Animal Planets "Whale Wars" airing this week

[novicediver]

Is whale hunting legal? I am curious what treaties do and don't exist when it comes to this matter. As stated in another thread, I look at whaling much in the same light I look at shark finning and I don't mean it in a positive way. Our ocean's ecosystems are teetering on the edge as it is and hunting of what most see as endangered species is not a step in the right direction.

 

[FrankPro1]

But I disagree with their philosophy that, because they disapprove of a (legal) activity, they themselves are entitled to conduct illegal activities.
QUOTE]

Unfortunately the Japanese fleet chooses not to conduct legal whaling. The Nishun Maru, has been caught hunting in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, a region in which commercial whale hunting was permanently banned by the IWC in 1994. The fleet also killed whales within the so-called Australian Whale Sanctuary, a region of ocean established by the Australian government in 1999 that extends to 200 nautical miles from the Australian mainland and from the Australian Antarctic Territory, the large part of the Antarctic continent that Australia claims as its own. Under the countryÃÔ Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (1999), it is forbidden to ÅÌill, injure, or interfere with a cetacean within the Australian Whale Sanctuary. If government agencies refuse to enforce international law, I feel it is well within the right of Sea Shepherd to enforce such law. Rengade law isn't always pretty, but it certainly has its uses.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

"If government agencies refuse to enforce international law, I feel it is well within the right of Sea Shepherd to enforce such law."

You're welcome to feel that way, but that doesn't make it so.

No governing body has conveyed any authority upon Sea Shepherd to function as an arm of any sovereign state. They may be "renegade", but nothing close to "law".

I hope their tactics do not get anyone permanently injured or killed. Should the day come when there are casualties, the matter may become more clear in the minds of the governments involved, to say nothing of members of the general public.

If it is an "Australian Whale Sanctuary", then it is properly the authority of the Australian government to decide upon an appropriate diplomatic or legal challenge.

Not Joe-Renegade with a bucketful of ad hockery.



(Same principle applies to sniping doctors who perform abortions, hunting illegal immigrants, or arson that burns down occupied houses built where someone thinks they encroach upon habitat. When people get hurt or killed due to someone's agenda, its time to re-think tactics...)

IMHO.

 

[Walter]

If government agencies refuse to enforce international law, I feel it is well within the right of Sea Shepherd to enforce such law. Rengade law isn't always pretty, but it certainly has its uses.

I'm not going to debate the concept, but these folks are incompetent. I'm not sure I'd even let their "captain" be a passenger on a cruise ship.

 

[cdreamer]

Love them or hate them, the fact that people are watching and being made aware
is a success for the whales and success for SS. Personally, I have great admiration
for Capt. Watson and his crew, they are some of the few heroes left on this planet.
I share the view that wildlife has its place in this world and should be preserved and
not poached or hunted under the guise of "scientific research". Our oceans are being pillaged on a massive scale and there
aren't too many people out there doing a damn thing about it.
So I say Godspeed Sea Shepherd!! Keep up the great work.

 

[SteveAD]

I'm watching the show for it's "train wreck entetainment" value. While I long ago stopped being surprised by the idiocy or incompetence I often see in the world, I am still sometimes impressed that an individual can be so stupid and yet still manage to survive this long. The crew of the sea shepherd are truely impressive. While their goals are admirable, their methods show a level of naiivete that defies comprehension.

 

[cdreamer]

Call it what you want Steve, but it works.

 

[adurso]

Love them or hate them, the fact that people are watching and being made aware
is a success for the whales and success for SS. Personally, I have great admiration
for Capt. Watson and his crew, they are some of the few heroes left on this planet.
I share the view that wildlife has its place in this world and should be preserved and
not poached or hunted under the guise of "scientific research". Our oceans are being pillaged on a massive scale and there
aren't too many people out there doing a damn thing about it.
So I say Godspeed Sea Shepherd!! Keep up the great work.

Then why are the Sea Shepherd group not in the markets where whale meat is sold? Why are they not in the ports doing something about the ships?

These designer protests are the work of poseurs who lack the fortitude to attack the source. Much as animal rights activists never attack leather clad bikers but choose to assault old ladies in fur.

 

[Oceana Diver]

Is whale hunting legal? I am curious what treaties do and don't exist when it comes to this matter.

There could be a semester-long course devoted to the legalities of whaling.

In a nutshell, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) is the main management body regarding whale hunting. It decides who may hunt whales, which species and how many, and allocates permitted kills based on a variety of factors like species population, IUCN status (endangered/threatened), cultural traditions, etc. Most of the countries represented on the IWC no longer actively hunt whales, but there are still groups who rely on whales for food. So while the US doesn't support whaling, it does receive a small number of permits for cultural/subsistence reasons. And like many other international organizations, the IWC really doesn't have any teeth. If a country requests permits for whaling and is denied, it can pull out and continue whaling anyway since it's technically no longer a member of the IWC.

There's plenty more, but this is already feeling like a dissertation, so I'll leave it for now. And for the record, I'm not saying that any of this is right, it's just how the system works (or doesn't, depending on your take).

 

[SteveAD]

Call it what you want Steve, but it works.

I'm sorry. I had not heard that the Japanese fleet had in any way stepped down their activites. Perhaps you'd care to define what you mean by "works".