Sea Shepherd
[Edited to add paragraph breaks] :)
For those of you who have been following, the two crew members of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin that were taken hostage and held ransom aboard the Japanese whale-poaching vessel Yishun Maru 2 have been released. An Australian customs ship was sent to retrieve them, and apparently they were handed over by the poachers this afternoon. Australia declared that the Japanese hunt was illegal, but Japan denies this and refuses to recognize Australia's sovereignty in the Antarctic.
On a more progressive note Japan did order the poachers to release the hostages, which the poachers refused to do until Australia intervened with their customs vessel. I know there are a lot of mixed opinions about what happened, and how the protesters shouldn't have boarded the Yishun Maru 2 in the first place, but this whole ordeal is needless to say a great victory on behalf of the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary who were being poached by this vessel and its fleet. The ongoing drama and pursuit of the ship by Sea Shepherd has caused a week-long halt in whaling operations, and Sea Shepherd has vowed to continue their efforts to try and put a halt to the entire operation in the Southern Ocean.
I know this must be hard on the whaling ships crew members and families, as it could be quite detrimental to their income, but the preservation of several species of living beings needs to come before this. I wish the Japanese government would begin dismantling the industry, but I'm sure they have financial reasons not to. I think it will take financial loss for the whaling companies combined with international pressure for any change to occur that would end this mess.
*Note* I disagree with the viewpoint I'm hearing from members of Sea Shepherd and other similar anti-whaling advocates when they say that whaling and dolphin hunting are so terrible because of the innocence of the creatures being killed. This leads people to conclude that other sea creatures should not be given the same level of regard, and perhaps furthers the misconception that whales are worth saving primarily because, like cats and dogs, westerners don't eat them.
For those of you who have been following, the two crew members of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin that were taken hostage and held ransom aboard the Japanese whale-poaching vessel Yishun Maru 2 have been released. An Australian customs ship was sent to retrieve them, and apparently they were handed over by the poachers this afternoon. Australia declared that the Japanese hunt was illegal, but Japan denies this and refuses to recognize Australia's sovereignty in the Antarctic.
On a more progressive note Japan did order the poachers to release the hostages, which the poachers refused to do until Australia intervened with their customs vessel. I know there are a lot of mixed opinions about what happened, and how the protesters shouldn't have boarded the Yishun Maru 2 in the first place, but this whole ordeal is needless to say a great victory on behalf of the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary who were being poached by this vessel and its fleet. The ongoing drama and pursuit of the ship by Sea Shepherd has caused a week-long halt in whaling operations, and Sea Shepherd has vowed to continue their efforts to try and put a halt to the entire operation in the Southern Ocean.
I know this must be hard on the whaling ships crew members and families, as it could be quite detrimental to their income, but the preservation of several species of living beings needs to come before this. I wish the Japanese government would begin dismantling the industry, but I'm sure they have financial reasons not to. I think it will take financial loss for the whaling companies combined with international pressure for any change to occur that would end this mess.
*Note* I disagree with the viewpoint I'm hearing from members of Sea Shepherd and other similar anti-whaling advocates when they say that whaling and dolphin hunting are so terrible because of the innocence of the creatures being killed. This leads people to conclude that other sea creatures should not be given the same level of regard, and perhaps furthers the misconception that whales are worth saving primarily because, like cats and dogs, westerners don't eat them.