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Anti-Whaling Activists Detained After Acid Bottle Attacks & Illegal Boarding

acid bottle thrown by Sea Shepherd

Acid thrown by the attackers
Drama unfolded in the Southern Ocean yesterday when members of Sea Shepherd, a radical organization that uses violence to protect endangered whales from “goddam hominids,” were detained by the Japanese whaling fleet after attacking and illegally boarding a harpoon ship. For in depth coverage of this story, check out ROK Drop’s “Japanese Whaling Update” post, which provides an interesting view you won’t find in the slanted western media reports that ridiculously claim that the Sea Shepherd members who forced themselves onto the Japanese ship are “hostages.”

41 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - January 16, 2008 at 3:42 pm

Categories: Anti-Japan Tags: japan, whaling

Pingback: Japanese Whaling Update at ROK Drop
http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

A man walks into your office and starts destroying the place. You detain him. Now he’s a hostage? I’d say it’s closer to a citizen’s arrest.
Grinz

lol whalehuggers
Kevin

Does anyone have any information about news.com.au? Is this a tabloid style site or am I missing something here? Taking an aggressive anti-whaling activist at face-value is pretty appalling.
shazzb0t

These people are criminals.
jc

Hostages? As Tom Cruise said in the Last Samurai, “uncivilized savages” is more like it.

Sea Shepherd’s getting all the attention now, but the organization still can’t figure out why they’re more wanted dead than al-qaeda.

erika88

Oh my god, why’d you have to quote that movie?

http://chidade.net Chidade

Interesting, the differences in media coverage between Australia and Japan. This is the first I’d heard about the acid bottles being thrown. The media in Australia are repeating Sea Shepherd’s line that they were delivering a letter of protest.

I suspect there’s a lot of lies coming from both the Sea Shepherd and the Yushin Maru though. They’re the only ones out there, after all. We only have their words and photographs to go by.

Kevin

Or we can make the assumption that since the Sea Shepherd is part of open and very aggressive group of environmentalists that even Greenpeace won’t have anything to do with (which says a lot), that it’s a pretty open and shut case. The only thing against the Japanese in this case is that they are hunting whales. Since a lot of people consider that evil, they’re also probably thinking that an attack isn’t all that bad either.
The Australian media is being completely irresponsible in this whole matter. It’s illegal to forcibly board another ship in open water and the Japanese crew have every right to hold them until time at which they can press charges.
The Sea Shepherd actually flies a pirate flag (which is also illegal by maritime law) and the leader of this group has actually been arrested for sinking Norwegian fishing boats by ramming them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Shepherd

http://www.transpacificradio.com/ Garrett

The Farley Mowat lost it’s registration and sailed under a pirate flag for about a day. It was registered in a different country very soon after the Japanese gov’t used its muscle to have the ship’s first registration revoked.

Paul Watson was a founder of Greenpeace and was forced out due to his aggressive tactics. Greenpeace hasn’t been very aggressive for quite some time and has long renounced the use of violence in pursuit of their aims. Despite this, many people seem to lump Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace in together. Not exactly surprising that Greenpeace would distance themselves from Sea Shepherd.

The acid they threw was foul-smelling, not highly corrosive. Think stinking, not burning.

All of that said, I absolutely agree with Kevin immediately above (b/c he stated an irrefutable fact): boarding a ship is illegal and the crew of the Yushin-maru is absolutely within its rights to detain the two who boarded their ship with the intent to sabotage it.

Aki

FYI, MSDS for butyric acid says the followings.

Harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Corrosive. Extremely unpleasant smell may cause nausea. Liquid may burn skin and eyes. Readily absorbed through the skin. Severe skin, eye and respiratory irritant.</
Aki

Further information on butyric acid.

MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for butyric acid also says “Acute dermal toxicity (LD50): 530 mg/kg [Rabbit]“, which roughly means you can kill a rabbit that weigh 1kg by administrating 530 mg of butyric acid onto skin. It is apparent that the amount of the acid thrown onto the vessel is enough to kill more than several people.

Butylic acid is readily absorbed through skin and degraded into other substances. MSDS says “Toxicity of the Products of Biodegradation: The products of degradation are more toxic.”

CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) classifies butyric acid in the category of “Hazardous substances”.

Australian government must know the hazardous nature of butyric acid since the MSDS is available to anyone. I cannot understand why Australian government did not detain the Sea Shepherd members.

http://www.barnz2k.com/blog pete

japanese side says they brought acid bottles.
SS says they were only trying to deliver notice of breaking the law, and that the 2 were tied and beaten.

Both sides are playing it up.

Japan doesnt recognize Australia’s sanctuary zone, so why should SS worry about international sea laws then?

Taken from elsewhere:
SS being vigilante, that’s debatable. SS bases its mandate on the UN World Charter for the Protection of Nature. Both Paul Watson and SS have been brought up on charges but never convicted using this as a defense.

http://www.victorymanual.com Alex

Pirate apologist.

http://www.barnz2k.com/blog pete

ahhh no. I simply stated the view from both sides.
I never apologized for their actions.

Kevin

Your logic is astounding.

Side A:
The Japanese who are legally allowed to hunt whales as part of the international whaling commission.

Side B:
A rogue group of environmentalists who resort to physical violence to prevent something they disagree with.

Maybe both sides are playing this up, but do you see why it doesn’t matter? Even if Japan is ignoring Australia’s sanctuary zone that is a diplomatic issue that needs to be taken up by the governments of both countries. At no point does a group of eco-terrorists (and that is what they are) fit into this picture.

Klauscore

they are not allowed to hunt whales – they abuse a loophole of the IWC (no one believes this whale killing is scientific) and have repeatedly been scolded by this organization for doing so.

Kevin

Taken from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_Japan

They might be scolded by countries opposed to whaling, but whaling for research is done legally. They have petitioned to have commercial whaling reinstated, but as of yet that has been refused by the IWC because a 75% approval rating is needed. So to respond, yes, they are allowed to hunt whales for scientific purposes.
Kevin

Pardon the blockquote mess up. The text from Wikipedia is here:
Japan catches hundreds of whales every year, mainly from the South Pacific population of Minke Whales. The purpose of this is hotly, and perhaps irreconcilably, disputed by the pro- and anti-whaling lobbies. The Japanese government maintains that its whaling program is purely in the interest of science, as is permitted under the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling. Those opposed to Japanese whaling, such as the governments of New Zealand, Australia and the United States and other countries say that Japan’s whaling program is thinly disguised and subsidised commercial whaling.
The number of whales taken by Japan during each year of the moratorium under the Special Permit (Scientific whaling) regulations
The number of whales taken by Japan during each year of the moratorium under the Special Permit (Scientific whaling) regulations

Japan is adamant in its belief that a commercial hunt of Minke Whales, and potentially other species, would be sustainable. Japan’s desire to restart its commercial whaling is evidenced by its annual petition to the International Whaling Commission requesting that a quota for a commercial Minke Whale hunt be given. Although the IWC General Committee is split roughly 50-50 on whether commercial whaling should recommence, the petition has not yet come close to passing because significant change to the moratorium requires a 75% majority under IWC rules.
Klauscore

I am a research biologist and friends with some whale researchers at top marine biology institutions, none of whom have ever killed a single whale. I can tell you that what the Japanese whalers are doing has really, certainly absolutely nothing to do with science.

If they want to ignore an international treaty they should just be honest about it.
Aki

Some papers resulting from the Japanese special permit research in the Antarctic (JARPA) programme are available in the IWC website. Also, comment section of the following page was quite informative for me who is not familiar with the background of the whaling issue.

http://david-in-tokyo.blogspot.com/2006/12/japanese-citizens-take-care-in.html#5128820413040866954

The fact that you quote a statement from the ICRW indicates clearly that characterizing it as a “loophole” is nonsense. A loophole is an omission from an agreement, not something that is explicitly written into one. The biggest loophole in the ICRW is that Australia and other nations with no interest in contributing towards the objectives of the treaty are able to adhere to the convention, attend committee meetings and generally obstruct the efforts of those who adhered to the agreement in good faith.

Whether the whale slaughter is for research purposes or not is something that you can try to understand and judge for yourself. Here is the IWC homepage, with some reports based on JARPA results.
Kevin

Klauscore, it’s funny because I agree with you entirely. They should just come out and say they’re hunting whales for the sashimi. That means, however, that countries who are anti-whaling need to let countries who are pro-whaling have clearly set quotas for commercial whaling. If Japan is going to put all of its cards on the table, others involved need to compromise. Clearly controlled, regulated commercial whaling doesn’t seem like a horrible demand.
http://www.transpacificradio.com/ Garrett

Aki, whatever you do, do not get your information on whaling from David@Tokyo! He’s a paid lobbyist for the whaling industry. He cites figures put out by the whaling industry and ignores all information showing that whaling might not be a good idea.
He also cites risible “scientific” reports.

Whether you agree with whaling or not, be sure you’re not being hoodwinked by people who are paid to argue for an industry.
Aki

How can I confirm that he is paid?
Aki

Also, where in the scientific reports did you find risible?
http://david-in-tokyo.blogspot.com/ david@tokyo

For the record, I most certainly not paid.

Garrett, your comments about me say a lot about your ability to have a rational discussion.

http://www.barnz2k.com/blog pete

yes but neither side is playing right on this diplomatic issue. This situation for example – Australia and Japan governments are technically now agreed on the release of the 2 hostages, but the Japanese boat has refused to without agreements made, and the SS says the Aus Gov has not contacted them, and they will not concede anything.

And while the political sides bicker, the hunt would continue.

Aki

You are really Australian media-like pirate apologist who are spreading disinformation from terrorists.

Bruce Smith

I think it’s butyric acid which is extremely bad smelling but not otherwise particularly dangerous. Think “stink-bomb” not acid.

sod

its still an acid and still dangerous.would you want it in your eyes?

Bruce Smith

I despise Sea Shepherd.

But butyric acid is not in the same league as say sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid. Not to mention Chromic acid.

Kevin

Don’t forget citric acid. Lemon hurts like hell when sprayed in your eye.

mitaker

Japan wouldn’t have to call it’s catch “for scientific purposes” if the international community would just agree to let Japan have a quota.

Japan is obviously not trying to hide that the catch is effectively commercial. So calling the Japanese “dishonest” or whatnot is really unfair. It is the international community that is labeling the Japanese catch as “research purposes” out of technicality.

If the international community was seriously angered by Japan labeling its catch as “scientific research” then they would ban whaling for scientific purposes too. It is the international community which tacitly allows whaling that should become honest and label the quota for “scientific purposes” as merely a quota for commmercial whaling, instead of claiming to be morally superior over countries that have a culture of whaling.

Essentially, this is what the Japanese are requesting. Not really a change in policy, but a change in label so as not to vilify Japan (when the whole world actually allows Japan to whale).
http://whaling Ericsson

the Japanese whaling industry is Borderline retarded
So !!! 2 wrong don’t make one right.

helical

Replace “the Japanese whaling industry” with “Sea Shepherd” and now we’re getting somewhere

http://david-in-tokyo.blogspot.com/ david@tokyo

Japan’s research programme is most certainly scientific.

Klauscore,

What kind of biologist do you claim to be? Please explain how you think the Japanese should go about gathering data for use in, for example, population modelling of Antarctic whale populations, without employing lethal methods that facilitate acquisition of standard biological knowledge relating to age and reproductive status.

The unfortunate fact is that most people aren’t familiar with the type of science that needs to be conducted if one is looking to efficiently utilise a replenishable natural resource, such as a stock of whales.

m1a1

Toshio Kasuya, a retired professor who worked for the Fisheries Agency’s whaling program in the 1980s, launched a scathing attack on his former colleagues.
“Without the earnings from the meat sales, the whaling organisation that undertakes the government-commissioned research program would be unable to continue operation, and the shipping company that provides the fleet for the program would not be able to recover costs for whaling vessel construction,” he wrote in a newspaper.
“This is nothing other than an economic activity. It leaves no room for researchers to carry out research based on their own ideas.”
More controversially, he says scientists were told in the 1980s to manipulate the quota of whales needed for research to ensure the program continued for as long as possible. “I regret very much my role in setting up this illegal whale research.”
Twenty years later, Japan has killed almost 10,500 mostly minke and Bryde’s whales, and has plans to slaughter several thousand more. By contrast, it killed just 840 whales in the name of scientific research between 1954 and the international moratorium on commercial whaling, imposed in 1986.

stereo

Is this the professor you are talking about?
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zb4h-kskr/biodiversity/kasuya0.html

In the above article he says,
日本は条約8条を根拠として調査捕鯨をおこなっているが、その場合には捕獲は科学研究のためでなければならず、財政収入とか研究費の捻出を目指したものであってはならない。これは調査捕鯨を行なう者の研究倫理の問題であり、明確な根拠がない限り他者は介入しがたい領域である。研究者の良心の自由を保証する環境として、当事者には調査捕鯨以外の研究手法を選択する余地が与えられていることが望まれる。
“Japan conducts research whaling based on the article 8 of the Treaty. Therefore the objective of the whaling must be scientific research, and must not be financial gain or covering cost for research. This is about the ethics of scientists, and others should not intervene. To guarantee the freedom of conscience for the researches, I hope the researchers are given the opportunity to have other researches than research whaling.”

It seems he does not see research whaling “illegal”. m1a1, I cannot judge since I do not know the full text from which you quoted, but your quote seems out of context.

Even if the sales of whale meat are used to cover the cost for the research, I do not think that makes research whaling illegal. We all know a lot of research papers have been turned in to the IWC based on the Japan’s research whaling.

Environmental activists say that Japan’s research whaling did not establish any statistically significant facts, but hide the reason why they say so.
They say so because they believe the SAMPLES ARE NOT LARGE ENOUGH. OK. Japan should kill more whales to please the environmental activists, or shouldn’t it?
http://david-in-tokyo.blogspot.com/ david@tokyo

m1a1,

Prof. Kasuya is right that without the earnings from meat sales the research programme wouldn’t be able to continue (unless the govt. agreed to fund it).

However the reality of the world we live in is that whale meat resulting from the programme not only can be sold, it basically must be sold for the research activity to be in accordance with Japan’s international legal obligations. So it’s hypothetical to ask whether the research would be fully tax-payer funded or not if the whale meat could not be sold to offset costs. Japan certainly funds other research that doesn’t have a means of offseting costs. For Japan, where whale meat consumption is a well-rooted part of the food cuisine, it would be counterintuitive to not sell the meat (put it to waste) and unnecessarily put more financial burden on the taxpayer.

I don’t understand his criticism about “no room for researchers to carry out research based on their own ideas”. The ICR was established partly to conduct scientific activity to support Japan’s official policy of sustainable use of marine resources. The scientists that do take part in these programmes certainly seem to have no problem with this idea, on the contrary pursuing sustainable use appears to be a personal motivation for many of them.

http://www.myspace.com/LaraStarr420 Lara Starr

Tha japanese are ILLEGALLY POACHING in a PROTECTED WHALE SANCTUARY! GREENPEACE doesnt do a damn thing but watch the slaughter. Thats like someone witnessing the slaughter of the Jews and just taking pictures. The Japanese use a loophole in a 1986 law, they profit off of people eating endangered species. Sea Shepherd uses non lethal chemicals to try and stop the illegal poaching. The Japanese fight back with grenades and LRAD machines. They are the ones being violent and trying to cause harm. Sea Shepherd has never hurt a soul! They are doing the job that the Australian Government cant be bothered to do because they dont want to damage trade between Japan. Its all about human greed… and these whales are going extinct because of it. Sea Shepherd is doing the only thing they can do and to hell with anyone who disagrees!
Sutter Cane

Im getting sick of this crap attempting to justify Sea Shepherd and it’s ilk from people.

Whaling is sustainable for many species of whales. Whales, the ones the Japanese hunt, are not endangered in any way that would remotely be a threat to their existence.

There are currently just under 800,000 Minke whales, the vast majority the Japanese hunt, in the ocean. A conservative estimate at it’s worst puts them at 600,000. Out of all of those, the Japanese hunt around 500 – 800 Minke whales every season. Which are replenished every damn year.

Sperm whales are around 200,000. 123,000 Fin whales. Brydes whales 66,000 – 86,000. Sei are around 55,000. These are current numbers for the population at this time in the oceans of the world.

In [b]21 years[/b] the Japanese have hunted 45 Sperm whales, 492 Sei, 396 Brydes and 13 Fin. In [b]21 years[/b].

It is [B]NOT[/B] illegal, as many claim. It is only “illegal” to hunt for commercial fishing. It may be a loophole that allows the Japanese to hunt, however it is completely [b]legal[/b].

The fishing in “Australian waters” isn’t occurring. It’s downright laughable, if it wasn’t so pathetic, that many here get so angry about ‘them damn Japs in ma watas!’ when [B]NO[/B] such thing is even [b]remotely[/b] occurring. It is [b]international[/b] waters. Very, very few nations even accept Australia’s ridiculous claim to those waters or the large portion of the Antarctic we think is ours. The Japanese not being one of them. In fact the repeated statements by members of Government in relation to not taking the Japanese to the International Court is that we are likely to [b]officially[/b] lose any claim to those waters if we tried.

Now, the research. As much as people decry it, it remains legal. And as much as people reeeeally hate it, it actually is a type of genuine research.

What many people keep bringing up in relation to the research is that more, less lethal, ways are available: therefore the Japanese research isn’t real research. No, it’s not that simple. Despite some actual advancements in whale biology and understanding, the research entails [b]sustainability[/b] of [b]whale populations[/b] in relation to [b]fishing[/b]. Their research has pretty much conclusively shown that, especially Minke, certain whale populations can be hunted routinely and sustainably. Their research is to show the point that whaling has no reason forever being banned, forever thinking that whales shouldn’t be eaten for no other reason than a built in social ignorance that they are “speshul”. Whales were originally protected [B]SO[/B] their populations could be sustained. And if whaling were to continue again, as a consumer venture, whaling would be regulated and the whale populations still sustained.

The people who are against whaling for no reason other than a unfounded, paranoid fear or hatred for it are the same people who got horse meat banned in the US. Horse lovers lobbied to have horse meat banned from sale for no other reason than they didn’t like seeing horses be killed. Which shut down well doing horse meat factories, for no reason.

As for the “ramming” that the “poor, poor Ady Gil” received? I suggest people here stop thinking a ship of that size maneuvers like a God damn car. You can’t just magically, suddenly turn. It doesn’t work like that.

The Ady Gil, after trying to run a [b]line[/b] under the Maru to [b]snag it’s propellers[/b], pulled into the path of the Maru. This is shown in both videos. The Maru then pulls to the [b]stern[/b] (as shown in the video) of the Ady Gil. After seeing it’s then come to a stop, it pulls to the bow, to which, surprisingly as they claimed it’s motors had “stopped”, the Ady Gil then accelerates into the path of the Maru again.

For those of you who don’t know, this is the ocean. There are no horizon indicators, saying “omgz they move towards the Ady Gil” when there are no reference points on a wavy surface doesn’t justify your arguments. However wakes and the physical maneuverability of the ships tend to instead.

The Ady Gil has a visible wake behind it, from it’s motors, before suddenly stopping in front of the Maru and the churn of the motors were creating ceases . It was passing in front of the ship, to which the Maru, like it was required to do, pulled to it’s starboard to avoid the collision that would have occurred. The Maru correctly maneuvered to get out of the path of the Ady Gil only to find the Ady Gil had decided to stop in front of the changed path. To which the Maru then pulled to it’s port to avoid the new collision path. Suddenly a mysterious wake appears as the motors, that apparently suddenly dropped dead for no reason according to the crew of the Ady Gil, came to life and once more shot into the path of the Maru.

The Ady Gil then was run down by a larger ship that doesn’t have the magical capability to suddenly pull to a stop. Unlike their vessel with it’s powerful motors and lightweight frame that apparently couldn’t get out of the way of a ship it could run circles around.

Now ignorant people came forth spouting ridiculous nonsense about the Maru “turning into ram the Ady Gil”, ignoring that it would of had to have already been turning before the Ady Gil got there to crash into it. To which, having no knowledge that the Ady Gil’s motors were suddenly going to drop dead, it would have missed as the Ady Gil would have crossed over the Marus path and out of the way before it hit.

So that’s two emergency maneuvers that occurred. Both of which, if we were to believe the Ady Gils story as true, must have been by a drunken skipper, swerving and hitting by sheer luck, as he would have missed twice if it was deliberate.

The Japanese video of the same instances shows the Ady Gil pull into their path. The Sea Shepherds video shows the same, even after the poor attempt to edit out the first half of the video which would have shown who pulled into whoms path first.

So the Maru followed maritime law and safety rules, only to have their ship damaged by a deliberate, idiotic, attempt to play chicken.

To the Ady Gils moronic credit, I don’t really think they intended to actually get run over (though the probably did), just get another video of “oh, oh, look! The Japanese tried to ram us”.

Here’s a thought, don’t play chicken in front of big ships and be surprised if you get run over.

And for those ignorant enough to believe the Sea Shepard fools based solely on their flimsy explanations and “trust us! we loves the whales”: The Sea Shepherd group has sunk 8 vessels, damaged a whaling station, rammed not only a variety of ships but also coast guard and police vessels. All of which they have themselves backed up and claimed. They once, after being ordered to leave French waters, threw fuel into the water around police boats and tried to ignite it with flares. And that’s not even including their recent piracy.

So to actually believe Sea Shepherd “because they say so” in relation to not ramming other ships or attempting to cause harm is ridiculous.

And now, once again, an idiotic activist has illegally, very illegally, boarded a vessel and been detained.

Hopefully he is taken to Japan and put on trial. Not just for his illegal trespass aboard the ship but also for his role, as a crew members aboard the Ady Gil, in the deliberate attempt to collide with a Japanese fishing vessel.

And if [b]anyone[/b] has a problem with a nation abiding, completely, by established international and maritime laws and support piracy groups like the Sea Shepherd in their endeavours can, like has happened here in Australia, lobby their Government to take military action against Japanese whaling fleets.

Because if a war with one of the most technologically advanced and well funded militaries on the face of this planet is something you would consider for the preservation of a thriving whale species, go for it.

Anti-Whaling Activists Detained After Acid Bottle Attacks & Illegal Boarding

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