Whale Wars

[JohnnyTarr]

I watched Whale Wars the other day and I got to thinking. These people aren't any better than the Somolia pirates. What do you think?

[CaptainSatan]

I have the seen the video where the pilot/captain of the Steve Irwin intentionally rammed the Yushin Maru 3.

There is also footage of the eco-pirates illegally boarding a Japanese vessel. Plus there is footage of the

peaceful protesters hurling glass jars of Butyric acid onto the deck of a Japanese ship. At least two Japanese

nationals have been injured by glass objects thrown the crew members or the Steve Irwin. One of those injuries

was to an eye.

See the video!

The second video was shot from the Yushin Maru 3 as it was being rammed. You can clearly see the the crew of the

Steve Irwin throw objects at the Yushin Maru 3 and try to board without permission.

In my opinion these acts constitute piracy. The captain of the Steve Irwin should be prosecuted for endangering human

lives when he intentionally rammed a ship at sea. You can argue that Japan may or may not be violating international law

by harvesting whales. But I have to draw the line at endangering human beings to save sea life.

Personally I don't like Nancy Pelosi's politics. But I don't advocate renting a U-Haul truck and ramming her car!

Edited June 24, 2009 by CaptainSatan

[Tartan Jack]

(Found looking for a humorous pict for another tread and strangely appropriate here.)

[Tartan Jack]

Now, more serious.

My issue is that people are Hurting their own causes through dealing with them by violent attacks. Of course, the idea is that they protect the life of whatever whales the ship was about to kill hunting.

Not that I agree entirely with the causes of EITHER side in this war.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Tartan Jack

[Graydog]

I watched Whale Wars the other day and I got to thinking. These people aren't any better than the Somolia pirates. What do you think?

I get the impression that a 14-17 year old Somali is a better seamen.

Now of course the Sea Sheperd aren't looking to delibrately kill anybody, but they are going to kill somebody owing to a combination of what they are doing and their basic incompetence at just about any level of seamanship seen on camera., especially the first officer and captain. These eco-warriors are a menace to navigation, themselves, and their "enemy".

Ah, for want of one more Kamakazi.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Graydog

[BlaggardMike]

I have mixed feelings on this but have to side with the english speaking whale saving pirates. Now these people are not intelligent if you watched the first season you will know why.

Exhibit A: Video of capsize

Forcing my self to watch more I found these people lack common sense and even intelligence. When they reach a vessel and prepare to board they really don't know how to prepare. Its a vacation for most that turns into some sort of game when they reach the fishing vessels. "I don't remember where my gear is" type thing.

The men and women aboard the anti-fishing vessel are aware of the risks before they set foot on the boat. If they die they knew it could happen.

Secondly i'd like to mention the over fishing of seas has a global impact which we wont see in our life time but think of your grand children and there children. I can;t say its no worse than the amount of plastic floating in the sea but these living creatures have been here since before man.

The japanese released a report a couple of years ago about the amount of fish near japan has decreased because of over fishing. Eventually there will be nothing around them to catch and it will be a trend across the globe.

I say sacrafice the stupid individuals that want to put there lives at risk including the fishermen (they to know the risks of the illegal activity they are doing).

I've got more to add but I think enough has been said already.

[CaptainSatan]

For the record. Whale bacon tastes great. Especially when served with chilled vodka!

[Graydog]

For the record. Whale bacon tastes great. Especially when served with chilled vodka!

That's a Japanese to English title of "Bacon", so I have my reservations on if it being a cut of meat that would qualify as bacon. Is that actually prepared like good ol'bacon? Does it have any semblance of a taste to bacon?

Where I looked on line that package was $50, so my interest stopped rather abruptly. I have had raw whale blubber which tasted exactly like................the damn seasonings they had all over it! LOL

[CaptainSatan]

クジラのベーコン

I suppose that it is called bacon because of the fat to meat ratio?

The steaks are great with just a smidgen of green onion, garlic, and ginger.

Edited June 24, 2009 by CaptainSatan

[JohnnyTarr]

See here is where I am on this right now. If the Japanesse did sign a treaty that says that they can not hunt whales then they are breaking the law. OKAY Now as it is a international law it needs to be handled by the goverenments. I know that such but it can not be handled by a bunch of vigleantes. One of those kids that thought that this was a good idea is going to get killed. I mean really, I have more experence with shipboard life than them. The other side is plain to see, if the Japanesse did not sign a treaty this is all out piracy plain and simple. If that is the case our government need to treat them just like any other criminal. Of course it is happening in international waters so what could out government really do?

[CaptainSatan]

It's my understanding that the Japanese are exploiting a controversial loophole in the law.

But a legal loophole never the less.

Littering is against the law but that doesn't mean that other cars can ram

you if you toss a Diet Coke can out your window on the freeway.

If I was at at sea and a group of civilians rammed us with their ship and tried to board us.

I would use deadly force to repel them.

Edited June 24, 2009 by CaptainSatan

[BlaggardMike]

Yes its a loop hole that is being exploited.

It comes down to a moral issue. This planet is grossly over populated. To be honest id rather see human lives ended than animals.

That's just my opinion though.

If I was one of those morons aboard the irwin I would board the Japanese boat and kill everyone aboard justifying my actions saying I am an angel of vengeance of god and they have lied (research) about what they are doing. Kind of like Loki in dogma. Then I would steal their ship and sink it.

Got to stay true to me name.

[CaptainSatan]

To be honest id rather see human lives ended than animals.

I appreciate that you have the balls to state your honest opinion.

But I'll have to side with my species on this one (lol).

I can't accept the premise that the life of an animal is equivalent to that of a human being.

The vegan/PETA slogan that A pig is a boy is a dog is absolute rubbish.

I wonder what the carbon footprint of the Steve Irwin is? A 30 year diesel rust bucket like

must be be contribute an awful lot of green house gasses to the atmosphere.

Edited June 24, 2009 by CaptainSatan

[BlaggardMike]

To be honest id rather see human lives ended than animals.

I appreciate that you have the balls to state your honest opinion.

But I'll have to side with my species on this one (lol).

I can't accept the premise that the life of an animal is equivalent to that of a human being.

The vegan/PETA slogan that A pig is a boy is a dog is absolute rubbish.

I wonder what the carbon footprint of the Steve Irwin is? A 30 year diesel rust bucket like

must be be contribute an awful lot of green house gasses to the atmosphere.

I don't believe we are all equal either I just look at the human populous and its safe to say the end of some lives wont hurt the planet. But that's the crazy bastard the Marines made talking.

Hundreds of years ago disease and other problems kept the human population at a tolerable level.

As for the carbon foot print i chuckled. i watched an interview with the crew on Larry king and was thinking the same thing. Two wrongs don't make a right. There was an episode where their hull was about to give way and I thought about the oil and waste that would go into the water and most likely kill some whales they are trying to save.

[Commodore Swab]

I will have to side with Darwin, we have protected far too many stupid people from their own mistakes

[Coastie04]

As a professional sailor myself, I must say that these people don't know the first thing about safely running a vessel, especially in a dangerous environment. Even in the second season when they launched a boat, three simple things would have made it go smoothly: slowing down the ship first (they were going WAY too fast), having a frapping line on the falls, and taking some slack up on the painter. Also, staying away from ice with any boat is important, let alone one without an ice rated hull. That's just suicide! Ramming ships is illegal, boarding on the high seas is illegal, and quite frankly, I think the Japanese should start using lethal force to defend themselves. I wouldn't mind at all seeing these idiots on the Steve Irwin go down to the briney deep, but I'd hate for them to take another ship out with them. The politics behind whaling are up to the governments to figure out, not some vigilante radicals with a crappy boat.

Coastie

[Tartan Jack]

The Steve Irwin:

(note the skull and crossed, um . . . something)

In action:

Edited June 25, 2009 by Tartan Jack

[Tartan Jack]

Here is the flag up close:

Yeah, I would say they are acting as pirates . . .

(And are gonna kill themselves handling a sea vessel like that!)

Edited June 25, 2009 by Tartan Jack

[Coastie04]

OK, a little more of a rant, as these people really tick me off. I'm not against either environmentalism or industry. I think there should be a balance betweent the two. However, I am against radicals. When the captain of this ship was kicked out of Greenpeace for being too radical, he lost pretty much all credibility to me. The things that they're doing are illegal, pure and simple. They are reckless, dangerous, and quite frankly I'd rank it up with attempted murder. Not only of the Japanese crew, but of everyone else on that ship. Have they ever done any drills to prepare for an emergency, let alone simple proceedures such as launching a boat (been there, done that, in rougher conditions...it's not too hard). If I recall correctly, they are not actually registered in any country. Therefore, they have no legal protection and any navy that encounters them on the high seas is legally able to board them and enforce their laws on the entire crew. Therefore, I propose that the Japanese Coast Guard (I don't believe they've had a navy since WWII, but their CG pretty much fulfills that roll) intercepts them, boards them, and arrests them all to be tried as criminals. They are no better than a terrorist organization attacking a foreign nation's commerce.

Their complete lack of anything resembling seamanship just pisses me off even more.

Coastie

[BlaggardMike]

Their complete lack of anything resembling seamanship just pisses me off even more.

Coastie

Im drunk and if I were on a ship it would be that way too. Would that piss you off? Just wonderin because I'm more like a pirate than a civilian.

dont mean any offense but you're right the guy is a douche and shouldn't command a vessel that deserves a proper crew.

Edited June 25, 2009 by BlaggardMike

[JohnnyTarr]

OK, a little more of a rant, as these people really tick me off. I'm not against either environmentalism or industry. I think there should be a balance betweent the two. However, I am against radicals. When the captain of this ship was kicked out of Greenpeace for being too radical, he lost pretty much all credibility to me. The things that they're doing are illegal, pure and simple. They are reckless, dangerous, and quite frankly I'd rank it up with attempted murder. Not only of the Japanese crew, but of everyone else on that ship. Have they ever done any drills to prepare for an emergency, let alone simple proceedures such as launching a boat (been there, done that, in rougher conditions...it's not too hard). If I recall correctly, they are not actually registered in any country. Therefore, they have no legal protection and any navy that encounters them on the high seas is legally able to board them and enforce their laws on the entire crew. Therefore, I propose that the Japanese Coast Guard (I don't believe they've had a navy since WWII, but their CG pretty much fulfills that roll) intercepts them, boards them, and arrests them all to be tried as criminals. They are no better than a terrorist organization attacking a foreign nation's commerce.

Their complete lack of anything resembling seamanship just pisses me off even more.

Coastie

I can't agree more with you.

[JohnnyTarr]

Their complete lack of anything resembling seamanship just pisses me off even more.

Coastie

Im drunk and if I were on a ship it would be that way too. Would that piss you off? Just wonderin because I'm more like a pirate than a civilian.

dont mean any offense but you're right the guy is a douche and shouldn't command a vessel that deserves a proper crew.

but would you go on a ship thinking that you could handle it?

[CaptainSatan]

I checked out their website. And seems that the Steve Irwin is crewed by volunteers.

Don't these people have jobs (ha ha)?

[Sjöröveren]

The videos show the Steve Irwin flying a Dutch flag. But do they actually have Dutch registry? If so, then the Japanese government should deny entry to all Dutch registered ships until the Steve Irwin is stopped. If not, then they are in every legal sense, mere pirates, and should be taken by whatever nation's Navy encounters them. They apparently are often near Australia, so if they are lucky, they'll be taken by the Australian Navy, and they would have some reasonable expectations of due process. I would much rather seen them taken by the North Korean or Burmese Navy. Problem solved.

And what does the family of the real Steve Irwin think about this? He didn't seem like the kind of person who would condone terrorism done in his name. But then, people who show absolutely no regard for international law would think twice about stealing someone's name for their cause. I think the Irwin family should take a big pile of crocodile sh*t from their zoo in Australia, and name it after the captain of the ship. Turnabout is fair play.

[Tartan Jack]

I believe (from reading about the "Steve Irwin" after this thread) that it WAS registered in Britain, then was stricken from their registration list after discussion with the Japanese. Its name then was the "Robert Hunter." The name was changed after the death of Steve Irwin (by Stingray), at the acceptance (encouragement?) of his widow.

Since 2007, it is registered in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (See picts of the rear of the ship.)

Article on Watson, who runs Sea Shepherd (See name on side of the Steve Irwin):

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11...currentPage=all