Whale Wars 2013: Sea Shepherd Ships Depart for Antarctic

This year the Sea Shepherds have 4 ships that they are using to try and keep the Japanese from killing any whales in the Antarctic this season.  The ships are now headed to the Antarctic ahead of the Japanese fleet, which was delayed this season due to issues with the factory ship.  It should be interesting to see how this season goes with the leader Paul Watson stepping down as the key figure due to legal actions and evading extradictions that are out for him from Costa Rica and Japan.  Also, a United States court has ordered them to stay at least 450 meters from the Japanese, which is quite far compared to some their previous antics and would be interesting to see if they actually keep with it and if so what they end up doing to keep their goal of stopping the Japanese from killing any whales.

Related Articles:

• Sea Shepherd boats set sail for Antarctica

Damaged Sea Shepherd Vessel Done for Season

One of the Sea Shepherd's vessels, the Brigitte Bardot, was damaged by rough seas.  The Steve Irwin escorted it back to port where it will undergo repairs for about 3 months.  Thus the boat is done for this season of Whale Wars, but the Steve Irwin will rejoin the Bob Barker after refueling and resupplying.  The Bob Barker has remained near the Japanese whaling fleet while the Steve Irwin and Brigitte Bardot returned to port.

Related Article:

• Damaged Sea Shepherd Vessel to Be Docked for Rest of Campaign 

Sea Shepherds using drone to track Japanese whalers

This year the Sea Shepherds tracking of the Japanese has gotten more sophisticated with the use of a military-style drone.  This will allow them to cover more ground and perhaps be more successful at stopping the whaling this year.  However, it also means that there is going to be more confrontation and the Whale Wars are very likely to escalate to a whole new level this year.  Might make the upcoming Whale Wars Season 5 on Animal Planet more interesting, but the whole thing seems to be getting more and more ridiculous from both sides.

Related Articles:

•  Activists use drone to track whaling fleet from Sydney Morning Herald

Whale Wars 2011-2012: Operation Divine Wind

The Sea Shepherd group will once again be trying its best to intervene with the Japanese whaling operation around Antarctica starting in December of this year.  Last year they helped to shorten the time the Japanese spent whaling and really limited the effectiveness of the program.  However, their tactics are not the most desirable, as they are willing to put their lives at risk and it really is becoming a true war.  It seems the Sea Shepherds are always portrayed as heros and the Japanese as villians, but it would be interesting to see more press that shows the Japanese side or less bias.

Personally, I think the Japanese might be stretching the meaning of the international laws regarding whaling, but at the same time the Sea Shepherd group is taking everything to the other extreme and being unlawful, too.  The Japanese are obviously at this point really trying to save face and the Sea Shepherds or some other intervening party could perhaps make negotiations that respected the Japanese traditions and allowed them to not be totally disgraced.  There are obviously cultural differences that seem to exacerbate this to a point of just ridiculousness by both parties.

What do you think about the Whale Wars?  I'd love to hear others opinions on it whether for one side or the other or even just neutral.


Related Articles:

• Sea Shepherds say they are ready to die to stop Japanese whaling 
• Whale Wars 2010: Japanese Sink Protest Boat
• Whale Wars 2010: Another Clash of Boats

Whale Wars Reunion Episode to Air August 12, 2011

Animal Planet will air a special Reunion Episode of Whale Wars featuring Lisa Ling interviewing Captain Paul Watson and his crew.  This is sort of a wrap of up of Whale Wars with the very real possibility that the so called war has been won and it will be their final season of their activities in Antarctica with it seeming that the Japanese will stop their whale hunts.

Learn more about the series (now in its 4th season) here.

Whale Wars 2011 Has Started

Thought I would read Whale Wars articles before today, but today is the first time this season that there has been news. The Sea Shepherd activists have located the Japanese whalers. The first clash included the whalers shooting water cannons at the activists in zodiacs.

Read this article for more info.

Most Expensive Beer Made from Antarctic Ice

This is an interesting article about beer being sold for $800 a bottle at auction recently. This is a limited batch of beer made from melted ice that the Sea Shepherd harvested from Antarctica during their whale wars expedition last year. All proceeds from the beer benefit the society.

Christie's Exploration and Travel with the Polar Sale Lot 54: Lloyd Howland

Lot 54: Lloyd Howland (fl.1815-1826) includes Some of the South Shetland Islands From actual observations by L. Howland Year 1819 and Journal of a Voyage From Canton to Chili Kept on board of the Osprey by Loyd Howland. These items relate to time period around the discovery of the actual Antarctic continent in 1820. While they are not about the Antarctic mainland, the South Shetland Islands are Antarctic islands.

Lloyd Howland's drawings of the South Shetland Islands are some of the earliest depictions (if not first!) of Antarctic land, as the drawings are dated 1819 around when the islands were discovered. The drawings have the date of 1819 on them, but are actually probably from 1820-1822 when Lloyd Howland is known to have been in the area.

The drawings are being sold with a Journal of a Voyage From Canton to Chili Kept on board of the Osprey by Loyd Howland, which chronicles the whaling voyage of 1820-1822 during which the drawings were probably done. The book also chronicles other whaling voyages including ones from 1824-1826 and an earlier 1815 expedition.

This lot is being auction off on September 22, 2010 as part of Christie's Exploration and Travel with the Polar Sale. The estimated value is £4,000 - £6,000 ($6,200 - $9,300).

Whale Wars 2010: Another Clash of Boats

Earlier this year one of the activists boats were sunk in a clash between the whalers and the activists. The most recent clash was the ramming of the activist's ship, the Bob Barker, with one of the Japanese whaling ships, the No. 3 Yushin Maru. As usual they blame each other and there really is not much of a way to say who was really at fault.

Whale Wars 2010: Japanese Sink Protest Boat

This article is one of many floating around right now about the Japanese being "accused" of sinking a protest boat. To me the word accused makes it seem like maybe they did not do it or they are not admitting it and thus is misleading. Anyways there is as expected dispute over the incident and the Japanese doing it intentionally or could not prevent the collision, but there is not denying they caused the boat to be destroyed and sunk.

The incident involved the Japanese Shonan Maru No. 2 colliding with the protester's Ady Gil. The Ady Gil was cut in half by the collision, but fortunately all 6 on board were rescued, although one ended up with broken ribs.

From what I have seen of the show it would seem that they might have purposely been in front of the ship and challenged it. Sure the Japanese should have turned and they very well probably tried, but the activists are probably just as much at fault. Of course, I really have not a clue about what really happened and the news at this time does not shed much light with it being so much on the activists side. By the way I am on their side as far as their views on the Japanese not killing the whales, but it seems the Japanese side is at least not published in English much.

Whaling Research without Killing to be Carried Out in Antarctic Region

The past few years the Japanese whaling program has been one of the hot news topics about the Antarctic region. The Japanese go down every year to kill whales supposedly for scientific research. This year the Australia and New Zealand governments are funding a scientific whaling expedition that does not involve killing the whales. It the newest way to challenge the Japanese way of carrying out whaling research.

The success of this expedition should be a great way of convincing those in the middle that the whales do not need to be killed to carry out the research. In fact I imagine not killing them will allow for more observation of their actual behavior and such, which will allow for more research results. I can understand there might be a few things hard or impossible to research without a dead whale, but at the same time it does not seem that the Japanese are really about the scientific value of killing the whales.

However, at the same time I have not looked at the Japanese side of it to know whether they have any research and would not be surprised if the news is exaggerating the lack of scientific research from the Japanese program. Although, it does still seem that whale meat is almost as important to the Japanese as the research purpose if not more important.

Read more about the Australia and New Zealand expedition here.

Whale Wars 2008-2009 Ends

This year's Whale Wars between the Japanese and the Sea Shepherds has ended. The Sea Shepherds are returning to port because they have used up their fuel and resources for this year. They hope to return next year and stop whaling for a longer part of the season with a bigger and faster vessel. Read more about this news here.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Activists and Japanese Collide

The latest news related to the Whale Wars in the ocean around Antarctica is that things have heated up some more. The Sea Shepherds' ship, the Steve Irwin, collided into one of the Japanese harpoon ships. It sounds worse than it actually was (i.e. it is not as aggressive as it may sound). They were following one of the harpoon ships when another harpoon ship got in their way and they could not maneuver the Steve Irwin in a way to avoid the collision. The Japanese were preventing the Sea Shepherds from getting in the way of them bringing a dead whale aboard the other ship (the one not hit). Neither of the boats were seriously damaged.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Japanese Deny Using Weapons

Here is an article about the Japanese saying they did not use weapons against the anti-whaling activists. The activists have claimed that the Japanese injured two of their crew by using a "water cannon, concussion grenades, acoustic weapons and threw brass and lead balls." The Japanese only admit to using hoses on the activists after issuing a warning. The Japanese claim that the activists threw dye and strong smelling liquid at the boats and that is the only thing I am sure is true, as that is a known tactic of the activists.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Activists Closing in on Japanese

Here is a recent news article about the anti-whaling activists having spotted the Japanese fleet, including two harpoon vessels. They just recently returned to the Whale Wars after having to stop in Tasmania to refuel. Now that they have spotted the fleet they are on their tails and probably going to end up with some confrontations.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Possible Agreement to Allow Japan to Whale Closer to Home

This is an interesting article relating to the whaling issue in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. It talks a possible agreement that would decrease the amount of whaling the Japanese do in the Southern Ocean while at the same time opening up coastal whaling in Japan. This agreement is being promoted by the International Whaling Commission. It sounds like it might be something the Japanese would go along with, but I do not imagine the anti whalers going for it. Coastal whaling seems like the lesser of the evils, but I got to imagine it is not much more environmentally responsible than whaling in the Antarctic.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Sea Shepherds Offer to Back Off

The Sea Shepherds recently offered to back off of the Japanese whalers if the Australian government initiates court action against the Japanese. This comes with the other recent news encouraging the Australian government to take on the whalers for environment reason. It does seem like the Australian government will go for legal action at this time. The Sea Shepherds are expected to be heading back out to try to stop the whalers from whaling after refueling in Hobart.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Australian Government

Usually I post about the Japanese whalers and the environmental activists when talking about the Whale Wars in the Antarctic. Today I was reminded that the Australian government has also at least somewhat taken a stance against the Japanese whaling, although they have not done much in terms in trying to stop them. This article, however, gives an interesting take on what the Australian government should do to stop the whaling. It suggests that the government should go after the Japanese on environmental concerns and not just the fact they are killing whales for sketchy scientific reasons. It talks about challenging the Japanese in the Antarctic Forum (I think this is something set up under the Antarctic treaty or the challenging at least somehow relates to the treaty) on environmental grounds, such as the increased risk of oil spills due to the whaling fleet being in Antarctic waters. The big concern for oil spills is due to the fact that the fleet refuels at sea using a refueling vessel.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Japanese Claim Activists Disrupted Search for Sailor

Yesterday I posted about the news of a Japanese whaler drowning. Today I noticed an article about the Japanese claiming the activists hurt the search efforts, which is something I thought was entirely impossible because the activists had recently reported that they were returning to port for refueling. The Japanese say that the Sea Shepherd took advantage of the distress signal and approached with lights off. According to the Sea Shepherd they only offered to help including offering the services of their helicopter, but the Japanese refused the help.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Japanese Whaler Drowns

Here is a sad article relating to the Japanese whalers. One of the men on the Kiyoshin Maru 2 fell overboard and went missing. Since the waters are so cold around the Antarctic it us likely he died within an hour since they failed to find him. The Japanese whalers suppsedly searched longer (maybe still searching?), but the Maritime New Zealand Coordination Centre called off the official search. It sounds like he went overboard because of rough seas. It definitely has nothing to do with the Sea Shepherd activist, as they already turned back to refuel. Sounds like the whaling may have been stopped or slowed by the search, though.