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I never really knew what was going on until I saw Whale Wars tonight. Wow, I use to think that environmentalist where just misguided sometimes, but who would have thought that they were this dangerous and this misguided, but well funded. These people are jeopardizing all these human lives just for a show so they can rake in those tax free donations. from around the world. It truly showed me what they are really about. I almost wish I could donate to an anti sea shepherds group. One that would track there every movement and post it for all the hard working whalers and fishing men of the world to see. That way they could protect themselves from these whale worshiping maniacs.
The Sea Shepherds just put the whale in even more danger. That was a reckless and irresponsible tactic.
What exactly are they collecting if they are research vessels? Where is the research documented? 900 whales a year as a quota should show some results one would think.
Paul Watson and the rest of the Steve Irwin crew should be arrested for their international crimes. I watched the episode in which Watson claimed to have been shot. If he had been shot with a rifle that shot a peice of led the size of the one they pulled out of his jacket, it would have knocked him flat on his back and knocked ALL of the wind out of him. I was amazed that a person could tell such a lie and expect someone to believe it. What amazes me even more is that I know now that there are people actually stupid enough to believe it. Paul Watson has claimed to have rammed other ships and sunk them. I feel that the Japanese should take an old Japanese WW2 battleship with them to protect their whaling vessels. Put a 16 inch shell in the Steve Irwin and laugh at them while their sinking.
The definition of "pirate" in Webster's dictionary is "a robber of ships, thief..." Therefore, each and every one of you who has called the Sea Shepherd, its Captain or its crew pirates should be ashamed of themselves. Shame on each of you, esp. the navy captain who should certainly know better. These people are trying to right a terrible wrong being done by the Japanese to a gentle creature unable to defend itself. The moment the Japanese pointed their military grade weapons at the Sea Shepherd's helicopter, they changed the rules of the game. Harm to another human being became quite possible. Thank goodness there are people in this world who are willing to do more than just sit back and do nothing.
The definition of "pirate" in Webster's dictionary is "a robber of ships, thief..." Therefore, each and every one of you who has called the Sea Shepherd, its Captain or its crew pirates should be ashamed of themselves. Shame on each of you, esp. the navy captain who should certainly know better. These people are trying to right a terrible wrong being done by the Japanese to a gentle creature unable to defend itself. The moment the Japanese pointed their military grade weapons at the Sea Shepherd's helicopter, they changed the rules of the game. Harm to another human being became quite possible. Thank goodness there are people in this world who are willing to do more than just sit back and do nothing.
Paul Watson is a high seas criminal and pirate
I think it is great the Sea Shepard is out there so they know they are being watched!I think the camera footage of the killing will help the most to get
more people to understand this has to stop. It was a butcher shop on that
japenese vessel not research.I think the Japenese need to explain to the
world what type of research is being done??? I wish there were underwater
sounds that the Sea Shepard could use to deflect the whales out of the area
when the slatter vessals are around.I also think there needs to two sea shepard ships traveling together for more presence.I do not think violence
will help.When people stop eating the meat and it is not profitable that is
the best chance to stop it.The whole world has to get involved to help stop
this
As the twenty year veteran of the us navy i can tell you these people are nothing but pirates, with that said the japanese whalers have every right to defend their vessel by whatever means necessary including deadly force if they see fit.
Why do the Japanese whalers have a need to go down to the Antartic whale sanctuary and do their "research"? Why can't they hunt in their own waters? What's a matter too tough for them to do? Seems to me they like they want easy pickens of Antartic waters and thew whale feeding grounds and use the "research" loophole to their advantage. And what "Research" must have a need to kill as much as 900 whales of one species, 50 of another, and so on, and so on, and? Cousteu never had a need to kill to do his research? A Sample of 10 or 20 is not good enough?
I applaude Sea Shepard and have donated my used car to their Band of Courageous warriors. I wish I kew about them sooner so I could have joined their crew. Enough is enough with this MASSIVE whale hunting abuse and more groups need to team up with Sea shepard and do their best to blockade the Japanese from hunting in the Whale sanctuary[i.e feeding grounds] the whales to extinction! and I hope that Animal Planet will continue their series until the Japanses hunting in the whale sanctuary is forever stopped! Stick it to the Japanese and long live the Whales!
They are all crazy, risking human life in their persuit of self rightousness. Captain Watson is likely insane and their organization seems suspect.... my bet is someone is getting rich from this. They are not heros, they are pirates and terrorists..... and will get what they deserve. Why not use your money and volunteers to help other humans who are in need... there are so many in this world, it's a shame.
There is no reason on this earth to kill a whale, endangered or not. They are not killing them to feed the hungry, honour tradition or gain research to better the life of whales they are killing them for money pure and simple. Maybe we should "collect tissue samples" from the whalers for research purposes. I greatly admire the volunteers on the Sea Shepherd who are willing to risk everything to make a change and protect the whales and the planet. We all like to sit passively by and criticize or praise but how many of us are willing to risk it all. Thank you to all the people who risk everything to make change for whales or save the planet that will rot away if not for the actions of a small few. I pray for them and hope more people will help to make a difference, myself included. sue
paul watson and the sea shepherd crew are hero's in my book...BALLS OF BRASS! they do what nobody eles has the balls to do.if i had my way....id blow those murdering bastard japs to the bottom of the sea.i hope to one day stand beside paul watson on the sea shepherd and do my part to protect the whales of our world! but for now ill do my part by spreding the word about what is happening in the waters so far from my home~
julie goulart
cape cod,mass
i voted other, mainly because i think what they are doing is exactly righ, the japanese are abusing the loophole that they have found, and torturing the animals. i just don't think how they are doing it is right. if they are going to be out there, take the cameras off the ship, and be more agressive, this is the only way that there will be any kind of stopping. the sea shepherd are preventing the killing of the whales and not stopping it. through some more agressive tactics, like disabeling the boats, they wil be able to stop them. and i really think that the captains idea of what is the right thing to do (Like getting people kidnapped) is highly distorted.
They are terrorist....pirates and most of all liars. They lie for media coverage and donations....do a little research on these freaks. I can't wait for the Japanese to start arming themselves and start firing on these morons. I say blow the Shepard right out of the water....I have NO tolerance for terrorists...PERIOD
I can't believe the amount of courage these people have. If only there were more people who'd 'speak up' like this.
I applaud their courage in going against the status quo. Ideally the farce of the japanese whaling for 'scientific' purposes would be stopped by international authorities - but since is not the case, I am grateful for humans who take risks to help species like the whale who have no means of defending themselves from the greedy and myopic japanese whaling companies.
I have to say I am a bit disappointed that Treehugger should actually ask the question the way they did. However it is only one of many questions that need to be asked about the hunting of Whales and the whole global process of trying to get the Whales 'all' protected. There are many issues still unanswered and many more that the pro-Whaling fraternity still refuse to answer honestly.
I fear that the actions of the Sea Shepherd have done little to enhance environmentalists reputation with the general public. This is because the video footage clearly shows a manoeuvre that, to all intents and purposes, deliberately cuts into the side of the Japanese vessel. Now I hate Whaling more than most but this kind of action is likely to cause a great many members of the public to believe that we environmentalists are 'Nutters' or 'Vandals'.
The question now remains........'What can be done to reverse the adverse publicity that this will generate?'
The first action that could be taken is the hauling onto the carpet of the Captain of the Sea Shepherd by the environmentalist groups with a vested interest in Whale conservation, and this should be done in the most public way possible. We all have to remember that all the financial support for campaigns comes from public donations (very little comes from private organisations and certainly not from governments). So if those donations are to be maintained then the donors need to see that the group/s that they are supporting are behaving in a morally and ethically motivated manner and not like idiots, which is how the press and media will no doubt portray the whole debacle.
Feel free to comment.
Can not say if this is an effective form of protecting whales. Why is it so hard to stop the violent "research" of whales in 2009??? Nor can I say it is counter-productive. What would any feeling human being do if they just witnessed a murder?? I think I too would react full of anguish and frustration.
Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherds are heroes and deserve all our support.
That support should include a loud boycott of Japanese goods, including their excellent cars, to put pressure on the Japanese government to end the unnecessary and barbaric slaughter of whales. Japan claims that the slaughter falls under the "research" exemption in the international whaling treaty to which they've agreed, but the meat winds up on the commercial market. Whales are an insignificant part of the Japanese diet and the industry employs very few people. I have no sympathy for the whalers, I just hope that none are killed or seriously injured because that would go badly for Watson. If not for the Sea Shepherds, the cruel slaughter of whales would continue far from public consciousness and their extreme, but totally justified, actions serve the political purpose of making more diplomatic efforts seem reasonable.
No one wants violence in a perfect world. This world not being perfect, with whales and other threatened non human species needing our help to endure, sometimes aggravated and damaging intervention, such as the The Sea Shepherd's way, is essential. Whale populations in the world will be gone, forever, and we'll be wondering why we couldn't/didn't stop it. I guess there will always be hope and there will always be forgiveness even when there are no non human species in the world to appreciate anymore. At least we can be happy we weren't ever mean to each other.
I voted "other".
I'm afraid such tactics are necessity.
You cannot fight the evil with non-action. Many wars have proved this.
It seems like prior to groups like Sea Shepherds and Earth First, groups like Green Peace and the Sierra Club were seen as being on the "fringe" and their viewpoints were brushed aside. With the radical groups taking up space on the fringe, more moderate groups are heard by a wider audience and, occasionally, even offered a seat at the table.
That said, in the short term, some radical actions are detrimental within communities directly affected by such actions.
2ยข
I think that Sea Shepard's actions are both effective and counter-productive. I think that unfortunately the crew aren't the best representatives for the environmental cause, since they give us the quack-job image, but they are effective at slowing down the Japanese fleet, even if it is only a small bit. Sometimes I wonder if they shouldn't do more towards actively trying to sink ships though, if they would pick up those stranded.
BEN is absolutely right!
- SEASHEPHERD IS EXACTLY LIKE MAHATMA GANDHI.
- AND THE WHALE KILLERS ARE VIOLENT!
Mahatma Gandhi marched to the Sea, to protest the issue about the salt. And when the soldiers with guns came, He refused to move and took their hits. Same like great SeaShepherd has gone to Sea to protest the issue of whales. And when the violent whalers armed with harpoons, guns, and explosives onboard their ship came and tried to force Sea Sheperd to move, SeaShepherd and Paul Watson didn't budge. They took the hits and non-violently stood their ground. In the same exact spirit of Gandhi.
THE JAPANESE WHALERS ARE THE *ONLY* ONES WHOSE ACTIONS EVER KILLED A MAN. THE WHALERS HAVE TAKEN HUMAN LIFE. WHALERS ACTIVITIES HAVE HURT & KILLED JAPANESE PEOPLE.
Sea Shepherd has not. And SeaShepherd has never killed or seriously harmed anyone, in their entire 30 year history. Clean. They have no guns. No grenades. No explosives.
The whale killers have guns, firearms, grenades, their ships carry explosives, harpoons, poisonous Lead, non-biodegradable toxins, metal bolts, military sound weapons, and ships designed for blood to flow out troughs on them. It is the Whalers that carry the weapons of terror, violence, and are by definition killers, and whalers who have taken human life.
All Good japanese are against whalers, and all the good japanese people know that sea shepherd protects japanese people from this tiny number of bad whalers that bring shame to the country of japan, and from nasty whalers who offend good japanese people and culture.
Ben, what part of shooting a grenade tipped harpoon into the back of a whale and making it thrash about for 20 minutes and die in its own blood is peaceful?
The Sea Shepherd crew have never injured any whalers with their so called "acts of violence", which is a testament to their integrity. And this is despite the Japanese tactics are becoming increasingly violent. Metal balls, brass bolts, high powered water cannons and LRAD's. If the Sea Shepherd crew used any of this there would be a global out cry against them. And yet the Japanese are using a military grade weapon in peace times and in the Antarctic Treaty Zone and no one says boo.
It's time for a reality check don't you think? Everything the Japanese are doing is illegal and are only using a loophole to get away with it. And the Sea Shepherd can hardly be faulted.
Sitting back and waiting for governments and diplomatic outcomes certainly isn't going to do anything. 20 years prior to the Sea Shepherds involvement has already proven that. Direct action is what's needed and that's what they're doing.
The best defense is attack, so all the power to them. Remember in the 17th century it wasn't the British Navy who stopped piracy in the Caribbean, it was Henry Morgan... a pirate.
"These Hitlers use the camouflage of science to make money out of animals, so whenever they murder our animals and call it sustainable use, i'll fight it. Since when has killing a wild animal, eating it or wearing it, ever saved a species?"
Steve Irwin - July 2006
Both, obviously. About half of the people think it's counterproductive, the other half think it's useful. What all will agree is that it gets them publicity, which is probably what they're trying to do. Sea Shepherd are probably knowingly positioning themselves to be the "bad guy" in order to show that the whalers are even worse.
Martin Luther King and Gahndi changed the world through the thoughtful and persistant use of peace in its most active forms. Active pursuit of peace is the answer here not acts of violence.