Nasty Nips Won't Target Humbacks (For Now)

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I'm far from being xenophobic but I could make an exception for these pricks.

A controversial Japanese mission to hunt humpback whales in the Antarctic has been temporarily abandoned, a top government official says.

Nobutaka Machimura said the humpback hunt would not go ahead - although the fleet will still hunt about 1,000 other whales in the area.

The BBC's Chris Hogg, in Tokyo, says Japan is now unlikely to chase the humpbacks for at least a year.

The move comes after pressure from the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Japan is regularly condemned for its annual whaling missions.more

I will be posting this daily, or otherwise.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher is on a Greenpeace ship tracking the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean. You can follow his travels for the next two months on the Ten O'clock News, and in this diary.

Japanese Resume Whaling, Slaughter To Include Humpbacks

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The evil little shits are at it again, I suppose it would be too much to ask for divine intervention or the wrath of Neptune to visit on the fleet the fires of hell, although with better timing than last year.
There is plenty in the archive, search whales in the nav bar.

A Japanese whaling fleet has set sail aiming to harpoon humpback whales for the first time in decades.

The fleet is conducting its largest hunt in the South Pacific - it has instructions to kill up to 1,000 whales, including 50 humpbacks.

The humpback hunt is the first since a mid-1960s global ban and has drawn strong protests from environmentalists.

Commercial whaling was stopped in 1986 but Japan is permitted whaling in the name of scientific research.

Four whaling ships, including the lead craft Nisshin Maru, set off from the southern port of Shimonoseki on Sunday.

The 239-man mission plans to kill more than 900 minke whales as well as fin whales and humpbacks, in a South Pacific whale hunt that will run until mid-April. more

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Founder and President of Sea Shepherd, Captain Paul Watson, will soon embark with an international crew on the ship, the Robert Hunter, to enforce international conservation law and prevent the illegal slaughter of endangered species by an outlaw whaling fleet. As the relentless Japanese whalers seek to hunt down and kill Migaloo and his family, Sea Shepherd will be hunting the whalers with the firm objective of intervention against their illegal activities.

"I did not establish the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as a protest organization," said Captain Watson. "I have not gone to sea over all these years to simply bear witness to the atrocities that whalers continue to inflict upon the most gentle and intelligent beings in the seas. We are sea cops-operating legally under the guidelines of the United Nation's World Charter for Nature, which allow for the enforcement of international conservation law by non-governmental organizations in international jurisdictions."Sea Shepherd Operation Migaloo

Sea Shepherd home page, these lads do a great job, they really are front line warriors.



These two photo's in response to comment. And no, they're not photoshopped, in fact there is a better image of a "we are conducting research" but it must be in a movie clip linked somewhere in the archives. Photographs from Greenpeace photo gallery.
Google result Japanese whaling

Whale Hunters V Wife Beaters: Cancelled

I just love this kind of story, they give me a smile and endorse a lifetimes view of human nature.
I wouldn't be holding me breath then on the Middle East, not at all at all.

It would appear that the whale hunting Christians of Norway and the dark forces of the Islamic wife beaters*** couldn't quite get it together to kick a ball about.
***A ten minute film by Theo van Gogh that resulted in his murder, in English after the opening subs.

Unholy row at clergy soccer game.

A friendship-building football match between Muslim and Christian clergy in Norway was called off after a row over the participation of women players. more

Pacific Grey Whales in Some Distress

Grey whales in the eastern Pacific appear to be in some trouble, with the cause far from clear, scientists say.

Researchers with the conservation group Earthwatch found
that whales are arriving in their breeding grounds off the Mexican
coast malnourished.

The same thing happened just after the 1997/8 El Nino event, which warmed the waters and depleted food stocks.Scientists are not sure whether the current decline is climate related or part of a natural predator-prey cycle. more

This little fellow don't look too happy at all at all.

The friendly whale featured in previous posts is a grey whale.

'Save the Whales' Likely to Attract 2008 Swing Votes

Presidential candidates who take a firm stand against Japanese whaling practices are more likely to gain support from swing voters, a new poll has shown. The poll conducted on behalf of the International Fund for Animal Welfare showed that six out of 10 swing voters would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate who opposed the Japanese practice of killing whales for research. "A stand against whaling could help candidates in the primaries and in the general election," said Fred Steeper, a principal polling consultant to President Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. He conducted the poll for Market Strategies. More.



How I wish, as much as I would like it to be true, I think it might be more a case of who loves Jesus the most. Or says he does. I think what we see here is another example of an agenda driven poll.
Years ago I came across a title in a bookshop, "How to lie with statistics" and really it is so easy, and graphs,! don't even think about them, the same stats can be made to look like a steady incline or the side of a mountain, all depending how the scales are calibrated.
You will find various "Whale" posts throughout this blog.

H/T Salon.com story. Stippy.com graphic

Troubled Japan Whaler Back Home

Ship Of Shame Sulks Back Into Port.

Japan's main whaling ship has arrived back in port after an Antarctic hunt hit by setbacks including a fatal fire.

Do everybody a favour, keep it there
and come and join the human race.

Post 100: I would like to dedicate to Paul Watson. Sea Shepherd

To Paul Watson. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. And Activists Around The World.

And Not Least Those That Need Our Protection.

A clip giving a brief overview of Paul Wilson, co-founder of Greenpeace and the present day mission of Sea Shepherd.

A harrowing clip of a whale kill showing the horror of the reality of "Japanese Research."

Successive short clips Sea shepherds 06/07 campaign. I have strung them in order as best I can.

clip1 clip2 clip3 clip4 clip5 clip6 clip7

And to finish on a nice note what better than this previous featured video.
Coincidently this rascal is the one in the photo header although drawn from different sources and quite unintentional, what an effect it must have on a person's life to experience that, magic!
H/T to all video posters.

No More Whales Will Die This Season

The Death Star Returns To The Land Of The Rising Sun

Finally, the burnt-out hulk of the whale killing floating factory called the Nisshin Maru is limping out of the Antarctic treaty zone, the stench of rotten whale meat lingering in its wake. The whale-killing fleet is now slowly heading north to Japan. There will be no stopping in New Zealand for repairs. A stop there will result in legal issues that could tie the ship up for years and the whale meat onboard would be confiscated.

The whaling fleet has a long way to go to reach Tokyo. The crew will be
mourning the loss of one crewmember and remembering
the opposition by Sea Shepherd that left their decks reeking of rotten butter and awash with the blood of the whales caused by Sea Shepherd crew sealing the bloody flensing deck outlet drains. It is a ship that reeks of death, burnt flesh, gore, and blood. It looks and smells like the Death Star that it is.

Our message to the Japanese whalers: “We hope your damages are so severe you will not be back next year but if you are, we will be there waiting for you and we will not be as polite as we were this year,” said Captain Watson.

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Whaling fleets are equipped with sonar, helicopters and long-range explosive harpoons. The whale is killed by a 6ft long iron harpoon shot from a cannon. The harpoon head contains a time-fuse grenade which blows the whale's insides apart seconds after impact, though this does not usually kill it immediately.Observer

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Officials in Tokyo conceded that the premature end to the hunt was a blow to its so-called research activities in the Southern Ocean. "This is the first time in 20 years that we have had to cancel our research," Takahide Naruko of the fisheries agency told reporters. "We are very disappointed." Guardian

Japanese Whale Hunt Ended Early

Japanese government officials said the fleet had caught 508 of this season's target of 860 whales. Story

Not a complete victory for the forces of good, (2006 campaign) but a valiant and worthwhile effort in earning a respite for 352 minkes. beautiful creatures.

I'm crying my eyes out here. Will finish this Later.

Don't Tell The Bloody Japanese

Spain tells ships to avoid whales.

The Spanish navy has advised ships in the Strait of Gibraltar to slow down to avoid hitting whales.

Nisshin Maru Gets Underway. Whaler Restarts Engines

And it is no more a "Cull" than it is "Research"

Japan is strongly opposed to the international ban on commercial whaling. It hunts whales every year under what it describes as a scientific research programme.
This year Japan says it plans to cull 850 minke whales and 10 fin whales.

Whale I Never!

Whale I never thought I would be getting a warm fuzzy feeling (updated) from this story.

Divine intervention from Neptune perhaps? It seems the factory processing vessel Nisshin Maru has been having a spot of bother in Antarctic waters, or should I the "Research Vessel" Nisshin Maru.


The vessel was quoted to be "Dead in the water" just like the eight hundred and fifty Minke whales would have been as the Japanese hunted them for "Research purposes"

That sounds like an awful lot of research to me, whatever will the world do now that such important work has come to a grinding halt, perhaps join me as I shed a tear?

And how tearful the last paragraph in the story, how tearful indeed?


The score at half time then, Bastards 0 Whales 1

Right foot forward, a bend at the waist, and a sweeping flourish of the hat to the activists of Sea Shepherd.