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.

~

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

~

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.