Japanese Whaling Fleet Forced to Run from Sea Shepherd

ABOARD THE FARLEY MOWAT, 0630 Hours, February 9th, 2007 (0930 Hours, February 8th, PST) –

"The objectives of the Sea Shepherd vessels are to enforce international conservation law against illegal Japanese whaling operations in accordance with the principles established by the United Nations World Charter for Nature."

Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd vessel Farley Mowat

The following message was delivered to the Japanese whaling fleet this morning: "Nisshin Maru, this is Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd vessel Farley Mowat. Please be advised that you are killing whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. You are targeting endangered species of whales in violation of international conservation law. You are killing whales in violation of the IWC global moratorium on commercial whaling. Please cease and desist your illegal whaling operations and leave the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. We are acting in accordance with the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature. The Charter authorizes non-governmental organizations and individuals to uphold international conservation law."

The Nisshin Maru is the factory ship of the fleet. The kill ships bring the dead whales back to this factory vessel and transfer them to the 130m long processing ship where the whales are butchered and stored. The Japanese whaling fleet plans to illegally slaughter over 900 whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary this year – including 935 piked (Minke) whales and 10 fin whales.

The Japanese whaling fleet position is 66 Degrees 46 Minutes South and 169 Degrees 52 Minutes East. 122 East northeast of Sturge Island.

This Japanese whaling operation is in violation of many international laws and regulations, including:

* They are violating the Southern Ocean Sanctuary
* They are violating the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling.
* They are targeting endangered fin and humpback whales that are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (CITES).

When the Robert Hunter (named after one of the founding memebers of Greenpeace) first approached the Nisshin Maru there were three hunter killer vessels with the mother ship. These vessels quickly fled northward. The Nisshin Maru fled east straight towards the Farley Mowat. At two miles from the Farley Mowat, the Nisshin Maru turned and fled back west again.

There was a pod of whales in the area near the whalers. The Sea Shepherd crew is happy to report that these whales fled and are now safe from the Japanese harpoons.

The Sea Shepherd crew has successfully delivered six liters of butyric acid onto the flensing deck of the Nisshin Maru. This "butter acid" is a non-toxic obnoxious smelling substance. The foul smell has cleared the flensing deck and stopped all work of cutting up whales.

They're basically rancid butter stinkbombs

Sea Shepherd crew in Zodiacs have nailed plates to the drain outlets (near the waterline) on the Nisshin Maru that spill the blood of the whales from the flensing deck into the sea. This is backing up the blood onto the flensing decks. The plates are secured by Hilti nail guns that drive steel nails through solid steel.

Sea Shepherd has relayed the coordinates to the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza. Despite Greenpeace's refusal to cooperate with the Sea Shepherd ships, the whales need every anti-whaling ship in the area. Greenpeace refuses to give Sea Shepherd their position so it is unknown how long it will take them to reach the area where the whaling fleet is operating.

Sea Shepherd was able to outmaneuver the Japanese satellite tracking system by taking the ships south of the Balleny Islands through heavy ice. Thirty years of ice navigation opposing the Canadian seal slaughter has proven quite helpful. The Japanese satellite surveillance program cannot track a ship's wake through the ice. "We came in the back door out of the freezer so to speak," said Captain Paul Watson.

Unfortunate collison between the Robert Hunter and the harpoon ship Kaiko-Maru

New Zealand's Conservation Minister Chris Carter today said Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson had given him an assurance that his group would not ram any ships. Mr Watson had yesterday threatened to give a Japanese whaling ship a "steel enema" by ramming the vessel's slipway.

"Carter has agreed that New Zealand will do everything it can to stop the Japanese from killing whales, especially the highly endangered Humpback whales ...

"We will take Mr Carter at his word and in return we have given him assurances that we will not damage the Japanese whalers this year."

Japan insists its controversial annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean is for scientific purposes, but admits the whale meat ends up on restaurant tables.

Needless to say the Japanese Istitute of Cetacean Research isn't too pleased about the situation especially when a week later: The Nisshin Maru was disabled by fire and is currently lashed to two other whaling ships about 175 kilometers (110 miles) from the world's largest Adelie penguin breeding rookery as crews clear debris and carry out repairs. They've gotten the fire and smoke under control and the ship is heading out under its own power. The two Sea Shepard ships were 1,000 miles away going to get refuled. Australian and New Zeland auathorities say there could be no link. This ship had caught on fire due to faulty electrical before.

For the Japanese whale hunters .. er .. researchers (yeah I'm biased) side of the story of the Sea Shepard confrontation link to Institute of Cetacean Research for video downloads and updates on the unrelated fire.