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Blame the Whales
2008-03-24 22:12:00 (Artist credit: Jeff Wilkie)Seems to be the mantra of the Japan whalers and their government: "Blame the Whales."For what? They, among other countries like Canada for example, blame marine wildlife for the "diminishing of fish stocks" all over the planet.Uh, what? That's the most ridiculous BS I've ever heard.In The Whale Warriors, this book by Peter Heller that I am reading, there is a lot documented in there about the damage Japan has done to the marine ecosystem. And Japan is not alone in the harm they have done that in many parts of the planet, may well be irreversible. The USA is no exception either. But I digress.Here's an excerpt in the book. Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd was having one of his several conversations with Peter Heller and said:"You know what the Japanese delegate Tadahiko Nakamura said to me at the 1997 IWC meeting in Monaco? He said he didn't care if all the whales died. He said his duty was to his family, his company, his country, and that...
Happy Easter
2008-03-22 07:56:00 (Artist credit: Christian Lassen)I've been really distracted lately by basketball games, and have not been online much. With the college women's basketball tournament kicking off this weekend and games on TV almost every day for the next week or two, I figured I'd better get in now while the getting is good :-)Before I proceed further though, do I have any tech proficient experts in my audience? My other blog at The Dolphin's Wink is undergoing a renovation. The friend I am hosting with on his server, had previously been my go-to guy for updates, changes, etc to that blog. His career has taken off though and he no longer has the time to dedicate to a novice like myself like he used to. Which is great news for him and I wish him all the success in the world ;-) But I now need to learn how to maneuver around my FTP control panel where my blog info is and learn how to add banners and where, add the RSS feed and where, etc etc. I don't know my FTP from my elbow and am a com...
Focus on Sea Shepherd
2008-03-13 09:37:00 (Artist credit: Jim Warren)Whew! A lot happened in this past week in our beloved marine world. I'll get right to it.Last week, Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd fame, was allegedly shot at by the Japan Coast Guard while Watson and his crew were attempting to interfere with the whale culling. Crew members threw rancid butter on the Japan fleet and in retaliation, the Japan Coast Guard threw flash grenades at the Steve Irwin.A bullet struck Captain Watson, who had the foresight to wear a Kevlar bullet proof vest. In pictures shown on the Sea Shepherd site, Watson holds up the bullet and the mangled badge where the bullet also struck.Two other crew members were also injured when attempting to get away from the flash grenades. One suffered a hip injury and the other suffered from back bruises when falling on the deck. Both are okay and their injuries were not life threatening.In the aftermath of this incident, Japan made attempts to spin this story and to deny the shooting eve...
More BS from Japan
2008-02-09 14:35:00 (Artist Credit: Christian Lassen)Lots of news headlines out there that state two thirds of the Japan population supports whaling.Previous reports had indicated that the majority of Japanese (1) no longer eat whale meat and (2) have misgivings about the whaling, touting it as unnecessary.Color me stupid, but how does a telephone poll of just over 2,000 people define that two thirds of the country's population supports whaling? Japan is home to millions of people.Personally, I give zero stock in this so-called poll and am skeptical as hell that it proves anything other than a poor attempt for Japan to save face and get their country to falsely rally around their "scientific research." Does anyone else find this insulting or am I just being hyper critical?Australia was also not planning to release any photos the Ocean Viking custom ship had taken, but changed their minds. The photos that have generated a lot of controversy include a mother whale and a baby calf.You c...
Love the Earth or Lose It
2008-01-25 08:38:00 (Artist credit: Jim Warren Titled: Love, Lose)What is is about any pristine or preserved wilderness or land space left on the planet that has not been screwed up, that puts the dollar signs in the eyes and greed in the hearts of certain people?(1) The Kimberley Coast. Off the coast, it's famous for 8,000 - 12,000 humpback whales migrating there annually. Before Japan agreed they would not kill 50 of these humpbacks, they had planned to lie in wait near the Kimberley coast to kill these whales.Inpex, a company partially owned by the Japanese government, hopes to "build a massive liquid natural gas processing plant on the Maret Islands, off the Kimberley coast. Inpex plans to pipe natural gas and light oil from the Browse Basin, where a huge natural gas field has been discovered, to a port and plant it would build on the Marets."Excerpt:The Marets sit in a major tidal area (the Kimberley is famous for its "horizontal waterfalls", which are massive and rapid tidal shifts), a cyc...
Whale Politics
2008-01-23 08:08:00 (Artist credit: Christian Lassen)Yesterday, Greenpeace got between the Nisshin Maru and the refueling ship, Oriental Bluebird and for a time, prevented the refueling from happening. They were in their smaller boats running between these two big ships and the whalers were hosing them down with cold water, trying to prevent Greenpeace from interfering. The two ships eventually came side by side and it became too dangerous for the Greenpeace protesters to stay between them, so they had to give up and the Nisshin Maru was refueled. Greenpeace alleges that the Oriental Bluebird ship did not have permits to be part of the whaling fleet. They radioed the Oriental Bluebird to inform them that they were violating an Antarctic treaty and also in violation of environmental law. That did nothing to dissuade them and they continued about their business in refueling the Japanese whaling ship. Also as of yesterday, the Sea Shepherd crew stated they were about "a day's sail" from the whaler...
Bears, Drilling, and Whaling Stink Bombs
2008-01-19 09:54:00 (Artist credit: Jim Warren Titled "Don't Mess With Mother Nature")In the latest development regarding the polar bear habitat in a section of Alaska that may be opened to oil drilling, a congressional environmental panel stated that "The U.S. government must decide first if polar bears are threatened by climate change before it opens part of their icy habitat to oil drilling"Excerpts:"Rushing to allow drilling in polar bear habitat before protecting the bear would be the epitome of this administration's backward energy policy, a policy of drill first and ask questions later," Rep. Ed Markey said at a hearing of the House (of Representatives) Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which he chairs.The Bush administration is alone among major industrialized countries in rejecting the carbon-curbing Kyoto protocol. Washington also opposes mandatory limits on climate-warming greenhouse emissions.The article further states that 15 million barrels are needed due to t...
Bush Gives Whales the Bird
2008-01-17 10:31:00 (Artist credit: David Penfound) Captain Paul Watson, of the Sea Shepherd organization, certainly has a flair for the dramatic when writing commentaries. Nevertheless, it's an interesting read so I'm going to lead you directly to his updated post: The Cold War at the Bottom of the Planet to Save the Whales Meanwhile, in London yesterday, a group of people demonstrated outside the Japanese Embassy for the release of the two Sea Shepherd crew members. If you are interested in expressing your concern regarding this situation, Sea Shepherd has set up a page listing full addresses, phone numbers, and email address for the people you can contact directly: -->> Take Action Now In other news, President Bush has trumped the Central California District Court's decision a few weeks ago ordering the Navy to cease with the usage of sonar off the California coast. Bush has decided to exempt the Navy and basically flipped the middle finger to the court's ruling. Excerpts: As Califor...
Legal Ruling on Whaling
2008-01-15 06:51:00 (Artist credit: Jeff Wilkie)The Humane Society International sought, and won, a landmark injunction in Australia's Federal Court against the Japanese whalers. More specifically, the injunction names the company that owns the whaling ships such as the Nisshin Maru and the Yushin Maru (among others in its fleet) Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd.. The ruling defines the whaling as being illegal within Australia's economic zone, "which extends 200 nautical miles from Australian-declared territory in Antarctica and in the southern Pacific Ocean." (source: Herald Tribune) Of course, in their continued arrogant fashion, Japan has stated they will ignore any injunction granted against them.Excerpt from the legal ruling:"The court orders that the respondent be restrained from killing, injuring, taking or interfering with any Antarctic minke whale, fin whale or humpback whale in the Australian whale sanctuary, or treating or possessing any such whale killed or taken in the Australian whale sanctu...
Go Greenpeace Go!
2008-01-12 00:38:00 (Artist credit: Christian Lassen) Greenpeace has caught up with the Japanese whalers and acting like a bunch of children caught doing something wrong, the cowardly Japanese whalers immediately scattered in different directions. Greenpeace is keeping the chase and focus on the main ship, the Nisshin Maru. And while these cowards are on the run and trying to hide from Greenpeace, they are unable to live up to the whaler murderer image they have arrogantly created. The radio message from Greenpeace to the Japanese fleet was in both Japanese and English language. It condemned Japan for the hunt and strongly encouraged them to return to port. Their message: "Your so-called scientific whaling is a hoax and has been dismissed as useless by the International Whaling Commission. Modern scientific research on whales does not require killing them." Read the full article here: Greenpeace Ship Chasing Japanese Whalers Former federal environment minister in Australia, Ian Campbell, has...
Bears and Whaling
2008-01-10 04:24:00 (Credit: Art.com)Conservation groups have taken the first steps toward filing a lawsuit to protect the polar bears up in the Arctic. Read more here at the San Diego Tribune.Meanwhile, until further information is available, I would encourage you to sign the following petition with the Defenders of Wildlife in the interest in increasing awareness about the polar bears.Please sign the petition here: Oil Companies can wait, polar bears can't!On the whaling front, Australia has finally made good on its' word and it's ship, the Oceanic Viking, has left port as of yesterday in search of the Japanese whalers. It takes about a week to get to their destination and they will remain at sea for 20 days, videotaping and photographing evidence of whale culling to potentially use against Japan in an International Court of Justice.A cocky Japanese official states the case will never succeed. "Antarctica is not a territory of any country. Lawful activities in open seas can never be blocked,"...
Pulling the Race Card in Whaling
2008-01-07 11:05:00 (Artist credit: Jeff Wilkie) There are a number of Japanese citizens who are vehemently opposed to their country's whaling. They speak for a vocal majority who disagree with Japan's assertions that this is all in the interest of scientific research and/or national pride. Good for them. You can read this in more detail here: Japanese Citizens Demand End to Japan's Whaling Atrocities There's an uproar over a YouTube video that's received well over 100,000 hits, that basically states anti-whaling groups are racist. That's the nutshell version. I'm not going to bother getting into it nor am I going to dignify the issue with a link. I haven't seen the video but I hear it's rather graphic in displaying certain images. Personally, I find it abhorrent that anytime there's an issue brought up that many people are passionate about, either for or against it, someone pulls the race card. This isn't about race. This is about whaling. If there are those ...
The Dark Side of Humanity
2008-01-04 21:56:00 (Artist Credit: Jim Warren)Ya know, I try to be optimistic about our world and the people in it. I strive to remain hopeful and to focus on the good. But every now and then, I have days when I wonder if the dark side of humanity is winning over the light. And on those days, I feel helpless, hopeless, and very sad. The sadness comes from deep inside where I've felt, from early childhood, an affinity for animals. Nothing brings tears to my eyes quicker than seeing an animal slaughtered senselessly and cruelly in the hands of a human being. Yet nothing brings me more joy when I witness the simple essence of our wildlife, who they are, how they interact with one another, and how they have the power to evoke a wide range of emotions in us.I fear for the future of our non-human species, on the land and in the sea. There are far too many humans who are driven by greed, selfishness, and egoism. There are far too many who would choose a few bucks over the lives of whales, dolphins, ...
Aussies Join the Whaling Fight
2007-12-19 09:23:00 (Artist credit: Andrew Forrest) Here's some good news. A shout out to the Australian government for following through on their promise to protest the Japanese whaling. Ships and planes will be en route in the next few days where they will gather photographic and video evidence of the whale slaughter. Legal action will hopefully be taken and maybe one day in the not too distant future, this will all be a thing of the past. Read more here: Ships, Planes to Lead Anti-Whaling Push Customs Ship to Shadow Japanese Whalers Deaths Possible, if Whalers, Protesters Clash Continue to show your support with the Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace organizations. Without them, and without the millions of folks all over the planet protesting and supporting the end of whaling, more of these mammals would be killed. Speaking of Greenpeace, their ship "The Esperanza set sail yesterday morning out of Auckland to take on the Japanese whaling ships in the seas surrounding Antarctica." The patt...
Sea Shepherd vs Greenpeace
2007-11-24 12:23:00 There's a good article over at Sea Shepherd about animal rights activist, Allison Lance. The article discusses how she came to be an activist and her involvement with the Sea Shepherd organization.One thing she said: "We go out and we find a long (hooked) line, it could be 100 miles (160 km) and (the net) catches everything: there's swordfish, there's marlin, there's albatross," she says. "And then sharks. Sharks are very important to our ecosystem and we are losing them at a great rate, just for shark fin soup. They take the shark, cut the fin off and throw the body back still alive. Imagine the pain."How does this sort of cruelty serve a "scientific purpose," according to Japan? Read more here: Making a differenceIn further news on the whale hunt news of late, the good folks at Sea Shepherd have publicly spoken out about wanting to work in communion with the folks at Greenpeace. Both organizations have stated they are on their way out to the Antarctic waters to meet the Jap...
Brosnan And Jagger Host Sea Shepherd Society Benefit
2007-11-01 15:27:00 Hosted by Pierce Brosnan and Mick Jagger, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society threw a benefit bash on the beach in Santa Monica earlier this month. Founded by Captain Paul Watson, co-founder of Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd’s mission is to end the global destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to ...
By: Ecorazzi
Sea Shepherd provokes Japanese whalers in frigid waters
2007-08-31 09:24:00 The Sea Shepherd Whale Society (a whale preservation group) confronted Japanese vessels suspected of whaling earlier this year. They directly and oftentimes hostily engaged the Japanese ships by ramming into them and launching stink bombs. These guys seem really gung ho about the idea of saving whales, and I do admit that efforts should be ...
Missing Sea Shepherd Activists Found
2007-02-09 11:35:01 Posted by Dave, on the Esperanza Update: 04:40 CET 16:40 NZ Good news - the missing Sea Shepherd people have been rescued. Now we're no longer steaming to help with the rescue, we will return to our original mission - to find and stop the Japanese fleet from whaling. Earlier: Some serious news - two crew from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships have been reported missing in the Southern Ocean, in foggy conditions. Sea Shepherd had found the Japanese whaling fleet earlier today, near the Balleny Islands. Our primary concern - and hope - is that the two missing people will be found safe and well - and as quickly as possible. We're still well out of range, about a days sail away, but we're currently steaming towards to co-ordinates given to us by the Sea Shepherd ship, Robert Hunter. |
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