Japanese Whalers and The Sea Shepherd

Burnsy2023

Burnsy2023

Burnsy2023

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Well, after reading the BBC News site and seeing what The Sea Shepard group do (ramming and sometimes sinking ships, throwing acid bombs) I have a lot of sympathy for the Japanese.

Although I think that whaling is unnecessary and support Greenpeace's approach, I think that this group are glorified terrorists and I would like to see the dangerous methods stopped.

So is The Sea Shepard a group of activists or terrorists?

Burnsy
 
link please :)

personally i say the instant they try and attack a Japanese ship they should be immediately fired upon (from a navy ship/plane/helicopter).

If they are coming in to ram then hit with some sort of torpedo/missile to insure they are sunk quickly.
 
i dont agree with the way that green peace pro actively go out of their way to disrupt stuff, they should spend more time lobbying and peaceful protest cos breaking the law solves nothing it just shows that they are in the wrong
 
Hmm having a quick read and the law about boarding another countries ship would be interesting to see what would happen if Japan said it considered it an invasion from the Australasians, and would consider the kidnap charges etc the Australasian governments support for the invasion and a possible act of war. Would be interesting to see just how quickly the Australasian government would drop them and tell em they'll have to face up to the consiquences on their own.
 
It's a shame the Japs are pacifists, I'm sure if it was us doing it, we'd have Royal Navy destroyers patrolling the area.

Burnsy
 
As much as I hate Whaling with a passion, I don't condone the methods used by The Sea Shepards.

I heard the captain of one of those ships saying the Japs have entered a whaling sanctuary protected by the UN? I'm not sure if that's correct as I don't know much about this, but if they are entering unauthorised waters then surely we should be doing more to stop them?
 
Mik3 said:
As much as I hate Whaling with a passion, I don't condone the methods used by The Sea Shepards.

I heard the captain of one of those ships saying the Japs have entered a whaling sanctuary protected by the UN? I'm not sure if that's correct as I don't know much about this, but if they are entering unauthorised waters then surely we should be doing more to stop them?
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quick googleing can't find anything other than the IwC one for the Antarctic, where commercial whaling is banned, but the Japanese are operating under the allowed scientific research laws so what they are doing is legal.
 
MrMoonX said:
i dont agree with the way that green peace pro actively go out of their way to disrupt stuff, they should spend more time lobbying and peaceful protest cos breaking the law solves nothing it just shows that they are in the wrong
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They don't break the law. They do lobby and engage in peaceful protest. Yes, they do cause disruption... but what good will talking do?

The reason you don't agree is because you don't relate. If, for example, the Japanese were going on mass hunts for pet Dogs using an international loophole under the guise of Research (when indeed none is being done. And if it was, all research could be completed on live whales), i'm sure you and other people would start to throw themselves in the way. Now since we can't just pick whales up and bring them inside, Green Peace take other measures. If you felt the same way about Whales that these people do, then you probably would go out there and see what you could do.

Look at Fox hunting and the protests that happened here. What a cafuffle. And it's only because people made a big deal out of it that the government did anything.. right? given that the most of them enjoy a good hunt themselves.

I'm sure you're thinking about Sea Shephard though, who like to ram ships and throw things that hurt people. You'll find the most that Green Peace do is get on their inflatable boats and get in the way of the harpoons to stop them firing.

Back in the 70's there were members of Green Peace that engaged in illegal activities, but they left and formed the now rival Sea Shepherd. Green Peace even refused to give Sea Shepherd the coordinates of the Japanese Fleet when they found it 2 or 3 days ago, for fear of illegal activity.

Just wanted to clear that up. And no, i wouldn't get on an inflatable boat and stand in front of a Japanese Harpoon, but i can understand why people would.
 
AcidHell2 said:
Nothing wrong with whaling as long as stocks are larger enough.
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They're not. Which is the issue. The Minke Whale has nowhere near the numbers that the Japanese are claiming, due do a mishap by IWC. It was originally stated that there were 768,000 Minke Whales in the Arctic, and the Japanese use this 2005 estimate to conduct their "research", however this number was officially withdrawn after a new survey suggested 50% less with the new estimated population around 330,000. Yet the whaling (research) continues, with complete disregard for the new figures.
 
Tefal said:
quick googleing can't find anything other than the IwC one for the Antarctic, where commercial whaling is banned, but the Japanese are operating under the allowed scientific research laws so what they are doing is legal.
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The Australians also maintain a Whale Sanctuary in thier waters which is recognised by international law. It in this area that the Japanese have been whaling.

The Sea Shepherds say their activists peacefully boarded the Japanese ship to inform them of this.

Can't say I agree with the Sea Shepherds' tactics in this case, although they rarely do anything illegal, even when ramming other ships, but I do agree with some of the work the do; they are engaged in a legal parnetship with the Ecuadorian Environmental Police which allows the Sea Shepherds to patrol Ecuadorian waters and make arrests of those fishing for or smuggling endangered species.

Don't know if anyone saw the documentary on C4 the other day called Battleship Antarctica? It was about the Greenpeace Ship Esparanto tracking the Japanese fleet and their views on the Sea Shepherds. It was very good.
 
As long as the Japanese continue to paint 'RESEARCH' on their ships in a dubious attempt to circumvent international laws on whaling then I think they are fair game.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;10901457 said:
The Australians also maintain a Whale Sanctuary in thier waters which is recognised by international law. It in this area that the Japanese have been whaling.

The Sea Shepherds say their activists peacefully boarded the Japanese ship to inform them of this.

Can't say I agree with the Sea Shepherds' tactics in this case, although they rarely do anything illegal, even when ramming other ships, but I do agree with some of the work the do; they are engaged in a legal parnetship with the Ecuadorian Environmental Police which allows the Sea Shepherds to patrol Ecuadorian waters and make arrests of those fishing for or smuggling endangered species.

Don't know if anyone saw the documentary on C4 the other day called Battleship Antarctica? It was about the Greenpeace Ship Esparanto tracking the Japanese fleet and their views on the Sea Shepherds. It was very good.
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Agreed, it was good. The Esperanzo is in a dangerous situation now though. They were chasing the Japanese mothership north, but have now headed back south to the catcher fleet. It's dangerous because it will look like they are cooperating with Sea Shepherd, which is definately what they don't want.
 
The Japs are liars. They claim to hunt the whales for research purposes but we all know this is rubbish - they do it to sell the meat for food. If they value whaling so much then they should leave the IWC, like Norway has done - however that would cost them politically and they want it both ways. Since the Japs are acting illegally, I support the actions of the Sea Shepherds, or anyone else who acts to prevent illegal acts.
 
The japanese have no respect for other life forms. The whole "research" excuse is a farce, in this day and age, there is no real reason to kill a whale for "research" as plenty was done in the past! and its not just whales they are destroying, they are also destroying shark populations (but knowbody cares for sharks :( )
They dont even make use of the sharks after catching them, simply hack off the fins and then through the fish (still alive) back into the sea to drown, its a disgrace that they are being allowed to continue such wastefull pratices and i applaude any action taken against them, be it legal or otherwise, as a nation they need to learn to manage resources properly and show some respect.

Edited for the sake of Seek, sorry if my short hand abrreviation offended you, it was lazyness and not meant as a slur against any race.
 
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AcidHell2 said:
Nothing wrong with whaling as long as stocks are larger enough.
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I'm surprised at you. I'm no animal rights activist but whaling is a cruel and dispicable practice. It's absolutely disgusting how they go about it, the animals receive nothing more than a drawn-out painful death. Is there a better way of doing it? Yes, don't do it at all. Whale numbers have been at dangerously low levels for at least twenty years, not only for Minke whales, but for Sperm and Southern Right too.
 
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