Whale Wars Adds a New and Speedier Editon to it’s Roster
Whale Wars Adds a New and Speedier Editon to it’s Roster
A space-age powerboat which holds the round-the-world record sped off from Australia on Tuesday on a mission to harass Japanese whaling ships in Antarctic seas.
The futuristic tri-hulled “Ady Gil” left the Tasmanian state capital Hobart, a port official said.
The kevlar-and-carbon craft will join up with about 40 militant anti-whalers aboard the “Steve Irwin”, which left Western Australia on Monday, in seas south of Australia.
The Ady Gil, a wave-piercing boat formerly known as “Earthrace”, jetted round the world in just under 61 days last year, beating the previous record by two weeks.
The craft has been bankrolled by the Hollywood businessman of the same name to help the anti-whalers, who claim to have saved hundreds of animals by confronting the Japanese ships in recent years.
In an increasingly bitter campaign, activists have boarded a whaling ship and hurled stink bombs and rancid butter at the fishermen, while accusing the Japanese of warding them off by using ear-piercing sonic weapons.
Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands on Monday urged restraint on both sides.
The Steve Irwin, with a crew of 41, expects to reach the Japanese ships in eight to 10 days and aims to stay in Antarctic waters for around three months.
During their five-month hunt last season, the Japanese fleet caught 679 minke whales and one fin whale — below the planned haul of between 765 and 935 whales, Japan’s fisheries agency said.
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- Whale Wars ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collide
- Whale Wars – Ady Gil Sunk – Antiwhaling vessel damaged and then sunk after skirmish
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Anti whaling is hypocritical. To begin with, think it is a safe to assume the activists eat meat. The livestock industry uses some of the most environmentally dangerous methods known, from hormone injections to spped growth and animal weight, petsicides, herbicides including using massive ammounts of antibiotics to further assist growth and prevent infect. Infact such over use has been named as helping cause the increasing number of antibiotic resistant pathogens.Concerning the inhumane death of the whales. True , it is a bloody, gory event. However, go inside a slaughterhouse and see how the meat you ate got onto your table.There is no doubt about the inhumaness. Yet I see no one protesting current livestock practices or calling for them to be improved. Lastly. Fishing is a job, unquestionabley one of the most.However,people depend on it to survive, to pay their bills, put food on the table, ect.If for example whaling is banned, exactly how are those who need the work supposed to live? Do the activists have job replacement programs developed, or is the wellbeing of the fishermen and their families irrelavant? issue. I am a passionate environmentalist. A firm believer in sustainabilty, yet the anti whaling movement disgusts me Feel it is an embarrassment to the environmental movement, as well as distracting from the true serious issues regarding the oceans and their use.
Ariana,
Last time I checked there were constant protests and concerns over proper farming and livestock practices. Thus the whole ‘organic food’ revolution thats being trumpeted across the United States.
As for whaling being ‘jobs’… I wouldn’t worry. Whaling makes up a very very few number of jobs, and most of the funding comes from the Japanese government. Also remember, Japanese whaling isn’t about catching food. Its about ‘research.’ The new government is probably going to cancel the ‘research’ due to budget cuts, thus eliminating the jobs. Jobs that were mainly supported through taxes on everyone else.
If these people lose their jobs I’ll imagine they’ll have to adapt. Like everyone else who lost their job thanks to changes in industry. Do I hear you complaining about the blacksmith who lost his job putting on horse shoes because everyone is switching to cars? No. Do I hear you complaining about the guy making CDs who lost his job because everyone has switched to online downloads? No. That because things change. Either you adapt or you die out.
Heck, if you’re really concerned about fishermen and their jobs maybe you should spend your time promoting better fishing practices. Just look at the fishing industry in the United States’ East Coast. Its more or less gone because of overfishing. Yup. We ate them all. Now those people are without jobs AND all the fish are gone.
I’d rather some people lose their jobs and there still are fish to be caught, than for a short term ‘job explosion’ that results in no fish and no jobs long term. (Like the tuna. Eat it while you can because its going to be gone within the next 20 years.)
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