Sea Shepherd has chased the whalers from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary

[flvegan]

The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker have successfully escorted the Japanese whaling fleet out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

After repeated orders from Sea Shepherd to desist their illegal activities and remove themselves from the Southern Ocean Whaling fleet, the Nisshin Maru, Yushin Maru, Yushin Maru #2 and Shonan Maru #2 have crossed north of sixty degrees and continue to head North by Northwest.

“We did not actually expect them to follow our orders to quit the Whale Sanctuary but they have indeed exited and are now running outside the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.” Said Captain Paul Watson. “They have not killed a single whale since February 5th. We intend to turn four whaling free days into weeks.”

At 0500 Hours on February 7th the Nisshin Maru was intercepted by the Steve Irwin at 64 Degrees 2 Minutes South and 80 Degrees 11 Minutes East. The whaling fleet then ran Northeast for 95 miles on a course of 060 Degrees and then changed course at 1600 Hours on February 7th to 260 Degrees began to run Northwest for 260 miles. The whaling fleet left the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary at 1830 Hours (Sydney Time) at 60 Degrees South and 77 Degrees East. (February 9th, 2010)

The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Bob Barker continue to chase the Japanese whaling fleet.

“We intend to keep on their tail and to prevent any whaling operations for as long as our fuel reserves last and that should be for another few weeks at least,” Said Bob Barker captain Chuck Swift.

The Sea Shepherd ships are with the entire whaling fleet except the Yushin Maru #3. That ship has not been seen since the collision with the Bob Barker on February 6th.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100209-1.html

In other news, Japan is once again going to ask the IWC if they can start hunting...er, taking whales for research in their own waters *if* they scale back whaling in the Southern Ocean.

(no reading between the lines of the two stories, please)

TOKYO — Japan will propose scaling down its troubled annual whale hunt in Antarctica on condition it is allowed to whale commercially in its own coastal waters, a fisheries official said Wednesday.

Tokyo will present its proposal to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at its annual meeting in Morocco in June, the official said, even though a similar plan was rejected by the 85-nation body last year.

"We have been studying ways to reach a packaged agreement and to normalise the IWC activities," said the Fisheries Agency official, who declined to provide specific details of Tokyo's proposal. "The efforts continue today."

Japanese whalers kill hundreds of the mammals a year in Antarctic waters, where their fleet has repeatedly clashed in recent months with militant environmental activists of the Sea Shepherd society.

Commercial whaling has been banned worldwide since 1986, but Japan justifies its hunts as scientific research, while not hiding the fact that the whale meat is later sold in shops and restaurants.

<more at link>

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iPU0wyS1QaQhvmSdTT2iNMscXwdA

[Robeson]

1. Great post...

...I was reluctant to click on it, because I was just dreading to hear the other shoe drop. Nice to hear a good story, straight on through....

[Beaverhausen]

2. I finally watched "The Cove" today

god, I hate the japanese...

[flvegan]

3. To be fair

I don't think we should hate the Japanese for this. The government is corrupt (as is ours) in their support of the Taiji slaughter as well as the whaling that's going on now. The people that participate deserve whatever hate means to you, as should the people that demand the products/service that drive these industries.

I think that would be like hating Canadians for the (soon to be dead) seal hunt, hating the Amish because some of them profit from puppy mills, and hating Americans because of our factory farms.

[nankerphelge]

5. Agreed...

I think most Japanese are oblivious to the sorts of things that happen in the Cove and with the whaling fleet.

[onestepforward]

4. Cheering for the whales

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100216-2.html

Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Japanese Factory Ship Stopped Dead in the Water

The Nisshin Maru re-entered the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary this morning.

The Steve Irwin warned them in Japanese that they were illegally entering a whale Sanctuary.

The Steve Irwin began to circle the Nisshin Maru causing the Japanese factory ship to stop dead in the water at 60 degrees 10 Minutes South and 76 Degrees 45 Minutes East.

In calm waters with slight snow flurries and surrounded by icebergs the Nissin Maru has been stopped for two hours.

The objective of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is to slow down illegal Japanese whaling operations.

The Japanese whaling fleet has killed not one whale since February 5th.

With the Nisshin Maru stopped in the water and the Steve Irwin circling a pod of Humpback whales surfaced between the two ships to take a look. The crew of the Steve Irwin cheered.

Cool!