GreenWatch

B. McPherson Paul Watson and his crews of animal activists have announced their intention to disrupt the mass slaughter of pilot whales in the Faroe Islands. Their campaign recorded by Whale Wars Animal Planet is called Operation Ferocious Isles. They will be seeking to divert migrating pilot whales away from the Atlantic islands and failing that, interfere with the actual, bloody killing in the bays. The Faroe Islands are located in the frigid North Atlantic between Iceland and Scotland. These islands are ultimately administered by Denmark although they are independent in most of their internal affairs. The people are descendants of Gaels who settled the islands in the 6 th century and Norsemen who cling to their traditions, one of which has set them against animal rights activists – The Grind. The Grind or grindadrap is a slaughter of pilot whales after having herded them into a shallow bay. The Faroese traditionally depended on whale meat to supplement their di...

By B. McPherson Sea Shepherd’s Operation Divine Wind encountered the Japanese vessel Yushin Maru No. 3 in the Southern Ocean launching containers of rotten butter and paint at the whaling ship. The Sea Shepherd Society has been active in trying to thwart the killing of whales in the conservation area for eight seasons. While the Japanese government maintains that the whales are killed for research purposes and has gone so far as to paint “Research” on the sides of their vessels, few truly believe that a quota of 1000 dead whales each year constitutes research. Each year the confrontations between the activists and the whalers become more dangerous. The latest saw the Sea Shepherd people in small, fast outboard vessels harassing the whalers with stinking butter. The Japanese responded with concussion grenades and teargas. Source News.com Information about the latest incident is still sketchy but it has been reported that three anti-whaling people have been injured. ...

By B. McPherson The following video is horrific. This action is taking place in a whale sanctuary. These intelligent peaceful beings are being killed in a slow, brutal way. Anyone who eats the flesh of these creatures takes on the pain and sorrow of the whale. Sunday morning the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Forest Rescue , a non-violent direct action conservation group teamed up to create what is developing into an international incident. According to the Sea Shepherd’s news page , three Forest Rescue men with the help of the anti-whaling activists, boarded the Japanese whaling security ship, the Shonan Maru #2. They are now being held on board. The activists maintain that the boarding of the vessel took place within Australia’s territorial waters and must return the Australian nationals to their country. This tactic was used to divert the Shonan Maru from tailing the Sea Shepherd’s vessel the Steve Irwin. The whalers’ stance is that the action took place in int...

By B. McPherson The Sea shepherd Society’s eighth campaign in the Southern Ocean, Operation Divine Wind , has been dogging the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru. Operation Divine Wind has three vessels in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary this season – Bob Barker, Steve Irwin and the Brigette Bardot – along with helicopter capability. A new, high tech weapon is being used to good effect as well – a drone. While the Japanese government maintains that they are not conducting commercial whaling operations and have painted “Research” on the sides of their vessels, many do not believe their stand. Whale meat has found its way to the commercial markets in Japan and offers of help from non-whaling nations to assist in no-kill research have been rebuffed. The whaling fleet has a target of about 1 000 dead whales per year. The Southern Ocean around Antarctica has been designated a whale sanctuary since 1994. Research is allowed in the area and this loophole is being e...