Pete Thomas Outdoors

Japanese whalers, with beefed-up security, are off to the hunt

The Japanese whaling fleet has left for the Antarctic, its ranks reportedly bolstered by Coast Guard officers in an attempt to ensure a successful hunt amid what promises to be more determined opposition by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

So begins another Whale Wars saga, which will heat after both sides have reached the whaling grounds and confrontations begin.

How effective will Japan's secret security measures become? Will this be the season somebody gets killed or seriously injured?

A member of the Japan Coast Guard recently told the Japan Times, "We have decided to beef up security as never before."

Will Sea Shepherd, then, be as successful as it was last season, when it forced Japanese whalers to quit early after filling only one-fifth of their  kill quota of 900-plus minke whales? And are Sea Shepherd members really prepared to die, or face the prospect of death, in order save whales?

There was brief optimism among anti-whaling nations that Japan would quit its so-called scientific expeditions after last season. They're extremely costly, the science is questionable and demand for whale meat in Japan has steadily declined over the years.

Some believe, however, that Japan is continuing to hunt minke and fin whales, using a lethal research loophole in the wording of an international moratorium on commercial whaling, simply because it refuses to capitulate to Sea Shepherd pressure.

Whaling interests in Japan also believe the minke whale population is robust enough to justify killing 900 of them each year, plus a handful of endangered fin whales. (Minke whales are not endangered.)

Japan has sent three ships, led by the 720-ton Yushin Maru, to the whaling region, which includes the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The ships reportedly are carrying Coast Guard officials for only the third time since 1987, when the moratorium was put in effect. (Japan's Fishery Agency has remained secretive about specific details of this expedition.)

Sea Shepherd also is sending three ships, all of them painted black, and 88 crew members in a campaign it calls "Operation Divine Wind."

Because of beefed-up security measures, it could be the most dangerous of eight Sea Shepherd campaigns against the Antarctic whaling effort.

Capt. Paul Watson, the Sea Shepherd leader, spoke up for his crew of volunteers on the group's website:

"The men and women of my crews, past and present, have given themselves in a great enterprise to defend life, to defend the whales, and all of them for the rest of their lives will be able to look back with pride at what they have done, the adventure of it, the nobility of it, and the success and satisfaction of knowing that because they intervened – thousands of whales were spared the vicious and horrific death from the merciless harpoons of the Japanese whaling fleet."

Sea Shepherd is making final preparations in Fremantle and Hobart, Australia.

Australia and New Zealand have condemned Japan's whaling effort but have no plans to send an observation vessel to the remote and icy whaling area.

Whether a search-and-rescue effort will be required on the part of Australia, which is closest to the whaling area, is another question soon to be answered.

-- Image of the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker is courtesy of Sea Shepherd

Whalers criticized in Japan for quitting season early

Japanese whalers headed home from the Southern Ocean after quitting early this season because of harassment from activists, might not like their homecoming reception.

ABC News in Australia quotes Masayuki Komatsu, a former delegate to the International Whaling Commission, as calling the whalers' position "cowardly."

The whalers' so-called scientific whaling missions, conducted annually in Antarctic waters, are run by the Institute of Cetacean Research through the Fisheries Agency.

The decision to quite early, after killing only 174 minke whales and two fin whales (the annual quota is 900-plus), was made because of relentless harassment from members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

The ABC story also quotes restaurateur Michio Kono, whose specialties are whale steaks, stew and sashimi, as saying, "I think the government is full of cowards. Whale meat is delicious and healthy. It's part of our culture. This decision is pitiful."

Kono's statement is not accurate. Whale meat contains high levels of mercury and fewer people in Japan are buying it, judging from growing stockpiles in freezers around the country.

It's unclear whether Japan will carry out another Southern Ocean whale hunt next season.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Australian Customs Service file photo

Twitter: @Pete_Thomas

Has Japan's whaling program really gone belly-up?

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is understandably proud to have forced an early end to Japan's whaling effort this season in the Antarctic, and to have played a role, perhaps, in bringing an end to whaling in the region.

It's also understandable that the many critics of Sea Shepherd and Paul Watson, the group's controversial leader, have fallen silent during the past week.

That's because Sea Shepherd's relentless harassment  -- all those stink bombs, prop-fouling ropes and near other disruptive measures -- has, in fact, made a difference.

Though it's naive to believe Japanese whalers have harpooned their last leviathan, it seems that the nation's so-called "research" whaling program is either near death or seriously diminished.

That's probably due more to economic realities and increasing international opposition than fears of facing Sea Shepherd activists at sea. However, the Sea Shepherd presence -- this was the group's seventh consecutive harassment campaign -- has reduced the number of whales being killed, especially during the past two campaigns, providing for Japan's Fisheries Agency a smaller return on its investment.

Watson, in an interview Sunday night on "Fish Talk Radio" in Southern California, said Sea Shepherd's objective all along has been to "bankrupt" the Japanese whaling program, and that "it looks like we've finally succeeded."

Japan has used a "lethal research" loophole in the wording of a longstanding International Whaling Commission ban on commercial whaling to justify its hunts. The program, which is funded by government subsidies and the sale of whale meat, is deeply in debt.

Japanese whalers annually target about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales, despite a shrinking demand for whale meat domestically. They succeeded in killing only 174 minke whales and two fin whales this season. They killed 506 whales last season.

Fisheries Agency officials have acknowledged that the whaling ships are not fast enough to outrun Sea Shepherd boats. According to the online newspaper, Yomiuri Daily, officials with Japan's  Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry recently discussed the possibility of ending research whaling in the Antarctic. But the same story quoted Minister Michihiko Kano as saying, "We can't say anything definite about that."

A high-ranking ministry official, who chose to remain anonymous, revealed that options under consideration include the continuation of research whaling, but with a Japan Coast Guard escort; building new vessels that are faster than Sea Shepherd's; replacing research whaling with commercial whaling; continuing with the current program; and ending the program.

The first two options are too costly and not practical. The third would involve coming to an accord with the IWC so that some level of commercial whaling could legally be carried out. The fourth is not practical given the Sea Shepherd factor. The fifth, of course, is what most people outside of Japan are hoping for. 

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next year or so.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Sea Shepherd crew members gather at the bow of the Bob Barker during this season's Southern Ocean campaign against Japanese whaling. Credit: Sam Sielen / Sea Shepherd

Tensions mount between Sea Shepherd activists, whalers

The so-called Whale Wars saga involving Japanese whale hunters and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists appears to have reached a boiling point.

The crew of the Yushin Maru 3 on Friday issued a mayday signal, claiming it was under attack by the activists from the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker. Sea Shepherd countered that the Bob Barker was seven miles away when the distress signal was issued, and accused the harpoon boat crew of trying to ram and destroy its smaller harassment boat.

“It was like staring death in the face when that steel hull suddenly turned into us. We just narrowly avoided being cut in half,” said Locky  MacLean, captain of the the boat, named Gojira.

The Institute of Cetacean Research, the group supporting the so-called scientific whaling missions, issued a news release stating that the assault continued for hours despite the mayday call, and that activists "deployed at least 10 propeller foulers and threw more than 80 butyric acid-filled glass bottles and at least five smoke bombs against the Yushin Maru 3."

The Yushin Maru 3, one of three harpoon boats involved in the Southern Ocean hunt, apparently had been tailing the Bob Barker in an attempt to prevent it from pursuing the factory processing ship, Nisshin Maru. Sea Shepherd stated that a Gojira crewman radioed the Yushin Maru 3 and said it would not be hassled if it stopped tailing the Bob Barker.

Sea Shepherd also claims that someone on the harpoon boat hurled a "bamboo spear" at an activist driving an inflatable vessel alongside the harpoon boat. Sea Shepherd posted video of that incident on its website.

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: Sea Sherpherd activists are fired upon by water cannons. Credit: Gary Stokes / Sea Shepherd

 Twitter: @Pete_Thomas

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

Dolphin slaughter resumes after long lull at Taiji, Japan

Japanese whalers may or may not have logged any kills yet this season in the Southern Ocean, but dolphin hunters operating out of Taiji, Japan, reportedly made up for lost time after a long period of inactivity.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins (of Earth Island Institute) report that the slaughter resumed today after a 17-day lull. Sea Shepherd activists report that hunters killed an estimated 15 bottlenose dolphins and captured seven.

Volunteers from Save Japan Dolphins reported that the number of dolphins herded into the infamous killing cove numbered between 18-25. The group did not list a kill tally.

 

In today's blog post for Save Japan Dolphins, volunteers Tim and Carrie Burns commented that trainers in support of the captive-dolphin industry were present, hand-picking animals to be sold to marine parks while the slaughter was in progress. They described the scene as "horrific."

Sea Shepherd estimates that about 540 dolphins have been killed this season, and another 140 have been captured. The group asks that people opposed to the hunts call or write officials mentioned on this website link. Save Japan Dolphins advises opponents to visit this link and follow instructions. Opponents also are advised to complain directly to the Dolphin Base in Japan via email.

-- Pete Thomas

Video of the dolphin capture is courtesy of Save Japan Dolphins

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

 

Whopper bluefin nets hefty sum of $396,000 in Tokyo

It's no wonder bluefin tuna stocks are in such terrible condition: demand for fresh sushi, especially in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, is off the charts.

Consider what transpired today at the year's first fish auction at Tsukiji market in Tokyo: A 754-pound bluefin caught off northern Japan sold for nearly $369,000.

That's a record price for the annual auction. It translates roughly to $526 per pound.

Two high-end sushi restaurant owners teamed to purchase the monster tuna, and 537 smaller bluefins also fetched hefty sums.

This, of course, will be passed to sushi consumers, who don't seem to mind emptying their wallets for a few morsels fresh and fatty uncooked tuna flesh.

According to the Associated Press, Japan is the world's largest consumer of seafood and Japanese people eat roughly 80% of all Atlantic and Pacific bluefun tuna.

Overall supply might soon be reduced, however, which would only drive prices higher. In November the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas voted to cut quotas in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean by about 4% -- from 13,000 to 12,900 metric tons per year.

Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks are in such poor shape, though, that this move isn't expected to be of much help to the species, environmental groups claim.

-- Pete Thomas

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.

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