Whalers flee Australian waters, head for New Zealand’s

Japanese whalers have left Australia’s Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ), and are now heading for the waters of the Ross Dependency, which is under the claim of New Zealand. The Sea Shepherd, an environment conservation group, said that the three whaling vessels are now heading eastward.

Sea Shepherd’s Captain, Paul Watson, said, “They are now in the waters of the Ross Dependency and the Steve Irwin is in pursuit.”

The Steve Irwin is their Netherlands-based vessel and has been monitoring the harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2, the spotting vessel Kaiko Maru and has observed and tracked the Nisshin Maru from the air since December 20; which has brought them many close encounters, Mr Watson said.

“What is now good news for the whales in Australian waters is now bad news for the whales in the waters south of New Zealand,” said Mr Watson.

Sea Shepherd claim that the whalers are in violation of international conservation law and the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature as the Ross Dependency waters are an established whale sanctuary. Mr Watson said, “We will continue to pursue, harass and intervene against their blatantly illegal lethal assaults on the whales.”

On board the Steve Irwin are around 40 volunteers and Animal Planet filming the second season of Whale Wars. The Japanese claimed this was endangering their lives and lambasted both Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet for their alleged attempts at making more exciting television.

Steve Irwin is at the moment currently heading to New Zealand to refuel and replenish other provisions. Mr Watson said, “We don’t have the luxury of refuelling at sea like the Japanese fleet has.”

After refuelling at the closest port, they will head back to the expected position of the Japanese ships to prevent more whale deaths and “to continue to pursue, harass and intervene against illegal Japanese whaling activities,” Mr Watson said.

However, the Japanese Whaling Association has called for the Australian and New Zealand Governments to refuse port access to the Steve Irwin under the claim that the Sea Shepherd is committing “terror” on the sea. “Otherwise these countries will be complicit in any further attacks,” they said.

The Japanese whaling fleet plans to kill about 1,000 whales this summer, using a loophole in a 1986 global whaling moratorium that allows “lethal research” on the ocean giants. So far, Sea Shepherd have successfully stopped the Japanese from culling any whales this season, and last year cost them $70 million in lost profit while saving over 500 endangered whales.

Animal Planet endangers lives at sea: Japanese whalers say

Japanese whaling ships are currently being targeted by environmental activists aboard the Steve Irwin ship in Antarctic waters. The Japan Whaling Association (JWA) say they fear for the lives aboard the whaling vessel.

The activists group is called Sea Shepherd, and they are being filmed by Animal Planet on board the Steve Irwin for a show called Whale Wars on the actions they take against the Japanese whalers.

It is against an international moratorium to hunt whales commercially, but the Japanese do so under the guise of “scientific research”. Hundreds are killed a year. The meat finds its way to dinner plates still however.

President of the JWA, Keiichi Nakajima, said, “We expect more dangerous and criminal activity will be carried out by the Sea Shepherd-Animal Planet crew because they want to make an exciting television series and this fills us with very great concern for the lives of the Japanese crews and scientists.”

A Japanese government-backed whaling body claimed that the activists’ ship rammed into the left side of the Japanese vessel, damaging a bulwark, while the Sea Shepherd accused the whaling boat of steering into it.

“Paul Watson even orchestrated a fake event to make it look like he was shot, all of which was aimed at denigrating Japan and boosting the ratings of the Animal Planet un-reality TV series,” Mr Nakajima said.

Paul Watson is the captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Steve Irwin and says that despite the grumblings of the JWA, they have prevented the Japanese from killing any whales in the last nine days.

Mr Watson denies the claims that they are endangering anyone, “Our critics should just shut up because we’ve been doing this for five years, we haven’t been charged with anything, we’ve not broken any laws, we’ve not injured anybody.”

Mr Nakajima said, “Animal Planet will try to deny it has any influence on what Sea Shepherd extremists plan and carry out, but the fact is the very presence of the film crew on board is enough to provide a causal link between them and the events that occur in the Antarctic.”