Breaking news from the whale wars

[JKPAO]

They (Alleged captain watson) use this term dead in the water very loosely.
Ady Gil was under way not making way. This is a USCG definition, not something some ecco terrorist made up! I know just a play on words. How about they lay in wait.
See you topside! John

 

[Texas Torpedo]

Personally, I find it very hard to be sympathetic towards them even if the Japanese ship turned in towards the Ady Gil earlier in a possible game of chicken, or for any other reason.

A little on Watson's methodology:

Watson believes in coercive conservation, and for several decades he has been using his private navy to ram whaling and fishing vessels on the high seas. Ramming is his signature tactic, and it is what he and his crew intended to do to the Japanese fleet, if they could find it.

Previous link:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/11/05/071105fa_fact_khatchadourian?currentPage=all

For some this thread is about whaling.. I understand the outrage and sentiments but this guy's modus operandi is likely to get many killed or injured, and that won't change whaling.

If someone used a vehicle as a weapon against me in a similar fashion, I wouldn't be spraying them with water, that is for sure.

 

[merxlin]

An American lecturing another the citizens of another sovereign nation on stupidity and arrogance to do as it pleases.... priceless.

Iraq much?
Israel much?
Kyoto much?

I think you'll find that "stupid" American foreign policy - in the face of world opinion - has caused tens of thousands of human deaths but let's not worry too much about these those Muslims or Afghans shall we? Let's worry about a few hundred whales in a population of hundreds of thousands.

Sort your own house out before trying to claim the moral right to lecture other sovereign state to stop its own - legal - activities.

So how clean does our house have to be? Who's standard do we need to meet? If I remember correctly, Japan also has a history of being involved in some rather death riddled encounters. Korea Much? Manchuria much? China much? If we wait for any country that is "without sin" to do anything, nothing will ever get done. Like it or not, we do have a dog in this hunt.

Legal does not always equal moral. Just because you can (or think you can) doesn't make it right.

And as far as the hundreds of thousands of whales, well that is the whole gist of things here isn't it? Until the stock is depleted to a point that Japan feels is too low, they will keep taking. The hell with what is good for the oceans (the world's oceans by the way, they also do not belong to Japan). So tell me how the Japanese know just how many whales there are, and at what point they are willing to stop taking them? What evidence do you have that the last whale taken is not the one that keeps the species from being able to be sustained? Much like a few hundred sharks out of hundreds of thousands, we see how that is going now.

The problem is, if you react after it is too late, well, it's too late.

So like or dislike the actions of the Sea Shepard and the Andy Gil, the point is still the act of whaling- and the need for it to stop.

 

[DennisS]

I wish someone had recorded the conversation between the Barker and the Ady Gil as they were lining up the shot. Oh well maybe it will be in the whale wars TV series-NOT

 

[ScubaSteve]

Where's the helicopter footage

Too incriminating, had to be disposed of

They sunk a helicopter as well? Holy **** man....did the whaler have to turn port or starboard to get it? Can I dive the helicopter as well?

 

[ScubaSteve]

This must be similar to how Spock felt when forced to have a scientific or academic conversation with Ferengi.

Wow that just spoke volumes....I cannot believe you played a Star Trek card

Spoiler

 

[BDSC]

I have spent about a half an hour searching for the wanted criminal status of Captain Paul Watson and do not find it.

Whale activist hits visa hurdle

Yahoo! Groups

It only took a minute to find this however;

Is Dick Cheney a War Criminal?: Former U.S. Vice President Faces Allegations over Torture

What we really need here is for Dick Cheney to take Paul Watson hunting!

 

[Geoff_H]

So how clean does our house have to be? Who's standard do we need to meet? If I remember correctly, Japan also has a history of being involved in some rather death riddled encounters. Korea Much? Manchuria much? China much? If we wait for any country that is "without sin" to do anything, nothing will ever get done. Like it or not, we do have a dog in this hunt.

I was just exposing the hypocrisy. Most rational people think killing people is a greater crime than killing whales.

Legal does not always equal moral. Just because you can (or think you can) doesn't make it right.

No disagreement here. However, it does not mean people can take the law into their own hands if they have a personal disagreement with someone doing something else. I might hate my neighbour mowing his grass when I'm sleeping in the afternoon but I can't go and raw his car to make up for it.

And as far as the hundreds of thousands of whales, well that is the whole gist of things here isn't it? Until the stock is depleted to a point that Japan feels is too low, they will keep taking.

I have not met one person on this thread who claims an annual catch of 0.1% of the population is unsustainable. Are you going to be brave and be the first to claim this?

The hell with what is good for the oceans (the world's oceans by the way, they also do not belong to Japan). So tell me how the Japanese know just how many whales there are, and at what point they are willing to stop taking them? What evidence do you have that the last whale taken is not the one that keeps the species from being able to be sustained?

What evidence DO YOU have that the whaling is unsustainable? The burden of proof lies on the party trying to get a legal activity banned, not the other way around. I have attempted to discuss minke whale population numbers with the anti-whalers in this thread and not one has tried to engage.

So like or dislike the actions of the Sea Shepard and the Andy Gil, the point is still the act of whaling- and the need for it to stop.

Your perceived need to stop it. Let's go into the figures and see you try and justify your claims.

 

[Tigerman]

A little bit about endangered species..
IUCN (The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) release the "Red list" the commonly used reference for endangered species.
The list goes extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, voulnerable, near threatened and least concern. Critically thretened through voulnerable is considered "threatened".
The Antarctic minke whale dont make the list because they dont have exact data but its considered to be about half a million of them.
The Northern minke whale is classified as least concerned.
In short neither of the two species of minke whale is threatened, nor near to be threatened. Hunting them IS sustainable and it IS legal, wether we like it or not. Australia consider it illegal, but its not condoned by most countries that the antarctic waters is owned by Australia and as such Australia have no chance to intervene there legally.

As far as Paul Watson goes hes been sentenced for "criminal damage" in Norway for boarding and attempting to sink a whaling boat that was at dock and if he sets foot here hell be put in jail for 120 days (which is not the maximum penalty for his crime, if they can find him that is. Norway is not exactly densely populated by cops)..

 

[Cave Diver]

As far as Paul Watson goes hes been sentenced for "criminal damage" in Norway for boarding and attempting to sink a whaling boat that was at dock and if he sets foot here hell be put in jail for 120 days (which is not the maximum penalty for his crime, if they can find him that is. Norway is not exactly densely populated by cops)..

Can you provide a source for verification of that since it's already been disputed back and forth here?