Sea Shepherd condemned by International Whaling Commission.

[aquaman_06]

Ha! You guys outta really research before throwing mud at an organizaton. The government of Costa Rica asked for Sea Sherpard's help as did the governing body of the Galapagos. Also, in the past the Fijian people have also asked for Sea Shepard's help. I am sure a quick Google search could teach a lot of people replying to this thread a lot.

As for Kim who has told me already in this thread to grow up and is now making a joke of steve irwin's death by saying a Japanese ray killed him: Personally Kim I just don't get it. You say that you put human life above that of whales yet you clearly have no clue about how sea shepard pusues their mission. They don't just go "Oh look a whaling vessel lets sink it." They radio the vessel, ask them to follow the sea shepard ship into port or to cease all whaling actions. It's not until the whaling vessel fails to comply or makes an aggresive move toward sea shepard that they, oh god and how dare they, throw stink bombs at them.

In sharkwater paul watson radios a ship and asks them to stop capturing sharks for the finning industry. When they don't and continue pulling shark after shark up he tells them if they dont stop he will cut their long lines. Ohhhhhhhhhh how sad the poor long liner who was killing countless endangered species got his lines cut, oh dear, waaaa waaaaa.

Sea Shepard doesn't kill anyone, sea shepard doesn't hurt anyone, sea shepard protects some of the most important resources on planet earth any you people have nothing but bad to say about them. paul watson has dedicated a lifetime, a lifetime!!! to preserving our seas and you people act like he and osama bin laden should share a cell. Have you ever heard paul watson speak, have you ever read any of the many books on his life or writings by him?Well maybe you should and instead of spuing ignorance you might not only gain respect for the man but at the very least make some sense.

I have donated money to sea shepard many times. I used to donate to many "by the book" conservation organizations but now I donate all to sea shepard since they produce results. If sea shepard was out there killing whalers and hanging them alive, treating them much like the whalers treat the whales I would be against them. They Dont!!! They actually produce results and no one gets hurt. You guys call them pirates! What do they steal, do they raise villages and murder innocent people. Then you call them terrorists, so I guess terrorists radio people and ask them to cease the actions they dislike before they attack and if the person stops its all good then. Oh and of course terrorists make sure no one is hurt when they take action. Get real people!

 

[ekremer]

some quotes from the wikipedia article I linked earlier for your reading pleasure:
"Members call themselves eco-pirates and sail under a Jolly Roger, which is also the society's logo..."

"Sea Shepherd endorses a deliberate policy of sinking or sabotaging vessels they believe have violated international whaling law.[4] As a result, Greenpeace has officially disavowed any connection to Sea Shepherd and refused to assist their efforts, stating "... we are not going to help people who have said they will use violence. We are here to save the whale, not put the lives of whalers at risk."[5]""(That btw is damage to personal property and possibly a persons lively hood and could possibly destroy a persons life)

"These have included more conventional protests, as well as, at times, scuttling and sinking fishing boats engaged in fishery operations while in harbor, sabotage of vessels in harbor, ramming the whaling ship Sierra in Portuguese harbor,[7] and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea."
In a harbor you say? inside territorial waters of the portugeese you say? wow talk about terrorism.

"However, industrial safety data sheets warn of the corrosive properties of the acid, which can burn skin and eyes[10] and harm aquatic organisms.[11]" yay they don't try to hurt people yay...oh and they also could be hurting marine life with their "rancid butter"

"Sea Shepherd bases its actions on enforcement of international maritime law under the United Nations World Charter for Nature; however, the organization has no official mandate or authorization to enforce any legislation. Sea Shepherd was deprived of its status as an International Whaling Commission observer after sinking Icelandic vessels in 1986. In 1994, IWC Secretary Ray Gambell stated "the IWC and all its members ardently condemn Sea Shepherd's acts of terrorism."[12] In 2006 the outgoing Vice Chair of the IWC, Horst Kleinschmidt, joined the Board of Sea Shepherd as an advisor. Sea Shepherd is supported by private and corporate donations and operated by volunteers and paid staff, including Watson's current wife. Critics, including its targets, refer to the organization with political epithets such as "pirate" and "terrorist",[8] and consider Sea Shepherd's harassment of targeted fishing and resource-extraction operations to be outside the law. However, Sea Shepherd believe they have a good understanding of the law and operate openly in the UK (where Sea Shepherd UK has charity status) and other countries."
no comment needed

etc.etc.etc.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Apparently not since these guys are still sailing the 7 seas attacking and sinking vessels instead of being locked in a prision some where But I would assume in many places its the U.N. who would be in charge if I had to guess. Beyond that, any country that these jokers pull into for port could probably arrest them and charge them I would assume.

Yeah, I guess the U.N. would be the authority figure.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society recognizes the U.N. World Charter for Nature and acts accordingly.

World Charter for Nature

They specifically refer to 21-24 in that charter.

 

[aquaman_06]

First off Wikipedia is notorious for publishing information that is falsed and un-sourced. When I was finishing college several years ago when wikipedia was getting popular it meant failure to use a wikipedia article as a source for a college paper. This is because wikipedia allows anyone to say just about anything in their articles.
As for Greenpeace not endorsing any sea shepard action that is true. Paul Watson who founded Sea Shepard also was one of the co-founders of Greenpeace. Watson grew tired of hearing Greenpeace “talk” about conservation and change and do nothing to promote it. It was then that he founded Sea Shepard. The wikipedia article that you read says that Sea Shepard scuttled and sunk vessels while docked in harbor. If in fact that information is accurate and they actually did this I disagree with that action. I feel that if a vessel is docked in harbor there is room at that time for diplomatic talks with the vessel’s operators instead of sinking the vessel. When a vessel is whaling on the high seas and refuses to cease illegal whaling operations, I feel no remorse when Sea Shepard sinks there ship then and there.

As for Sea Shepard having paid staff and Watson’s wife being among them I don’t see where that holds any relivance to the current argument. I totally agree with and understand why the IWC has condemed Sea Shepard’s actions. Believe it or not I support both the IWC and Sea Shepard and can see that Sea Shepard puts the IWC in a very tough situation. On one hand they are supporting whale conservation but on the other they are going about it in a very controversial method.
I would ask that people on this thread who are so against Sea Shepard rent Blue Water White Death. In this film you can watch in visceral live action as whales are hapooned and killed. The movie was shot in 1968 when mainstream whaling was legal. You can watch the whales lung’s puncture as they blow red blood out their blow hole and their calves and beaten to death with gaffing hooks. If after seeing the spectical of a ½ alive whale butchered when brought to port doesn’t change your mind about sea shepard, well I guess nothing well.

 

[scubadale]

Here is the link to the sea shepherd website where they state that they sunk a ship - using a limpet mine - while at port.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - Neptune's Navy

and a portion of that if you don't want to read it all

The Sierra had been towed to Lisbon for repairs, though the Portuguese authorities lied to the American consul and told him that the ship had left the country. Taking advantage of the Sierra's immobility, a team of underwater demolition experts made preparations to finish the career of the whaler.

On February 6, 1980, after undergoing US$ one million in repairs, the Sierra was sunk at dockside by a single limpet mine that blew a small hole in the hull. The ship took on water and slowly sank until it struck the bottom. Nobody was injured.

 

[ekremer]

Ok several things
1) Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica | CNET News.com
Wikipedia is not good for a college source b/c its a third party to cite...its like citing an encyclopedia. also "a few years ago" unless the professor was working with technology, he like many others were mistaken about its accuracy.

2) If you see something wrong or incomplete correct it...thats how wikipedia works don't start whinning.

3) the part about paid staff was quoted for completeness...much of that section was relevent to our discussion so I just quoted the whole thing to prevent the thought I was selectivly quoting.

4) I don't like whaling at all, I think its horrible an un-needed...That does not mean I should condone the actions of the Sea Shepherd which are also horrible. It means I should be angry at the UN for not enforcing their treaties, and at Japan for endorsing the whalers. any changes and enforcment needs to go through these orginizations, not through the vigilanties Sea Shepherd.

5) from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - Whales SSCS History

1979
Paul Watson decided to hunt the Sierra down and put an end to her career. In June of 1979, he departed from Boston, Massachusetts, to do just that.

On July 16th, 1979, the Sea Shepherd found the Sierra and chased it into the port of Leixoes. Captain Watson rammed the Sierra twice in harbor, tearing the hull open to the waterline and forcing the ship into port for repairs. After a million dollars of uninsured repairs, the Sierra was sunk by Sea Shepherd operatives in Lisbon harbor in Portugal on February 6, 1980. Sea Shepherd permanently retired the pirate whaler Sierra and prevented anymore whales from being taken by her.

And they are proud of this and you are proud of them

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

some quotes from the wikipedia article I linked earlier for your reading pleasure:
"Members call themselves eco-pirates and sail under a Jolly Roger, which is also the society's logo..."

We've already addressed both of these things earlier in the thread.

"Sea Shepherd endorses a deliberate policy of sinking or sabotaging vessels they believe have violated international whaling law.

They do NOT endorse a deliberate policy of sinking or sabotaging any vessels. This makes it sound like they just pull up next to a whaling vessel and begin destroying it right away. They ALWAYS try to negotiate and peaceful end whatever the vessel is doing. They always announce why they are there and try to keep communication open.

[4] As a result, Greenpeace has officially disavowed any connection to Sea Shepherd and refused to assist their efforts, stating "... we are not going to help people who have said they will use violence. We are here to save the whale, not put the lives of whalers at risk."[5]""(That btw is damage to personal property and possibly a persons lively hood and could possibly destroy a persons life)

SSCS has never said that they will use violence and put people's lives at risk.

"These have included more conventional protests, as well as, at times, scuttling and sinking fishing boats engaged in fishery operations while in harbor, sabotage of vessels in harbor, ramming the whaling ship Sierra in Portuguese harbor,[7] and seizure and destruction of drift nets at sea."
In a harbor you say? inside territorial waters of the portugeese you say? wow talk about terrorism.

I don't think that most terrorists try to communicate and negotiate with people before taking action. SSCS always repeatedly tries to communicate with whoever they are dealing with before taking any action. I hardly call destroying nets terrorism.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

The wikipedia article that you read says that Sea Shepard scuttled and sunk vessels while docked in harbor. If in fact that information is accurate and they actually did this I disagree with that action. I feel that if a vessel is docked in harbor there is room at that time for diplomatic talks with the vessel’s operators instead of sinking the vessel. When a vessel is whaling on the high seas and refuses to cease illegal whaling operations, I feel no remorse when Sea Shepard sinks there ship then and there.

Well said, I agree with this.

 

[sea nmf]

Oh please....get real. Why would anyone give money away to people who act against their national interest? (and that IS how the Japanese view this)

Kim,

This is just a question, not an accusation or anything in line with that. When you say "national interest", may I assume your are speaking of whaling, amoung other things? If so, how is whaling in their national interest? Is it simply cultural? Because they don't need the food source, do they?

Thanks for taking this question seriously.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

I think Kim was talking about the Japanese not supporting whaling because it is against their national interest.