According to a press release, Sea Shepherd, has located the Japanese whaling fleet before any whales have been killed, at 148 degrees west 63 degrees south in the Southern Ocean.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s fleet has found the illegal Japanese whaling vessels on the last day of the calendar year. In the vastness of the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd’s ships have now found the Japanese fleet before they even began killing whales. This is a momentous victory for the whales and precisely how Sea Shepherd’s President and Founder Captain Paul Watson had hoped to ring in the New Year…
At around 0900 hours (Australian Eastern Standard Time), Sea Shepherd’s ship the Bob Barker found a harpoon vessel on the edge of the ice at 148 degrees west. The unidentified Japanese vessel attempted to move south to draw the Bob Barker away from the Nisshin Maru.
At 1500 Hours AEST, some 60 miles to the North, Sea Shepherd’s flagship vessel the Steve Irwin found the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2 sitting in the ice.
The Gojira and Sea Shepherd’s helicopter the Nancy Burnet, continue to search for the Nisshin Maru, Japan’s floating abattoir.
The Gojira, captained by Lockhart “Locky” MacLean made headlines when it was registered in Fremantle allowing it to fly the Australian flag while in pursuit of whalers.
The significance here is for the first time in Sea Shepherd’s 33 years of operation, they will have an Australian-registered vessel, with Australian crewmembers, defending Australia’s territory, and upholding the Australian Federal Court ruling.
In 2008 Australian Federal Court upheld that Japanese whaling is illegal in the Southern Whale Sanctuary.
The Humane Society International today won a historic decision from the Australian Federal Court which the environmental group says could save hundreds of whales from Japanese harpoons. The court ruled that a Japanese whaling company is in breach of Australian law when it kills whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary and has ordered that the hunt be stopped.
This is the first time the Japanese whalers have been taken to court and the ruling confirms that the hunt is illegal. The Japanese government says it is conducting research whaling, which is allowed under an international whaling moratorium, but critics of Japan say no research is involved.
Twice as large as the Ady Gil destroyed last year by a collision with Yushin Maru 2, Sea Shepherd acquired the high-tech 35 m (115 ft) stabilized monohull twin diesel powered vessel for $4 million for its annual campaign against Japanese whaling in the Antarctic Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
