Pete Thomas Outdoors

Tokyo restaurant tries to revive demand for whale meat

As Japanese whalers ply the Southern Ocean and as Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists try to prevent harpoon crews from killing cetaceans, a Tokyo restaurateur is campaigning to make whale meat tasty in an age where demand is in steep decline.

"We serve slices of whale sashimi. We serve deep-fried whale meat as well as stewed whale and whale bacon," boasted Shintaro Sato, owner of Taru-ichi restaurant, to ABC News.

If that doesn't tantalize the taste buds, Sato has a three-foot-long dried whale penis hanging above the entrance, to further demonstrate to patrons the special nature of his establishment.

To his credit, whaling is rooted deeply in Japanese culture, and Sato is quick to defend that against critics from anti-whaling civilizations. "What if we asked Australians to stop eating kangaroo or if we ordered the English to stop eating fish and chips -- what would their reaction be?" Sato said.

While whaling is culturally important to some Japanese, demand for whale meat is dwindling, as younger generations seemingly no longer want to eat flesh carved from a giant oily mammal.

A 2008 Greenpeace survey determined that only about 5% of Japanese people eat whale meat. More recently stories have stated that stockpiles of frozen whale meat has reached historic highs, providing more evidence of a shrinking demand.

As for Sea Shepherd, whose harassment techniques have hampered the whalers' efforts, that's a sore subject as far as Sato is concerned.

"Sea Shepherd is engaged in terrorism," he said. "Their actions are violent and illegal. They are not logical so I cannot understand them."

Japan conducts its whaling missions under a "lethal research" loophole in the wording of a global ban on commercial whaling, with an annual quota of 900-plus minke whales. That any research effort would require the killing of so many whales might also seem illogical.

-- Pete Thomas

Minke whale photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

Sea Shepherd clashing with harpoon boats, or merely decoys?

The so-called whale wars saga, featuring Japanese harpooners claiming to be conducting important research and activists who have made high-seas harassment into a science, has been playing out in the Southern Ocean for one week.

Crews with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society spotted two harpoon boats on New Year's Eve and both sides have since been playing cat-and-mouse, with the activists tossing stink bombs and trying to disable the whaling boats by throwing ropes onto their propellers.

Sea Shepherd is implying that things are going its way, and that seems to be the case.

But while the activists also claim to be pursuing the whaling factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, and one other harpoon boat, the Yushin Maru No. 1, they had not -- as of Friday morning in the Southern Ocean -- sighted those vessels since Sea Shepherd's helicopter crew caught a fleeting glimpse of the factory ship on New Year's eve.

Could it be, then, that the two harpoon boats Sea Shepherd has been skirmishing with for the past week are merely decoys, sent to keep Sea Shephrd busy while whaling is practiced elsewhere by crews aboard the other two boats?

 

Sea Shepherd's latest news release states, "The Nisshin Maru and one other harpoon vessel the Yushin Maru No. 1 have fled for over 1,200 miles since the discovery of the fleet on December 31st. It is doubtful they have had time to slow down to catch any whales."

In other words, it remains unclear whether they've killed whales because Sea Shepherd has not found them.

This is not to diminish the effect Sea Shepherd has had in its annual campaigns against Japan's yearly effort to kill 900-plus minke whales and 10 fin whales in the Antarctic region.

Sea Shepherd has seriously hampered the effort and top Japanese officials have acknowledged as much, according to diplomatic cables posted earlier this week on the WikiLeaks website.

According to those secret transmissions, Japan and the U.S. even discussed ways of punishing Sea Shepherd as part of a compromise deal that would result in Japan reducing its quota but being allowed to legally conduct commercial whaling in the same region.

Japan currently takes advantage of a lethal-research loophole in the wording of a ban on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.

This season, for the first time in seven campaigns, Sea Shepherd encountered whaling vessels  before any kills were made. But the Yushin Maru Nos. 2 and 3 are only part of the fleet.

It'd be interesting to learn what, in fact, is happening aboard the Nisshin Maru and whether the Yushin Maru No. 1 has logged any kills for the mother ship -- in the name of science, of course.

-- Pete Thomas

Video is courtesy of Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research

 

Is Sea Shepherd in hot water for its anti-whaling efforts?

The U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which began the new year by confronting harpoon boats in its annual harassment campaign against Japanese whalers, might be in for a different type of struggle: holding onto its tax-exempt status.

U.S. diplomatic cables dated Jan. 1 and posted today on the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks reveal that Japan recently pressured the United States to punish the nonprofit Sea Shepherd as part of a compromise arrangement in which Japan would reduce its whale quota but be allowed to legally hunt whales commercially in the region.

Japan annually targets about 900 minke whales over a period of a few months each season, beginning in mid-December. The country claims to be conducting scientific missions and uses a lethal research loophole within the framework of a 1986 International Whaling Commission ban on commercial whaling.

The hunts are approved by Japan's Fisheries Agency and run by the Institute of Cetacean Research. Many have disputed the research claim and questioned the need for Japan to kill so many whales for whatever research might be carried out. Whale meat from the hunts is sold commercially in Japan.

Sea Shepherd rings in new year against Japanese whalers

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society crew in the Southern Ocean has an ambitious New Year's resolution: to prevent a single whale from being killed by the Japanese harpoon fleet this season.

The activist group located the harpoon ships Friday in the Southern Ocean, about 1,700 miles southeast of New Zealand, and launched 2011 with a series of clashes that reportedly involved several near collisions, water cannon blasts by whaling crews and the hurling of stink bombs onto whaling boats by the activists.

It marked the first time in seven campaigns it had found the fleet before the whalers had logged a kill, the group claimed. The encounter took place in Antarctic waters, where icebergs created a surreal setting and dangerous conditions.

Paul Watson, the group's controversial captain and founder, said the whalers began shooting water cannons at the group's inflatable harassment boat as he had been conducting interviews with the Associated Press. "They just turned their cannons on our Zodiac," Watson told the AP. "Right at this moment."

Locky MacLean, caption of the speedy interceptor vessel Gojira, said in a statement that Saturday's encounter was "both deadly and beautiful. Deadly because of the ice and the hostility of the whalers and beautiful because of the ice, and the fact that these killer ships are not killing ships but clashing with us."

In a report on the Kyodo news agency, Japan's Fisheries Agency called Sea Shepherd's harassment tactics "obstructive behavior against legitimate research activities" and added that the "dangerous action threatens the vessels and the lives and property of their crew members."

Sea Shepherd finds Japanese whaling fleet

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has discovered the Japanese whaling fleet and will ring in the new year trying to prevent the killing of cetaceans.

The activist group located two harpoon vessels on Friday, or New Year's Eve, in the Southern Ocean about 1,700 miles southeast of New Zealand. It's pursuing both boats while also searching for the factory processing vessel.

In a news release issued Friday, Sea Shepherd stated that for the first time in seven campaigns it had found the fleet before a single whale was killed, and described the discovery as "a momentous victory for the whales and precisely how Sea Shepherd's President and Founder Captain Paul Watson had hoped to ring in the new year."

Crew members aboard the Bob Barker and Steve Irwin spotted the harpoon vessels (one is pictured at top) in different areas in icy Antarctic waters. The factory processing ship Nisshin Maru has not yet been found.

Japan conducts whaling missions annually in the Southern Ocean despite a ban on commercial whaling, imposed in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission. It targets an annual quota of more than 900 minke whales and uses a "lethal research" loophole in the wording of the ban to justify its hunts.

Whale meat from the hunts is sold commercially throughout Japan, though demand reportedly has been shrinking and stockpiles of frozen whale meat are increasing.

The IWC long ago designated the region in which most whaling takes place as the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, but Japan does not recognize the designation.

Japan has fallen under growing pressure recently to curtail or end the hunts.

Clash between Sea Shepherd, whalers appears imminent

The annual confrontation between Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society appears imminent, according to a Christmas Day report issued by Sea Shepherd's Capt. Paul Watson.

"We have three ships scattered across the blue-grey vastness called the Southern Ocean and they are now actively searching for the arrival of the Japanese fleet, anticipated within the next few days," the Sea Shepherd founder wrote.

Watson added that based on the later-than-usual departure of the whaling fleet, he estimates it will be at least a few days before the fleet is in position to kill whales. "What we certainly do know is that this Christmas no whales were killed and that is a very encouraging start to our search," Watson continued.

This is the seventh season Sea Shepherd has sent crews to harass the whalers in Antarctic waters in an attempt to reduce their quota of more than 900 minke whales. It's the fourth season Animal Planet has sent film crews with Sea Shepherd to gather footage for the network's popular "Whale Wars" series. Sea Shepherd has 88 volunteer crew members from 22 nations.

Japan continues to harpoon whales despite a longstanding international moratorium, claiming its missions to be scientific in nature and taking advantage of a lethal research loophole in the wording of the moratorium.

Whale meat from the hunts is sold commercially in Japan, but demand appears to be decreasing. The Japan Times reported recently that the stockpile of frozen meat has increased to 5,760 tons, compared to 1,453 tons in 1999, when records by the Fisheries Agency were first kept.

The annual hunts, which are costly, have fallen under increased criticism from non-whaling nations, including Australia and the United States, and from the International Whaling Commission.

Also, the confrontations between the whaling crews and Sea Shepherd have become increasingly tense and violent, although nobody has died or become seriously injured as a direct result of the clashes.

Earlier this month the governments of the U.S., Australia and The Netherlands issued a joint statement calling upon both sides to show restraint when they meet up this season. The statement condemned, in advance, "any actions that imperil human life."

Sea Shepherd's newest vessel, replacing one that was damaged and ultimately scuttled after a collision last season, is a high-speed interceptor with the moniker Gojira, named after the ferocious monster in the legendary Japanese film, known in English as Godzilla.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of Gojira is courtesy of Alexis Bachofen / © Eye in the Sky

 

Sea Shepherd set to unleash Godzilla on Japanese whalers

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will turn Godzilla loose on the Japanese whaling fleet this season in an effort to step up its Southern Ocean harassment campaign.

The swift and ominous-looking interceptor vessel has the moniker Gojira and was named after the ferocious monster in the legendary Japanese film, known in English as Godzilla.

The 115-foot boat launched Monday in Fremantle, Australia, and has joined the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker in Hobart. Later this week the three boats will begin the journey to Antarctic waters, where their crews will await the arrival of the Japanese whaling fleet.

Japan also will reportedly step things up. For the first time in three years the whaling ships will carry armed members of the Japan Coast Guard to help prevent sabotage by the activists, according to the Japan Times.

These seasonal confrontations have become increasingly tense, with high-seas collisions underscoring the danger and controversial nature of some of the methods used by Sea Shepherd, which has been criticized for risking human lives in its effort to save minke whales, which are not an endangered species.

Last season Sea Shepherd scuttled its interceptor vessel, the Ady Gil, after claiming it had been rammed and irreparably damaged by the crew of a Japanese vessel. New Zealand investigators found both crews to have been at fault.

Japan annually targets about 900 whales -- mostly minkes but also a handful of endangered fin whales -- during a three-month Southern Ocean season that generally begins in early December.

Japan gets around an International Whaling Commission ban against commercial whaling by using a "research" loophole and designating the hunts -- long considered an important part of Japanese culture and tradition -- as scientific missions.

However, pressure to persuade Japan to curtail its effort has been mounting. The IWC last spring submitted a proposal calling for Japan to reduce its quota to about 200 over a 10-year period. Australia has been trying to use an international court to halt whaling in the Antarctic, where the slaughter of whales occurs within a designated sanctuary.

Last season the Japanese fleet killed 506 minke whales and one fin whale. Officials with Japan's Fisheries Agency and the Institute of Cetacean Research regard Sea Shepherd as a terrorist organization and have acknowledged its harassment has obstructed the hunting objective.

Though the whaling missions are said to be scientific, whale meat is sold commercially throughout Japan.

Ric O'Barry said to have been 'attacked by thugs' in Egypt

 Ric O'Barry, the activist famous for his role in the Oscar-winning documentary, "The Cove," was "attacked by thugs" in Hurghada, Egypt, according a Facebook post by Earth Island Institute's "Save Japan Dolphins" campaign.

The alleged assailants opened O'Barry's car door and tried shoving a pit bull inside, said the report. Barry was not harmed. Earth Island had not responded to a request for details at the time of this post.

O'Barry, 70, who also starred in "Blood Dolphins" for the Animal Planet, is in Hurghada to protest the recent delivery of live dolphins from Taiji, Japan. The dolphins are going to help populate a new marine aquarium.

The Facebook report implied the assailants were hired by a Hurghada dolphin dealer.

Several conservation groups are protesting the ongoing dolphin hunt in Taiji, which is the site of the infamous Cove. The hunt, which is backed by the Japan Fisheries Agency, began Sept. 1.

-- Pete Thomas

 

Attempt to free captive Taiji dolphins escalates tensions

This week's cutting of nets holding dolphins in Taiji, Japan, by a European conservation group called The Black Fish, might not have freed any of the mammals and definitely has heightened tensions between Japanese authorities and representatives of other conservation groups in the region to oppose the annual roundup and killing of dolphins.

Scott West of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on Wednesday posted a report stating that he had been confronted by angry fishermen and questioned by police about the incident.

West said in the report that he had not heard of a group called The Black Fish, and that he learned through his sources that holes cut in the nets were too small to free any of the dolphins.

Later on Wednesday, Ric O'Barry of "The Cove" fame, on his Save Japan Dolphins/Earth Island Institute blog, stated that his groups have no connection to "The Black Fish" and predicted: "Based on this incident, it is likely that the situation in Taiji will get more dangerous."

The annual hunting of dolphins, for sale as live animals or for meat, is considered in Taiji to be important for the sake of tradition and for the livelihoods of  fishermen, and is governed by the Japan Fisheries Agency.

The season began Sept. 1 but rough weather has hampered the effort this week.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo of the infamous Cove courtesy of Sea Shepherd

Conservation group cuts nets, freeing dolphins in Taiji, Japan

The European-based conservation group The Black Fish claims to have cut the nets of holding pens in Taiji, Japan, freeing "a number of dolphins" that had been selected for sale to aquariums and so-called dolphinariums around the world.

The Black Fish used divers who swam out in rough conditions and cut the nets of six pens. The group claims no arrests were made.

Fishermen in Taiji are participating in an annual dolphin capture that began on Sept. 1. The mammals are either sold or killed for meat. The hunt gained global notoriety last year because of the Oscar-winning documentary, "The Cove."

Earlier this week, Ric O'Barry, the renowned activist whose efforts were featured in "The Cove," reported that several Risso's dolphins had been killed by the dolphin hunters. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recently documented the killing of pilot whales and Risso's dolphins.

The Black Fish effort was the first act of vandalism this year on behalf of the marine mammals.

Said group co-founder Wietse ven der Werf, "The connection between the dolphin entertainment industry and this annual drive hunt can no longer be denied. To be successful in our campaigns in Europe we need to get to the root of this illegal trade, which is right at Taiji."

The annual hunt is backed by Japan's fisheries agency and several aquariums and dolphinariums purchase dolphins caught by the Taiji fishermen.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo showing Japanese fishermen inspecting penned dolphins courtesy of Black Fish