Sea Shepherd claims ship was attacked

[The Straight Story]

Sea Shepherd claims ship was attacked


The fight between whalers and anti-whaling activists appears to be getting rough in the Southern Ocean.

Protest group Sea Shepherd claims one of its ships has been attacked by the Japanese whaling fleet this morning.

It says the Bob Barker was hit by Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No.2 at around 8:50am New Zealand time.

The group claims it was part of a continued and coordinated attack against its vessels, which has gone on all night.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbnat/550829442-sea-shepherd-claims-ship-was-attacked

[2naSalit]

1. Yikes

I hope they are all okay. I have met a couple of the crew members of that ship and think fondly of them. They are far more brave than I.

[ManiacJoe]

2. The final paragraph of the article suggests

that Sea Shepherd are not an innocent party here.

The Sea Shepherd vessels are currently blocking the slipway of the ship Nisshin Maru.

When you are purposely not keeping a safe distance, when things happen you are partially at fault.

[rppper]

3. As much as I support them in spirit...

I think Watson is extremely reckless and is putting his crews lives in very real danger...300 yards is close in open waters...30 yards is extremely hairy....3 yards? he's going to get people needlessly killed, and I'm saying this as former navy helmsman.

[jmowreader]

5. Watson asks crew member candidates if they'd be willing to die to save a whale

If you say no, you don't get accepted.

Take this nifty video...

This, no matter the righteousness of your cause, is something you don't do.

[rppper]

6. I realize that.... But ....

I see a lot of fresh young faces on his ships...I'd be willing to bet none of them has ever had to abandon ship in sub freezing water without an exposure suit on.

Whether they take some pledge or not is irrelevant by maritime law, he's still the captain...he's responsible for their lives and safety while onboard. He's liable for any deaths or injuries to his own crews and even the Japanese crews if his actions caused it. This is where I draw the line.

There are safer ways to be proactive about his mission.

You're 100% correct about the video...this doesn't help his cause...

I've seen the aggression between both groups increase exponentially over the last few years....I see this as cause and effect. It's only a matter of time until it becomes tragic. I fear for Watson's crew.

[jmowreader]

7. I intensely dislike Paul Watson and have for years

Before Earth First threw him out, he invented tree spiking - which caused a lot of damage. He didn' stop with old growth; he spiked timber company managed stands. Out here in the West timber companies farm trees like any other crop, and Watson was doing his shit there. (How he got bounced: EF found out working with timber companies works far better than ecoterrorism, and Watson refused to go along.) Sea Shepherd could probably stop the Japanese whale operation by working with them to gain food security - this is an expensive fishery and the meat isn't very popular, so helping them increase aquaculture of popular species would probably end the whaling operations. The problem is, building fish farms isn't as exciting as trying to sink whaling ships in the Southern Ocean.

Give the ICR two more years of escalating Sea Shepherd attacks, and they'll eventually fit torpedoes. Sea Shepherd then will have no choice but to leave Paul the Pirate at home.

[Lost_Count]

8. Do guys like that not have...

... couches or tables or homes or books?

Or do they default to the old PETA standard of 'I need this stuff to keep fighting the fight'?

[Bodhi BloodWave]

12. Its not in the OP's article

but i do tend to look for more information when articles are slim on em and came across this gem.

***

"The Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Bob Barker were both unprovokedly attacked by three harpoon ships belonging to the Japanese whale poaching fleet," he told the ABC.

"These harpoon ships came in heavy and hard. They hit my bow with about 300 metres of steel cable with the express intent of causing damage to my rudder and propellers."

***

I'm quite sure that the two SS ships was just cruising around relaxing with the crew looking at the stars and minding their own business , If somebody wasn't stalking ships and doing what they could to harass and provoke then i might have been willing to buy the 'unprovoked' claim but after all the exaggerations and such thats been claimed over the years i have a hard time taking it at face value.

And I'm not even going to waste my time giving a detailed view on the 'intent to damage my rudder and propellers' statement considering their own actions in that area.

[geomon666]

11. I called it a long time ago

When he started ramming boats and stuff like that, he's going to get himself or others killed.

[me b zola]

4. If my hips and back were not so fucked up I would be with the Sea Shepherd

Blessings for those whom care enough to fight for marine mammals. I stand with those of the Sea Shepherd.

[morningfog]

9. Keep giving them hell, Sea Shepherd!

[MoonRiver]

10. Read this yesterday. Apparently the killers are mad the U.S. court ruling went against them.

So they're throwing a little tantrum on the high seas. I think SS has things under control and, meanwhile, whales are being saved!