Your topic %TITLE% was interesting when I found it on %DAY% searching for %KEYWORD%. Thanks, %URL%…

this is what happens when you have an army that never fights for real anymore and a culture that fetishsizes cute. you get all huffy and tuff with hippies armed with bottles of weak acid and assert that theres some kind of manliness in slaughtering defenseless animals.

japan, youre a laughingstock over this whaling thing, a fucking joke on the level of george bush.

pathetic.

Australian claim of Antarctic Continent is a sneaky unilateral claim unrecognized by the international community. No matter what they do, their claim will not gain any authenticity under Antarctic Treaty. Japanese ships are operating in the high seas. They are free to do so to the extent permitted by IWC.

However, my position is that the said Antarcic Territory EEZ which Australia claims conflicts with the Antarctic Treaty System which they signed states ““does not recognize, dispute, or establish territorial sovereignty claims and no new claims shall be asserted while the treaty is in force; ”

Hence, comparing Okinotori which the only addresses the controversy of whether it’s an “island or not” is not comparable Australia’s claim since it doesn’t conflict with other international agreements to date.

There wouldn’t be so much debate if Japan were restricting itself to traditional whaling methods in Japan’s own EEZ. Chasing whales in dugout canoes, however, takes the sort of fortitude that modern Japanese no longer possess.

Speaking of sinking ships, however, I wouldn’t mind see the Nishin Maru hit with a harpoon. . .an RGM-84 Harpoon SLAM, that is! Given the state of the whaling industry in Japan and the fact that it is completely reliant upon subsidies from the taxpayer, if anything were to happen to the Nishin Maru, it seems unlikely that a new whale processing factory ship would ever be built.

Huh? Who has said that Oz is part of Antartica? And that is surely not relevant anyway. Japan’s claim to Oki is based on the fact that they currently have it and no one is seriously denying that. Surely you can’t be saying that any landmass connected by a continental shelf or volcanic chain or other geomorphic feature is the ‘same’ place and thus has a valid land claim? Could you quote here the law which seems relevant here?

The next point you seem to raise is whether Australia’s claim to the Antarctic territory is the same as Japan’s to Okinotori. But that does not seem to be the case: the issue with Oki is not that other countries dispute Japan’s claim to the place, but whether or not it qualifies to have its own EEZ. With Australia, the initial issue – does it have clear and undisputed claim to its Antarctic Territory – needs to be settled first, for if it does not, then the question of its EEZ down there is rendered irrelevant.

For detail, see Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). You can download detailed MSDS for butyric acid. Go to http://www.sciencelab.com. Then, search “butyric acid” using the search box on the top page. You can find a link to the PDF file below “n-Butyric Acid, Reagent”.

The followings are some of the health effects described in the MSDS for butyric acd.

Potential Acute Health Effects:
Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion. Hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant), of inhalation. Slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (corrosive, permeator). Liquid or spray mist may produce tissue damage particularly on mucous membranes of eyes, mouth and respiratory tract. Skin contact may produce burns. Inhalation of the spray mist may produce severe irritation of respiratory tract, characterized by coughing, choking, or shortness of breath.

Potential Chronic Health Effects:
The substance is toxic to lungs, the nervous system, mucous membranes. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage.

As for the concentration of butyric acid that Sea Shepherd is using, there is no data that is publicly available.

According to The Australian,

“We sprayed them with butyric acid, which is a noxious stink bomb, and the smell stays there for a few days. While it is on the deck it is pretty hard to do any work, like kill a whale,” Mr Watson said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23076606-12377,00.html

He said “butyric acid, which is a noxious stink bomb” rather than “stink bomb containing butyric acid”.

Also, butyric acid can be mixed with water. So if it is diluted, water is usually used. However, the liquid in the following photograph looks to be organic solvent rather than aquatic solvent. Undiluted butyric acid looks as organic solvent.
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=3592

Hydrochloric acid that you mentioned is gaseous at room temperature. So it is sold as an aquaous solution in which hydrochloric acid is dissolved. Usually, hydrochloric acid is sold as 37% solution in water. However, since butyric acid is liquid at room temperature, it is sold as pure liquid. When one says “butyric acid”, it usually means pure butyric acid that is organic liquid.

I am aware than English may not be your native language, but the difficulties in following your argument are on your side, not mine. You seem to have lost track when in response to JiminJapan’s questioning of the island status of Okinotori (which is dubious, in terms of its ability to be used to claim an EEZ), Nigelboy listed a few criteria for EEZs and islands, and then said “So what the hell are the Aussies doing in Antarctica?” This does not mean that Antarctica is an island, it means that Japan’s claim to an EEZ around Okinotori is (in his opinion) based on international law, and Australia’s to part of Antarctica is not. So then you attempt to prove Antarctica is not an island but a continent by, in part, saying “It also has several claims by many countries to various parts of the land mass, just as in Africa South America etc.” You then go on to say that “Antartica [sic] is an island, which i [sic] refute as it is a continent. And citing several examples. Since continents have countires [sic] on them” which implies either than Antarctica has countries on it, being a continent, or that Africa and S. America have territorial claims on parts of their landmass by foreign powers.

——————

Article VIII
1. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Convention, any Contracting Government may grant to any of its nationals a special permit authorizing that national to kill, take, and treat whales for purposes of scientific research subject to such restrictions as to number and subject to such other conditions as the Contracting Government thinks fit, and the killing, taking, and treating of whales in accordance with the provisions of this Article shall be exempt from the operation of this Convention. Each Contracting Government shall report at once to the Commission all such authorizations which it has granted. Each Contracting Government may at any time revoke any such special permit which it has granted.
2. Any whales taken under these special permits shall so far as practicable be processed and the proceeds shall be dealt with in accordance with directions issued by the Government by which the permit was granted.

So, how does the SS deploy these acidic weapons anyway? Water balloons? Spray? Do they realize they may be contributing lowering the pH of the ocean?

Under the UNCLOS

1. An island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide.

2. Except as provided for in paragraph 3, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf of an island are determined in accordance with the provisions of this Convention applicable to other land territory.

3. Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.”

It satisfies #1 so hence, it is an island.

So what the hell are Aussies doing in the Antarctic?

and you forgot “massive Victorian-era expeditions”

Wikipedia says: “It is found in rancid butter, parmesan cheese, and vomit, and has an unpleasant odor and acrid taste, with a sweetish aftertaste (similar to ether).”

So you read the above description “butyric acid is akin to rancid butter or vomit.” I understand that in your post “rancid butter” and “vomit” were picked up and connected with “butyric acid” as you like.

Trouble is, Europe doesn’t want them any more. Britain would rather let in Muslim terrorists than its own descendants.

You’re absolutely right, but what you are saying applies to Australia too.

That said, whaling supporters in Japan make no bones about this being directed at the resumption of commercial whaling, and that it is (in their eyes) as much about keeping whaling techniques and culture alive until that day.

The fact is we don’t know the facts well. I read your post on your personal blog. If I was a betting man, I would say the goal of the acid is to cause a stink and ruin meat rather than maim whalers. That being said, the Sea Shepherd is engaging in really risky business.

“However, of course, there is no sacred law stating that you can’t spread propaganda from Sea Shepherd” I looked up the acid in Wikipedia; wasn’t going by the organization’s claims.
“you can’t parrot misdirected comments that you found on the net.” See, this part confuses me, because I think we would be on the same side with the quotes. You are making sound bad that I brought the news about the outrageous things people are saying, especially a very public figure’s words from the news. Conveying such information is one of the primary things bloggers do. Moreover it is hardly parroting if I provide context and commentary. You do quote people on your blog, right?

The rumor that butyric acid is akin to rancid butter is misinformation propagated by Sea Shepherd. Impact of butyric acid on human body is totally differnt from that of rancid butter. Butyric acid is a harmful substance that can kill humans just by being administered onto the skin. Its LD50 (50% lethal dose) for acute dermal toxicity is 0.53 gram per kilogram body weight, which roughly means you can kill a man who weigh 70 kg by administering 37 g (= 0.53 x 70) of butyric acid onto the skin. I have written on the toxicity of butyric acid twice in the comment section of Japan Probe, but it seems you haven’t read them.

Australian government is doing nothing on this issue, even though they surely know the toxicity of butyric acid. This issue is not an issue of national pride but an issue of the security of civilians in the high seas.

However, of course, there is no sacred law stating that you can’t spread propaganda from Sea Shepherd and that you can’t parrot misdirected comments that you found on the net.

However, lumping us in the same category as Mr. Nakagawa and topping it off with his opinion is not exactly the best way to get on with readers, IMO.

Good that all the fans of whaling see whom they are siding with:
An old man with a bitter face in a suit. A sexist, a nationalist and an alcoholic. Someone who puts his nationalist agenda ahead of the preservation of endangered species and (foreign) human life. Someone who probably thinks that all foreigners are scum anyway.

Glad I wasn’t quoted. Way to attack your trusty readers Mr. Claytonian. All things read on the internet should be taken with a salt shaker. Ne?

I wonder who sponsors this groupd?

Hollywood celebs and various individuals who strongly believe in Sea Shepherd’s violence-against-whalers policy.

I wonder who sponsors this groupd?

Can the Japanese whalers and/or government sue the financial backers? Might be something to look into.