Whale activists say their catamaran was sunk by Japanese vessel

[Tomorrow]

From http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/06/japan.whale.feud/index.html


TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Anti-whaling activists are accusing a Japanese boat of destroying their vessel Wednesday by ramming into it during a skirmish in the Southern Ocean.

But Japanese authorities deny their boat intentionally rammed the activists' catamaran and said instead the incident happened accidentally when the activists were harassing their whaling fleet.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says its boat was ripped apart by the Japanese vessel during the incident.

"In an unprovoked attack captured on film, the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2 deliberately rammed and caused catastrophic damage to the Sea Shepherd catamaran Ady Gil," said a statement from Sea Shepherd.

...

A Japanese Fisheries Agency statement blamed the conservation group for the incident.

"This is a continuation of the harassment of the Japanese research whaling program by Sea Shepherd and is extremely dangerous to threaten vessels and its crew. This is absolutely unforgivable," the statement said.


I can sympathize somewhat with both sides; I don't necessarily condone commercial whaling, but I don't condone the types of harassment groups like this are sometimes known for. My thought is if you're going to harass people doing their job, something like this is bound to happen eventually, right or wrong.

I watched the video, and it's hard for me to tell whether or not it was deliberate - your opinion may vary.

So what's everyone else's take?

[Zombie Acorn]

One group is hunting whales another one is hunting whale hunters with no authority. After seeing the whale wars show I would have rammed their ship a long time ago.

[IntheNet]

So what's everyone else's take?

Your link not working; i.e., "Page not found"....

Here is working link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/01/06/japan.whale.feud/index.html

Environmental activists have a habit of intentionally harassing Japanese whaling vessels and fleets while they are fishing; what did these nuts expect would happen? It would help if these environmental activists would respect private fishing efforts on the high seas...

[elfxmilhouse]

that sucks. I really liked that boat too. i saw it in ny when it was docked by the intrepid.

[Counterfit]

Environmental activists have a habit of intentionally harassing Japanese whaling vessels and fleets while they are whaling; what did these nuts expect would happen? It would help if these environmental activists would respect private whaling efforts on the high seas...

Fixed that for you. And I know you don't care about facts, but there's a big difference between groups like the ELF/ALF, and the Sierra Club.


There's nothing good in this situation. The Japanese ships kill whales for commercial gain under the guise of science, and Sea Shepherd is essentially a band of pirates with a good goal.

[quagmire]

This video shows a lot IMHO.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/01/08/jvm.bob.barker.cnn

It is clear that the Japanese ship made a turn towards the boat. It is also clear in the video released by the Japanese, there is water being moved behind the catamaran's stern. The Japanese may have turned into the boat as a game of chicken. But, the people on the boat clearly was aiming for a collision for publicity by having it move forward. If they were smart, they would have had the boat in reverse to make it seem they tried to avoid a collision, but it was too late when the Japanese ship turned towards them. From watching an episode of whale wars, I would not be surprised if this was the Sea Shepard's intention. As in that one episode I saw, they intentionally boarded a Japanese ship so they could be taken hostage.

Both parties are despicable. Whale hunting is disgusting and these people are nothing more then activist terrorism.

[Zombie Acorn]

They went forward into the path of the ****ing huge japanese vessel, it wasn't even trying to get out of the way. Their whole purpose being out there is to harass japanese boats, that would be like an environmentalist purposely pulling in front of SUVs to stop them from polluting so much and then bitching because their tin can got crumpled.

[Queso]

Environmental activists have a habit of intentionally harassing Japanese whaling vessels and fleets while they are fishing; what did these nuts expect would happen? It would help if these environmental activists would respect private fishing efforts on the high seas...
Whales aren't fish. They're mammals :p

You know, land based creatures that evolved for life back in the sea ;)

[KingYaba]

You know, land based creatures that evolved for life back in the sea ;)

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/AfricanSavanna/News/default.cfm Hippos and whales? I never would have guessed.

[Peterkro]

Sea Shepard have stopped Japanese whalers this season.This looks good but I wouldn't discount the possibility it's a bluff:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/4665909/Japan-suspends-Antarctic-whale-hunt

[mcrain]

ScienceDaily (Apr. 14, 2010) — An international team of Oregon State University scientists, documentary filmmakers and environmental advocates has uncovered an apparent illegal trade in whalemeat, linking whales killed in Japan's controversial scientific whaling program to sushi restaurants in Seoul, South Korea, and Los Angeles, Calif.

Genetic analysis of sashimi served at a prominent Los Angeles sushi restaurant in October of 2009 has confirmed that the strips of raw meat purchased by filmmakers of the Oscar-winning documentary, "The Cove," came from a sei whale -- most likely from Japanese "scientific whaling."

"The sequences were identical to sei whale products that had previously been purchased in Japan in 2007 and 2008, which means they not only came from the same area of the ocean -- but possibly from the same distinct population," said Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, who conducted the analysis.

"And since the international moratorium on commercial hunting (1986), there has been no other known source of sei whales available commercially other than in Japan," Baker added. "This underscores the very real problem of the illegal international trade of whalemeat products."

Results of the study were published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. Link (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100413202638.htm)

If the collision is accidental, if it is caused by force majeure, or if the cause of the collision is left in doubt, the damages are borne by those who have suffered them.

This provision is applicable notwithstanding the fact that the vessels, or any one of them, may be at anchor (or otherwise made fast) at the time of the casualty.

Article 3

If the collision is caused by the fault of one of the vessels, liability to make good the damages attaches to the one which has committed the fault. Link (http://www.admiraltylawguide.com/conven/collisions1910.html)


What's at stake depending on who is at fault, roughly $2.5 Million. Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MY_Ady_Gil)

[AP_piano295]

They went forward into the path of the ****ing huge japanese vessel, it wasn't even trying to get out of the way. Their whole purpose being out there is to harass japanese boats, that would be like an environmentalist purposely pulling in front of SUVs to stop them from polluting so much and then bitching because their tin can got crumpled.

Didn't watch the video eh? Its abundantly clear that the Japanese ship swerves into the the catamaran.

[citizenzen]

I watched the video, and it's hard for me to tell whether or not it was deliberate - your opinion may vary.

Here's why I think it was deliberate...

• The water cannons firing from the Japanese ship indicate that it knew of the presence of the other boat.

• The Japanese vessel is moving very quickly as the video demonstrates. Even if they couldn't turn the ship quickly enough, why didn't they cut power and attempt to slow down?

• After the collision, the Japanese ship is able to turn. Why was there no attempt to do so before the collision? In some videos it is even evident that it turns toward the catamaran.


I'd say this was most likely due to a pissed off captain who just lost it.

[Pink∆Floyd]

Whale Wars, perhaps?

[Sydde]

Sea Shepard have stopped Japanese whalers this season.This looks good but I wouldn't discount the possibility it's a bluff:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/4665909/Japan-suspends-Antarctic-whale-hunt
Japan introduced scientific whaling to skirt the commercial whaling ban under a 1986 moratorium, arguing it had a right to watch the whales' impact on its fishing industry.

The fleet, consisting of some 180 people on four vessels, is aiming to cull about 850 minke whales in Antarctic waters this season, which is scheduled to end around March.
That is some elegant scientific research: wipe out the whales to find out if they have been killing or starving out the "fish we were actually after".