Save the Whales [with violent piracy on the high seas]
Some opponents of Japan’s whaling industry are preparing for a dangerous showdown:
ANTI-WHALING forces closing in on the Antarctic are setting up the most determined attempt yet to halt the Japanese fleet.
The activists from the group Sea Shepherd said their two ship navy, which aims to disable the whaling vessels, would reach Antarctic waters and begin to hunt for the fleet in about a week.
Engineers have fitted a solid steel hydraulic ram with a bulldozer-strength blade to the Sea Shepherd’s flagship, Farley Mowat, which has been stripped of its registration in Belize and could now be considered a pirate vessel under international law.
Sea Shepherd’s president, Paul Watson, said the “can opener” was operational and far more serious than a version used last year to scrape the side of the Japanese resupply ship, Oriental Bluebird. He said its placement at deck level meant it could damage, but not endanger, the hull of another ship.
They also have some unconventional weapons systems they will use against the Japanese:
Mr Watson said he also had a small squadron of “Japanese Zeros” – radio-controlled aircraft with two metre wingspans – to repel boarders.
“We will then deploy our pie cannons to slime any boarding party with chocolate or cream pie filling. It sounds harmless and it is, but it is remarkable how being slimed with forty gallons [150 litres] of pie filling can deter a boarding.”
Another article, about Greenpeace’s less violent campaign against Japanese whaling, also has more information about Watson’s ramming ships:
Captain Watson has put together Sea Shepherd’s most ambitious campaign to attempt to halt the six-ship fleet.
“At the risk of sounding dramatic, my crew and I are prepared to die for these whales if need be,” he said.
The Sea Shepherd flagship is flying the organisation’s version of the skull and crossbones — featuring a shepherd’s crook and Neptune’s trident instead of bones — but has been stripped of its registration in Belize.
According to Monash University lecturer Eric Wilson, a specialist in maritime law, by sailing without a national flag, Farley Mowat could be considered legally to be a pirate vessel.
“It can now be interdicted at will by a naval or other official vessel of any country,” Dr Wilson said. “They can arrest the crew and sink it.”
Japan Whaling Association president Keiichi Nakajima warned that if Captain Watson continued his violent campaign, he would be “risking everything”.“Sea Shepherd has many times rammed and sunk vessels before,” Mr Nakajima said.
“There are serious concerns over the safety of the Japanese crew and researchers in the Antarctic when Sea Shepherd is present.”
I sympathize with those who oppose Japan’s whaling, but certainly there are better methods out there than violence. If these Sea Shepherd fanatics end up getting arrested or sunk by a naval vessel, I won’t be shedding any tears.
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I commend you for recognising that terrorist behaviour is not an appropriate way in which to seek to achieve objectives, even if you happen to agree with those objectives.
Sadly in Australia, the Sea Shepherd organization has been finding much in the way of support.
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IMO to regard animal life as above human life is to debase all humans. He and his ilk have no right to do that to me or anyone else.
I don’t hope for death or violence against them but if they get what’s coming to them so be it. It’s the choice they’ve made for themselves.
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I toured the Farley Mowat recently. It is an absolute piece of junk. They will not be able to deal with any kind of serious retaliation.
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Getting yourself classed as a pirate is no way to go. It’s telling that the pirate angle is really being pushed, though.
While not an exact parallel, this reminds me of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985. They’re treading in dangerous waters once they get aggressive as that gives their better-equipped targets a valid excuse to retaliate.
That said, Japan’s whaling program is nonsensical and absurd. There’s not even a decent economic rationale for it.
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The current programmes aren’t designed to be econimically rational today, they are designed to strengthen Japan’s case for future sustainable commercial whaling.
As it happens, whale meat consumption has been increasing in recent years (search for “stockpile figures” on my blog, I’ve got it all graphed).
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David, I respect you, in a way, for what you’re doing, although I’m not sure why whaling is such a crusade of yours that you find and comment only on whaling posts no matter where they pop up. (We went through this over at TPR a couple of months ago>.) You even have long cut-and-paste arguments not necessarily addressing the counter-arguments made ready to go.
What I’m not clear on and what I haven’t seen you yet explain is how rising consumption figures would in any way justify what has already been spent and what is crrently being spent on this program. You also conveniently skip over the fact that almost all of the rise in consumption comes from public-spending initiatives, such as public schools being ordered to purchase whale meat or whale meat being served in other public institutions. That’s not rising demand, that’s the same people who fund whaling buying the produce of those expeditions.
On top of that, it’s a perishable commodity. It makes no sense to hunt whales now and get the meat in preparation for a possible rise in consumption or, more realistically, a rise in the ultimate producers buying their own produce.
The argument to justify whaling, regardless of consumption, is even harder to make.
Really, if it’s not economically rational today, it’s not economically rational at all. More whaling today is hurting, not helping Japan’s case for whaling and leaves unanswered the question of why on earth they’d want to make a case for it to begin with.
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I don’t know much about the economic rationale or issues of concentrated pollutants. I assume people making a case against whaling with those issues have done their research, and I don’t have any reason to doubt the scientific data. If there is proper rational reasoning behind opposition to whaling, then I support that position.
But what I have picked up on my lurking of the Japanese segments of the internet is that, there is *reactive* popular support for whaling due to sentimental or emotional responses to foreign pressure to cease whaling. I don’t know whether opinions expressed by various anonymous posters have a connection between the actual push for whaling in Japan, but it seems like some degree of correlation is not entirely implausible to me.
When foreign activist groups start heckling Japan to stop killing those “sacred animals”, the immediate emotional response is “Why do we have to change our (traditional) ways because some foreigner group told us to?” It doesn’t help that portions of the activist groups are, mildly put, irrational in their love for those large aquatic mammals.
So then, what was once not that important and just another food source, suddenly becomes elevated to the status of pride and national identity at stake. Some may work themselves up to consider it the flames of tradition being threatened to be extinguished by unreasonable and irrational foreign pressure.
I assume there is some real profit to be made by some people if an actual industry is moved to significantly increase its activity. But the reason that there is no public outcry or backlash against it may lie in reasons like the ones I stated above.
Just my two cents.
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Garrett,
If you feel I’m ignoring a “counter-argument” as opposed to you simply not being satisfied with my response to a “counter-argument”, feel free to take it up with me, I’m more than happy to address specifics and give you my opinion on any aspect of the whaling debate.
Rising consumption? It’s not meant to “justify” the programmes. The point of the programme is not to increase whale meat sales. The reason I make the point about rising consumption generally is because Greenpeace and other groups have tried to tell the western public that the market for whale meat in Japan is stagnant, and dying. The increases clearly indicate otherwise. I raise the issue here because you claim that the activity wouldn’t be economically rationalle the potential for further increases in consumption is evident.
You say: “You also conveniently skip over the fact that almost all of the rise in consumption comes from public-spending initiatives”
I’d like to know the basis for your making that statement, because I’ve considered that possibility previously, and found that the majority of the rise in consumption comes from private demand. I found that the amount of whale meat allocated for public initiatives actually dropped between 2004 and 2006 from about 1,000 tonnes to about 900 tonnes (although still 450 tonnes higher than 2002). So that volume was basically constant.
Refer to the section “Use is non-profit activities” at my Whaling FAQ:
http://whaling-faq.blogspot.com/2006/11/faq-5.html
On the other hand, from 2004 to 2006, total consumption (including sale of products from by-caught whales has increased from around 5,000 tonnes to more than 7,000 tonnes in 2006 (that’s a conservative estimate, I don’t have the November and December figures for 2006 yet).
So, having criticised me for “conveniently skipping” something, I now challenge you to back up your criticism or withdraw it (and perhaps apologise for being so rude).
You also make claims of public schools being “ordered” to use whale meat in their school lunch programmes. Got a cite for that one?
You talk about whale meat being perishable. The fact is that it is frozen in storage and can be held for many years, but the fact is that the whale meat stockpiles are turning over. Consumption over the past 12 months amounts to around 90% of the supply over the same period, and that’s a 12 months that saw a relatively large increase in supply due to the JARPA II programme’s commencement.
Perhaps it’s our difference of understanding these points that can reconcile why you have a different perspective to me on whether the activity has the potential to be a commercial success.
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There is nodody of a Japanese citizen saying something as to the whaling issue.So please let me give some comments.(Sorry for grammatical errors
and word choice mistakes)
For some years,I have been looking into this issue and found Japan is critisised by especially anti-whaling contriies and NGOs.The anti-whaking people might think why the Japanese stick to eat whale meat in spite that we are rich.Apart from the issue whether or not to eat whale is immoral,
it is a clear fact we have been eating it.
While some anti-whaling NGOs point out that we do not eat whale meat and partly we recongnize the less chance to eat than before, we see much whale meat sellingat department stores or town fish shops .
In the Kansai district where I am living,the whale meat is indispensable
to some Japenese dish of winter season. Every morning,they are piled at the open freezers of the fish stores and in the evening they are almost sold out.
From the view of history,we have been eating the whale
for more than 1000 years.Seeing the commertial whaling is stopped,
we find the whaling is NOT on the wane in some areas and it
gives itself some other culture categories of novels,songs,pictures
and so on. A anti-whaling NGO of Japan took a poll in order to stop
whaling.Partly the result seems to be effective, but the main
point reveals the reverse;over half of the Japanese are will be
supporting whaling.I firmly believe it is wrong for anyone to see the
whaling issue is limited to that of food choice.
It is a part of our life, though it is alike a small flame of candle.
Some people say ,as we have many choices of food, we need not whale meat- seemingly the view seems correct but I feel unrealistic ,considering
the issue of food resource in the future of Japan.For example, on such emergencies as disasters and national bankruptcy,I am wondering how much the other countries help to meet Japanese requests. We should not to be a baby cryig for help.It is ” we” that have to help ourselves.
Obviously Japan,as I repeat at other BBS,is nothing but a small island
surrounded by sea,lacking of every resources.Although its economy power is high,the position remains same as that of small island countries.
Lookin at these aspects, I hope Japan Fisheries Agency will do
much more for our countries’ future.
Thanks all.
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I am required to correct some miscondcuts on this issue for justice.
First of all, anti-whaling people may not eat any animals.
Secondly, anti-whaling people have sort of racism.
They show even sympathy to the people of Norway and Iceland.
If those people were not wahling, they would be looking down on the Japanese.
Besides, a kind of whale has begun stranding to Japanese beach because of the saturation by prohibition of fishery.
Japanese government is expending $300,000 to burry the dead whales.
I wonder how many poor people can be saved by the money.
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Yo there is absolutley no reason for japan to be hunting these creatures .
There is no food shortage in japan.
That any whale is not on the endangered list is a crying shame as we all know there are not many left after the free for all whaling of the early 1900s.
Why even eat it i have heard from may people that it isn’t even very nice.
why does japan persist on doing this whaling as well as the dolphin slaughter.
why? personally i.ve had enough and intend on boycotting anything Japanese as well as petitioning my government to do the same.
it’s time the majority of people stopped a few greedy people from extincting another of our planets unique flora.
This is the only species like it in the universe. and is a sentient being it has it’s own life out here in this universe.
what right do the Japanese have to take that life away.
This applys to any creature of this place.
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“That any whale is not on the endangered list is a crying shame..”
Yeah, what a crying shame. How dare they only put species that are in legitimate danger of going extinct on the endangered list.
Good idea to boycott anything Japanese. I personally am avoiding buying Greenpeace Japan t-shirts and mugs, though their “kuji-rabu” logo is actually pretty cute.
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Good on the sheperds of the sea for using violence to stop the whaling fleet its time to take drastic action.
Before any action becomes futile and we can,t stop the extinction of whales at all. if thery want some help i,m a good shot with the rifle. and have some ingenious ideas on how to stop the whaling ships without sinking them. time to say enough is enough!
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