Author: Cristina Giusti
Immediately after the conclusion of the Sea Shepherd campaign
which, to date, has been the most successful in the history of the Organization,
Operation Zero Tolerance, Sea Shepherd has launched Operation Relentless
("Implacable").
The three ships of the Sea Shepherd fleet have set sail from
their bases in Australia (Williamstown) and Tasmania (Hobart) between 16 and 18
December towards the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to oppose
and to hinder the illegal whaling operations of the whaling fleet
Japanese. Last year, the Sea Shepherd Fleet succeeded in blocking the
whalers' actions, saving the lives of 932 whales. During the past nine
seasons, Sea Shepherd's direct action interventions have saved more than
5000 whales and brought Japan's illegal whaling to the world's attention.
Japan has declared its attempt to kill whales in the sanctuary
Antarctic Cetacean Research Failed Due to 'Relentless Interference'
interference) by Sea Shepherd. And since Sea Shepherd likes the accusation
to be relentless, this year's Antarctic Campaign has been called
just “Relentless”.
Sea Shepherd Australia Coordinator, Jeff hansen,
said: "The crew aboard these ships carry with them hope,
the aspirations and expectations of people from all over the world who
they hope to see the end of this massacre".
The Captain of the Bob Barker, the Swede Peter Hammarstedt,
said: "The departure of the Japanese poaching fleet is a crime
towards the international community while patiently awaiting the Court's ruling
International Court of Justice in The Hague. Sea Shepherd will now head,
again, towards the south, as the sole authority acting to re-establish the
Law and order in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary".
Over 100 Sea Shepherd volunteers from 24 countries
from all over the world, will once again watch over the Cetacean Sanctuary in
Southern Ocean, to ensure compliance with the ban on whaling for
commercial purposes issued by the IWC in 1986.
Sea Shepherd Global Director Alex Dutch
Cornelissen, said: “We will deal with whalers in the same way as
where we deal with all the poachers we encounter in our countryside in
all over the world: in a relentless manner."
Despite the many attempts of the ICR (Institute of
Cetacean Research – the official body that manages Japanese whaling)
block and hinder Sea Shepherd with appeals and lawsuits, the organization
will continue to 'relentlessly' and inexorably pursue the goal of
prevent Japanese harpoons from threatening and killing protected whales
since the international moratorium of 1986.
Last updated: On January 5, 2014 the fleet of
Sea Shepherd has located all five vessels of the whaling fleet
Japanese, including the Japanese factory ship (ship on which are
slaughtered whales) the Nisshin Maru, inside the Sanctuary of the
Cetaceans in the Southern Ocean. The Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker and the Sam Simon are
now hunting the whaling fleet with the intention of driving it away and
cease its illegal hunting activities. The flagship helicopter
Steve Irwin first spotted the Nisshin Maru at 64°44′ South, 162°34′
West, in New Zealand sovereign waters of the Antarctic Region of
Ross Dependency, within the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,
internationally recognized.
The bloody deck of the Nisshin Maru, stained after the slaughter of a
whale. Photo by Tim Watters.
Sea Shepherd shot video and took pictures of three
Minke whales, a protected species, on the deck of the Nisshin Maru, already captured
at the time the factory ship was located. Meanwhile a fourth
whale, probably another Minke Whale, was being butchered on deck
bloody.
Sea Shepherd Australia Coordinator, Jeff hansen,
said: "The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary has been
contaminated by the illegal killing of these wonderful and majestic
Minke Whales due to the cruel, violent and barbaric actions of the
Japanese whale poachers. No one will ever know the pain and
suffering that these playful gentle giants have endured since
whose bodies were ripped open by the explosive harpoon until they
they breathed their last breath, in a red sea, filled with their own blood.
One thing is certain. Sea Shepherd will do everything necessary to ensure that
no other whale should have to endure the pain and suffering inflicted by
these whale butchers from Japan".
Captain of the Steve Irwin, Sid Chakravarty, Has
declared: “If 'science' requires absurdly inflating the bodies of
whales belonging to a protected species, walking on a smeared bridge
of their blood, to transport parts of their bodies with hooks and chains and
throw their remains into the sea, then it is a 'science' that has no place
In the 21st Century. The Nisshin Maru is a veritable slaughterhouse and a slaughterhouse
float must have no place in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Sea Shepherd will remain relentless in driving these false, desperate and perverse
'scientists' on their way back to Tokyo."
Japanese poaching fleet operates in the Sanctuary
Cetaceans in Southern Ocean violate global whaling moratorium
commercial whaling in 1986, under the false pretense of research
scientific. In June 2013, the New Zealand government joined the
Australian Government in the case brought by the latter at the Court
International Court of Justice, regarding the legality of 'scientific' hunting
carried out by Japan in the Whale Sanctuary. The verdict on the case is not yet final.
has not yet been issued.
The Captain of the Bob Barker, Peter Hammarstedt, Has
said: "Once again, the Japanese government has shown a clear
failure to comply with international law, perpetrating illegal hunting of
whales while the world is patiently waiting for a decision from the
International Court of Justice. The dishonorable attempt by the
Japanese government to bypass the legal process is an insult to the
cooperation demonstrated by people around the world engaged in
promulgation of laws for conservation, in shared recognition of the
need for environmental protection".
Sea Shepherd Australia remains the only organization
committed to defending the integrity of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,
intervening directly against the illegal operations of the whaling fleet
Japanese.
-
Operation Relentless Campaign Website:
http://www.seashepherd.org.au/relentless/ -
Press conference on the departure of the ships:
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=93YqhIBUJ84 -
Whaling fleet location and helicopter footage:
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=hz-Bvk-5O0M
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