December 31st, 2010
The Southern Ocean
148 degrees West 63 degrees South
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society fleet has found the Japanese whaling fleet on the last day of the year.
At around 0900 hours (Australian Eastern Standard Time) the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker found a harpoon vessel on the edge of the ice at 148 degrees West. The unidentified Japanese vessel attempted to move South to draw the Bob Barker away from the Nisshin Maru.
At 1500 Hours (AEST) some 60 miles to the North the Sea Shepherd flagship Steve Irwin found the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2 sitting in the ice.
The Gojira and the Sea Shepherd helicopter the Nancy Burnet continue to search for the Nisshin Maru.
In the vastness of the Southern Ocean the Sea Shepherd ships have found the Japanese fleet before they have begun to kill whales.
The Art of Finding Whalers
Knowing when the Nisshin Maru left Japan and estimating the speed of the ship as it headed southward Captain Paul Watson was able to get a rough idea of the daily progress of the whaling fleet.
He decided to take the Steve Irwin to Wellington, New Zealand and then down to Bluff on the South end of the South Island. The Gojira stayed in Hobart and the Bob Barker moved to the middle and to the South of the Tasman Sea to show the Japanese that we were covering their path should they choose to go through the Tasman Sea.
Captain Watson figured this would force the whaling fleet to the East to avoid being caught in the middle of the Sea Shepherd fleet in the Tasman Sea.
The whalers made an announcement that they would expand their hunting area to make it more difficult for Sea Shepherd to find them but the Japanese whalers have proven themselves to be nothing if not predictable over the last seven campaigns that Sea Shepherd has been harassing them, and Captain Watson decided they were bluffing.
The Taz Patrol reported the whalers well to the Northeast of New Zealand heading Southeast.
Captain Watson deduced that they would head for the extreme Eastern boundary of the area Japan has designated for their so called research, an area that extends to 145 degrees West. This would place them at the maximum distance from where the Sea Shepherd ships departed from Tasmania and New Zealand.
Captain Watson instructed Captain Locky MacLean to take the Gojira along the 60 degree line of latitude Eastward. Captain Alex Cornelissen on the Bob Barker was instructed to head Eastward along the 64th line of Latitude and Captain Watson took the Steve Irwin Eastward along the 62nd line of Latitude.
The two harpoon ships were spotted at 148 degree West line of Longitude on December 31st. The interception of the Japanese whaling fleet took place 1700 nautical miles Southeast of New Zealand and 2300 nautical miles Southwest of Chile.
“This is fantastic,” said Sea Shepherd Chief Laura Dakin of Canberra, Australia. “For the first time we have found the whalers before they have killed a single whale.”
First published: 2011-01-02 05:54 AM
Tuesday:
Environment Minister Tony Burke rules out deals on Japan whaling
* Joe Kelly
* From: The Australian
* January 04, 2011 3:54PM
WHALING is “wrong and should stop”, Environment Minister Tony Burke said today, arguing there is no room for compromise with Japan on the practice.
Mr Burke today was forced to defend the government’s position on whaling amid reports that it had been prepared to consider a compromise deal with Tokyo that would have allowed Japan to continue its whaling operation.
“Australians believe whaling is wrong. The Gillard Labor government believes whaling is wrong and should stop. That’s why we have taken action in the International Court of Justice,” he said.
“This is not something where the government or Australians generally see a whole lot of grey areas.”
US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks show that in early February last year government officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the then environment minister Peter Garrett’s chief of staff David Williams were discussing a possible compromise deal.
Mr Burke said he could not comment on remarks made by the staff members of other ministers or the content of leaked documents and repeatedly reaffirmed the official position of the government which was that “Australia’s position is and has always been that whaling should end”.
Earlier: Age: Australia, Japan in secret talks on whaling deal
