You are asking the wrong question: why is it that diplomacy, entreaties, requests, etc ad infinitim, are not working? Perhaps if there could be some faith placed in these, what the Sea Shepherd is doing may not be necessary. Of couse faith can only be placed in them when they demonstrate they are useful tools. Should you perhaps, more rightfully, turn your attention to this? It would be too hypocritical for words to take action against the Sea Shepherd when action won't be taken against the larger problem, don't you think?
I personally don't see what other action can be taken to shake out the complacency - exactly what you are showing. Go the Sea Shepherd!

Horus:

Sea Shepherd is sometimes a bit much for my tastes, but in general I support their willingness to take action. As long as they don't cause grievous bodily harm to anyone in the course of their efforts, more power to 'em. The drama queens braying about them being "terrorists" can pound sand.

As for SSCS's criticism of indigenous whaling/dugonging, you won't be able to find any hypocrisy in their stance: they are unequivocally against it. Greenpeace is a bit more provisional in terms of indigenous marine mammal hunting -- they can "sort of" condone it on a limited basis, but not with modern industrial weaponry. If the hunters are genuinely trying to eek out a subsistence living, preserve tradition, and not try to make a major economic commodity out of the products, Greenpeace backs off a bit. Sea Shepherd doesn't mince -- they got between the Makah hunters and their .50 caliber rifles a few years back to prove their committment.

I agree with the author’s assessment of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. They are not too far away from the UK animal libbers who have murdered for their often illogical and emotionally driven cause. I think I might try a bit of whale when I next visit Japan.

Robg, when have UK animal libbers 'murdered'? You must be confusing them with Right To Life zealots who, tellingly, have killed more than once in both Aus & US.

(ps. i find animal libbers ridiculous, but thats no reason to lie about them).

Damian Wyld is right on the money here. From my understanding, Sea Shepherd is the new radical Greenpeace.

It shocks me to hear of these terror tactics (i.e. the throwing of acid onto deck etc). Sure, whaling for so-called scientific purposes lacks a lot of credibility, but God help us if we continue to allow unregistered pirate ships like Sea Shepherd to maraud in our waters. What would happen if Japanese whalers died at the hands of Sea Shepherd in our territorial waters? Australia would get the blame (and rightly so) for not taking action.

C'mon Federal Minister for the Environment, and Attorney General, get on with policing our territorial waters, lest we allow ecoterrorists and whalers to get away with murder! And to the rest of the world, wake up and recognise, like Canada and Belize, that Sea Shepherd is nothing more than a radical bunch of life-threatening thugs with no real regard for human or animal life. (I say animal life, because no doubt in the sinking of a ship (as Wyld suggests there have been some 10 sinkings as a result of SS activities), oil and other contaminants enter the water at some point thus polluting the area of wreck and killing/maiming wildlife)