The Southern Ocean Has Turned Red...

Earlier today, the Yushin Maru #2 sent an explosive harpoon into the back of a large minke whale. The whale fought for a long time before dying. The Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker was positioned a half mile behind the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru at the time the whale was harpooned. It is believed that this is the first whale to be killed this season. The Bob Barker prevented the transfer of the whale from the harpoon ship to the factory ship for several hours before the whale was eventually transferred. During the fight, the Nisshin Maru and Yushin Maru #2 deployed prop fouling equipment in an attempt to disable the Bob Barker. The crew of the Bob Barker responded by deploying two small boats to cut the prop fouling lines. The Bob Barker positioned itself for several hours between the harpoon and factory ships before the harpoon vessel was able to make the transfer after nearly ramming the Bob Barker. This video is from a crewman of the Nisshin Maru of the Bob Barker preventing the transfer of the whale. This lasted for 9 hours. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6zq7tdmfK8 

The Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin has met up with the Bob Barker short time ago to help the Bob Barker shut down whaling operations. The Yushin Maru #1 is still missing in action some hundreds of miles away from the action and could possibly be sitting out of fuel somewhere in the Southern Ocean. The Japanese Security ship Shonan Maru #2 has also not been seen, there is a possibility that they are trying to help the distressed Yushin Maru #1. The Yushin Maru #3 is still following the Steve Irwin and the Brigitte Bardot continues to speed towards the battlefield. Elsewhere, the Sam Simon continues to tail the Japanese whaling fleet's supply vessel, the Sun Laurel.

So here's my take on what's going on in the Southern Ocean. The Japanese whaling fleet has decided that the lives of their fellow countrymen are not worth the amount of money a dead whale would make for them. They have proven this to me by abandoning the Yushin Maru #1 in it's hour of need. The South Korean ship, the Sun Laurel is in a terrible position by having the Sam Simon on their tail. The two ships have passed below 60 degrees South Antarctic Treaty line. It is illegal for any refueling to take place below that line. The Sun Laurel has been informed of this. If they attempt to refuel the Japanese vessels, Australia should a ship to  arrest each and every member of the crew of the Sun Laurel. Australia has failed to send a ship to the Southern Ocean so far, but perhaps this could encourage them to do so. 

Sea Shepherd is certainly winning this season. Japan has cried foul on Sea Shepherd for breaching an injunction that states no Sea Shepherd vessel can approach a whaling ship. Sea Shepherd's response is that Sea Shepherd USA is not in the Southern Ocean. The entire campaign is being headed by Sea Shepherd Australia. No Sea Shepherd ship in the Southern Ocean is registered in the United States. So this campaign has nothing to do with the US and the US courts should have no say in what goes on in Australian waters. I fully agree with that belief. 

Lastly, the I feel that the economics of whaling still make no sense. At this point the Japanese people are being forced to pay for the losses sustained by the whaling fleet. In 2011, 8.9 million dollars in tax payer money went to keeping the whaling fleet afloat. Despite large stockpiles of whale meat, Japan continues the hunt for a country in which roughly 10% of the population actually supports whaling. Nearly the entire world wants to see this insanity end. Sea Shepherd wants it to end. The ICR didn't want to go to the Southern Ocean this year. Only the Japanese Government wants this insanity to continue for no real reason. So much money has been lost already by the fleet and this year is probably going to be their biggest loss yet. It makes no sense as to why this hunt continues. All we can do is make sure to spread the word about this frankly stupid and pointless slaughter. Sea Shepherd is taking direct action which is totally admirable and amazing, but for us who are stuck on land, the best thing we can do is continue to educate, educate, educate! For those of you who are unaware of exactly what is going on, here are two pictures and two videos of the annual Japanese whale hunt in the Southern Ocean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27nX3Dsv9Xk

In this video, a whale is harpooned and shot multiple times. This happens every time a whale is killed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgjKSz_nSiU

In this video, the Shonan Maru #2 tears the bow off the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil while it sat dead in the water leading to the eventual sinking of the Ady Gil.

The Yushin Maru with a harpooned whale

False claims of collecting tissue samples. No research from the Southern Ocean has come from Japan in several years.

Abandonment in the Southern Ocean

It appears that the Japanese Whaling Fleet is now involved in a situation in which they are not even willing to help themselves. The Sea Shepherd vessel Sam Simon has successfully blockaded the whaling fleet's supply vessel, the Sun Laurel. There is a chance that the Sun Laurel will lead the Sam Simon right to the Nisshin Maru, which will need to be refueled at some point. The Sea Shepherd vessel Brigitte Bardot is returning to action after returning to Australia to refuel and resupply. This allowed the Yushin Maru #3 to rejoin the fleet. The Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin has been tailed by the Yushin Maru, which is running dangerously low on fuel. The whalers attempted to swap the Yushin Maru and the Yushin Maru #3 so the Yushin Maru could refuel, but the Steve Irwin turned on them and chased them for 150 miles. During that time, the Yushin Maru was unable to reach it's top speed. The Yushin Maru is unable to recover the ground lost between itself and the Nisshan Maru and now finds itself in an emergency situation. The Nisshin Maru is still believed to be on the run from another Sea Shepherd vessel, the Bob Barker. The Yushin Maru #3 has left it's sister ship to pursue the Steve Irwin. This means that the Yushin Maru has been abandoned by the rest of the whaling fleet. Rather than ensure the safety of the crew of the Yushin Maru, the entire whaling fleet has abandoned them. The Southern Ocean is an incredibly hostile environment, but it seems the whalers don't really care for it as they have left one of their own in a terrible, terrible situation. The desperation of these whalers is more evident now more than ever. With the Sun Laurel being pressured to enter Australia Antarctic Territory by the Japanese Government, the coming few days could prove to be very interesting.

The whaling fleet is running low on fuel, the Sam Simon is right on the tail of the Sun Laurel and will probably try to prevent any form of fueling from occurring in the Southern Ocean. The Brigitte Bardot is speeding back to the Southern Ocean. The Bob Barker is pursuing the Nisshin Maru with the assistance of airborne drones. The Steve Irwin continues to occupy the Yushin Maru #3. There has been no sign of the Shonan Maru #2 since it nearly caused an international crisis by entering Australian waters. The Yushin Maru #2 is believed to be on the run with the Nisshin Maru. It is debatable at this point if the whalers have been able to kill a single whale. The Whale Wars continue to rage on in the Southern Ocean. Sea Shepherd's Operation Zero Tolerance continues to be their greatest campaign to date. One can only hope the end result is a massive profit loss again for the whalers.

Japanese Whaling Fleet Scattered by Sea Shepherd

As mentioned in last night's blog, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had located the Japanese Whaling Fleet and effectively put them on the run. Over the last 24 hours there have been some changes in what is going on in the Southern Ocean. First, the Bob Barker is no longer tailing the Nisshan Maru, the factory ship. Currently the Bob Barker is being tailed in Australia Territorial Waters by the Shonan Maru No.2, which contains armed guards. The Government of Australia has ordered the Shonan Maru No.2 out of Australian waters, an order that so far has been heeded by the Shonan Maru No.2. Elsewhere, the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin is currently being tailed by the Yushin Maru No.1. The Brigitte Bardot continues to chase the Yushin Maru No.3 some 300 miles away. Sea Shepherd's newest vessel, the Sam Simon is currently chasing down both the Nisshan Maru and the Yushin Maru No.2. Both Japanese vessels appear to be on the run from the Sam Simon. This means that each and every vessel of the Japanese Whaling Fleet is not hunting whales.

Australia continues to bark and bark at Japan to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean, but as expected, Japan has yet to do so. If things continue going the way they are, the Japanese Whaling Fleet will financially be destroyed. Sea Shepherd is performing the justice on the high seas that the nation of Australia has yet to do. Last year, the Japanese Government poured millions of dollars into security of the whaling fleet from the tsunami relief fund and the end result was Sea Shepherd cutting their kills down to a mere 25% of their quota. It is clear that the never quit attitude of the Japanese Government is willing to continue a fight that is all but lost. Every year, the whaling fleet is losing millions upon millions of dollars and even the ICR (Institute for Cetacean Research) wanted to call off the hunt for this year, but the Japanese Government forced it to continue. Morale has to be at an all time low for the whaling fleet. Morale has to be at an all time high for Sea Shepherd. So far no blood has been spilled. No harpoons fired. No whales killed. Hopefully Sea Shepherd will continue to keep it that way. For more information and updates visit www.seashepherd.org.au

The Sad Truth About Shark Protection

Greetings once again to all. As you might have guessed, tonight's blog will focus largely on sharks. At the end though I will do an update on Sea Shepherd's Operation No Compromise as big news on that broke yesterday and very early this morning.

Throughout the world sharks are getting more and more protection. The world now sees more shark sanctuaries in it now than it ever has before. There are bills going through state governments seeking a ban of the sale of shark fin soup. Entire countries have began to weed the soup out and thus the demand for shark fin soup has, very slowly mind you, slowed down. I am not ready to say that the demand has decreased by a large number, but it is a start. Last year, several hotels in Beijing stopped serving shark fin soup. The fact that any location in China was willing to do this is a step forward. Taiwan has seen itself become the first nation is Asia to ban shark finning. That is a good step forward. All of these are great things, however the numbers are still horrendous. Over 70 million sharks are finned every year. Some estimates of sharks finned exceed 100 million. That means possibly over 100 million sharks are killed every year as no shark that is finned can survive. Part of the problem right now is implementation of the laws and bans on shark finning. Simply put, the Ocean is a massive, massive place. Shark finning has been illegal in the United States for quite a while, yet every year sharks wash up or are found with their fins cut off. In Mozambique, Africa, where white shark protection is supposed to be very strict, this happens...


What you have in this photo is some locals who caught a immature female white shark and are in the process of finning it. Note that this took place right on the beach, not on a boat somewhere offshore. Now I am not going to go off a crazy rant about how law enforcement needs to find these guys, shoot them all, and throw them into the Ocean. Frankly, I have no idea how they were able to do this in daylight on a beach and not get caught. The point in me sharing this photo right now is to get the point across that just because sharks have protection in places, it doesn't mean they are 100% protected. Sharks are taken out of designated shark sanctuaries as well and meet the same fate as this young white did. Always remember, poachers are no different on the Ocean than they are in the jungle hunting tigers. As amazing as it is to see so many nations stepping up their game in regards to shark protection, the sad truth is that the number of sharks being killed is really not moving much as a result of these protections. Over 70 million killed every years is still way too high of a number for a slow reproducing animal like a shark to survive for very long.


With the demand of shark fin soup being so high, it really makes one wonder, well how much is a shark worth if it's fins can make a bowl of soup that sells for over $100 USD? The answer is next to nothing. Shark fins are very valuable, however shark meat is not, which is why nearly all sharks that are finned are tossed back into the Ocean. So with that being said... Here is some interesting numbers... This shark...
The grey reef shark is worth about $100 dead (largely fins). This same shark, if left alive, can make the tourism industry 1.9 million dollars alone in one year!!!! That is a huge chunk of change compared to how much this shark is worth dead. So what I am getting at here is that financially, sharks are worth more alive than dead, it's as simple as that. Many nations are seeing this and are trying to protect them the best they can. Again, the Ocean is a massive place and many small nations, and larger ones for that matter, simply cannot enforce the laws all that well. Thus the focus remains on China. If China were to ever do something about shark finning, the shark fin trade would fall apart. It sounds highly improbable, but things are starting to move in China and even the Chinese Government is starting to see the dangers that shark fin soup cause. Education is the greatest weapon we have. I've been typing blogs on sharks now for quite some time and that is the main point I've always made. So if someone has an answer to this question, please explain. The entire world can gain so much economically from sharks over a long, long time of tourism. Sure, shark fin soup can make a lot of money, but only for a short time. Once these animals are gone, the world will have to deal with the collapse of shark tourism, shark fishing, the Oceanic food chain, and inevitably, the land food chain as well. It is up to the common people to do their part as well. Governments can only do so much. The more people who see acts such as finning a white shark on the beach and report it, the stronger the protection is. The less people report these actions, the more people are going to think they can get away with it. Again, education is key!

Onto topic number 2. As depressing as the above topic was and as sad as that picture of the white shark being finned is, there is some good news from the bottom of the world. Shortly after midnight last night, Sea Shepherd located the factory ship of the Japanese Whaling Fleet. The Bob Barker is pursuing the Nisshan Maru and just 2 miles behind her is the Japanese Security ship Shonan Maru No.2. Elsewhere, the speed ship Brigitte Bardot intercepted one of the Japanese harpoon vessels, the Yushin Maru No.3.

Photo: Sea Shepherd
So far the Bardot has chased the Yushin some 400 miles from where she originally intercepted her. Sea Shepherd, for the first time was able to catch the whaling fleet before a single harpoon was fired. Meaning, not one whale has been killed in the Southern Ocean so far. All four Sea Shepherd vessels have enough fuel to last until the end of the whaling season. This means that Sea Shepherd will continue to pursue and disrupt the illegal whaling activities until they return to Japan.The first victory of the Whale Wars of 2013 goes to Sea Shepherd! February 1st will mark a blood free January, the month in which is usually the peak of the whaling season!

Dolphinariums and the Taiji Slaughter

The horrific slaughter of dolphins in Taiji continues to disturb the world. Despite being under constant watch by the Cove Guardians, the dolphin hunters and marine parks continue to essentially rape the Ocean of any dolphins that swim near the coast of Taiji. That is about the extent of the news from Taiji. More and more dolphins are being slaughtered or shipped off to dolphinariums around the world. One famous marine facility, Sea World has labeled the Taiji dolphin slaughter as 'horrible'. Sea World no longer imports their dolphins from Taiji. The reason is that they have no interest anymore in importing dolphins from Taiji. In reality though, the reason is that Six Flags Discovery Kingdom wanted to acquire dolphins from Taiji in 1993. It was ruled that Discovery Kingdom could not import the dolphins as a result of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Since then NO dolphin has been brought into the US from Taiji. This map shows a good look into how the Taiji dolphin slaughter works.

Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

 When push comes to shove, Sea World could lead the way in seeing this horrific slaughter come to an end. However they have done nothing. Since they have stopped purchasing from Taiji, they have taken a stance that makes little sense.The company has done nothing to try to convince other facilities from purchasing from Taiji. Sea World believes that no matter what happens, the slaughter will continue, so the dolphinariums are saving the lives of the dolphins they bring in. The numbers however tell a different story. Financially, the vast majority of the money that the dolphin hunters get is from dolphinariums who purchase the dolphins. Dolphin meat sells for a low price. I do not have the exact numbers, but without the dolphin trade, this industry would be about as worthless as the whaling industry. I do know that a dolphin can sell in Taiji for tens of thousands of dollars. Saying this slaughter would continue without people purchasing dolphins is simply not a true statement. Sea World, the leading facility for seeing marine mammals in captivity, has all of the tools and global influence to really make a push to see this horrific slaughter end. I fully understand that dolphinariums can be amazing educational facilities for anyone interested in dolphins. The dolphins there are certainly ambassadors to their species, but at the same time, the way in which many of these dolphins are obtained are inhumane and frankly brutal. Take a look again at the above map. Two big names stand out. Sea World and Georgia Aquarium. I would love nothing more than to see one of these places step up and fight for these dolphins. I understand how big of an industry the captive dolphin industry is. I understand how good of a thing it can be. It goes horribly wrong though when it winds up supporting such senseless slaughter and hatred. It is the smaller dolphin parks that continue to buy from Taiji. It should be the job of places like Sea World and Georgia Aquarium to educate the smaller facilities on more sustainable and more humane means of bringing dolphins into captivity if it is needed.
 

Tale of Happiness and Confusion/Tale of Hatred

I apologize if the title of this blog seems to be a little odd. I promise by the end of it you will understand the title much better. So the premises of this blog is two stories that have come out over the past few days. One of these stories has a happy ending, but at the same time sends a confusing message. The second story is simply horrific, sad, and flat out disgusting. So here we go...

There was a pod of orcas that had somehow managed to get themselves trapped in ice in Canada. The pod of orcas were stuck under a sheet of ice that had a hole that was roughly the size of a truck.
Photo by: Marina Lacasse

The winds shifted and with it, the ice. This allowed the orcas to escape yesterday! The news of these trapped marine mammals made headlines worldwide and many rescue operations were being prepared to get underway. The fact that these animals got away and that so many people were ready to risk their own lives to save these orcas is truly an amazing thing. The orcas have not been seen and it is thought that they are trying to make their way to where they should be, roughly 621 miles from the ice in Hudson Bay. It appears that there is a happy ending to this story. Now though comes the confusing part. On the opposite side of the world in the Southern Ocean, Japan has sent it's whaling fleet to poach the sea of whales. They do this every year and outside of Australia, no nation really responds to it. No headlines are made by it, unless a major clash between the whalers and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society takes place. People just seem to have the attitude of that's just the way it is. The orcas that were trapped in the ice were trapped by nature. Ice moves all the time and it is simply a part of nature. Yet people are so quick to fight nature and try to save these orcas. So with that being said. Why are so few people willing to do the same thing for animals being threatened by humans. What's the difference between an animal being caught in ice and freezing as they have done for million of years and an animal getting an explosive harpoon driven into their backs and shot with a shot gun until dead? Why is the latter so much more accepted than the prior? That is what I am so confused about. Yes it is great that so many people were willing to help this pod of orcas, but why are those same people so quiet on hundreds of whales being slaughtered for money? This is something new, but if you have you're own theory on that please do me a favor and say what it is in the comments section. I'd love to hear some opinions on the matter cause for the life of me I cannot figure why...


This is not okay...
Photo by: Marina Lacasse 


Yet this is acceptable...

Now for a truly sad and terrible story out of the shark hatred capital of the world, Australia. Fisherman have caught a massive tiger shark just a short distance from the beach in Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The 1102 pound shark was killed because it was simply too risky to let go... What makes matters even worse was that this shark was a pregnant female tiger shark. Yes you read that right, the shark was pregnant.

Why is this allowed to exist? Why is crap like this perfectly okay in Australia. The Australian government has such a fear of sharks that it seems any and all are to be killed if caught. Tiger sharks are very slow at reproduction, there's a chance that this massive girl may have never had pups before. It's just nature's way of controlling shark populations. This shark was not bothering any swimmers in the area. It was not going around eating small children, although given it's size it would not take much. It was not chasing people out of the water. Despite all of that, it was too risky to let it go? That just doesn't add up to me at all. There have been increased shark sighting near the coast, but wouldn't you know it, shark attacks really have not increased at all. The sharks are coming closer to shore because there is less and less fish offshore. So sadly this animal and her unborn baby had to die for literally no reason.

So there you have it. One incredibly sad story driven by sheer hatred for sharks and another that has a happy ending, but a very confusing message...

Operation Sadistic Truths Update

Greetings everyone, here we are closing in on mid January. Operations Sadistic Truths has been underway since September and I have done 15 blogs in that time. Honestly, that is nowhere near the number of blogs I wanted to do for the first half of this campaign, but thanks to Hurricane Sandy making November seem like a blur, it is what it is. So far this campaign I feel has covered things just the way I had hoped. There has been a good amount of information on the current plights of dolphins, whales, and sharks. Again, I would like to thank each of you who read these blogs. I don't know who most of you are, but the fact that I can look at the number of hits this blog gets and can see a slow increase shows that someone is reading. I'm not going to sit here and preach about how one person really can make a difference and cause a chain reaction, etc. etc.

So what's left for Operation Sadistic Truths? Expect to see an increased number of blogs for here on in for a few reasons. The first of which is that the Japanese Whaling Fleet is on it's way to the Southern Ocean to once again slaughter whales. Expect to see quite a few whale blogs showing up through March. On the dolphin front, expect to see more of what you have seen already. Things have not changed at all in Taiji. The Japanese continue to slaughter and enslave dolphins. They continue to do this despite the world looking down on them about it. Again, expect to see more heartbreaking blogs about dolphins as there is only one way to deal with what is going on in Taiji, spreading awareness. On the shark front, big news can occur at any given moment. The fight to save sharks is still gaining momentum and more people are starting to understand just how needed sharks are in the world. You may recall my most recent blog also involved manta rays, but they are not a major part of Operation Sadistic Truths and might not be mentioned again in this campaign, but if any kind of major news comes about them I will be sure to comment on it and bring it to you. So in the simplest words I can think of. Expect to see a lot of whale blogs in the near future with embedded shark and dolphin blogs.

There are just a couple of quick things I want to touch on before closing out this blog.

Back on September 24, 2012 I did a blog on the proposed seismic testing off the coast of California. To this point, the tests have not occurred as the California Coastal Commission had shot the proposal down. In fact, news broke about a day ago that the plan was once again shot down and now PG&E will seek an alternative way to map out Diablo Canyon. This will save countless numbers of marine animals as well as the coast of California around Diablo Canyon that would probably have been severely damaged.

On September 14th, 2012 I did a blog on the world's largest humpback whale nursery being possibly turned into a gas rig. As it stands now, the Western Australia Government has given the green light to begin the process of building that rig. The Wilderness Society is taking legal action in an attempt to save the sanctuary. If anything comes of this legal challenge I will let you all know as soon as I read something about it. If this is the last you see of this issue on this blog, than take it as the world's largest humpback whale sanctuary is lost.

So now that those two things are caught up with. Thanks for reading! We are at the halfway point of Operation Sadistic Truths!