Breaking news from the whale wars

[Scott L]

In fairness I have done as suggested and you are correct the trajectory does not appear to change. It seems to have a slight sweeping motion which is exaggerated by the motion of the boat's movement. I stand corrected on that issue!

This is alarming information 31 to 46% of Whale meat randomly tested from Japan's supermarkets was geneticly tested and found to be from the IWC J-stock (protected stock) and not the O-stock healthy community that is sustainable. The J-stock is protected under the IWC rules

Protected Whales Found In Japan?s Supermarkets - Science News

This comes from the same society who clubs dolphins to death becuase they eat the fish that they are trying to catch.

 

[Geoff_H]

In fairness I have done as suggested and you are correct the trajectory does not appear to change. It seems to have a slight sweeping motion which is exaggerated by the motion of the boat's movement. I stand corrected on that issue!

Cheers! I was also shocked when I saw this, until I noticed this (I re-watched it specifically to see if they changed their aim at the crippled boat).

This is alarming information 31 to 46% of Whale meat randomly tested from Japan's supermarkets was geneticly tested and found to be from the IWC J-stock (protected stock) and not the O-stock healthy community that is sustainable. The J-stock is protected under the IWC rules

Protected Whales Found In Japan?s Supermarkets - Science News

I agree that is alarming, and steps need to be taken to address the obvious wrongs in this process that is failing to protect the endangered population. Thanks for posting this article - factual pieces of information like that are much more conducive to a productive discussion than a lot of the inputs to this thread.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Just off researching the 200 mile limit and the Southern whale Sanctuary which was established by the IWC it is the IWC that issued the "License for Japan's Scientific Research. Whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is ILLEGAL - The Whale Sactuary is the best I have found so far and correct me if I am wrong but this even did occurr in the Sanctuary Zone didn't it?

I have no issue with HONEST harvest in a sustainable community of animals... I do object to smoke and mirrors

I am not sure that I support all of the views in this site tho.. it is not up to a third party to enforce laws of another country. It is up to Australia and the IWC to police their jurisdictions.... not overzealous radicals.... as has been said.. two wrongs do not make a right!

 

[Wookie]

....... that both parties are in the wrong! I can not judge that the SS people were on a terrorist suicide mission. No one can know what is in someone else's mind.

From Wikipedia: Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians). Footnotes removed.

As a professional mariner, I can only imagine what went through that helmsman's mind as he saw himself bearing down on another vessel, knowing that he had room to get by, and then the Andy Gil made way to block his safe passage when it was too late to maneuver. I agree that by the video taken from in front of the whaler, it appears that he made 2 significant course changes, but as a mariner experienced running in heavy seas, I think that the ocean changed his course, not turns of the wheel. I have been in seas that move a small vessel 30 degrees or more with each passing wave. That's why they call it seasick.

Those of us who drive vessels for a living are taught above all else to avoid a collision, at any cost. If the Andy Gil was towing a rope or a net to foul the props of the whaler, the helmsman/conning officer would have done anything in his power to avoid that situation. If the vessels props are fouled, somebody has to go in the water to clear that foul. Going into cold southern waters is dangerous, and you wouldn't do it if you could avoid it.

In a collision at sea anything can happen. A light carbon fiber vessel like the Andy Gil could easily have been drug under the whaler in a t-bone type collision. I don't know if the whaler had a bulbous bow which might have made it impossible to "keelhaul" the Andy Gil, but if you plan a collision like the situation appears to be here, you must be willing to have the worst happen.

I believe the actions of the skipper of the Andy Gil easily pass the smell test of terrorism. I think that the crew all being topside where they could easily get off the vessel in the event of a collision meant that the Andy Gil was meant to be sacrificed. I think that any prudent mariner knows that the passengers and crew stand a chance of dying in the event of a vessel collision. It passes the smell test for suicide to me too.

I still think it's reprehensible to kill whales. I've dived with Japanese divers in Okinawa and PNG. As a culture and a seagoing race, I find them to have no respect for the ocean. They see it as a obstacle to overcome and control, not as a part of the ecosystem to live in harmony with. Obviously, this is a generalization, but I don't know any individuals from Japan, so I can only go with the behavior I've observed personally. Your mileage will certainly vary.

Frank

 

[OldNSalty]

Based on your logic If I decided I wanted to start eating people I could kill off 90,000,000 humans each year and although you may not be morally right it would still be sustainable. Granted killing off 90,000,000 people a year would certainly decrease the worlds need to feed off the environment.

That's a weak argument as killing people is illegal, killing whales isn't. Should it be? Maybe. It isn't right now. If you don't agree with it try to justify why it should be made illegal and don't eat whales. Pretty simple really.

 

[StevenN]

Let's not forget one of the biggest benefits from Sea Shepherd's actions is that we're actively having this discusssion. No matter how you feel about the issue of whaling letting people know that it is going on is half of their battle.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Let's not forget one of the biggest benefits from Sea Shepherd's actions is that we're actively having this discusssion. No matter how you feel about the issue of whaling letting people know that it is going on is half of their battle.

Agreed. The other benefit is some really cool video footage of some stupid people crushing a $2 million boat.

 

[mike_s]

Some more photos clearly showing the Ady Gil approaching too close at high speed (look at the bow out of the water, and the wake)

Here we can see the rope deployed to disable the whaling vessel

Anyone who thinks the Ady Gil were blameless in the collision needs to look at these and have another think.

I agree 100%.

They messed with the Tiger and got the claws.

while most of us prob don't agree with whaling, I think all of us would be pissed if a boat was trying to cut us off and foul our props.

Ok so your providing non-time stamped photos as evidence of the incident. These could have been taken 3 hours before the collision. None of the videos available provided by sea shepherds or others show a wake coming from Ady Gill.

There is clearly a "prop thrust wake" coming from the Ady Gil in the video I posted on page one of this thread. The Ady Gil accelerates into the whaling ship.

Geoff_H

I hope you understanding the group of people you are trying to convince on this board. If i had to take a guess about 99% of the people on this forum are going to say the whalers shouldn't be there to begin with.

The majority of us would be more then happy to sink the whalers ourselves if we had the chance.

I agree with you that 99% of folks on SB prob don't agree with whaling. Maybe not 99%, but I'd say most (over 90%).

However, I don't think that most agree with trying to sink ships because of it. (unless it'd make a good wreck dive )

someone got broken ribs out of it

seeing how they have made several other statements that were lies in this report, I'm not 100% sure I believe that either.

In reality, it's bunch of morons out there. Thousands of miles from medical treatment and they decide to play "chicken" with a several thousand ton ship?

dumb asses, regardless of whether whaling is right or wrong.

 

[mike_s]

Here is what I saw:

The ship taking the video appears to be relatively stationary throughout the video. It seems clear that the Shonan Maru definitely makes a radical turn towards the Ady Gil.

I agree. but I'm not sure they were trying to actually hit them. I'm thinking they wanted to hit them, but basically get better vantage for their water cannons.

I also imagine that the Ady Gil had been harrasing them for HOURS. they'd prob had enough of them.

the videos released don't show the other things that the boats had been doing. (yet they were claiming they got close enough earlier to lob "stink grenades" onto the whaling ship.

I am not sure why the Ady Gil suddenly accelerated just before being rammed. Could be the last-minute "Oh, S&%#" act of a captain who didn't know what to do when he realized that he was about to be rammed. I am sure Geoff will claim that the Ady Gil accelerated in order to be rammed by the Shonan Maru.

I'm guessing that they were trying to accelerate in front of the ship and cross over it quickly before it rammed them. and pull fouling nets into their props. but they just didn't accelerate quick enough and got bit.

regardless of what it is, screwing with another vessel on the high seas... a bunch of dumb asses.

I bet they are all celebrating even though their boat was destroyed because of all the media coverage they got.

These groups sometimes remind me of PETA. PETA would rather have media coverage than to actually do something worthwhile.

 

[DCBC]

It's hard to say who is more at fault here. It appears to me that the protesters placed themselves in harms way. On the other hand, it doesn't appear that the whaling ship made any effort to slow down and avoid the vessel it hit. It seems that it in-fact moved to starboard by the angle of the wake on the other craft; however the evidence seems inconclusive.

The water hoses being used fore and aft indicates the mindset of the whaling crew aboard. Does anyone know if the Whaler stopped to offer assistance? It seems that they were only interested in using a high-pressure hose on the possibly injured crew...

Where conflict exists and tempers run high, it's not unlikely that once baited the whaling ship didn't make the effort to avoid the other vessel. It's human nature to think enough is enough.

It's unfortunate that financial gain becomes so important when compared to protecting mammals who have dwindled in numbers over the years. When will mankind understand that when we protect our planets future, we are protecting our children's birthright?