to challenge him on this."

The government of Kevin Rudd was elected on the promise that they would take an aggressive stand on whaling. They have done very little other than pay lip service to this issue. The government is not reflecting the concerns and the passions of the Australian people and appears disinterested in actually protecting endangered whales.

"It's time to put the government to the test," said Captain Watson. "Will the government refuse entry to a ship bearing Steve Irwin's name and carrying a crew of fifteen Australian citizens returning from a successful mission to defend whales?"

The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin has not committed a single crime nor caused a single injury.

"Japanese whalers are barred from entry into Australian ports because they are criminals," said Steve Irwin quartermaster Jeff Hansen of Perth, Western Australia. "The Japanese whalers are killing endangered whales in an established whale sanctuary in contempt of an Australian Federal Court Order. How can my government entertain any such request from these poachers? That's like having bank-robbers calling up the mayor to demand that the cops not be allowed to return to the police station. Mr. Garrett represents me and the Australian people - not the Japanese whalers and he should remember that."

"It must be embarrassing to our government that we are out here doing what they only talk about, that we are actually saving whales while they play their diplomatic games with the Japanese. What is there to consider? We are Australians fighting for the whales and we have not hurt anyone nor damaged any property so how in hell can he be against us for that?" asked Benjamin Potts from Byron Bay, New South Wales.

The Steve Irwin is expected to arrive in Hobart around the middle of January.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-090104-1.html