it all comes down to political mumbo jumbo.they are both in the wrong as far as i can see but the jap boat should be accountable for its actions

hmmmm im all for the cause ... but the skipper of both boats are in the wrong ... its not like the sea sheppard boat even tried to get out of the way , infact its steering right into the front of the whaling boat.

well said Feral

as much as i agree with sea shepherd ive seen a fair few videos of these guys driving in front of other boats,bumping other boats and spraying there hose at the crew of them,close range even when the crew are near the gunnels....200mile at sea im not going to argue with a skipper.thats a long swim...sea shepard are over the top with there tatics and as sson as it looks like the boat boat is at fault they go straight to the media

The sea sheperd was under way judging by the wake so they were not really doin much to avoide the collision I think they were trying to force it I wonder if from the wheelhoouse they could even see a boat with such a  low profile close in. Ramming them on purpose not cool butI think now they are gettign exactly what they want  more then 1.5mil free publicity.

Its the Sea Shepards tactic to get in the road.  It looks like the Japanese saw an opportunity to get pay back for all the drift net winches hes smashed off the decks of their boats.

They have given him what Shepard wanted.  World wide media coverage exposure to the Japanese exploit.

Judging by the swerve of the larger boat it will go to the courts as the underwriter of insurance Loyds attempt to get their money back if the Japanese were in the wrong by deliberate running the smaller boat over.

The Japanese do look like they pulled a quite hard right to make sure they go over the top.

Sea Shepard is very good at pulling the best angle with the cameras then publishing it to the global media.  Thats what pisses the fishing companies off.  They are fishing illegally much of the time. 

Will the Japanese fishing research company face charges though?

Wheres the WWF and Green Peace in all that?   Paul Watson was high up in Greenpeace but pulled out of their organisation because of their properganda bull$#!!

Get out the Sea Shepard video at your local video store.  See the footage on the drift netters with kilometres of nets floating around. 

Watch him in the ship lined with tonnes of concrete ram the winch off the driftnetter boats.  The Norwegian navy fire at his boat.

See what has been going on out where the commercial fishing sector thought no one would see.  See how the ocean is truly being destroyed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yx5Dsx8vuQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDsZcLVXyn8

Donate now  

It seems Sea shephard took their statement down there and the japs made their statement in return.

realistically, if the greenies wanted to get their high powered boat out of the way they could have , the engines were still running as you can see from the prop wash and even if they were just about out of fuel like they claim they would have had enough fuel to monouver out of the way. yet it is a publicity thing imo but it still cant be justified 

You guys are dead right, I think their passion gets in the way of common sense and also maritime law. There are ways of harassing the japs without getting everyone killed.

There are ways of harassing the japs without getting everyone killed.

Its provocation, they want the action for the footage.  I dont anyone has been injured, maybe until now when the Japanese boat took a hard swing at them.

Their point is that the Japanese fishing company is there illegally anyrate.  They shouldnt even be there.

The footage gets the media coverage of the "illegal" fishing

The japs actually started an educational campaign in their schools a couple of years ago about the benefits of consuming whale meat. Makes you wonder. I suppose it's their only option as all that's is left around japanese waters are throngs of monster jellyfish, no fishing conservation there.

As I said before on another post the whole thing stinks of imperialsim. It's the government that should be held to account as they make the laws and govern the fishing fleets. What worries me is their flagrant disregard for anyone  or anything else in the world and to fill their freezers with whatever is edible from the ocean. In  the meanwhile thumbing their noses at the international community and bribing small nations for a vote at the IWC to make them look justified. I had to get that off my chest as my blood is starting to boil. I think I need a relaxing days fishing

That's definately the 2nd option and a round of golf to ruin my day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_Whores

This episode of South Park sums it up nicely for me...

Would we be in the same predicament if the Indo's started to take up research on Sharks fin, or Troca shell. They could turn around and say we don't recognise your Australian waters and that's that.

What would Mr Garret do then. Personally i see garret a a huge sell out. I agree its a hard job he has at hand but honestly is that really the same bloke he used to be..One to many head shakes me thinks.. 

The indonesians are in recognized australian territorial waters doing their illegal activities.

The japanese are whaling in international waters. Just because Australia decided to say hey, that should be a whale sanctuary and we'll claim the waters as our own is never going to be universalled agreed upon - any country could do the same thing. They are international waters - nobody owns them.

As much as i hate the idea of them killing whales, Sea Shepard have been doing dodgy shit for years. Throwing stuff on board, trying to bugger the propellers with rope and nets.
If they get a rope around a prop and it breaks off the boat would sink! So i think that they are just as much to blame.
It had to happen sooner or later and it just so happens that a bigger boat won!!!! JMO

No Huggy i disagree. That's the same as saying the Tooth fish poaches were in international waters but still we get involved there. Sea Shepherd or Animal Planet have filmed the whalers fishing in Australian territorial waters, as well as refueling there boats in Australian territorial waters which is also againest the treatys set by Australia and the rest of the world. 

The Japs have simply stated they do not Acknowledge the Australians right of ownership. Yes the Indonesians are currently fishing in Australian waters but too bad if there Government decides it also does not acknowledge our territorial claim. Then what.

I know its a stretch but it would be the same scenario .   

Yep, it's scary stuff when powerful nations start pushing their weight around like this, and we have a bunch of powder puffs in gov just letting them walk right on over us, I'm all for diplomacy but when push comes to shove you have to stand your ground and give them something to think about, you would think all these academics in power could come up with something pretty polished.

you can disagree all you like, but at the end of the day the government would have a leg to stand on if they were fishing in our territorial waters. but they aren't. Its pretty simple really. If the governement took japan and the whalers to court they'd lose, hence why nothing has happened.

The japanese do not recognise our "ownership" because it is international waters and we dont own them. They are NOT australian territorial waters.

even sea shepard have acknowledged the governement cant do anything, hence why they justify doing what they do.

Another point, there are few academics in power, or even with power for that matter. People in power, ie; business or politicians, just whip out an academic to support their claims, when they need one.

It pays to have a look at the issue from a outside standpoint and put aside the emotions in any senario

I'm anti whaling as are most people in this country and am all for it being stopped.

That being said some may say for sea shepard to complain about being rammed is a bit hypocritical when they weld a large metal device designed for tearing open the side of ships and call it a "Can Opener" of all things and then post video of its use on the whaling vessels.

just a point of view

Cheers

The can opener is actually ment to remove deck winches, not sink ships.

It would appear that both sides are playing silly buggers. As for breaking laws and getting away with it seems to happen all the time.

 http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-091217-1.hml

Maybe however I beleive I saw a news article from sea shepherd themselves about how they used it to rip a hole in the side of a ship last whaling season. (From memory they did alledge the ship was trying to ram them at the time).

Didn't mention it was intended to sinks ships but certainly appears intended to cause damage.
As said I'm anti whaling and if it was stopped (even by sea shepherd) i'd think that was a good thing. Just being objective in the matter

Cheers Paul

Yeah thats cool Paul. Honestly i'm not totally one way either i just can't stand the place i think this is all going. I serously think if the Government dosn't do something i believe they are asking for trouble.

Garrett threatens to burn their beds unless deadlines met (J/K)

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/6655971/garrett-sets-deadline-for-whaling-action/

The words "soft deadline" and "consideration of legal action" say its all puff and huff to me.

And Bob Brown saying the 'goverment' should send the Japanese the bill for the damage is a bit pointless when it wasn't the goverments boat.

LOL - best line in the whole article!

And is it just me or does the Ady Gil get cheaper by the day. When it first got hit they said it was worth $2.5m, then I saw $2m in all the articles and now its a paltry $1.5m - are the insurance assessors writing these articles?  By next week it will have been won in a poker hand against a rolex watch.......

Peter Garrett just announced the goverment have vowed to take definate action as soon as Britteny Spears sings live!!

How Cruel am I....
Cheers

Maybe that's what the sea Shepard should do. Use loud hailers and play BS music add day and night at them..

Maybe they should start a propaganda rumour that Osma was seen on one of the whalers and see what the yanks will do.d

Sorry Rod - wouldn't work the whalers would just think it was a karaoke night and sing along.......

Paul Watson was once the head of Greenpeace a cofounder but because of all the beurocratic red tape & B.S he decided on action instead because the whales were getting slaughtered year after year while governments just talked. Lets face it what man hasnt felt that way about political correctness & wanted to take things into his own hands.
Japan is 2nd only to china as trading partners with us so we mustnt offend them must we. Bulls--t!! We are a soft touch for any country that wants to walk over us!!

For info on joining or donating go to:
www.seashepherd.org

sorry for pointing it out the obvious but why don't we take any action.

No not talking about our goverment who we know will do little.  I am talking about us the consumer.  Trade goes both ways and I bet if we stopped buying our bling Japanese reels, LCD Tv's and other products and let the manufacturer know exactly why we were boycotting them things would change a lot quicker.

I guess its like the email a few years back urging us all to botcott the major petrol retailers who were screwing the independants out of business  but we all continued to fill up at Shell and Caltex because we wanted our 4c discount.  (Boy I am in a hypocritical mood today). 

Sorry but I have to go and look at new reels so I can be home in time to shoot some bad guys on my PS3 on the 116cm Sony Bravia LCD (to get this frustration outa my system)!!  Cheers all............  ;-)