Whaling

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This is kinda political as well, I suppose - but as equally just about whaling in general.

Quick summary of the situation: A fleet (7, I think) of whaling ships from Japan are in a whale sanctuary around Antarctica, and is been harassed by three protesting ships - two Greenpeace and one from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Recently the Farley Mowat (of Sea Shepherd) rammed one of the whaling ships (Greenpeace did so a few weeks ago as well).

Here's a summary of what laws the Japanese are breaking:

It also isn't illegal for the protesters to be doing what they're doing:

Okay, that's probably enough background. For starters, I would just like to say that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society should invest in some torpedoes. I have no sympathy for any whalers in this case - they're killing members of an endangered highly intelligent species in an incredibly painful way - and if someone wanted to blow their ships up, I could only applaud.

Second - the Australian government is filled with a bunch of hypocritical cowards who, because of free trade negotiations, don't dare to do anything - and instead *condemn* the ones who are actually out there doing what they should be. It's pathetic - they're essentially supporting the Japanese whaling, and were even going to allow one of their ships to dock in Hobart at one point and leave freely (though managed to avoid that bit of embarrassment...).

Then look at how the government treats illegal Indonesian fishermen fishing in Australian waters - they sink their ships, ffs. Consider that these Indonesian people are poor (well, I presume, seeing it's Indonesia...) and that the same can't be said of the Japanese ... height of hypocrisy.

Whaling is crap, the Australian government is crap. Here's to hoping that the protesters can do some serious damage.

(Quotes are taken from http://www.seashepherd.org/ )

 

Agreed. Someone lacks balls.

 

Where is CAPT Kirk when you need him.

 

I agree that breaking international laws is crap, and that the Australian governemtn leaves a lot to be desired in its response. However, I entirely disagree that vandalism against PRIVATE PROPERTY is a valid response on the part of the protestors, no matter how "noble" their intentions may be.

This brings to mind the terroristic tactics that ELF uses against loggers.

 

I have to agree with Rallymama -- while whales are important, ramming the fishing vessels and endangering human lives is not justified.

Also, I'm curious to know if this IWC has the authority to dictate the behaviour of the Japanese nation. If the Japanese are violating Australian territory, that's one thing, but if they are not, I'd like to learn a bit more about the full legal authority of the IWC.

In any event, whaling may be horrible and all that, but people do need to eat, and as I have mentioned before, a country with a population the size of Japan's crammed into such a small space cannot afford to overlook any possible source of food. Admittedly, though, there are a lot of other food sources for humans to use.

 

My sentiment exactly. I have nothing more to say to whaling.

Blow them up.

 

If you can justify blowing up fishermen to save a whale...you should be able to justify gunning down an abortion doctor to save a baby.

Consistency, people.

Ramming boats and other forms of vandalism discredit the protestors...making them less likely to gain the support of governmental powers...leading directly to the death of more whales.

Sometimes you have to play smarter than harder.

 

But what can you do when the whaling nations blatantly ignore any of the agreements made in the International Whaling Commission? This whole whaling thing makes me so mad.

Give me a break! I don't think Japan and Norway would starve if they couldn't eat a few whales. They only hunt them for dubious 'cultural' reasons. It's right up there with those idiots who eat rhinoceros horns and ground up tiger bones.

 

A valid point...almost. Whaling is illegal, abortions aren't. And humanity is hardly an endangered species at a population of several billion.

Damn right.

 

Hack, vandalism? What about the killing of animals that inspire awe in most of us? That's beyond vandalism.

People are literally sick of what is going on. No one cries too hard when protestors interfere with whaling. No one even comes up with the notion of vandalism in that case, cause they detest what they see.
But to get real, you are right, of course.

 

Has anyone spent the time to see if Japan is a part of this International Whaling Commission? I'm guessing they are not so they aren't breaking any laws. Remember, there is no such thing as "international law". There are treaties that multiple nations have signed to agree upon, but if you don't sign the treaty, you aren't obligated to follow it.

Without a doubt Greenpeace and this other group are in the wrong. It wouldn't surprise me if the Japanase sue them and win in court for damages. They might actually be subject to "international law" for they may be comitting acts of piracy (which I'm guessing most nations have signed treaties to prohibit). Next thing you know the Japanese Navy may be well within treaty guidlines to blow them out of the water.

 

Someone should deploy a submarine and blow these Japanese scumbags out of the water.

 

No blood for whales. No blood for whales.

 

It's all such a crock. Japan is part of the IWC and continues to claim that their whaling is necessary for 'scientific' purposes. How many whales do you really need to dissect? They don't even have the decency to admit that they are doing it for culinary reasons.

 

Would you support these tactics if it was a government taking action?

As far as I can see - if you don't mind the idea of the government giving, say, car chases against criminals - this really isn't much of a step up from that. It's even less dangerous - and there are no innocent civilians who might get in the way.

Apples and oranges. A foetus can be viewed from a number of different angles - from a parasitic bunch of cells to a baby - and there is room for debate there. Killing whales is far, far more black and white than that.

As it is they stand no chance of gaining support from governmental powers because the governments who could do something have an interest in not doing it. Just letting them keep whaling without harrassment isn't going to help at all. If the Australian government was serious about the IWC they'd have a warship down there and be applauding the efforts of Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd, who are enforcing the laws that they're currently not.

That's the thing however - Japan is part of the IWC. They've been pushing for allowing commerical whaling for a long time now - and are also suspected of vote buying from smaller nations who've joined.

If the protesters are commiting piracy - Japan is poaching. They've also attacked Greenpeace protesters with poles and water cannons.

It would be interesting to see what happens if they do send their navy down however - let's see how pathetically gutless the Australian government can be in letting foreign warships go into Australian territory in support of whalers...

 

I think the point Hack makes is valid, but limited.

Japan has been skirting the International agreements on whaling for many years, using various specious excuses, such as: the economy of a small village depended on ornaments made of whale bone. "Scientific research" is merely the latest. The real question here is how to enforce international agreements that are generally supported by world opinion when the governments that subscribe to them refuse to do so. It could be argued that Greenpeace is only attempting to enforce the law, to make a "citizen's arrest".