Sea Shepherd returns from the WHALE WARS

Sea Shepherd ship is heading back to port.

God Bless Paul Watson and the crew of the M/V Steve Irwin for their brave and unrelenting efforts at stopping the whale murderers in the Southern Antarctic whale sanctuary.

Sea Shepherd will be back to intervene in illegal whaling activities again next year.

The tactics of the Japanese whaling operation have turned increasingly violent against the crew of the Steve Irwin, and it has become too dangerous and risky for SSCS to continue given the present situation. A japanese vessel was setting out to confiscate the video coverage taken by SSCS, and that can not be allowed to happen. SSCS have the documentary evidence showing what happened down there these past couple months. The crew need to get back to port safely with the video footage in hand.

The whales who have been spared this season are alive thanks to Sea Shepherd. No thanks to the Aussie government and no thanks to the IWC who have once again stood by and done nothing to stop this illegal and unnecessary slaughter of these majestic and highly intelligent and sentient beings, all under the guise of scientific "research". Shame on the whalers!

God Bless the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society!!

Thank you all for your continuing support and donations to raise much needed funds for a second ship. :)

As a sign of courtesy and respect to the amazing Captain and his crew, Greg Coventry suggests that we should all set our profile picture to be the Operation Musashi Jolly Roger logo. Fly the flag!!!

If you don't already have it, right click on my profile pic and save it, then you can use it.

Please remember that there are ways we can all continue to help!

•  Host a fund-raising event in your home town for SSCS.
  
•  Have an 'Outreach' table at community events, festivals, etc., distribute SSCS literature and inform people about the plight of our oceans and the great efforts of SSCS.
  
•  Hold a video house party and watch Whale Wars! Show your friends so they can see what it's all about. The Whale Wars DVD is available to buy from the Discovery Store.
  
•  Wear your SSCS garb- shirts, hats, touques - to show support!
  

The Sea Shepherd ship the Steve Irwin and her crew have withdrawn from the Japanese whaling fleet to begin preparations to return with a faster and longer range ship.

"I have said always said that we would do everything we can short of hurting people to end illegal whaling in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary." Said Captain Paul Watson. "We have done everything we could with the resources available to us this year. We have shut down their illegal operations for over a month in total. We have cost them money and we have saved the lives of a good many whales. And although we are willing to take the risks required, even to our own lives, I am not prepared to do to the Japanese whalers what they do to the whales and the escalating violence by the whalers will result in some serious injuries and possibly fatalities if this confrontation continues to escalate."

Captain Watson said that he has been operating at a disadvantage against three harpoon boats that are superior in speed and manoeuvrability to the Steve Irwin.

"We need to block those deadly harpoons and we need to outrun these hunter killer ships and to do that I need a ship that is as fast as they are and I intend to get one and I intend to return next year." He said. "We will never stop intervening against their illegal whaling operations and we will never stop harassing them, blockading them and costing them money. I intend to be their on-going nightmare every year until they stop their horrific and unlawful slaughter of the great whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary."

This year the crew of the Steve Irwin pursued the Japanese fleet from December 18th until January 7th for over 2,000 miles, shutting down their operations for a month. The crew returned and relocated the fleet on February 1st and pursued them for another 9 days during which time the whalers were only able to kill five whales. A pursuit of the Yushin Maru #2 by the Steve Irwin on December 20th caused ice damage to the prop of the whaling ship and forced them out of operation for a month and a half. The harpoon vessel was denied repairs in Indonesia much to the embarrassment of Japan.

Confrontations between the Steve Irwin and the whaling fleet have resulted in numerous close calls and two collisions causing minor damage. The whaling fleet this year deployed Long Range Acoustical Devices (LRAD’s) and high powered water cannons against the Sea Shepherd crew. No whalers were injured. Three members of the Steve Irwin’s crew were injured with one man requiring five stitches above his left eye after being hit by a blast from the LRAD and knocked over.

Captain Paul Watson is dismissive of Japanese accusations that Sea Shepherd deliberately rammed their whaling ships "The whalers and their hired PR flunkies can say whatever they want now but we have over 1,000 hours of video footage documenting every moment of the campaign. Our story will be told on a weekly series on Animal Planet with the show Whale Wars. People can watch and judge for themselves. The camera is the most powerful weapon in the world and we intend to demonstrate that power."

On January 31st, the Japanese government dispatched a security vessel called the Taiyo Maru #38 from Fiji to intercept the Steve Irwin. The ship is believed to be carrying a special boarding unit and has orders to seize the ship and all video evidence, according to a source in Fiji. The ship is expected to arrive in the Ross Sea within days.

"We cannot allow this documentation to be captured by Japan" Said Captain Watson.

The Steve Irwin will be returning to Australia and is expected to arrive within the next two weeks. The ship had only another four days of fuel reserves to remain with the fleet before being forced to return anyways.

"Another four days is simply not worth getting someone killed," said Captain Watson. "We are down here because we respect the sanctity of life. The whalers are down here to illegally destroy life. People can choose to side with life or with death, between the whalers and the whale defenders, and we have chosen to defend life, and for those who condemn us for what we are doing, all I can say is that we are not down here for them. We’re down here for the whales."

Message from:
Captain of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve

My friends,

It is Christmas Eve down here off the coast of Antarctica and I can absolutely assure you that we are all having a very white Christmas. And it is a happy Christmas because there is no place else we would choose to be.

Not only is it a white Christmas with towering massive alabaster icebergs and heaving floes of cobalt blue ice, it is a magical Christmas as orcas, humpbacks, fins, blues and piked whales escort us through these seas, as albatross, petrels, and skua gulls fly along beside us. And on the floes, the penguins, primarily Adelie and kings comically “salute” us as we pass by.

Being in these waters is like being on another planet or in another dimension of time and reality where humans are a scarce species and the oceans teem with the diversity of life. The air is pure and smells alive and the waters even purer and moving with life.

I have spent five Christmas days since 2002 in this wondrous place and I love it here, love it perhaps more than any other place on Earth despite, or perhaps because of its isolation, its wildness, and its unpredictability.

To love something is to defend it – to be willing to fight and to die for it. And such is the love that I feel for the magnificent citizens of this vast frozen region that I have no hesitation in acting in their defence, whatever the consequences might be.

Ahead of us at this moment is a fleet of killers. Led by the ship I call the Cetacean Death Star, (formally known as the Nisshin Maru), and accompanied by three vicious harpoon vessels, they have only one purpose in these waters and that is to deliver an agonizingly cruel death to the intelligent and gentle giants that grace these waters.

We are here to save life and they are here to kill. Our purposes are clearly defined.

I do not hate these whalers. I do pity them that they can take life away so thoughtlessly and so casually without pause for remorse or reflection.

As Marc Anthony said in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, “Pardon me, thou bleeding piece of Earth that I am so gentle and mild with these butchers.”

For gentle and mild we are indeed. Every fibre of my being wants to sink that obscene floating death factory, yet I must by necessity employ gentler tactics and a more complex strategy.

But every whale that dies pains me to the core of my being. I feel every harpoon and hear every scream. I smell the blood and the fear joand I see the smirks of chauvinistic humanity as they pull the triggers of their harpoon cannons and mutilate the corpses with their lances.

Restrained by our own compassion and ideals of the sacredness of life, we intercept, harass, block and pursue, driven by the guilt we must endure as whales suffer and die because of our decision of practical restraint. We seek year after year to silence the harpoons and to silence the haunting screams of the whales through tactics that although somewhat effective require time to be truly effective and time is a commodity that the whales are running short of.

And as we willingly choose to abhor a violent solution we must suffer accusations that we are violent by these same mad killers who answer our non-harmful tactics with bullets and grenades. They accuse us of being violent as they spill thousands of steaming gallons of the hottest blood on Earth into the frigid waters of Antarctica and fill the polar air with the pitiful screams of whales dying in horrific agony.

Nothing is simple in this world where commerce is absolved for passing death sentences on intelligent socially complex gentle sentient beings and where diplomacy is used as an excuse to ignore the consequences of the slaughter of the gentle and the innocent.

On this day, the eve of Christmas, the day of love and respect, we find ourselves in the most welcome position of pursuing killers with the purpose of defending their intended victims. We have them on the run and once they stop and attempt to whale we will be on them and we will stop them, as we have stopped them before and we will continue to stop them, halving their quota and costing them their bloody profits.

What better way to spend Christmas Day than saving the lives of such beautiful and uniquely marvellous beings as the whales.

And to add joy to this Christmas for all forty of us on this ship is in knowing that we have the support of so many people around the world who have made it possible for us to be here to be doing what we are doing.

Every whale we save is a whale that you save. Every blow we strike against the illegal profits of the whalers is a strike that you also have struck. In this great venture we are a team and it is a partnership that can change the way things are done on this planet – where we can challenge the arrogance and the ignorance of those who reap life and sow death for profit and culture.

If we can save just one whale from the harpoons it would be victory. However, like we did for the last two years, we intend to defend, protect, and save hundreds of these endangered and threatened giants.

As we enter a new year, we do so knowing that we are not down here alone. You are with us and for that we are deeply grateful. You give us the strength to be strong and the passion to be compassionate and the encouragement to be courageous.

Thank-you sincerely from my crew and I.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the forty of us at the bottom of the world to all of you around this most beautiful blue and white sphere of life and diversity.

Sincerely,


Captain Paul Watson

Operation Musashi:
Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign
2008-09

The whales count on us to protect them.

Captain Watson Responds to the Australian Newspaper Editorial

Captain Watson Responds to the Australian Newspaper Editorial

The Editor,

It seems that the Australian needs a lesson on the history of piracy, judging by the conniption fit of an editorial in the Australian today.

There is a reason that we adopted the Jolly Roger in response to our critics calling us pirates. We did it to embrace the accusation in a positive manner, and well, kids love the pirate image.

If we turn back the pages of history to the 17th Century we find that when piracy was running rampant in the Caribbean, it was not the British Navy that put an end to it. There was no shortage of British politicians, merchants and military officers taking bribes to look the other way.

Piracy in the Caribbean was ended by Henry Morgan, a pirate who was knighted for his efforts. His authority to intervene came after the act and not before it.

And like Morgan we are pirates motivated by justice in pursuit of pirates motivated by greed.

Other notable pirates in history who served the public well were Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Paul Jones, and Jean LaFitte.

As to where we get our authority to intervene, that is a question easily answered. The United Nations World Charter for Nature allows for individuals and non-governmental organizations to uphold international conservation law. It is written in the Charter as plain as day.

We have been harassing the Japanese pirate whalers since 2002 without causing a single injury, without being charged with a single crime and without being sued. Pretty tame stuff for a bunch of bad pirates I would think. To compare us to a terrorist bombing a restaurant is absurd. Such a person would be charged with a crime for that action.

All I can say to our critics is either arrest us, sue us or shut up. Spewing opinionated drivel is hardly an indictment.

As for hunting whalers in foggy conditions all I can say is what better conditions could we have for approaching a poacher and catching them in an illegal activity.

The facts are that the Japanese whalers are targeting endangered whales in an established international whale sanctuary in violation of a global moratorium on whaling and they are doing so in contempt of an Australian Federal Court ruling specifically prohibiting whaling in the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone.

P.S. The proper spelling is whales not wales. This is not some patriotic separatist squabble this is about saving an endangered species.

Captain Paul Watson (On board the Steve Irwin off the coast of Antarctic)

The above is a response to this editorial

EDITORIAL FROM THE AUSTRALIAN (30/12/2008) There is a photo on the ABC website of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson standing resolute beneath a skull-and-crossbones flag. The piratical point is of his making, not ours, but it says a great deal about the arrogance of a man who assumes his beliefs empower him to do what he likes on the high seas. And what Mr Watson likes to do is roister around the great Southern Ocean doing everything he can, short of deadly force, to stop Japanese whalers. He likes to confront his enemies, lobbing noxious cocktails at them. He likes to send boarding parties over their sides when he can. He claims to have sunk nine unmanned whalers over the years. Last week, he hunted a whaler in foggy conditions, something a skipper not looking for trouble would do.

Mr Watson argues he is only enforcing the law, taking it on himself to try and force Japanese whalers out of waters claimed by countries, such as Australia, that have banned whale hunting. But for all his self-righteous swashbuckling he needs to answer a question pirates never like: which state has commissioned him to enforce his own interpretation of the law? The answer is Australia hasn't. Mr Watson does what he likes and points to the carcasses of unnecessarily slaughter wales (yes that was how it was spelled in the editorial) to justify his actions. They don't.

Japan's annual whaling expedition has less to do with either pursuing scientific research or a food source than it does with the economic interest of a small number fishermen and the arrogance of a handful of bureaucrats who do not want the world telling them what to do. And Australia has been singularly unsuccessful in stopping the Japanese through the international forum that exists to regulate whaling. But none of this justifies individuals deciding their own conscience has the force of law. A terrorist who bombed a restaurant serving whale meat in Tokyo could claim the same desire as Mr Watson to save cetaceans from acts that are illegal in many countries.

But instead of being abhorred as an extremist, Mr Watson is a hero in parts of the press. Perhaps it is because he understands how too much of the media works and obliges lazy journalists who like to be handed dramatic photos and strong quotes without working for the story.

Perhaps many reporters sympathise with his cause. But in promoting him they do the anti-whaling cause no good. The Japanese will never surrender in the face of his thuggery, they will reduce, and ultimately en, whaling only by the force of arguments representing world opinion. And pirates speak for nobody.



Note: Captain Paul Watson is requesting that supporters send a note to the Australian voicing their opinion about this editorial. We need to let the newspaper know that we are tired of posturing and posing and supportive of real actions with real results.

S. S.C. S.

Sea Shepherd Drives Japanese Whalers Out of Australia's Waters The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship Steve Irwin has driven the Japanese whaling fleet out of the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone. "We have chased the whalers for over 800 miles since last Saturday through bad weather and heavy ice conditions," said Captain Paul Watson. "They have fled eastward and they are continuing eastward and we are on their tail and we will keep on their tail." Since finding the Japanese whaling fleet on December 20th, the Steve Irwin has had close encounters with the harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2 and the spotting vessel Kaiko Maru and has observed and tracked the Nisshin Maru from the air. The Steve Irwin has not been able to close with the main body of the fleet because they keep moving eastward. They have not been whaling since Sea Shepherd located them and they are not whaling now. They continue to flee. The good news is that they are no longer whaling in Australian waters and they only managed to hunt in the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory for about a week before being forced to flee the Australian EEZ. They are now in the waters of the Ross Dependency and the Steve Irwin is in pursuit. "What is now good news for the whales in Australian waters is now bad news for the whales in the waters south of New Zealand," said Captain Watson. "They are still targeting endangered and protected whales in the waters of an established international whale sanctuary and thus they are still in violation of international conservation law and acting under the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature, we will continue to pursue, harass and intervene against their blatantly illegal lethal assaults on the whales." The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship Steve Irwin has fuel and provisions to chase the whalers well into the middle of January before having to return to New Zealand to refuel. If forced to return to refuel, the Steve Irwin will do so and then will immediately return to the whaling area to continue to pursue, harass and intervene against illegal Japanese whaling activities." The Steve Irwin has a crew of 40 international volunteers plus an Animal Planet film crew onboard producing the 2nd year of the series Whale Wars. Last year the Sea Shepherd crew pursued the Japanese whaling fleet from early December until mid-March. That intervention cost the whalers over $70 million in lost profits and saved almost 500 whales.

HELP SAVE THE GALAPAGOS - JOIN S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S.

In addition to working with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to uphold international conservation laws I have recently joined the Board of Directors of a new organization called S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S.

It stands for the Society to Prevent Exotic Contamination of Island Ecosystems and Endangered Species.

This group is headed up by Allison Lance who has had years of experience in rescuing animals.

And the first task that S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S. is taking on is the awesomely difficult job of addressing exotic species in the Galapagos Islands.

The Galapagos are a world Heritage site and the rising number of dogs, cats, and goats is having a devastating impact on indigenous species like the giant tortoise, the marine iguana, lava lizards and the many beautiful species of birds found on the islands.

Allison has worked since 2001 with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and with Animal Balance to help spay and neuter dogs and cats on the islands. She has the experience and the skills needed to address this problem. More importantly she has the passion to accept this formidable challenge.

Despite the fact that the Special Law for the Galapagos prohibits the importation of dogs and cats, more than 4,000 of them have been fixed. Unfortunately the numbers keep growing as people bring in more animals from the mainland and breed more.

Of course the most destructive exotic species is the human species and many of the people working in the Galapagos are not legal residents.

S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S. is not proposing a lethal solution for exotic animals. Instead, Allison has a program to continue to sterilize animals and to capture and relocate stray animals to the mainland. She is also working with the Ecuadorian authorities to increase the costs of pet owning permits and to raise fines for animals that run loose and threaten wildlife.

S.P.E.C.E.I.E.E.S. is also working to promote alternatives to cars to lower the impact of the human species.

Partnered with Sea Shepherd, Animal Balance and the Galapagos National Park, Allison's new organization of which I am proud to be a director fulfills a very real need in the effort to protect native species and habitats from the damage caused by introduced exotics.

When I first landed in the Galapagos in 2000, there were marine iguanas sunning themselves on the sidewalk in the town and herons boldly walking down the main street. Lava lizards were constantly darting across my path and the large ancient giant tortoises lumbered along without a worry. All has changed due to more people, more tourists, more dogs, more cats and invading insects and domestic farm animals.

We can lose the Galapagos unless we take action. If we cannot protect a place like this, a world heritage site, and a national park than what hope is there for any other eco-system on the planet.

Help me to make S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S a success and sign up as a monthly or yearly supporting member of this much needed organization.

With your help we can save these enchanted isles.

Donations can be made to:

S.P.E.C.I.E.E.S.
P.O. Box 3241
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
USA

$25 - Annual Membership feeor become a supporting monthly donor at ______ per monthor send a donation of any amount.

And you can adopt a dog or cat from the Galapagos.

T - (360) 370-5772
C- (360) 298-0368

Website:
www.speciees.org

Contact Allison Lance at:
allisonlance@speciees.org

Founder & President:
Allison Lance

Board of Directors: Captain Paul Watson Larry Richman DVM James Moss JD Board of Advisors: Dr. Diego Barrera DVM Emma Clifford (Animal Balance) Alex Cornelissen Dr. Chinney Krishna

Byron Maas DVM
Jami Pannell J.D., B.L.A.
Grant Pereira
Phil Wollen
Dr. Lew Seidenberg DVM

Please pass this on to other friends. The Protection of the Galapagos National Park is a priority international conservation issue.

Global Anti-Shark-Finning Campaign

Shoppers on Regents Streets in central London Likely got more than they bargained for this afternoon. In a dramatic illustration of how sharks are caught and killed for their fins, Alice Newstead, perfomance artist and former employee of LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, voluntarily had her skin pierced with actual de-barbed shark hooks and hung suspended from the ceiling in the window of one of LUSH’s busiest shops for all to see.

As a crowd gathered to watch in horror, Newstead said, “I am doing this because the demand for shark fin soup and other shark products is wiping out the shark population.” Unlike the 100 million sharks who are brutally slaughtered each year for their fins, Newstead commented, “I will be left with scars, but the wounds will heal.”

“Sea Shepherd is deeply impressed by LUSH’s commitment to shark conservation and its willingness to use its 500+ storefronts as a global platform for educating the public on such a critically important issue,” said Kim McCoy, International Executive Director of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “We applaud Alice for her courageousness in using her body as a tool to help educate consumers about the urgent need to protect sharks. She is an inspiration to us all.”

“Sea Shepherd will be presenting Alice Newstead with an award for courage for her incredible achievement in focusing public attention on the worldwide slaughter of sharks,” said Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd. “What she and LUSH have contributed to this conservation effort is enormous. The cruelty of the shark finning industry was brought intimately into focus with the piercing of Alice’s flesh and the dripping of her blood down her back. LUSH, Sea Shepherd, and Alice are very much aware that if we drive sharks to extinction, we will destroy our oceans, and if we do that, civilization will collapse and humanity will disappear.

What Alice did was not just for the saving of sharks, but for the salvation of humankind. Our admiration for her sacrifice is profound, and the scars that she will bear represent a rare courage demonstrating that we all must do what we can with the talents we possess to save our oceans.”

Today’s dramatic enactment of the gruesome manner in which sharks are caught kicks off the beginning of a global campaign between LUSH and Sea Shepherd. Each of LUSH’s storefronts across the UK now hosts window displays featuring Sea Shepherd’s jolly roger flag, LCD screens playing a continuous loop of Shark Angels footage, and other educational materials.

LUSH’s staff are dressing as pirates and handing out Sea Shepherd shark brochures (PDF) in an attempt to educate consumers about the desperate plight of sharks. Among other things, LUSH is urging consumers to boycott restaurants that serve shark fin soup and health food stores that sell shark cartilage supplements. LUSH has also delivered letters to local restaurants and health food stores asking them to “wash their hands” of this barbaric industry and stop selling shark products.

To assist these businesses in “cleaning up their act,” LUSH has created a new and cruelty-free product especially for this campaign, called Shark Fin Soap. The UK stores plan to sell a limited batch of 11,416 bars, with 100% of the proceeds going to Sea Shepherd. Why 11,416 bars? In recognition of the fact that a staggering 11,416 sharks are killed every hour, and that populations are being wiped out faster than they can reproduce.

A Sad Good-bye to Collette

Commentary by Captain Paul Watson
Founder and President of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Collette has been deliberately killed by Australian government bureaucrats.
The whale known as Colin was found to be female after her death and has been renamed Collette.

Upon hearing about the whale known as Colin, the orphaned baby humpback whale lost in Sydney Harbour, I issued the following statement:

Statement from Captain Paul Watson

We view the life of every Humpback whale as valuable and if anything can be done to save the life of this young baby Humpback than we encourage and support every effort to ensure that he survives.
I would propose finding a small cove, inlet or bay to keep Colin safe and then attempting to feed Colin with a mixture of krill and small fish. Finding whale milk is difficult if not impossible. If Colin is old enough to be weaned then this could work.
It is of course an awesome task to care for and provide life saving care to a whale. It truly is a whale of a task but we can’t be faulted for trying, just for refusing to try.
Australians have an opportunity to demonstrate that they do not just talk about saving whales but that they are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect them, including this little orphan.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society wishes to work with the governments both Federal and State, the media, other groups and concerned Australian citizens to mobilize an effort to save Colin.
We can do this!

Captain Paul Watson



Sea Shepherd Australia Director Jeff Hansen began to mobilize a coordinated rescue effort with the Australia Zoo and the government of New South Wales as soon as he heard about the unfortunate whale.

Unfortunately the bureaucrats could not be bothered. They refused to allow us to help Collette and they refused to attempt to feed her or to let anyone else try. They took the easy way out and simply killed her.
Killing is usually the first response of government bureaucrats when a wild species is in trouble. They dismissed our help, they dismissed our suggestions and they dismissed our pleas to spare the life of this baby Humpback.
As I said before Collette was killed, we could not be faulted for trying to save her life but the bureaucrats can be faulted for not even trying.
The “mercy” killing did not go very well. Whales cannot be killed easily as the Japanese whalers have demonstrated for decades. With Collette, first they put a noose and straps around her and then a veterinarian jumped in the water and stuck a syringe near the dorsal fin to sedate her. This was done twice. They then tied her to an inflatable boat and began moving Collette towards the beach.
As they approached the beach, Collette thrashed about with her head and tail coming right out of the water, completely arching her back. She was panicking and in extreme stress. She struggled all the way to the beach, a condemned prisoner on the way to execution by lethal injection.
The energy she expended in her struggles illustrated that she was not as weak as the “experts” had determined. This young whale wanted to live.
On the beach, a tent was erected around her to keep the public from witnessing the execution. They then injected the poison and killed her.
Witness Cherie Curchod said she saw the whale thrashing around near a jetty below her home after she was given more than six injections.
Ms. Curchod said the whale was then tied up and dragged across the bay at Bonnie Doon, to The Basin at Pittwater before she “actively started trying to get away''.

"Then they dragged it to a closed tent and all the while they dragged it, it was flapping it's tail, blowing out of it's head and moving and trying to get away,'' she said.

"It was so upsetting because euthanasia is meant to be an easy death and that whale did not have an easy death at all.''

But National Parks and Wildlife Services spokesman John Dengate said the whale's death was the "best possible result'' in the circumstances.

"That was the best way it could have been done,'' he told reporters. "You put the animal out of its misery.''

He said the calf had been treated with dignity and respect by leading veterinarians but the process of putting down a large mammal was ....distressing and harrowing''.

"To an untrained person, it might not look like the most fantastic thing, but you can't get a better result than that,'' he said.

It is amazing that Dengate would make a statement like “you can’t get a better result than that (death).

There was a better result possible and that was life. We were simply not allowed to provide that chance. An injunction against the execution was secured but the whale was killed before it was served. It was like a sad scene from a movie where the stay of execution for an innocent man is delivered five minutes after his death. And then they loaded her still warm body onto a truck to be taken to the Taronga Zoo for an autopsy and no doubt for research purposes, a chance to dissect a whale.

Sea Shepherd’s offer to help was rejected out of hand. Sea Shepherd Australia director Jeff Hansen pleaded with them to allow the time to attempt to feed her. Sea World in San Diego had fed a young Grey whale years ago named J.J. and had developed a formula. Jeff told them that a formula could be made available within a day. He told them that there was already a milk formula developed by Wombaroo and already tested on baby humpbacks and it was described on their website at http://www.wombaroo.com.au/about_us.htm
Through Tom Baldwin in the Sea Shepherd Melbourne office we contacted Vanessa Pierce in Sydney who was working with Wambaroo. Through Aaron Barnes of Sea Shepherd in Sydney we had a reputable celebrity vet from Bourkes backyard (a big TV show) who had reared and worked with dolphins, his name is Dr Robert Zammit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zammit). Dr. Zammit was willing and able to help feed the calf. Jeff Hansen also spoke with Allan Short on Steve Irwin’s Whale One and Murray Munro from Wildlife Warriors. Allan had also spoken with Jim Antrim from Sea World California and had the exact formula that was used for JJ, the grey whale.

We had the people lined up. We had the formula to feed Collette. We were mobilized and ready to go but the bureaucrats would not stay the execution. They would not give Collette a chance. They just wanted the “problem” to go away.

A carcass of a large female Humpback was found the same day not far away, and DNA testing will be done to determine if this was the mother and if so it would explain how Collette came to be a lost orphan in Sydney harbour.

The death of this whale underscores the tragedy that happens every year when the Japanese drive exploding harpoons into the backs of defenseless whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary where many mother whales are killed and their calves abandoned to die a lonely death far from human eyes under the shadow of the slowly drifting icebergs.

This tragedy also underlies the political reality that the Rudd government has abandoned their efforts to defend the whales from the lethal harpoons of the illegal Japanese whaling fleet. The appeasement of the Japanese government in the name of not upsetting trade will condemn hundreds of whales to an agonizing death once again at the end of the year.

We wish that we still had Senator Ian Campbell championing the whales as the Minister of Environment instead of a man who did more as a rock star than he has done as a politician.

Memo to Peter Garrett

Peter, did you check your balls at the door when you were elected? Why not do one or two of the things you promised to? Now you’re murdering kangaroos, kissing the ass of the Japanese whalers, backing pulp mills, logging and dredging operations. What the hell happened man? Spitting on the burning bed ain’t gonna put out the fire! When you played on the logging road at Clayoquot I loved you man. When you spoke out in song and music for the Earth, we adored you. But now, well now, you’re just another lying craven politician with a self serving agenda. Redeem yourself while you still can – speak out like you used to – hell all they can do is fire you but better to be a hero to the people than a pawn to special interests.

Let’s save the whales!

We could not save Collette, but down off the coast of Antarctica in the Ross Sea, the Japanese intend to slaughter over a thousand whales beginning in January. It is there where we can make a difference without bureaucrats to hinder our efforts.

Last year we saved over 500 whales. We intend to save even more this year.

SEA SHEPHERD

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was formally incorporated in the United States in 1981 in the state of Oregon. Previous to this, the idea of Sea Shepherd was formed when Captain Paul Watson founded the Earth Force Society in 1977 in Vancouver BC, Canada. The original mandate of both organizations was marine mammal protection and conservation with an immediate goal of shutting down illegal whaling and sealing operations, but Sea Shepherd later expanded its mission to include all marine wildlife.

With financial support from Cleveland Amory of the Fund for Animals, the society's first ship a North Atlantic sea trawler "the Westella" was purchased in Hull, England (UK) and renamed the Sea Shepherd. It's first mission was to the ice floes of eastern Canada to interfere with the annual killing of baby harp seals known as whitecoats.

In the same year, 1979, the Sea Shepherd hunted down and rammed the notorious pirate whaler the Sierra in a Portugal harbor ending its infamous career as the scourge of the seas.

The success of the seal campaign and the ramming of the Sierra was the start of Sea Shepherd's historical 160 voyages over the next 2 decades, enforcing international laws where no law enforcement existed - on the high seas.

Sea Shepherd continues to accomplish its mission by upholding and enforcing international treaties, laws and conventions of world governments.

Sea Shepherd is committed to the eradication of pirate whaling, poaching, shark finning, unlawful habitat destruction, and violations of established laws in the World's oceans.

To that end, Sea Shepherd assists national and international bodies in the enforcement of international law under authority of the United Nations World Charter for Nature.

Mission Statement

Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization whose mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.
Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.

International Laws and Charters

Sea Shepherd campaigns are guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature. Sections 21-24 of the Charter provides authority to individuals to act on behalf of and enforce international conservation laws.
Sea Shepherd cooperates fully with all international law enforcement agencies and its enforcement activities complying with standard practices of law and policing enforcement.
Sea Shepherd adheres to the utilization of non-violent principles in the course of all actions and has taken a standard against violence in the protection of the oceans.

The World Charter for Nature
U.N. Doc. A/37/51 (1982)

The International Whaling Commission (IWC)

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
March 3rd, 1973, Washington, D.C.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
December 10th, 1982, Montego Bay

The Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
November 23rd, 1972, Paris, France

The Convention of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)

The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention (NAFO)

International Convention for Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT)

The Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
June 5th -16th, 1972, Stockholm, Sweden

ASEAN Agreement on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
July 9th, 1985, Kuala Lumpur

The Berne Convention

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is dedicated to working towards cooperative agreements between nations to protect species and habitats according to SSCS Mandate.

OPERATION MUSASHI

Captain Watson´s commentary

Can a small handful of volunteers bring down the largest whaling fleet in the world?

The answer is yes!

We have the powerful Japanese whaling fleet on the ropes and all we need to do is deliver the knock-out punch.

The Japanese pirate whalers are hurting bad. They are over fifty million dollars in debt and we have stopped them from getting their full kill quota for three years in a row.

Our first campaign in 2005/2006 saw us chase the fleet for 3,500 miles westward along the Antarctic coast. Although handicapped by a slower vessel we confronted them three times and we kept them on the run. We sideswiped their supply ship and forced them to return to Japan and by the end of the season, the whalers were 83 whales short of their quota. We had cut their kill numbers by 10%.

We knew that we would need a faster ship if we were to return in 2006/2007. We also had the problem that our ship the Farley Mowat was placed under arrest in South Africa because of pressure from the Japanese and Canadian governments.

Thus began the impossible mission of Operation Leviathan. As I searched the globe for a faster ship, Captain Alex Cornelissen deftly managed to cut the Farley Mowat out of Cape Town harbour by departing covertly at 0300 Hours in the morning, following a freighter out in the dark with all lights shut off. They then successfully eluded the South African navy escaping into the Indian Ocean.

Following that daring escape the Farley Mowat weathered extremely severe weather until reaching the friendly port of Freemantle in Western Australia where the ship and crew were welcomed as heroes and Mayor Peter Tagliaferri presented us with the honour of having Fremantle declared our honourary home port.

Meanwhile I had inspected a ship in Malta but it was to expensive to purchase. By June I had located a 2^nd ship in Trinidad and after spending two months working to purchase the vessel we were forced to drop the acquisition due to illegalities with the ship's owner.

With the next whaling season rapidly approaching, we finally found the perfect ship in Edinburgh, Scotland in October. It was the Westra, the retired Scottish fisheries patrol vessel. We bought it during the first week of November thanks to a bank loan from a very loyal and generous supporter. By mid-November the ship was in drydock and by December 5^th, the Westra now renamed the Robert Hunter was heading south down the length of the entire Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Magellan reaching the Ross Sea by January 19^th, 2007.

I took the Farley Mowat out of Melbourne and met the Robert Hunter in the Ross Sea where our crew constructed a helicopter deck on the Robert Hunter in only two days.

It was not easy. The Japanese government has pressured the Canadian government to pull our flag. We re-registered with Belize but within 9 days, the Belizean flag was pulled but not before we were able to depart from TasmaniaAntarctica. We entered the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary as an unregistered pirate ship. southward towards the coast of

Together the two ships hunted down and engaged the Japanese fleet twice. Then an accident occurred on the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru - a fire that killed one of their crew and crippled the ship.

The Japanese whaling fleet was forced to retreat back to Japan with less than half their kill quota. More than 500 whales were spared.

The Japanese government was furious and forced the British registrar to pull the Red Duster from the Robert Hunter leaving us flagless.

We quickly re-registered our two ships under the Dutch flag, a nation not vulnerable to being dictated to by Japan or any other pirate whaling nation.

In June 2007, I entrusted Captain Cornelissen to take the Farley Mowat to the Galapagos and then onto Iceland for Operation Ragnarok, the campaign to intervene against illegal Icelandic whaling operations.

The Robert Hunter remained in Melbourne to prepare for a return to the Whale Sanctuary in December.

Once again we had the Herculean task of raising the funds for the next campaign.

By the time the Farley Mowat reached the Galapagos, Iceland decided to cancel it's whaling operations and the Farley Mowat turned it's attention to confiscating illegal long lines, intervening against shark poachers and stopping plans by a company called Planktos to dump iron dust into the ocean off the Galapagos.

That summer we investigated and seized 45,000 shark fins and over 100,000 sea cucumbers from poachers and smugglers in Ecuador.

I was awarded the Amazon Peace Prize by the President of Ecuador and a contract was placed on the heads of Sea Shepherd Galapagos Director Sean O'Hearn and myself by the sharkfin mafia of Manta, Ecuador.

Sean was forced to resign at the assistance of his wife and one of our police officer supporters sent me a bullet proof vest.

By the end of the year, Planktos had been stopped. Captain Alex Cornelissen took up the position of Sea Shepherd director for the Galapagos and I was ready to take the helm of the Robert Hunter for the return voyage to Antarctica in a campaign we named Operation Migaloo.

In a move that the late Robert Hunter would have approved of, I renamed the ship the Steve Irwin to reflect the passion of Australians in opposing illegal whaling and to focus on the symbol of the whales of Australia – Migaloo, the beloved white Humpback whale who the Japanese said they would harpoon if they got the chance.

We headed southward on December 5^th after Teri Irwin officially launched the ship under Steve's name. Onboard was a film crew from Animal Planet to begin work on a series to be called Whale Wars.

It was a long, dangerous, and successful pursuit as the Steve Irwin covered over 22,000 miles in three legs chasing the Japanese whaling fleet across the vast expanse of the remote and unpredictable Southern Ocean. We boarded a harpoon vessel creating an international incident that captured headlines around the world. Most importantly we shut down whaling operations to the point that once again the whalers failed to take their kill quota.

Of their quota of 50 Humpbacks they did not take one. Of their quota of Fin whales they did not take a single one. Of their quota of Piked whales they took 582. We saved the lives of 522 Piked whales and a total of 622 whales of all three species.

It was an economic and public relations disaster for the Japanese whaling fleet and their frustration was demonstrated when they threw concussion grenades and shot at our crew, one of the bullets striking me in the chest and a concussion grenade throwing cameraman Ashley Dunn to the deck injuring his thigh.

Fortunately my bullet proof vest stopped the bullet and there were no serious injuries from the confrontation.

We discovered that we could find them and shut down their operations. Our only handicap was the need to refuel. It takes about 10 days to return to port, a few days to refuel and re-provision and another 10 days to return to the fleet. That was when the whales 583 whales died.

If we could secure another ship we could shut them down 100%.

And that is our impossible mission for the present. We can and we will return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in December with the Steve Irwin. The task now is to find and secure a 2^nd fast ship to relieve the Steve Irwin when it is forced to return to port to refuel.

Towards that end we are working to raise more funds to purchase a 2^nd ship. We also need to raise funds to fuel, outfit and provision two ships.

We won't have any problem crewing the ships. We are being overwhelmed by applications. This is a relief because now we will be able to crew the ship from a pool of many individuals of many skills and abilities. Our last campaign was slightly handicapped by a few quitters and a few faint hearted types who did not seem to understand that to be a Sea Shepherd crewmember requires a rare type of passion and courage. If someone is not willing to risk their life for the defense of a whale they don't belong on our crew. And if they don't understand why we would ask that question they don't belong on our crew.

I personally believe that taking risks to protect endangered species is far more noble and worthwhile than risking one's life to protect real estate, money and oil wells and they pin medals on people who do that.

We fight for life, for diversity and for the future of humanity and all living things and in my opinion that is the ultimate justification for sailing into harm's way.

Which brings us to Operation Musashi.

Miyamoto Musashi is a legend in Japan and I chose the name because Musashi wrote of the strategy of the twofold way of pen and sword. In other words Musashi knew that in addition to aggressive intervention, it was necessary to communicate and educate.

Last year for the first time ever in Japan, the issue of illegal Japanese whaling made the headlines. The reason is that our dramatic and aggressive tactics were news and this enabled us to tag messages to the news stories about the slaughter of the whales.

This has brought us support in Japan from Japanese people who oppose the whale killing policies of their government.

Our interventions are the sword of direct action and the media is the pen and thus our approach is exactly what Musashi had in mind.

A few years ago, everyone told us that fighting the Japanese whaling fleet was a losing cause – the ruthless crimes in the Southern Ocean were being committed by a Yakusa controlled union crewing large ruthless killing machines. The Nisshin Maru was the formidable Cetacean Death Star. The murdering crimes of the whalers were taking place over vast stretches of iceberg studded, frigid, storm tossed hostile seas. We didn't have the money. We didn't have the ships. In other words only a fool would think of venturing into those hostile waters without adequate resources on a Quixotean exercise in futility.

But I remember what my friend Martin Sheen once said to me. "Losing causes are the only causes worth fighting for."

And enough people have called me a fool to the point that I have no problem believing them and thus striking out on the path of the fool like Don Quixote on a hopeless mission to protect innocence and life was, well to be frank, it was very appealing.

And now our hopeless, impossible mission has made such an impact that I now believe we can win this war to drive the criminal whalers out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

There is no question that we have the moral high ground. The Japanese whalers are targeting endangered and defenseless whale in a whale sanctuary in violation of international law and the moratorium in commercial whaling. They are sadistic killers involved with the Japanese Yakusa in an industry that has no honour and of no necessity to the welfare of the Japanese people.

We are going forth to defend and protect life. We have never injured anyone. We are so non-violent that our ships are vegan vessel. We have never been convicted of a felony crime anywhere in the world. We are volunteers risking our lives to protect life.

The Japanese government can call us eco-terrorists and pirates until Mount Fuji erodes away but the fact remains that we fight for life and they kill for profit.

In this case the good pirates wear black and our Jolly Roger is a symbol of hope for the whales and for the protection of our oceans. We are pirates of compassion and life in a battle to subdue and defeat the pirates of greed and death.

Woody Allen once said that 90% of success was just showing up. In this case he is absolutely right. We just need to continue showing up on the tail of the Japanese fleet, harassing them and intervening against their killing. We need to wear them down by forcing them to endure financial losses every year until they are so far in debt they will have to submit.

We can and we will destroy the Cetacean Death Star. We intend to sink the Japanese whaling fleet – economically. Without hurting a single person we can drive their operation into bankruptcy and we can end the killing.

Your investment in our operations have and will continue to show results.

What is the life of a whale worth to you?

Your trust and support for my crew and I will be repaid with the gift of life for the whales and a gift of promise to the future survival of our oceans.

More information at www.seashepherd.org