Again like I said I do not know much about japanese whalers in particular, so I won`t either condone or approve their actions.
Politics are as always the reason behind everything, but very likely money too as I assume that are not exactly selling the meat at a bargain price.

Many areas of fishing and hunting are strictly regulated, and they absolutely should. The whole "sea sheperd" gang just gives the japs an excuse to point their finger and say "look what lunatics we are dealing with here". Instead of buying som ridiculous speedboats and having them cut in half they should for example use that money to support politicians that would do something about it, of course there are a lot of different other ways but throwing rotting butter and putting their lives at unnecessary risk is not exactly effective.
This again takes me to my first post: many people who are involved in this kind of thing are bleeding heart hippies who nobody will listen to, who have little or no understanding of how a well regulated industry could work.

I bet if let`s say US government would have been conviced that this has to be stopped, they could have "accidentally" arranged "naval excersises" wherever the whalers would be, and that would pretty much put an end to it.
Sending naive youngsters on a boat with a moron of a captain to possibly die and not get any results out of it is plain stupid, IMHO.

... make a far better living using their ships and experience to offer tourist trips to watch the whales and to shoot them with nothing more explosive than cameras rather than harpoons.

... So you say they can pick up a boat load of day tripping whale watching tourists in Tokyo, sail down to Antarctica, spend a couple hours harassing the whales for the camera, then sail back to Tokyo and make money doing it.

No so sure about the 'day-tripping' bit, it's a bit too far for the Japanese. Shame they wiped out the whales that used to swim around their shores.

But you haven't answered the question of how the boat owner is supposed to make his living if he doesn't hunt whales. That is the hard issue.

Have you looked at who the Japanese whalers are?... Looks like you're crying tears for the Yakuza and the Japanese government there. I'm sure the boat employees will get a comfortable redundancy.

That would also save the Japanese government a lot in subsidies and embarrassment.

As I said earlier, Sea Shepherd might better spend its cash buying up the whaling fleet and training the fisherman to do something else to earn a living or just pay them a pension.

That's for the Japanese government to do. I'm sure Sea Shepherd are not into corruption and bribery.

... In any case you ignore the sale price of the whale. If they were fishing whale weight gold bars I doubt you would say it wasn't good from a business perspective. I don't think the boats are losing money.

The Japanese whalers have made negative profits for the last few years and are now bankrupt other than for the Japanese government bailing them out. They are now very desperate. Likely part of the reason for the Japanese whalers' venom to sink the Ady Gil, and then further blast the stricken crew with water canon even after their boat was split in two.

Somewhat longer term is to reduce the planet wide population of humans to a sustainable level. This abates most of the issues.

That is going to happen. It's just a question of whether that is by political and social means, war, or self-imposed disaster.

Regards,
Martin

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Again like I said I do not know much about japanese whalers in particular, so I won`t either condone or approve their actions.
Politics are as always the reason behind everything, but very likely money too as I assume that are not exactly selling the meat at a bargain price.

The Japanese give away at least some of the whale meat for free to schools and to pet food suppliers. Still more of it gets dumped as waste.

Many areas of fishing and hunting are strictly regulated, and they absolutely should. ...

The tuna fishing quotas that are "agreed" are blatantly flouted. Estimates run to more than 4x the supposed quotas are landed.

Regards,
Martin

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No response to arming the whales........eh?

They have enough defensive responses, that if we could tap into them and arm some tactical weapons.....they might defend themselves........

Or wasn't the the tactic in WW2? Save the frickin' whales. AND US IN THE BARGAIN!!

Screw the lying Japanese.........unless they can support, by white papers.....exactly what 'scientific research' they are purporting to be doing by killing the species off.

Instead of saving them.
Bastards, they are.......lying bastards.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Here where I live (Norway) if a fishing boat is dumping fish or fishing illegally, it gets caught by the coast guard. That simple.

If other places the authorities do not do their job... then the taxpayers can blame themselves for voting SOBs into power. Or not, if its a dictatorship.

Here where I live (Norway) if a fishing boat is dumping fish or fishing illegally, it gets caught by the coast guard. That simple.

If other places the authorities do not do their job... then the taxpayers can blame themselves for voting SOBs into power. Or not, if its a dictatorship.

And what do they do with pirates?

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

No response to arming the whales........eh?

They have enough defensive responses, that if we could tap into them and arm some tactical weapons.....they might defend themselves........

Or wasn't the the tactic in WW2? Save the frickin' whales. AND US IN THE BARGAIN!!

Screw the lying Japanese.........unless they can support, by white papers.....exactly what 'scientific research' they are purporting to be doing by killing the species off.

Instead of saving them.
Bastards, they are.......lying bastards.

StarTrek IV had the right idea: Klingon Bird of Prey w/the Business end pointed at them after decloaking, That would scare the shit out out of anyone. ;)

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No response to arming the whales........eh?

But I thought the whales were the ultimate pacifists... Hence after millions of years of no predators against them, we've obliterated them to near total extinction in just a few decades of industrial hunting.

[creatures of ill repute], they are.......lying [creatures of ill repute].

Isn't that called "Japanese diplomacy"?...

Regards,
Martin

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No response to arming the whales........eh?

But I thought the whales were the ultimate pacifists... Hence after millions of years of no predators against them, we've obliterated them to near total extinction in just a few decades of industrial hunting.

[creatures of ill repute], they are.......lying [creatures of ill repute].

Isn't that called "Japanese diplomacy"?...

Regards,
Martin

The japs have no diplomacy.........
Only what suits them.
Same as most western governments.

Arm the whales..........

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

A little of the 'wider' picture:

Sushi-loving Japan fears push for tuna export ban


Which is all short sighted when there will be nothing to fish in any case when everything is fished into extinction.

Still disgusted,
Martin

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A little of the 'wider' picture:

Sushi-loving Japan fears push for tuna export ban


Which is all short sighted when there will be nothing to fish in any case when everything is fished into extinction.

Still disgusted,
Martin

Arm the whales......

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

A little of the 'wider' picture:

Sushi-loving Japan fears push for tuna export ban


Which is all short sighted when there will be nothing to fish in any case when everything is fished into extinction.

Quite a strange and emotional view from Japan that shows astounding ignorance:

Whaling spat may undermine trade talks

... "We need to reduce the number of whales or they'll eat all the fish. They eat one or two tonnes at once." ... "It's not only a whaling issue but also it's a symbolic one," he said. ... "It reminds me of a kind of court action in regard to divorce. Each side criticises [the other] fiercely so rather than doing that, we should be patient. Both sides start talking.

So that's it then! The Japanese truly are out to "kill all the whales" so that supposedly more fish can be caught by Japanese fishing boats!! Are the Japanese really such simpletons to think like that?! Do they really KNOW NOTHING of ecology and balance? Almost unbelievable.

The Canadians used a similar miserably pathetic and ignorant excuse against seals to excuse their disastrously managed extinction of the Grand Banks fishing.

The rest of the comments suggest they have no understanding, and see no reason, to change their views.

And yet, is this a hint of a glacial turn of politics?

Editorial: Diplomatic way to end whale killing


Meanwhile, Sea Shepherd have the Japanese whaling fleet on the run. It is next a question of who runs out of fuel first.

Still disgusted,
Martin

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A little of the 'wider' picture:

Sushi-loving Japan fears push for tuna export ban


Which is all short sighted when there will be nothing to fish in any case when everything is fished into extinction.

And no surprises here:

Sea Shepherd Announces Mediterranean Campaign for the Bluefin Tuna

“We need to bring to the attention of the international public that one of the most unique fish species in the world, the Bluefin tuna, is on the brink of extinction due to the illegal fish[ing] driven by Japan’s insatiable demand for this expensive fish,” says Sea Shepherd Founder and President Captain Paul Watson.

Two weeks ago a single Bluefin tuna sold to Japan for £111,000.

With this high a price on its head, the days of this species surviving are numbered. As the fish becomes more rare, the prices paid for it will become higher. This is the economics and politics of extinction.

The Mediterranean tuna industry, which is supported by tens of millions of Euros in subsidies, has driven the Bluefin to the brink of extinction. Populations are within three years of total collapse.

Yet corruption, and the rising market value of the Bluefin is preventing any real conservation efforts.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) meets in March to debate banning trade in the Bluefin. Yet in the lead up to the meeting, the European Union has taken the Bluefin off the agenda so as not to offend the fishermen of France, Malta, Italy, and Greece.


Still disgusted,
Martin

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Two articles that sum up nicely the present conflict in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary:


Japan's whalers are at sea again, harvesting meat that few will eat

By April, another 900 whales will have died for little profit. So what drives the Japanese to go on defying world opinion?


Japan whalers' new foe: Scientists

Researchers are en route to study whales off Antarctica without killing them — an open challenge to Japan's killing of up to 1,000 whales a year in the name of science.


Meanwhile, the hunt by Sea Shepherd of the whale poachers continues...

Still disgusted with the Japanese whalers,
Martin

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Japan's whalers are at sea again, harvesting meat that few will eat

But one reason Norway, which hunts almost as many whales as Japan, gets far less attention, is because it doesn't send its trawlers outside its own waters.

So it is racism.

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Japan's whalers are at sea again, harvesting meat that few will eat

But one reason Norway, which hunts almost as many whales as Japan, gets far less attention, is because it doesn't send its trawlers outside its own waters.

So it is racism.

Hardly.

The Norwegian whalers have a very much smaller and less significant operation compared to the very high profile Japanese. They are also not whaling in an internationally agreed whale sanctuary.

Also the Norwegians are not whaling under any false pretences, nor are they discrediting the good name of Science.

As far as I know, neither are they targeting the most endangered of the whale species.

Quite a difference there.


Of course, once the high profile industrial whaling of the Japanese is stopped, attention will then shift onto the very rapid demise of the tuna fisheries and also onto Norwegian and Icelandic whaling... All those have gained the direct attention of Sea Shepherd in the past.


Perhaps the Norwegians are indeed being somewhat more discrete than the deliberately brazen challenge the Japanese have given the rest of the world.


Regardless, 40 minutes or more to be torn and dragged to bleed and drown to death is not a pleasant way to go for any creature. Whether or not they are nearly extinct due to over-hunting/over-exploitation. And for what? Politics and to be fed as pet food!

Utterly disgusted!
Martin

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Well, well, well...

Emboldened yet further by the slow and muted response to their ramming and sinking of the Sea Shepherd boat Ady Gil, the Japanese whalers are at it again...

Except this time the whaling boat was up against 1200 tons of Sea Shepherd ship instead of the 14 tons of carbon fibre speedboat:

Bob Barker Rammed by Illegal Whaler

From the (inevitable) YouTube vid, it looks like the Japanese whaler tried it on and Sea Shepherd unflinchingly held their course. The Japanese helm either was incompetent and backed off far too late, or that was a very deliberate side swipe. Likely, the sea swell caused a bigger bump than might have been intended.

It's in the news again...



That is still insignificant to the deliberate and reckless total destruction of the Ady Gil.


Disgusted!
Martin

I think the Japanese have gone far too far with this one!

Sea Shepherd’s high-tech speedboat heavily damaged after collision with Japanese whaling ship

The two videos shown there are rather revealing. Just look at the way the Japanese ship rolls hard over to very quickly turn very hard into the Sea Shepherd boat.

Meanwhile, the Sea Shepherd boat has no time to do anything.

From what those two videos show, the Japanese ship rapidly changes direction to very deliberately slam into the very much smaller boat. Note also that the smaller boat needs forward prop wash to be able to turn using it's rear located rudders.

From a dead stop, the Ady Gil had no chance from such malevolence from the Japanese helm.

That was criminally dangerous.

I hope the Japanese have blown themselves out of the water politically and morally and for world opinion with that crass bullying brazenness.

Or is that also a part of their criminal sham of what they call “research”?


Disgusted!
Martin

Seeing more of the various angles from the various YouTube videos posted show the Captain and Helm of the Japanese whaler in an even worse light for what looks like their very deliberate ramming of the Ady Gil.

The people on the Ady Gil had stopped their interference for the day and were caught completely disbelieving that they would be run down to be sunk.

Some of the various views on YouTube:

Footage from the Ady Gil

Video released by the Japanese Whalers

Interview with Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd

Interview with Glen Innwood, spokesperson for the Japanese Whalers

Interview with Pete Bethune, Ady Gil captain


Hopefully, the Japanese Whalers will have been seen to have gone far too far this time.

Utterly disgusted still!
Martin

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The boat thing is a done deal......
What about the continuing death hunting of the whales?

Research, my ass.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

The boat thing is a done deal......

Hopefully, the very slow wheels of politics and the courts will eventually catch up with that one. Denting a few deck rails and scratching a bit of paint is one thing. Slicing a boat in two is way way more drastic and reckless. In my view, malevolently so...

What about the continuing death hunting of the whales?

Research, my ass.

What is not mentioned there is that the Japanese now hunt the Minke whales (the smallest of the whale species) only because there are none of the large whale species left to hunt!

The Canadian Grand Banks fisheries fiasco anyone?...

Regards,
Martin

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Well, well, well...

Emboldened yet further by the slow and muted response to their ramming and sinking of the Sea Shepherd boat Ady Gil, the Japanese whalers are at it again...

Except this time the whaling boat was up against 1200 tons of Sea Shepherd ship instead of the 14 tons of carbon fibre speedboat:

Bob Barker Rammed by Illegal Whaler

From the (inevitable) YouTube vid, it looks like the Japanese whaler tried it on and Sea Shepherd unflinchingly held their course. The Japanese helm either was incompetent and backed off far too late, or that was a very deliberate side swipe. Likely, the sea swell caused a bigger bump than might have been intended.

It's in the news again...



That is still insignificant to the deliberate and reckless total destruction of the Ady Gil.


Disgusted!
Martin

The view from the Japanese 'institute' that is behind the whaling appears to be almost comical. Are they serious?

See:
icrwhale.org: The Institute of Cetacean Research

For their latest attack on the Bob Barker:



The Bob Barker (black Sea Shepherd vessel) is surrounded by how many whaling ships? (There's one forcing the collision, a second whaler is very close behind, and the Japanese cameraman is nearby stood where?...)

There's more photos from this year and previous years on that Japanese site:

The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) PHOTOS

Looks like they are compiling quite a grudge dossier!


Meanwhile, for a much more plausible alternate view, see:

icrwhale.net: The Institute of Delicious Whale Research

Particularly delicious is their cooking for the latest stirrings:

WHALE SHEPHERD ATTACKS WHALE TICKLING VESSEL


'Splendid' stuff. Shame about the death and destruction for the sake of minor politics and some very expensive pet food.


Utterly disgusted!
Martin

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