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The Forum > Article Comments > Resting Sea Shepherd: a pause in the whale war saga > Comments

Resting Sea Shepherd: a pause in the whale war saga : Comments

By Binoy Kampmark, published 30/8/2017

Against absurdly gargantuan odds, a small organisation's resources were mustered to save whale species from imminent extinction.

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I've been bombarded recently by Green Peace demanding America & Australia destroy it's nuclear stock piles.

Now that Green Peace are no longer chasing Whaling Ships anymore. I suggest they sail up to North Korean Waters. They should sail up & down their Coast with a big Banner calling for them to end Nuclear their Nuclear Arms race.

I'd like to see that. I might even be tempted to donate towards their campaign.
Posted by Jayb, Wednesday, 30 August 2017 10:08:06 AM
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As always green acolytes have tin ears, a predilection for selectively accepted science and an Nazt like certainty in the righteousness of their self selected cause!

And it matters not what the rest of the world thinks or what is legal or where they tresspass! With them it's invariably our way or the highway. And in the process seem to manage to put the offended Japanese public offside?

Why?

Because not only do they fail to understand that in most Asian communities/culture, losing face can be worse than death!

And consequently, the money they threw at their illegal piracy on the high seas campaign, would have been better spent, extolling the virtues of Wagyu beef to the Japanese consumer.

Accompanied by a background of systematically clubbed to death, helpless baby seals!

While the voice over narration/fireside chat, explains much more plentiful, less expensive, tastier, homegrown wagyu was. Than any endangered wild species, who just happen to also be part of the bovine family.

As were the very nearly extinguished American native buffalo! Very nearly hunted to extinction!

There is a time for in your face, immovable resolve/bellicose belligerent bombastic bullying and another for diplomacy and a traditional cup of tea!

While most green acolytes can and do take considerable comfort in the fact, they're always right!

Sometimes it's difficult to see the forest for the trees!
Alan B.
Posted by Alan B., Wednesday, 30 August 2017 10:52:30 AM
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Remember that there is the order of about 80 species of whales. In the past, apparently some of these were hunted close to extinction and should be fully protected. Note that the Japanese whalers in recent years have been taking mainly minke whales which are plentiful and a few of other species that are certainly not endangered. Almost certainly well within a sustainable harvesting level. What often happens is when some of a population is removed, it leaves more food and a better environment for the remainder, which then breed and grow faster. Reducing the number of minke whales probably improves the environment for some other species, including ones that have been endangered.

Seems to me that the anti whaling activists nowadays are becoming like anti kangaroo harvesting activists in Australia. Not much of it compared to in the past- eg 40 years ago. . Note that most commercial kangaroo shooting involves only three of the many species, which at times breed up to plague proportions. Commercial harvesting is well regulated. In some ways is self regulating. When the number in a area is reduced, often the time and vehicle mileage involved per roo collected becomes too high for the financial return from them so there is less or no shooting until the population recovers. I expect the same principle would apply to fishing and whaling operations. For cost recovery, minimum levels of catches would be necessary to cover many of the operational costs involved.

In the process of harvesting whales, the Japanese have obviously long been collecting and analysing data on their populations. Seems unlikely whales will ever be over harvested in a big way again. Meanwhile, the likes of Sea Shepherd, who have been in some ways acting like thugs and criminals including breaking laws of the sea to pursue a cause which is increasingly recognised as not justified are receiving less support.
Posted by mox, Wednesday, 30 August 2017 1:22:01 PM
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What utter garbage.

What you should be saying is how dreadful it is for a bunch of con men to exploit the fool bleeding hearts in the world with their stupid & dangerous antics in the southern ocean, to get the damn fools to denote millions to their organisation, to fund their playing with boats. All this so people like those in organisations like Sea Shepherd can avoid doing anything useful with their time or lives, like get a real job.

They should all have been locked up for their stupid behaviour endangering lives at sea.
Posted by Hasbeen, Wednesday, 30 August 2017 4:49:59 PM
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White rhino won't die out , there are 2 healthy (sort of) still kicking. Elephants , tigers, cheetahs are on your TV , no worries.
"The FAO State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2004 report estimates of the main fish stocks., "approximately one-quarter were overexploited,". According to Oceana, the global fishing fleet is currently up to 250 percent larger than it needs to be to catch what the oceans can sustainably produce."
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No Australian animals are in danger, but, kids can see them anytime.
Posted by nicknamenick, Wednesday, 30 August 2017 5:09:39 PM
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//who exactly is guilty of using poor strategy?//

The French.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Wednesday, 30 August 2017 5:51:37 PM
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Sorry about that last post. Managed to get my threads crossed. Please disregard.

When it comes to whaling, it's interesting that we're so exercised about the Japs doing but not the Norwegians.

I suspect it's mostly because the Norwegians didn't bomb Darwin etc.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Wednesday, 30 August 2017 5:57:51 PM
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Norway supplies harpoon guided missiles to Japan ( not Harpoon) for whaling but catches whales in Atlantic not Antarctic. It sells surplus meat to Japan.
Data: Japan kills about 300 , Norway about 500 / year. These are Minke , from 650,000 population.

Humpback population 30-40,000. 8% growth year, ridiculous population in 50 years.
Blue whale 12-25,000 , population 300,000 in 50 years.
Posted by nicknamenick, Wednesday, 30 August 2017 8:32:29 PM
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One of my favourite charities is sea shephard....it's time for them to move on with over fishing and shark population decimation, and the evil Chinese...
Posted by diver dan, Thursday, 31 August 2017 12:25:02 PM
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I really like the concept of private enterprise anti capitalist pro environmentalist navies, such as sea shephard is.
Maybe we could get a North Korea involved; this time on the correct side.
Posted by diver dan, Thursday, 31 August 2017 12:32:29 PM
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Russia beat USA in the whaling punch-up with North Korea's backing.
US whales threaten peaceful rock-fishing missile crews off the coast of Pyongyang who bravely face the sea shepherd fascist gangsters.

While it’s unclear how many whales were killed by the Soviets, it’s believed that at least 45,000 were slaughtered between 1946 and 1986.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2230387-the-soviet-union-killed-tens-of-thousands-of-whales-for-virtually-no-reason/Mar 17, 2017 - ... A Humpback whale swims at the surface of the Pacific Ocean
Posted by nicknamenick, Thursday, 31 August 2017 12:57:05 PM
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weird web site link , it's North Korean hacking fake whale blubber
Posted by nicknamenick, Thursday, 31 August 2017 1:00:17 PM
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Yes Nick, the sea is going to become quite dangerous in some areas.

Way back in October 82 I was sailing south down the Queensland coast from Island Head Creek to Keppel Island, in a very stiff northerly. Quite a steep sea had built up, with a lot of breaking waves. I was surfing about every 3Rd wave, & traveling quite fast.

I had been caught by a sudden unpredicted increase in wind strength, & would have liked to be sailing slower with less sail up, but it would have been difficult to get the sail off, single handed in that seaway. I had passed another yacht with at least 3 crew, who were having difficulty getting sail off her. Better for me to get into calmer water in the lea of the Keppel Islands to drop sails.

Then it became impossible as I sailed into a pod of Minke whales. I did not see many of them in the steep sea, but was surrounded by their spouts for an hour or more. My yacht was self steering on the windvane, but I could not leave the helm as at any moment I expected to find a Minke at the bottom of the wave I was surfing down. I needed to be ready to at least try to dodge on if one appeared.

There was not much chance of dodging a large whale, & not much chance of staying afloat or alive if I hit one. At 10 miles offshore, in rough conditions neither were likely outcomes.

This & once out in the middle of the coral sea, when some new rigging started failing are 2 of the 3 times in my life when I have been scared.

Was I lucky, or was there little danger? I don't know, but if I was still sailing, I would like to see a lot less whales swimming along the Oz east coast.
Posted by Hasbeen, Thursday, 31 August 2017 2:15:42 PM
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Did you have a bowsprit with guys ? You could harpoon a minke in a trough and use the next wave to push into a vital organ. Throw an anchor across and tow in for BBQ .

Russia kept the Antarctic whale-free for its subs until Greenpeace revolutionaries sabotaged the Red Navy . Now the traffic is like Thailand and a blue whale is no joke.
Posted by nicknamenick, Thursday, 31 August 2017 5:15:27 PM
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NNN ...

Holy cow...any of them up there? Some of them are red!
I had a red headed girlfriend once. She was in the Russian navy. She confirmed what you have said.
It's how Putin got elected. It isn't a red herring, but it sure was a blue!
Posted by diver dan, Thursday, 31 August 2017 8:49:33 PM
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"The Aral Sea is situated in Central Asia,. Up until the third quarter of the 20th century it was the world's fourth largest saline lake, . The Soviet government decided in the 1960s to divert those rivers so that they could irrigate the desert region surrounding the Sea in order to favor agriculture rather than supply the Aral Sea basin.. the majority of it was being soaked up by the desert and blatantly wasted (between 25% and 75% of it, depending on the time period). . the origin of the imbalance that caused the sea to slowly desiccate over the last 4 decades.., causing some or all fishes that either survived or had been reintroduced in the 1990s to die."

The Russian Aral naval fleet and whaling factories became white with salt, the cotton mills were in the red, holy cows were banned and Krushchev asked the Australian Communists about whaling on Lake Eyre. Greenpeace had a black ban.
Posted by nicknamenick, Thursday, 31 August 2017 9:06:52 PM
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Hey NNN,

Come to think of it, maybe she was a blue mink whale in disguise. She was fond of blubbering. I called her blue for short, (as you would of course).

Till I read your post, I wasn't aware a whale would fit on a BBQ plate. Holy cow!
Assuming all our governments don't sell off the entire coal reserves of Australia first, as they conspired to do with gas, we could save a few shovel fulls for a whale of a BBQ.

I got lost at sea once dodging a whale. Had to wait till night fall to find East. How's that you might ask, I can hear you say?

Luckily I had a spare copy of the Australian flag with the picture of the Southern Cross on it, (as you'd expect it would), but I couldn't remember if the St George's cross was in the bottom right or top left corner. Think I got it wrong cause I ended up in Auckland . Great holiday though. I met a bruinett from a visiting US nuclear sub. Quite a girl she was!

Yes, you think there is a hole in this story Nick, I know. True it is; no nukes in NZ. However, if you park the sub in Rico's cave at the Poor Knights island , it fine.
Here is a picture! That's me feeding the fish!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tje7-T5-O2A
Posted by diver dan, Thursday, 31 August 2017 9:51:27 PM
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I'm very sceptical of Watson's 'environmental' bona fide as he does have a history of liaising with well known nativists (especially now with Trump, Bannon, Sessions et al.):

SPLC (2004) 'Former Sierra Club (US version of ACF) Director Discusses Hostile Takeover Attempt by Anti-Immigration Activists'

'We read the original Tanton memos and became even more alarmed as we began to put some of the pieces together — the convergence of anti-immigration groups and Watson's particular wing of the animal rights movement.'

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2004/former-sierra-club-director-discusses-hostile-takeover-attempt-anti-immigrant-activists
Posted by Andras Smith, Sunday, 3 September 2017 2:37:05 AM
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