Some Sea shepherd updates...

[Dead_Parrot]

Sea shepherd lodge piracy complaint in the Netherlands

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has lodged a piracy complaint in the Netherlands against the captain and crew of a Japanese ship that collided with one of its vessels in Antarctic waters.

The New Zealand-registered Ady Gil sank at about 5am on Friday after being badly damaged in the collision with the Shonan Maru No 2 on Wednesday. Both sides blame each other.

Sea Shepherd calls the collision was an act of violence and says the piracy claim can be heard in any country.

It says The Netherlands was chosen since one of the Ady Gil's crew was Dutch and the Sea Shepherd's main ship, the Steve Irwin, is registered in the Netherlands.

Bethune "devestated", possible $1 million pledge fron Ady Gil towards a replacement

An attempt to salvage Ady Gil after it collided with a Japanese whaling ship has failed. The former Earthrace vessel sunk in Antarctic waters.

Its Kiwi captain, Pete Bethune, says he is devastated by the whole experience.
....
"It was simply too effective at shutting down their operations, so we'll certainly exploring the possibility of maybe building a second Ady Gil, and we may see the reincarnation of that ship in the future," says Mr Hammarstedt.

It's a reincarnation that's one step closer today with a new donor reportedly offering $1 million dollars towards building the Ady Gil 2.

Garrett gives deadline for halt to whaling

JAPAN has been warned it has until June to agree to abandon future whale hunts or Australia will take action in the international court.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett yesterday bowed to days of escalating pressure over whaling in the Southern Ocean and set a timetable for potential legal action.

It came as Australia officially requested Japan investigate a clash between its whalers and Sea Shepherd protesters in the Southern Ocean, which resulted in the loss of a $3 million boat.

Mr Garrett said yesterday the Federal Government has been "very disappointed" with Japan's response to its intense diplomatic effort to put an end to the annual whale hunt.

[Dead_Parrot]

1. Oh, and for some comedy relief:

Whalers now claim Ady Gil was armed

JAPANESE whalers have accused the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society of carrying weapons on the Ady Gil, rejecting claims by the protesters that their state-of-the-art speed-boat had sunk.

The Institute of Cetacean Research released photographs last night of four large arrows they claim were found floating near the Ady Gil, which collided on Wednesday with the Japanese vessel the Shonan Maru No 2.
...
"That makes no sense at all," {Paul Watson} said. "Unless Robin Hood has smuggled himself on that boat I don't know what that's all about."

Baghdad Bob, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

sorry, edit to add:

Harpoons across the bow

In the whaling war, both sides are getting hotter under the collar and more given to direct action, reports Andrew Darby.

The shift from fireworks to grim sea battle began with a tourist's tip-off. Passengers were at dinner on the five-star Orion, north-east of Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica, last Tuesday when the captain announced the ship was about to travel through the Japanese whaling fleet.

The rush for weatherproofs was immediate, according to an Australian tourist, Jeff Flanagan. "Ninety red coats, all with cameras, shouting 'piss off' into the clear night air," he emailed..

(lol)

Arrayed in front of them was the world's only factory whaling fleet. Under the tourists' gaze, whales swam unharmed, the fleet slowly moved away and someone aboard Orion notified the anti-whaling warrior group Sea Shepherd. It was one of the few good breaks this whaling season for the US-based group.

[Bonobo]

2. Clever of those Japanese whalers to bring the arrows and plant them to make it look like they

belonged to the Sea Shepherd!

Talk about foresight! The whalers brought those arrows thousands of miles in the hopes of "planting" them so it would make the SS look bad!

Those inscrutable Asians!

[tkmorris]

4. A whaling fleet defender?

No one said they planted the arrows. However, their claim that this shows the anti-whaling group was armed is pretty absurd.

[Dead_Parrot]

11. Pity they didn't think to check the boat when it was sending a mayday

Then they could have asked the crew. Sadly, they were only able to reach it 36 hours after hitting it.

Seen this yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfgPgnyX0ak

[XemaSab]

21. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that they had arrows

Arrows are commonly used for tree-climbing, and it wouldn't surprise me at all that the Sea Shepherds had brought arrows in an attempt to get around the Japanese nets.

Whether they were barbed or not is the question.

[Ignis]

3. Thanks for the updates, Dead Parrot.

Normally we must visit the Vegungeon to see any Sea Shepherd news. :D

[Dead_Parrot]

5. Safer than GD, though...

I see the unrecs are piling up. I must have hit a nerve... :D

[glitch]

7. Don't think a thing about it. Keyboard warriors tend to despise the brave

people actually risking their lives for what they believe in.

[Dead_Parrot]

8. After ths many years on DU...

...My skin's thick enough to stop an exploding harpoon. :)

[flvegan]

6. I look forward to see what the Aussie govt does this summer, if anything.

[Dead_Parrot]

10. I guess it depends...

...on Kevin "now's not the time" Rudd, whose ability to do fuck-all sets new standards in procrastination. But there's a lot of quiet anger brewing down here, and he might have to extract his thumb from his arse after all...

[ZombieHorde]

12. What can they do? nt

[Dead_Parrot]

15. They have been threatening to prosecute for illegal whaling

There's a PDF with some background here. Whilst it would "only" cover the Australian section, that's big chunk and includes the whalers favourite spots.

[ZombieHorde]

16. Why do you think the Australian government has not sued whalers yet?

Have they been threatening to sue all major whalers, or just the whalers from Japan?

[Dead_Parrot]

18. Oh, the usual...

Hard work, might be bad for trade (and therefore big businesses, and therefore political donors), don't want to be rude...

One of those campaign pledges that get forgotten once the bum's in the big seat.

AFAIK, the Japanese are the only ones entering Aussie waters.

[Dead_Parrot]

19. Damn, I'm in dupe hell today

[ZombieHorde]

20. I have had some technical problems on DU today as well. nt

[Dead_Parrot]

17. del - dupe.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. Thank you very much Dead_Parrot

[ZombieHorde]

13. ,

[depakid]

14. It might also be worth noting that the Japanese are on the losing end of a PR battle here

which will have an effect on the bottom line of some Japanese companies.