Sea Shepherd announces Operation Waltzing Matilda

[flvegan]

Sea Shepherd Announces New Antarctic Research Project

Sea Shepherd Launches 6th Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Waltzing Matilda

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society today officially announced Operation Waltzing Matilda – the 6th Sea Shepherd campaign to defend the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary from Japanese poachers.

About 30 members of the media attended the press conference despite the hotel manager insisting that the meeting had to be low profile and held in the back of the lobby hidden by the bar.

“This is a research project,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We’ve decided to demonstrate our solidarity with the Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand Research projects. Our primary objective is to research non-lethal means for defending whales. Of course this may include research into Japanese ship’s hull plate thickness, vessel stress tests, and paint chip analysis, as well as observation of whaler behavior in response to olfactory stimulation.”

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will be returning to the Southern Ocean in December for the 6th Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign. This year Sea Shepherd will be sending two ships to the Southern Ocean, the upgraded and fully repaired Steve Irwin and potentially the fast interceptor vessel Earthrace.

On board will be an Animal Planet film crew to document the 3rd season of Whale Wars.

“We are taking the most powerful anti-whaling weapon at our disposal: a film crew,” said Laurens de Groot, a Sea Shepherd Netherlands Director. “The cameras are more powerful than cannons and our ammunition is the naked truth about illegal whaling. We intend to keep the focus on Japanese crimes and we intend to sink the Japanese whaling fleet – economically.”

An international crew of volunteers will crew the ships to the Southern Ocean but this year’s campaign will have an Australian face. For this reason the name Operation Waltzing Matilda has been chosen. This is the unofficial national anthem of Australia. Translated from Aussie it means "hiking with a bedroll or pack."

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-090624-1.html

The Earthrace folks have been interested in doing this for some time, and I'm sure they'll be out there this coming season. Rumor still persists that SSCS themselves are still looking to buy another boat. We'll see...

The Earthrace boat:

http://www.earthrace.net/index.php?section=3