Whale wars: Watch Eco-pussies attack japanese whalers, and fail hilariously

As a note: Al Roker on the Weather Channel had two of those idiots on his "Wake up with AL" show this morning. I guess he's out as a brain-dead sympathizer.
 
Imo, the best way to eat whale is "whale carpaccio" (marinated thin slices of the finest raw whale meat). It's fantastic!
 
kurthest said:
Imo, the best way to eat whale is "whale carpaccio" (marinated thin slices of the finest raw whale meat). It's fantastic!
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I haven't tried that, sounds good though... :D Know of anywhere near Oslo where I can get a whale carpaccio meal? I'm a little bit too lazyskeptical to try making it myself...

When I make myself a whale meal for dinner I usually do it like an ordinary beef, just deliberately under cooked so it stays tender and doesn't dry out...
 
marcos_eirik said:
I haven't tried that, sounds good though... :D Know of anywhere near Oslo where I can get a whale carpaccio meal? I'm a little bit too lazyskeptical to try making it myself...

When I make myself a whale meal for dinner I usually do it like an ordinary beef, just deliberately under cooked so it stays tender and doesn't dry out...
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I know they serve it at Palace Grill, but other than that I'm not sure. They would probably serve it on the seafood restaurants at Aker Brygge, and I would guess you could find it at times in any of the gourmet restaurants.
The other option is to take a longweekend up in Lofoten of course :)
 
So in the first 2 episodes;

A Japanese (supposed) whaling ship pulls up next to the new, top-secret ship, the Bob Baka. Busted.
A crew member of the Ady Gil is cut because he gets sea sick.
The radar on the Ady Gil is smashed off by a wave.
The SS hides behind an iceberg to get closer to the Shonan Maru 2 and then panic as it chases them down.

Best sequence;
Watson steers his boat into the ice to lose the Japanese ship claiming he has more ice experience than the Japanese (actual) captains, then goes downstairs to look at pictures.
(nice attempt to make yourself look like a hero while burning an inexperienced volunteer)

Best quote;
Why are they being so aggressive? We aren't posing a threat (we're just trying to find their colleagues so we can hurl bottles of acid at them and prevent them from going about their jobs and supporting their families).

(part in parentheses not actual quote)
 
I have a quick question. What other research team, when faced with animal activists as disorganized and impotent as the Sea Sheppards goes on the offensive the way the Japanese did this season? I can understand their frustration with the Sea Sheppards' actions, but as far as I know this is the first time any scientific research team as themselves taken preemptive offensive action.

To me, this seems more like the actions of a corporation protecting its profits.
 
I said it seems more like a corporation protecting profits. Have you ever heard of scientists taking action like this?

Anyway, the Japanese have been whaling for lethal "research" for years and haven't contributed a damn thing to science, so I have a hard time believing that science is the goal of the whaling. There is, however, a market for the meat. Just because the Cetacean Research Institute doesn't make money doesn't mean someone else isn't.

Hell, most the scientific papers they have written are either photo "surveys" of their catch or talking about different ways to kill whales. Here are a few samples, you tell me if this sounds like real research.


  • Progress Report on the Killing Method of Whales in the Second Phase of Japanese Whale Research Program in the Antarctic Sea (JARPAII) and Northwestern Pacific Ocean
  • Summary of photo-id information of blue whales collected by JARPA/JARPA II and preliminary analysis of matches in the feeding grounds.
  • Cruise Report of the Second Phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA II) in 2008/2009.
  • Cruise report of the Second Phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA II) in 2007/2008.
  • Evaluation of Statistical Power of a Test for Examining Bias in Age-reading Experiment for Antarctic Minke whales. (That means they are studying known statistical equations)
  • Some modifications to the current ADAPT-VPA model for Antarctic minke whales.
That's pretty much everything they have written in the last two years, of these only one was published - and that was on killing methods.
 
So it's more or less the equivalent (special differences aside) of an anthropologist testing out Jack The Ripper's methods on victims and then writing a study about it?
 
Blind_Io said:
What other research team, when faced with animal activists as disorganized and impotent as the Sea Sheppards goes on the offensive the way the Japanese did this season? I can understand their frustration with the Sea Sheppards' actions, but as far as I know this is the first time any scientific research team as themselves taken preemptive offensive action.
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1. Name me a scientific research team that has had their lives put at risk for 6 years running and I might be able to come up with something.

2. What exactly was "offensive"? They followed, approached the SS with water cannons on - they didn't even come close enough to hit them with the water.

3. How is it "preemptive" when they've been attacked for the last 6 years?

4. They aren't scientific researchers. They are whalers contracted to collect data and tissue samples for the scientists.

Blind_Io said:
To me, this seems more like the actions of a corporation protecting its profits.
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It's like arguing with a religious fanatic. I've provided more than enough evidence to the contrary. It's getting pathetic.

Blind_Io said:
Hell, most the scientific papers they have written are either photo "surveys" of their catch or talking about different ways to kill whales. Here are a few samples, you tell me if this sounds like real research.



That's pretty much everything they have written in the last two years, of these only one was published - and that was on killing methods.
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The research on killing methods was very helpful, especially in the adoption of more humane hunting methods for American and Canadian whalers. Acknowledged by the IWC and already covered.

The photo surveys you're referring to are not of "the catch", I believe you're talking about the International Decade of Cetacean Research (IDCR) (which has been going since 1978, despite the name, before the JARPA program) and the SOWER programme (Southern Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research). They are cruises are carried out under the auspices of the IWC but funded by the Japanese Gov that are essentially whale spotting exercises with the aim of estimating populations. Very helpful and non-lethal.

Published articles for the last 3 years.

2007
Asada, M., Tetsuka, M., Ishikawa, H., Ohsumi, S. and Fukui, Y. 2007. Ultrastructural Changes during Maturation and Cryopreservation of Follicular Oosytes of Antarctic Minke Whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). Japanese Journal of Zoo Wildlife and Medicine 12(1): 51-66.

Branch, T.A., Stafford, K.M., Palacios, D.M., Allison, C., Bannister, J.L., Burton, C.L.K., Cabrera, E., Carlson, C.A., Galletti Vernazzani, B., Gill, P.C., Hucke-Gaete, R., Jenner, K.C.S., Jenner, Mn. M., Matsuoka, K., Mikhalev, Y.A., Miyashita, T., Morrice, M.G., Nishiwaki, S., Sturrock, V.J., Tormosov, D., Anderson, R.C., Baker, A.N., Best, P.B., Borsa, P., Brownell Jr, R.L., Childerhouse, S., Findlay, K.P., Gerrodette, T., Ilangakoon, A.D., Joergensen, M., Kahn, B., Ljungblad, D.K., Maughan, B., Mccauley, R.D., Mckay, S., Norris, T.F., Oman Whale and Dolphin Research Group, Rankin, S., Samaran, F., Thiele, D., Van Waerebeek, K. and Warneke, R.M. 2007. Past and present distribution, densities and movements of blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere and adjacent waters. Mammal Rev 37(2): 116-175.

LeDuc, R.G., Dizon, A.E., Goto, M., Pastene, L.A., Kato, H., Nishiwaki, S. and Brownell, R.L. 2007. Patterns of genetic variation in southern hemisphere blue whales, and the use of assignment test to detect mixing on the feeding grounds. J. Cetacean Res. Manage. 9(1): 73-80.

Nagai, H., Mogoe, T., Ishikawa, H., Hochi, S., Ohsumi, S. and Fukui, Y. 2007. Follicle Size-Dependent Changes in Follicular Fluid Components and Oocyte Diameter in Antarctic Minke Whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). Journal of Reproduction and Development 53(6): 1265-1272.

Nishida, S., Goto, M., Pastene, L.A., Kanda, N. and Koike, H. 2007. Phylogenetic Relationships Among Cetaceans Revealed by Y-Chromosome Sequences.Zoological Science 24(7): 723-732.

Onbe, K. Nishida, S., Sone, E., Kanda, N., Goto, M., Pastene, L.A., Tanabe, S. and Koike, H. 2007. Sequence Variation in the Tbx4 Gene in Marine Mammals Zoological Science 24(5): 449-464.

Pastene, L.A., Goto, M., Kanda, N., Zerbini, A.N., Kerem, D., Watanabe, K., Bessho, Y., Hasegawa, M., Nielsen, R., Larsen, F. and PalsbA?ll, P.J. 2007. Radiation and speciation of pelagic organisms during periods of global warming: the case of the common minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata. Molecular Ecology 16: 1481-1495.

2008
Ishikawa, H. and Shigemune, H. 2008. Comparative Experiment of Whaling Grenades in the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit (JARPA and JARPN). Jpn. J. Zoo Wildl. Med. 13(1): 21-28.

Konishi, K., Tamura, T., Zenitani, R., Bando, T., Kato, H. and WallA?e, L. 2008. Decline in energy storage in the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) in the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol: 31: 1509-1520.

Ohishi, K., Fujise, Y. and Maruyama, T. 2008. Brucella spp. in the western North Pacific and Antarctic cetaceans: a review. J. Cetacean Res. Manage. 10(1):67-72.

Yunoki, K., Ishikawa, H., Fukui, Y. and Ohnishi, M. 2008. Chemical Properties of Epidermal Lipids, Especially Sphingolipids, of the Antarctic Minke Whale. Lipids (2008) 43: 151-159.

2009
Tamura, T. and Konishi, K 2009. Feeding Habits and Prey Consumption of Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) in the Southern Ocean. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 42: 13-25. Abstract and PDF, Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science Link
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Oh, and if you want to start talking science, why is the IWC oblivious to scientific reasoning?

In 1993, the Chairman of the Scientific Committee resigned. In his letter of resignation to the IWC he says in part: "what is the point of having a Scientific Committee if its unanimous recommendations on a matter of primary importance are treated with such contempt". In a recent article published in The Atlantic Monthly, a former IWC Commissioner from the United States and two renowned scholars note that the actions of the ant-whaling majority within the IWC "...violates international law, fosters tensions between otherwise friendly nations, and undermines environmental legislation."
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The scientific committee saw no reason to prevent a return to regulated commercial whaling. But this has been covered already.
 
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I said that the actions of the whalers are similar (see also: akin, analogous, comparable, correspondent, corresponding, like, matching, parallel, resembling, similar, such, suchlike) to the actions I would expect from a company protecting profits, not a scientific research team.

Also, if you think there isn't money involved as a major motivational factor then you are deluding yourself. 99% of the time if you ask the questions "Why?" the answer is "money." Just because public information doesn't show a profit where you looked doesn't mean someone, somewhere in the organization isn't raking it in. The behavior of the people involved is not congruent with a team performing research, no scientist I have ever met or even heard of would continually be part of international incidents and controversy year after year when even the IWC has said that the research conducted by the Japanese hasn't contributed anything worthwhile to science.

Your argument about killing several hundred whales to study how to kill them is just fucking idiotic. I'm sorry, but if the goal was for scientists to study how to kill whales then you don't go kill several hundred whales a year. You join up with an existing whaling fleet and test your new harpoon, or whatever and dissect the bodies, you don't drag them immediately into a processing ship and package the meat for consumption, thus destroying any indication on the effectiveness of the weapon. To test their hypothesis about whale killing techniques, this method is, at best, shoddy science and at worst a thinly veiled cover for commercial whaling.

The photo surveys are of the catch. Whales are photographed and tracked on their migration and then harpooned to see if they match any of the photographs.
 
Blind_Io said:
Your argument about killing several hundred whales to study how to kill them is just fucking idiotic.
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Wrong, please go and check the stated goals. Research papers don't necessarily have to be related to the initial stated goals of the research to be valuable.

Blind_Io said:
The photo surveys are of the catch. Whales are photographed and tracked on their migration and then harpooned to see if they match any of the photographs.
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Wrong again.
 
Seems the Dalai Lama is anti-SS.

TOKYO (AFP) - The Dalai Lama on Saturday criticised wildlife activists for staging what he said were violent protests over Japan's hunting of whales.

At a news conference, he said he had told the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to stop its violent harassment of Japan's whaling fleet.

"One time I wrote a letter...(saying) their activities should be stopping," he told reporters.
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And here's a sample comment.

Lets slaughter the Japs for scientific purposes to see why they all look the same and how they breed and so forth. We know the whales are all different but the slimy Japs are all the same. There isnt a ban on that as far as im aware of. Open season.
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Can Watson actually back up his claim that, last season they managed to distract them to the extent that they caught 600-something whales less than their quota....? I'm sceptical, as they showed pretty well that they had no problems harpooning whales on the SeaShepherd's watch....
 
marcos_eirik said:
Can Watson actually back up his claim that, last season they managed to distract them to the extent that they caught 600-something whales less than their quota....? I'm sceptical, as they showed pretty well that they had no problems harpooning whales on the SeaShepherd's watch....
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In case you missed it...

The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was ?old news.? A headline comment on Monday?s newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.[27]
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And...

If you do not know an answer, a fact, or a statistic, then simply follow the example of an American President and do as Ronald Reagan did?make it up on the spot and deliver the information confidently and without hesitation.
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And...

Survival in a media culture meant developing the skills to understand and manipulate media to achieve strategic objectives.
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He doesn't ever back up any claims he makes, how could he when he makes them up on the spot.


Edit: I don't know where the quote of 600 came from. It's pretty easy to match the actual reported catch against the quota so it isn't something you would want to lie about, they do stretch the truth, however.

For JARPA 1 the quota was 440 +/- 10% and they pretty much nailed it every year.

For JARPA 2, which started in the 05/06 season (the same year SS started their campaign), the quota is 850 +/- 10%, which means 765-935.

The reported takes have been;
08/09 680 (Kyodo Senpakku lost a man overboard this season)
07/08 551 (Norway took more whales this season - harassment has been cited as a cause for reduced catch)
06/07 508 (there was a fire on one of the ships this season)
05/06 856

So it's hard to say, really. After the first year of hitting their quota even with the SS active they had a couple of bad years and then came within 85 of the lower limit for the last reported year. That year (08/09) the SS claimed to have saved over 300 whales, naming the upper limit as the "quota". Who knows exactly why they took below the quota? If the SS were effective from 06-08 it could be argued that they were ineffective in 05/05 and 08/09. Of course the SS will claim responsibility for reducing the catch if it's below quota but in some way it also makes sense for Kyodo Senpaku to claim that the SS were responsible for the reduced catch, especially considering the charges of obstruction of business against Bethune and Watson.

I don't believe the numbers for the 09/10 season have been released but keep in mind Yushin Maru 2 headed straight back to Japan after it was boarded by Bethune. Obviously that decision would have cost them whales and points to the fact that the operation isn't based on finances.

And in related news, the Japanese Coast Guard has received a warrant for Watson's arrest. Let's hope they send a ship down there and fuck shit up.

The Japan Coast Guard has obtained an arrest warrant for the head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, accusing him of ordering members of the protest group to obstruct the Japanese whaling fleet, investigative sources said Friday.

The Tokyo Coast Guard Office obtained the arrest warrant against Paul Watson, founder and president of the antiwhaling group, on suspicion of assault and obstruction of business.

The move is the latest in Tokyo's increasingly aggressive campaign against the radical conservationists, who are being accused of endangering lives during the annual Antarctic whale hunt.

U.S.-based Sea Shepherd has long insisted that the Japanese fleet is conducting banned commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research.

The Japanese authorities will put Watson, 59, on the international wanted list through Interpol, the sources said. His arrest, however, appears unlikely unless Watson steps foot in Japan.

The sources said authorities are likely to ask the international police agency to only issue a "blue notice," which is a request for police in member countries to provide information about an individual's whereabouts and activities, rather than a "red notice," which requests arrest and extradition, they said.
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On a somewhat unrelated note, for the seasons 07/08 and 08/09 the number of whales killed and lost by American whalers was 36% and 24% respectively. That means that between 1/4 and 1/3 of whales killed by American whalers died in vain. In the same 2 year period Kyodo Senpaku lost 1 whale total.
 
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I saw a Renault kangoo with a 'Sea shepherd' sticker on the back today, not far from here.....such blatant treehugging shall not be allowed!
Anyone know were I can get a 'I love whalemeat' or a 'Yushin Maru' sticker for my car? :p
 
Whale wars is really boring now. The whaling fleet has become too effective at deterring the sea shepherds and now it's just episode after episode of them only battling with their crappy equipment and maintenance. Watson even stopped sending people to their death while chanting his mantra that every member of his crew will put his life on the line to save some whales.
 
Looks like Ep 4 will be fun. Should be three ships strong and they *find* the factory ship.

I'm really enjoying their mechanical ineptitude on the Bob Barker (seriously taking your respect down for that Mr. Barker).

Anyone know if the African mechanic they brought along signed up for it or got conned? He was really surprised to see that Iceberg...
 
I'm sure my face would look the same if the first one I saw was a giant cathedral like that.
 
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