On February 6, 2010 at 1209 PM Fremantle, Australia time, the Yushin Maru 3 intentionally rammed the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker, penetrating it's hull and endangering the lives of it¹s crew. The collision occurred at 65 degrees 21 South, 67 degrees 58 East, about 180 miles off Cape Darnley in the Australian Antarctic Territory.
The Bob Barker had been actively blocking the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, the Japanese whaling fleet’s factory ship when the collision occurred. Four harpoon ships, the Yushin Maru 1, 2, and 3 and Shonan Maru 2, were circling and making near passes to the stern and bow of the Sea Shepherd vessel. The Bob Barker did not move from its position. At which point, the Yushin Maru 3 intentionally rammed the Bob Barker, creating a 3-foot long 4-inch deep gash in the mid starboard side of the Sea Shepherd vessel above the waterline.
No crew was injured during the collision. The Bob Barker continues to block the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, preventing the transfer of slaughtered whales and effectively shutting down illegal whaling operations.
The incident demonstrates a continued escalation of violence by the illegal whalers in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Said Captain Paul Watson from the bridge of the Steve Irwin, currently en route to join the action, “Because the whalers got away basically scot-free with the outrageous sinking of the Ady Gil, they now apparently think they can do whatever they want and they appear to have no qualms about endangering Sea Shepherd crew. What we really need is for the governments of Australia and New Zealand to step up and start enforcing maritime laws in these waters, or who know what the whalers will do next. Australian and New Zealand lives are at risk every day in these waters."
The crew of the Bob Barker noticed that the Yushin Maru 3 stopped moving in the water shortly after the impact, and appeared to be falling behind as the Bob Barker maintained its position on the stern of the Nisshin Maru. It’s possible the Yushin Maru 3 damaged itself in the collision. The Japanese whalers are far more aggressive this year than in past campaigns.
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100206-1.html
Ady Gil and Shonan Maru 2 - 6th January 2010
TOKYO — The next time you dine at a Japanese restaurant, try to steer clear of the tuna sashimi. If you're unable to resist the temptation — and, let's face it how many of us can? — make sure you savor every last slice. In just a few years, it may have disappeared from the menu for good.
Our appetite for the undisputed “king of sushi,” whose succulent flesh is prized by diners at high-class restaurants from Tokyo to London and New York, is far from being sated.
Only last week the conservation group WWF warned that Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks were on the verge of collapse, and the breeding population just three years from extinction, as a result of overfishing and a failure to curb our desire for melt-in-the mouth otoro.
Demand in Japan, and increasingly the U.S., Europe and China, is decimating stocks among the world’s four bluefin populations. The number of Mediterranean bluefin, for example, has more than halved since the 1950s.
Attempts at imposing ambitious quotas have had little impact. Although fisheries from several countries agreed on new bluefin quotas late last year, they were still some 47 percent higher than the levels recommended by their own scientists — a political fudge that environmental groups condemned as a “disgrace.”
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/japan/090425/holy-mackerel-breakthrough-tuna-science
Related web sites :
Whaling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling
Anti-Whaling Ship Collides With Japanese Boat Off Antarctica
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/international/AntiWhaling-Ship-Collides-With-Japanese-Boat-Off-Antarctica_12623303
Navy Sonar may have caused Whales stranding in Manila Bay
http://jibrael.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-more-than-200-whales-stranded-in.html
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