Breaking news from the whale wars

[Sas]

back to useful information on the argument....

here is the crew of the Ady Gil with a "projectile Launcher" that they were using to launch projectiles onto the whalers vessel.

Here is a shot of them with a laser that they were using to shine in the whalers eye to cause blindness (even if it was just temp). But I'd be pretty pissed if another boat came up on me and tried to ruin my vision with a laser.

c

Ha, hippies thinking they are ninja nature warriors *eye roll* (I am too lazy to look up an emoticon for that)

 

[StevenN]

If the rest of the pro whalers in the world are as nut job as the pro whalers on SB have shown themselves to be, pro whalers are not to be trusted with the future of anything, much less the future of whales.

I agree with you about the pro whalers but I only think a few of them on here are true nut jobs. I would only put that label on the ones who have come completely unhinged and I'm sure I'd enjoy a post dive lunch with most of them.
:beer:

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

yep and when the media focus is on a distracting show from stupid ecoterrorists saving a few dozen whales, thousand die from pollution and destruction of habitat and no one gives a sh.. aboot that. SS are only getting the focus off from the real problem.

How will we convince people to pollute less and destroy habitat less to save those thousand whales I don't know where or what you are talking about if we let the Japanese whalers kill mother and baby whales without also trying to stop the Japanese.

It is a whole world thing. Sea Shepherds are taking care of the necessary business that no one else is taking care of. There are other people and organizations that are attacking and harassing polluters and habitat destroyers.

If SS could turn the rest of the world on the Japanese, they could then turn their attention to some other cause that no one else fights; like maybe Blue Fin Tuna.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

If you are driving an old 60's V-8 that needs a ring job and is belching huge smoky pollution cloud trails, and my friends and I egg your car and shine flashlights in your eyes at a stoplight, who is charged with reckless endangerment when you ram our car in the next corner?

The projectiles and laser do not constitute attempted murder but running down an at rest currently not harassing much smaller carbon fiber boat with your much larger steel hulled ship just might be attempted murder.

The whalers have fallen into the trap the SS have been baiting them into for years. The whaler captain escalated the shenanigans to a level of violence that just might end up accomplishing what no diplomatic BS has ever come close to.

You can make all the claims and post all the pictures you want but the fact remains that I have been stranded in New Mexico for the last month with nothing much to do but mess with all the rest of you and I'm pretty sure most of you have actually been wasting time you could and should have used more productively than showing your lack of social, wit and debate skills here.

 

[Sas]

If you are driving an old 60's V-8 that needs a ring job and is belching huge smoky pollution cloud trails, and my friends and I egg your car and shine flashlights in your eyes at a stoplight, who is charged with reckless endangerment when you ram our car in the next corner?

Both of them, I would hope.

The projectiles and laser do not constitute attempted murder but running down an at rest currently not harassing much smaller carbon fiber boat with your much larger steel hulled ship just might be attempted murder.

Whether it was deliberate is debateable.

The whalers have fallen into the trap the SS have been baiting them into for years. The whaler captain escalated the shenanigans to a level of violence that just might end up accomplishing what no diplomatic BS has ever come close to.

Ahh no, I really doubt that. Most people have forgotten about this already.

You can make all the claims and post all the pictures you want but the fact remains that I have been stranded in New Mexico for the last month with nothing much to do but mess with all the rest of you and I'm pretty sure most of you have actually been wasting time you could and should have used more productively than showing your lack of social skills, wit and debate skills here.

Well I'm stranded too, and like arguing on the internet. I don't see doing things that I find unproductive as wasteful We are no different in that regard so don't think you're better than everyone else here.

 

[DCBC]

If the IWC cant provide a reliable estimate, minke whale hunting should be stopped until the study is completed and the hunting proved sustainable.

Agreed; at the very least.

 

[DCBC]

I will repeat myself too. The IWC is a volunteer organisation, its agreements NON-BINDING and NON-ENFORCEABLE. They are not even treaty level.

I guess that's why it is called a Treaty then...

For your information (not that you seem to care about the facts), the Antarctic Treaty is classified under the "common heritage of humanity" which is considered a principle of international law. The Common Heritage Law of the Sea falls under the same rule of public international law; as does the World Heritage Conventions. These are enforceable by the United Nations.

Agreements would have no purpose if they didn't mean anything. You have however proven that no one can argue with ignorance. I give up trying.

Sure, but I can choose to ignore those people who constantly misread what I have to say as well as continually post things that aren't actually true or that make no sense.

Perhaps you're just confused. We read what you write (or at least I use to). The problem is that you don't seem to.

 

[Sas]

Well I guess seeing as you are not reading my posts you must have missed where I asked where in the treaty does it talk about the IWC and even if it does that does not make IWC agreements at treaty level. They are not binding nor do countries attract penalty if they do not stick to agreements. This is fact. The Antarctic Treaty and the IWC are seperate. Whaling is legal.

Also the last quote from me was only meant for Jax, not anybody else.

 

[Mr.X]

Thanks for the analysis Mr X. As I suspected, it looks like this will be profitable - even if marginally so. I suspect if Sea Shepherd can decrease the total catch significantly it could tip the expeditions into loss. I seem to remember them making this point last year.

For the warehousing - the latest trends I saw showed a small reduction in the amount warehoused over the past three or so years - i.e. consumption marginally outstripping supply.

Here is a chart showing this - I can't link PNG files but you can click to view:

inventoryratio_0902.png (image)

You can see the number of months inventory has fallen from around 9 months to around 6 months worth since 2005.

The analysis continues. And probably will for some time as the whole bloody enchilada is wrapped up mostly in politics, deals and some degree of cheating. Current data is not easily available , nor transparent from a simple net-based analysis. Going into ICR archives would probably yield an accurate picture of operations vs. profit.

Updated midpoint-analysis: the profit margin from the Antarctic whaling seems to be offset by the cost of the entire Antarctic operation with a major chunk of the profit money probably being funneled into maintaining ICR. The operating cost of ICR easily ranges into several million dollars a year and government subsidies keep this ICR/fleet afloat. Note - the government subsidizes the "regular" fishing industry too as fish catch %'s have declined over the years. These steady declines in regular fishing may correlate to the continued need to harvest whales at all costs. In short, keep em' employed.

What's interesting about the "scientific" loophole is the harvest of non-Minke which adds a high % of profit to the coffers. A Fin whale bringing in as much 500,000.00 vs. a Minke which may be 50,000.00. So, hunting an endangered species is not out of the question and difficult to monitor. Sneaking in those few Fins, Sperm, Bryd's etc adds premium value to the total.

Until the next update (which is a tedious affair) and where I eat my words, or not...the findings which everyone probably knows are:

1. Disruption of Antarctic whaling makes it difficult for the fleet to make a profit.
2. The Japanese government subsidizes a large portion of the industry and contributes to ICR which is the "scientific" and boat charter agency. Without subsidies whaling in the Antarctic would be difficult, if not impossible.
3. The harvest of other species adds to the value of the catch.
4. You can expect this "scientific" operation to continue as world economies struggle necessitating a need to keep Japanese people employed.
5. Non-whaling nations will have little impact on what the Japanese Whaling Fleet / ICR do.

In short, whaling will continue in the Antarctic for some time until the Japanese government deems it obsolete. It is depressing as all get out. :depressed:

X

 

[wardric]

How will we convince people to pollute less and destroy habitat less to save those thousand whales I don't know where or what you are talking about if we let the Japanese whalers kill mother and baby whales without also trying to stop the Japanese.

It is a whole world thing. Sea Shepherds are taking care of the necessary business that no one else is taking care of. There are other people and organizations that are attacking and harassing polluters and habitat destroyers.

If SS could turn the rest of the world on the Japanese, they could then turn their attention to some other cause that no one else fights; like maybe Blue Fin Tuna.

No, SS are only focusing on what will make a good show and bring lots of donations $$$$$$$$

There are a lot of other credible organizations and individuals out there using methods that will convince people that the cause is good. The SS are only making people want to become pro whalers