In early 2008 a Sea Shepherd crew of 33 volunteers travelled to the bottom of the world to confront the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctic waters. The campaign was a huge success with five hundred whales saved from cruel death by harpoon.
WHALES
Several times during the campaign curious and friendly whales swam up to the side of the ship. Such breathtaking moments were marred somewhat by the knowledge that this friendly behaviour makes whales easy targets for the whalers' harpoons. One of the high points of the campaign occurred when a pod of over one hundred dolphins, humpback, minke and pilot whales swam between the Sea Shepherd vessel and the Nisshin Maru. The whalers were unable to kill any of these animals due to the Sea Shepherd presence.
ACTION
(Feb 23) After chasing the illegal whale killing boat Yushin Maru through frozen seas the Sea Shepherd launched a boarding party to issue a warrant ordering the fleet to surrender to the nearest Australian port. The boarding was called off due to a sudden snowstorm. The Sea Shepherd crew then found themselves pursued by the Fukuyoshi, a vessel carrying armed members of the Japanese military. The Fukuyoshi fled to a safe distance after the Sea Shepherd launched a zodiac to encounter the pursuers.
(Feb 23) Later in the day the Sea Shepherd documented a longliner hauling in endangered Patagonian toothfish. The longliners unreel up to a hundred kilometres of fishing line, containing hundreds of thousands of baited hooks, into the depths of the ocean. When the lines are pulled back into the boat those fish that have not suffered an excruciatingly painful death by decompression are hacked to death. As well as killing their intended targets, longlines also commonly kill sharks, turtles, albatrosses and other sea animals.
(March 3) After a long chase the Sea Shepherd caught the factory ship Nisshin Maru (described by Captain Paul Watson as the 'Cetacean Death Star' because it is the mother ship to all the smaller killing boats in the fleet). During several passes of the ship Sea Shepherd Crew threw numerous containers of butyric acid (a foul smelling but safe, non toxic, organic substance) onto the decks of the Nisshin Maru to prevent the whalers from carrying out their grisly task of hacking up whales. Afterwards the Sea Shepherd continued the full speed pursuit, the whole time preventing any whales from being violently murdered.
(March 8) The second encounter with the Nisshin Maru saw Sea Shepherd crew again pelting the Nisshin Maru with butyric acid. This time the Japanese military on board fired back with stun grenades. During five passes the Sea Shepherd and Nisshin Maru traded non-violent stink bombs with incapacitation grenades. At the end of the confrontation Captain Paul Watson was struck by a bullet in the chest, his life saved only by the Kevlar vest.
ICEBERGS
The ship passed by numerous icebergs during the campaign, from tiny growlers to monsters that took up almost the entire horizon.
BIRDS
The albatross is commonly regarded as a sign of good luck for sailors, and for much of the voyage the Sea Shepherd ship was followed by various black browed, royal and wondering albatrosses. The crew also encountered petrels, cape pigeons and numerous other antarctic birds.
THE VOYAGE
A small glimpse into daily life on a ship with 33 dedicated anti whaling activists, including the crew at work, decks covered in ice, swimming in Antarctic waters, and the aurora australis as photographed from a moving ship.
During the early 2008 anti whaling campaign the Sea Shepherd stopped the Japanese whaling fleet from killing 500 whales, and cost them around 70 million dollars. A fantastic result for the gentle giants who otherwise would have endured long agonising deaths at the end of a harpoon. Next year Sea Shepherd will be back in harms way, the only organisation in the world taking direct action to put an end to the unjustifiable murder of whales. Please considering donating now so that you can help stop the whale slaughter today!
