Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Japanese Whale Harvest Halted by Activists Operating ‘Small Navy’?

By

I HAVE no problems with the sustainable harvest of whales in the Southern Ocean using a grenade tipped harpoon to facilitate a quick death. This is the method used by the Japanese. Usually the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports extensively on the activists attempts to stop this harvest, and from their righteous perspective. I’ve just received the following media release from the Sea Shepherd. They must be desperate to get some news out if they are now sending me their media releases…

SEA SHEPHERD SECURES THE SLIPWAY OF THE NISSHIN MARU: WHALING HALTED

Friday January 31, 2014 – Melbourne, Australia — As of 1700 AEDT today, the Sea Shepherd Fleet has shut down the operations of the Japanese whaling fleet for seven consecutive days. The Sea Shepherd ships now guard the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, rendering the factory vessel unable to butcher and process whale meat.

Captain of The Bob Barker, Peter Hammarstedt, said, “The primary strategy of our Antarctic Whale Defence Campaigns is to secure the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, and allow no dead whales to pass into this floating abattoir: We have achieved this goal. We will continue to block the slipway of this poaching ship, relentless in our mission to protect the whales and the sanctity of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.”

Throughout January, the Sea Shepherd Fleet has engaged the Nisshin Maru for a total of nine days and has monitored the poachers for an additional two days from The Steve Irwin’s helicopter. Further, accounting for the three-day journey it would have taken the whalers to return to their self-designated killing grounds after being chased from the region, Sea Shepherd is able to say with absolute certainty that for at least 14 days of January, the Japanese whaling fleet has been unable to kill whales.

With half of the month of January accounted for, alongside the monitoring program by the Australian government and bad weather conditions that would have made whaling during this period difficult if not impossible, the whaling fleet has had a disastrous month. The whalers rely heavily upon January as their most profitable month, and Sea Shepherd is hailing January 2014 as our most successful in a decade of enforcing the 1986 international moratorium on commercial whaling.

Early interception and a persistent chase enabled the Sea Shepherd Fleet to effectively suspend whaling operations until they were able to take up position and secure the slipway of the Nisshin Maru.

Given the whalers average 25 whale kills on a good day, Sea Shepherd estimates that intervention during Operation Relentless has so far saved the lives of approximately 350 whales.

Captain of The Sam Simon, Adam Meyerson, said, “2014 has been a great year for the whales so far. Now that Sea Shepherd has a small navy, it gives us flexibility to use our ships to keep the whaling fleet on the run and out of the hunt indefinitely. We will not rest until this illegal fleet is driven from the sanctuary.”

Ends.

Scan down here to find old posts from me on whaling, including pictures of the Nissin Maru.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. davefromweewaa says

    Why do we feel entitled tell people what they can’t eat?
    Why are whales more special than sheep, cattle, pigs, fish or poultry?
    Just give them a sustainable limit and leave them to it.

  2. DaveMyFace says

    The interview with you on Lateline back in 2008 is still relevant.

    http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2007/s2157296.htm

    The slaughter of Dugongs is far worse than the Whale kills by the Japanese. I lived in PNG in the late 1990’s and saw the Dugongs dragged up the beach and left to die in the hot sun. It is also happening in Australia, and the populations of Dugongs are in bad shape. But no one is game to talk about it.

  3. Bob_FJ says

    Jen,
    I entirely agree with you about the killing and harvesting of baleen whales nominally for meat, providing that it is done with minimal suffering to these unaggressive mammals.

    After all, their great weight of flesh would seem to equate to a loss in the food chain for the reducing populations of fish that are more desirable for human consumption, especially in Japan.

    I suspect that this is the true undeclared purpose of the Japanese, whom amongst other things are famous for making unbelievable claims and denying their cruel reputation, including slaughter of dolphins.

    Keeping this short, I’ve seen video of Japanese harpooned whales thrashing around in what seems to be awful killings. Maybe this is not current footage but I’d like to be convinced

  6. Larry Fields says

    I object to some of the tactics used by the anti-whalers. In at least one instance, an activist trespassed on to a whaling ship at sea. One of the crewmen responded by punching her in the nose, and she deserved it. And no, I’m not feeling very chivalrous today.

    Moreover activists fouled the propellers of a whaling ship at sea. If a big storm came up suddenly, that ship would need the use of its propellers to orient itself in the proper direction. Those bloody activists were putting human lives at risk.

  8. Peter Hindrup says

    I have never ceased to be amazed by the restraint shown by the whalers. I would long ago have used their small boats for targets for training harpoonists, and the wheelhouse of the bigger vessels would have been irresistible.

    I wonder what a grenade tipped harpoon does to a wheel house?