Tuesday, January 05, 2010

The Time is Right for Bob Barker to Rescue the Whales

Bob Barker Donates $5,000,000 to Sea Shepherd for Ocean Conservation

The 1,200-ton Norwegian built Antarctic harpoon vessel caught up with the Japanese whaling fleet at 0300 Hours on Wednesday, January 6th, in the area of Commonwealth Bay off the Adelie Coast at 143 Degrees 17 Minutes East and 66 Degrees 43 Minutes South. The Norwegian flag cracked in the chill Antarctic air as the silhouette of the whaler gave every indication that the ship was sent to support the Japanese whalers.

The Japanese could be forgiven for thinking that the pro-whaling Norwegians had sent a ship to support their illegal whaling activities in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. But any excitement turned to disappointment quickly as the Norwegian flag was hauled down and the black and white skull with crossed Trident and Shepherd’s crook was raised to announce the arrival of the Bob Barker, the latest ship acquired for the Sea Shepherd ocean defense fleet.

Thanks to a $5,000,000 contribution from American television personality and icon Bob Barker, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was able to quietly purchase and refit the former Norwegian whaler in Africa. The ice strengthened fast chaser boat quietly departed from Mauritius on December 18th to join up with the Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Ady Gil in the Southern Ocean.

Barker has also funded the cost of a helicopter that will accompany the society’s ships. The aircraft is named The Nancy Burnet after the president of United Activists for Animal Rights, an organization Barker also supports. This new helicopter will participate in future campaigns.

“I’m delighted to be able to help the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in its mission to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans,” said Barker. “There is lot of talk about preserving our ecosystems and species, but this is one organization that puts these words into action.”

For the first time ever, Sea Shepherd has three ships on the Japanese fleet and each ship gives the campaign unique abilities. The long range fast ice class Bob Barker will take the lead in harassing the Japanese fleet and will be able to stay on station for three solid months without refueling. The Steve Irwin will be carrying the campaign helicopter and will coordinate all flight activities in addition to blocking loading operations on the Nisshin Maru, the factory ship. The Ady Gil, with twice the speed of the Japanese harpoon vessels, will concentrate on intercepting the fast chaser vessels to block their hunting activities.

The objective of the Sea Shepherd fleet is to sink the Japanese whaling fleet economically – to bankrupt the whaling industry by cutting whale kill quotas in half and costing the whaling fleet their annual profits.

This year’s campaign has been named Operation Waltzing Matilda to reflect the Sea Shepherd’s gratitude to the people of Australia for their incredible support since 2005 for our activities.

Thanks to the generous support of Bob Barker, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been given the means to seriously impact the profits of the whaling industry this season. Now more than ever, we are confident that we will be able to drive the outlaw whalers from the waters of the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary.

The Japanese whalers are discovering that the price is no longer right. With Sea Shepherd cutting their kill quotas in half and cancelling their profits for a fourth year in a row, the heavily subsidized whaling industry is on the ropes financially.

“We intend to bankrupt the whalers,” said Captain Paul Watson.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100105-1.html

Activists: 'We Now Have a Real Whale War on Our Hands'
Protest boat destroyed

by Andrew Darby

PROTESTERS say they will step up their ''war'' on Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean despite the loss of a front-line protest vessel yesterday in a dramatic collision with one of the whaling fleet.

[The Ady Gil after being rammed. Photo: JoAnne McArthur/Sea Shepherd ]The Ady Gil after being rammed. Photo: JoAnne McArthur/Sea Shepherd
The Sea Shepherd group said it had no intention of pulling out of the conflict after the $2 million protest trimaran Ady Gil had its bow sheared off in the collision with the whaling ship Shonan Maru No. 2.

"If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken,'' said Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson. ''We now have a real whale war on our hands.''



The Japanese Government blamed the protesters for the collision, accusing them of sailing too close to the whaling ship and suddenly slowing while crossing in front of it. ''These acts of sabotage that threaten our country's whaling ships and crew were extremely dangerous,'' Japan's Fisheries Agency said. ''It is totally unforgivable.''

Mr Watson denied the Ady Gil crew had been the aggressors, saying the trimaran was idle in waters near Commonwealth Bay, off the Adelie Coast of Antarctica, when it was suddenly rammed by the Japanese ship.

Video footage released by Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research last night showed the Ady Gil gradually increasing in speed into the path of the Japanese ship, countering the Sea Shepherd claim that the Ady Gil was not moving when it was hit.

Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the Government wanted more information about the incident before commenting on its cause.

However, acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard hit out at Japan over yesterday's revelation in The Age that its whalers had organised spy flights from Australian airports to track the Sea Shepherd ships.

''I make it very clear on behalf of the Australian Government we do not condone this action by the Japanese Government,'' Ms Gillard said. ''We are urgently seeking legal advice about the matter to see what our options are.''

Yesterday's collision came after a day of harassment of the whaling fleet by the Ady Gil and a newly-unveiled Sea Shepherd ship, the icebreaker Bob Barker.

In the skirmishing, the Ady Gil's crew tried to entangle the propeller of the factory ship Nisshin Maru but were pursued by Shonan Maru No. 2, which has been deployed to protect the whaling fleet from activists.

The Ady Gil's skipper, New Zealander Pete Bethune, insisted the vessel was stationary and farewelling fellow activists on the Bob Barker when the incident happened.

Mr Bethune told The Age that the 1000-tonne Japanese ship turned toward the 18-tonne Ady Gil from about 75 metres away. ''We though they were going to turn a water cannon on us and I told my crew to brace for that,'' he said. ''Then they T-boned my boat. It was just massive ... It's a miracle we all survived.''

The six aboard were uninjured and able to board the Bob Barker from the floating rear section.

''Today is a clear example of how the Japanese don't give a shit,'' Mr Bethune said. ''But this is the end of whaling. You can't go around saying you're trying to conduct scientific research when you're prepared to drive into other people's boats.''



Fellow crew member Laurens de Groot said: ''They were trying to kill us, ramming us like that in one of the most hostile environments in the world.''

Last night the two pieces of the trimaran, formerly the globe-circling Earthrace, were still afloat and the activists were salvaging what they could, including 400 litres of fuel.

An investigation into the incident is to be mounted by the NZ Government, which is the flag state for the Ady Gil.

Coalition environment spokesman Greg Hunt and Greens leader Bob Brown repeated calls for Australia to send a ship south to reassert authority.

The conflict is likely to flare up again within days when Mr Watson's vessel, the Steve Irwin, arrives after refuelling in Hobart.

Mr Garrett said the Government was not making any decision yet about sending a vessel south. ''We will carefully consider whether any additional actions or measures are needed,'' he said.

Mr Hunt and Senator Brown called for legislation to block the logistical use of Australian assets to support whaling activity.


http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/06-2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfgPgnyX0ak