Whale Wars

I'm just have recently started watching season 4 on the Animal Planet but as much as whaling done by Japan is wrong - how stupid are less idiots who call themselves the Sea Shepard's and think that they are hero's for doing dumb ****, some of the stuff they pull is down right stupid and just plain dangerous... throwing bottles of Butyric acid at the Japanese ships or should I say trying to as they miss most of the time but that doesn't stop them trying I'll give them that... try to tangle the Japanese boats propellers with think ass ropes... ramming other boats in a attempt to stop them transferring whale to the 'mother' ship, only for them to damage their own ship and take on plenty of water ...

I must admit South Park had it spot on, summed it up perfectly (never thought I say that..)

Good old torpedo boat and blow the fiken japs out of the sea![}:)]

I love that they stick it to the whalers when no-one will, I am totally behind them in theory ... but .... I watched 1/2 of S1? of WW and they are the most inept unprofessional bunch I've ever seen in my life. Lowlights of the few eps I saw:

Rolled the RIB attempting fast launch, lost gear, 5 crew swimming for lives in freezing waters
Damaged chopper blades letting untrained guy mess around with it, unsafe rest of trip
lost crew in RIB due to them forgetting to turn radio on for 5 hours; asked Japs for help to find them
Constant infighting and power plays on board

Just a quick note on the Japanese whalers.

Did you know that this year they have asked for and been given 30 Million extra funds to combat the SSCS. They already get 28 million Aus$ subsidy's so this year they will head down to our whale sanctuary to kill whales illegally with over 60 million dollars in funds. the SSCS will stop them with approx $2.5 to $2.8 million dollars.

The second $30 million was applied for through and paid out of the Japanese Tsunami Relief funds. So if you donated money to Japan to help them rebuild there nation, your money has just been given to the whalers

For those in Perth or WA the Steve Irwin and the Bridgette Bardot (formerly the Goirjo) will be in Fre towards the end of the month.

Paul Watson was just in Perth over the weekend and i was able to meet him for the first time on Sat night. Was stoked

Fair enough... if they want to put their lives at risk fighting for something they believe in who am I to tell them otherwise, I just hope they have signed waivers so if they are badly injuried they can't sue the Sea Shepard -if they are prepared to do that then fair play to them its their life I suppose.

EDIT: I'm not an expert on these matters and it's interesting reading other peoples views on it, but just from reading a few views from people who seem to know the rules of the ocean, the Sea Shepard's tactics are very dangerous and only have seen to have served them getting media coverage...

www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/whalers-get-28m-boost-20111027-1mm34.html

Ahh you meant this when you mentioned The Cove..

www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/cove-cancellations-grow-in-japan

As a offshoot for ya. Last year the Antarctic region suffered one of the worst storm in history. A Noorwegen yachts distress beacon was activated and the Steve Irwin responded, as did a NZ navy frigate. The weather was so bad the Naval frigate was forced to retreat however the Steve Irwin with there hippie useless crew pushed on to the location. they searched for days and eventually found the empty life raft.

The Steve Irwin was given a Naval commendation for bravery by NZ for there efforts. Sadly though the Steve Irwin was now low on fuel an was forced to refuel at Mcmurdo Island. The NZ government sent them a infringement and said they could have them charged for not notifying the NZ government 3 months before they needed the fuel Stupid governments should be helping not sitting on the hands letting the SSCS do all there dirty work

That particular statement is just misleading tripe in this discussion - in this context. Nobody but nobody is suggesting that killing off all of any species anywhere is a good, or even not bad.

My question is, "Why are whales are such sacred animals?" The bleeding heart, bunny kissing tree huggers have pretty much deified them.

From a cultural perspective, i agree there's contrasting viewpoints. I've been working on a project with school kids from many different cultures with different perspectives relating to whaling. In some Polynesian cultures, whales are viewed as a deity (like a God) and in others they are food.
In our culture? Well, personally I guess I see many species as sacred because our culture hunted them to close to extinction, and maybe, just maybe. some of us are trying to correct that problem.

My issue isn't with a regulated, controlled and sustainable whaling industry. My issue is the farce of writing off the yearly quota as Cetacean Research.

I'm sure that there's propaganda on both sides but a trip to the Institute of Cetacean Research website is interesting in itself.

vs


I think they should sink the whalers.

Depends which country your in, cat and dog are eaten in some Asian countries let's not forget..

I guess the problem is no longer is whaling okay or not? Right or wrong? It is that can we afford to live with out them? Will the ocean continue to survive with out them? NO..

Whales are already heavily endangered. We need to stop it now.

Fishing for whale's or Tuna or even sharks has changed from what it used to be. No longer are we talking small productions of a mum and dad and maybe there sons out fishing. Now we have corporates like Mitsubishi. Out for a short term gain to grab as much of the pie (ocean life) before its all gone.

Japan say there whaling is cultural. Well modern whaling as is done today was only started in late 40's after the world war and was kicked of by the Yanks. Whaling out of Japan today, dolphin hunts are all now controlled by big business. That's not cultural. Funny thing is that in Japan the local original aboriginal people are banned from whaling. Only big money is allowed a slice of the pie

...next I'm gonna try find that doc 'The Cove'

EDIT: Stan does have a point..

Ohh here's a trailer for The Cove, looks very good.



EDIT: Here is a link to The Cove if anyone wants to watch it in full..

documentaryheaven.com/the-cove/

Ohh I meant good as in it looks interesting - informative and deals with issues that people don't want to talk about (that is just an impression from watching the tralier), not good as lets break out the popcorn and get entertained for 1 1/2 hours...

And the part where they said that they formed an oceans 11 type crew, the more I think about it the more that comparison works.....