It's on! Sea Shepherd has Japanese whalers on the run

[Mr.X]

Come on.... that is the most opimistic assessment I can imagine. Funnily enough ships don't have their steering affected while being sprayed by water, or by lots of noise.

If you are thinking the pilot was somehow disorientated then I would suggest the rational course of action in that case would be to cut power to the engines and get some distance from the noise, not rev up to full throttle and steer right into another ship.

Bull. Opinion is not fact. Your prior and current statement regarding intentional ramming, or how to pilot a ship at that scene is conjecture. You're not there. Neither am I. If you want objectivity get some neutral party to examine footage and conditions which occurred during the incident. Of course, this is fantasy as both of the warring parties are in the heat of their artificial battle and no one is going to take the time to sort out these encounters.

Apart from the Whale Wars - I'd ask readers to concentrate on what's important. The corporate need to make good on prior investment at the cost of marine life, or politically / economically shutting down an antiquated practice? Given the economy of both countries, the stockpiling of whale flesh & the insistence of the Japanese fishing industry to continue this practice is (in my opinion) utterly repugnant and wasteful.

X

 

[fireflock]

Your prior and current statement regarding intentional ramming, or how to pilot a ship at that scene is conjecture.

Not quite.

BitterEnd: Looks like an Overtaking Situation to Me

 

[Geoff_H]

Bull. Opinion is not fact. Your prior and current statement regarding intentional ramming, or how to pilot a ship at that scene is conjecture. You're not there. Neither am I.

I have eyes and a brain; and that video pretty clearly shows the Steve Irwin approaching from the rear, at speed, changing course and steering into the stern of the Japanese vessel which was sailing away from the Steve Irwin.

It isn't rocket science to work out what happened.

 

[D_B]

... and you can see by them crossing astern, they stayed turned into the Japanese vessel the whole time, even after it pulled ahead of them

 

[wardric]

another one of those "at any cost" people

yep, and/or a good troll also

 

[lemon]

another one of those "at any cost" people

not ANY cost. Losing a whaling vessel would cause me no loss of sleep though.

 

[lemon]

I have eyes and a brain; and that video pretty clearly shows the Steve Irwin approaching from the rear, at speed, changing course and steering into the stern of the Japanese vessel which was sailing away from the Steve Irwin.

It isn't rocket science to work out what happened.

Its pretty clear that the Sea Shepherd rammed them. Not surprising as they have a long history of ramming whaling ships. heck, "stand by to ram" is one of their slogans!

 

[andrejs]

For anyone who didn't watch this:

The video quite clearly shows the Steve Irwin delibrately ramming a Japanese ship hard in the open seas, forcing the Japanese boat to a strong starboard list before it manages to disengage and free itself.

There is no way these tactics can be described as legitimate - the antics of the Steve Irwin are dangerous, criminal and completely unacceptable.

good.. at least someone is doing something. what has anyone else done that has actually made any amount of difference in the whale slaughters??

 

[mikemill]

not ANY cost. Losing a whaling vessel would cause me no loss of sleep though.

And the death of all or part of the crew is also acceptable?

good.. at least someone is doing something. what has anyone else done that has actually made any amount of difference in the whale slaughters??

"Hell is paved with good intentions."

One of the first things I learned in ethic classes is that using unethical means to obtain an ethical end taints it so that it is no longer ethical.

I'm not an expert on international maritime laws so the following is only conjecture. What happens if next season Japan sends a warship (can't remember if they have anymore) to escort the ships? Or places armed guards on the ships (IIRC the crew itself can't be armed but guards can be)?

 

[lemon]

And the death of all or part of the crew is also acceptable?



"Hell is paved with good intentions."

One of the first things I learned in ethic classes is that using unethical means to obtain an ethical end taints it so that it is no longer ethical.

I'm not an expert on international maritime laws so the following is only conjecture. What happens if next season Japan sends a warship (can't remember if they have anymore) to escort the ships? Or places armed guards on the ships (IIRC the crew itself can't be armed but guards can be)?

nobody is forcing them to kill whales. besides, last i checked there were millions of japanese on the planet. not so whales. and who's to say which life is more valuable? i certainly wouldn't wish for any of the whalers themselves to be hurt. they know the risks they are taking when they head off to kill whales every year. none of this is new.

besides isn't commercial whaling illegal?