Sea Shepherd Give Green Light To Violence
Stuart Nettle July 12, 2010
During last seasons Southern Ocean whale hunt Sea Shepherd activist Captain Peter Bethune illegally boarded a Japanese whaling vessel. Bethune's ship, the Ady Gil, had sunk following a collision with a Japanese ship and Bethune attempted to hand the Japanese captain an arrest warrant. He was immediately taken into custody and faced various charges.
In the course of the trial it was found that Bethune took four 'lethal force' bow and arrows down to the Southern Ocean. In reply to the find Sea Shepherd dumped Bethune for breaching their no weapons policy. Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Sea Shepherd, Chuck Swift, said the bow and arrows revealed to be in possession of Bethune were "absolutely not in line" with the organisation's policies. "His decision to bring them on a Sea Shepherd campaign is unacceptable" said Swift.
Bethune's trial finished last week with the activist found guilty on five charges and receiving a suspended two year sentence. He immediately flew home to New Zealand. On the day of the sentencing Captain Paul Watson told New Zealand radio that Bethune was "certainly welcome back [to Sea Shepherd] in the future." Asked about the change in attitude Watson said that the appearance of of cutting Bethune adrift was only a legal strategy during the trial to avoid unwanted criticism.
So, what are we to make of this public skiting by Paul Watson?
The first implication is that Sea Shepherd are advocating the use of violence. Despite the organisation apparently having a no weapons policy they willingly chose to ignore it. That the breach of rules came from the Captain of a ship is even more alarming. On a boat, where space is a premium, he carried four lethal weapons. This was not disputed by either Bethune or Sea Shepherd.
Last month the Dalai Lama criticised Sea Shepherd for their violent tactics. Despite supporting their goal of ending whaling the Tibetan spiritual leader rebuked the organisation for their increasing use of violence. Watson, in a statement on the Sea Shepherd website, was unrepentant.
And Watson, who was himself cut adrift from Greenpeace when he couldn't uphold the peaceful end of their moniker, has shown an amazing lack of judgement by going on air and welcoming Bethune back. Even if was a deliberate stratagem why tell the media? It reeks of braggadocio and may come back to haunt Sea Shepherd at a later date. You can be sure that any prosecuting lawyer will remember those remarks and turn them back around on the activist organisation in the likelihood of future trials. That's one defence tactic no longer available.
Watson is currently preparing for the upcoming whaling season which begins in late November and violence looks assured. "We suspect it will be more aggressive." said Watson.
Comments
i fully support sea shepherd.
ship looks cool with pirate flag and all that.
but...it's this captain and his hippie crew...
they annoy the shit outa me... i donno...may be its just me...
i reckon discovery channel should hire danny trejo for a captain.
and let him to hire a crew.
yeah ! danny trejo for captain of sea shepherd ! he is a badarse !
http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/danny-trejo.jpg
I've watched almost all of the whale wars episodes on Animal Planet whilst I've been visiting the parents in the States. On the show, they claimed that those bows were to be used in fouling the whale meat that was to be taken aboard and processed on the factory ship.
Regardless, these guys are outright terrorists in my book. I don't agree with whaling, but who are we to judge? The Japanese have been whaling for centuries, it carries cultural significance that isn't stressed in our society...The arrogance and lack of empathy of those on board the Sea Sheppard boats makes me cringe...
Wouldn't you be pissed off if some douchebag activists (who earn enough money to take time off their dayjobs) decided to try and destroy your livelihood? They make out that those on board the ships are doing this are on some sort of evil, genocidal crusade...Come on...
On the program, I watched the captain of the Ada Gill stop and destroy fisherman's longlines on his way down south to meet up with the other Sea Sheppard boats. Come on... How is that different from unplugging and vandalizing vending machines because you have some ideolgical distaste for that type of endeavour? If you're caught doing that, you are charged with vandalism and are prosecuted!
Every Sea Shepherd article on Swellnet only makes them stronger...
in a fair and just world youd be shot with an exploding harpoon and skinned alive. ITs amazing how surfers dont care about the environment.
"ITs amazing how surfers dont care about the environment."
boxright, what makes you think that surfers don't care about the environment?
I think Sea Shepherd are trying to do a good thing, but I am not sure the violent vigalantie method is the correct way to do it.
I don't thnk I can come up with a solution either. I saw a mother and her calf the other day and it was such an amazing thing to see, only 100m off the beach. How could you kill one of these?
Brianp is correct though, these whalers are fed all sorts of propaganda from their bosses (including the odd minki steak) and make their living from the slaughter of whales.
Save the whales but with someone a bit smarter than Sea Shepherd.
i don't suppose american television mentioned that post ww2 it was general macathur's orders (he thought because there weren't any cattle and japanese were small that they lacked protein in their diet) that put whale meat in every single japanese school-kid's lunchbox.
pre-macathur whale hunting and eating in japan were culturally attached to just a couple of small towns.
History will yet be the final judge on the Sea Shepherd tactics.
In terms of delaying and limiting the kill and keeping the issue front and central in the public mind they are being inordinately successful.
It could be argued Australia's legal challenge to Japanese Whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary wouldn't have occurred without the constant publicity their activism generates.
Activism has been proven to be successful in saving North Coast rainforests from being clear felled.
Don't think many people would visit these areas and say "damm these feral terrorist activists for sabotaging bulldozers and chaining themselves to tree.
Most would be grateful that they had the courage to do so.
Definitely a contentious issue. I fully support Paul Watson for courageously taking a stand for what most people would agree, is an outdated practice. You can mask it as cultural, but I can guarantee you Japanese 200 years ago weren't heading to Antarctica with powered harpoons to kill commercial quantities of whales. The world is changing, and culture will have to change with it. Whaling, long line fishing, shark finning are all entirely unsustainable practices that need to stop immediately. It's an unfortunate truth that most fishing practices are not sustainable. I spent one week on a prawn trawler in Port Headland and suffice to say, I have not eaten prawns since. If Paul Watson and his crew (who are not ALL dirty hippies, and most of whom I have met have sacrificed things like a house, a job and social relationships to do something they believe in.. yeah, that is directed at you brianp) were not out there actually physically doing cutting long lines, getting in the way of ships etc then this sort of thing would go unchecked for years. You can hold as many IWC's as you want, but nothing is effective as what Sea Shepherd get up to.
Wise words freeride76 ....
Struggle takes many forms - Gordon River - Tas (1980s), Myall Lakes - NSW (1970s), Fraser Island - Qld (1970s), Old Growth Forests in Tasmania and Victoria (1970s - 2010), Greenpeace (French atom bomb testing in the pacific (1970s & 1980s) and the glorious Sea Shepherds etc etc etc
In all these struggles and 1,000s more oridinary, but brave, people broke/break the law to protect something not for gain but because they recognise how special our blue planet and its natural world diversity is.
People are forced to do these things when politians sell out.
I do not support violence but equally I cannot accept the jelly backed position of our government when it comes to whales that are brutally killed each year in Australian waters. Our government has the right to take the Japanese to an International court but will not do so for "political" reasons.
So I am concerned for the safety of the Sea Shepherds this coming whaling season but I support them 100%. If their brave actions force our piss-weak government to act to keep the Japanese out all power to the Sea Shepherds.
Sea Shepherds hypocrisy really boils me. The southern bluefin tuna has been hunted almost to the point of collapse. Far beynd the threat posed to any whale species. The southern fisheries hanging on by a lifeline and only urgent intervention will help. Ther are a lot of studys around on this and awareness is growing.
But guess who catches the majority of the fish?? Australia. If they are serious Shepherds then go down to australian ports and blockade the boats. Dont think that is ever going to hapen, it's easier to demonise the 'other' then confront your own people.
Kudos to Sea Shepherd for doing what no government has the guts to do. Yeah, their tactics may be dangerous and reckless, but what do you expect them to do? Line up and chuck brown-eyes at the Japanese? Or, do you think they should follow Greenpeace's inaction and hang around in Tokyo looking for a sympathetic ear? Give the bastards hell SS! You got my 20 bucks again this year.
Just to reinforce my view, I do not agree with whaling. However, I disagree with the methodology that the Sea Sheppard crew use in trying to drive home their agenda. It's not the people on the boats who are the problem (which if you watch Whale Wars every crew member seems to personally HATE), but rather the lawmakers who perpetuate the industry. Is the construction worker bulldozing down the trees the bad guy, or the company and lawmakers who employ him?
In my eyes, the Sea Sheppard crew are lost in a self-righteous, hate mongering campaign. Come on Watson, use your millions of dollars that you spend sluggishly chasing the whaling fleets to hold protests outside whaling HQ's, or to lobby the appropriate government agency. Maybe get a little creative, like those protesting BP...Hire a troop of vuvuzela toting protesters to stand outside parliament to get your message across. It may be boring and not warrant a TV show, but at least it may be a little effective... Maybe you can get some positive press in the papers for once?!
Finally, where are the Sea Sheppard campaign's opposing any of the other whaling countries? Last time I checked, Japan weren't the only perpetrators of this heinous act. According to Wikipedia, whaling is practiced by Indonesia, Norway, Russia, the USA, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines AND Japan. All for cultural reasons...
Like it or not, if you want to gain widespread credibility and actually get somewhere you have to step out from fringe ideological crusades and play the game... Beat them from the inside...
'Is the construction worker bulldozing down the trees the bad guy, or the company and lawmakers who employ him?'
I see this line of thought all the time. 'He is just doing his job! ra ra ra'. There is such a thing as a conscience and most people have things called morals. If you don't think harpooning a whale or clear-felling acres of native forest for woodchips is a little bit stupid, then yes, you are a bad guy. If you do think it is immoral, but do it anyway because someone will give you money for it, then yes you are still a bad guy. Everyone has the freedom to make choices, most definately in a fortunate country like Australia, and that goes with the way you make your money.
WWF, Greenpeace, the freaking government who should be upholding the law... they are the ones that should be playing the game. All the noise pollution from vuvuzuelas and general annoyance in the world isn't going to do anything in the short term. There are people filling that role already. SS is filling the gap, taking direct action, and actually stopping whales being killed. The numbers are out there if you want to look. You will probably also find some information about Paul Watson practically shutting down half of Norways whaling fleets in the 80's, as well as in Iceland. As well reigniting the seal clubbing debate, and fighting long-line fishing in the Galapagos and Cocos Islands. Is it really up to them to do something about the tuna industry too?
"Like it or not, if you want to gain widespread credibility and actually get somewhere you have to step out from fringe ideological crusades and play the game... Beat them from the inside..."
Don't think SS are after widespread credibility, nor is there any compelling evidence that widespread credibility is the most effective way of stopping whaling.
The whole IWC is an organisation that has no widespread credibility and the concept under which Japan justifies it's whaling in a Sanctuary is quite obviously completely bereft of credibility.
Scientific Whaling?????
Come on.
on the issue of livelihood Whale tourism is becoming more and more of a money spinner for coastal communities. Japan wants to add east coast migrating Humpbacks to it's target species.
That poses a direct threat to the livelihood of Australian people.
There's very little to justify Japan's continued aggressive and inflammatory policy of whaling in the Southen Ocean Sanctuary.
If it takes aggressive action from SS to keep this issue front and central until it can be resolved then I support them.
'Is the construction worker bulldozing down the trees the bad guy, or the company and lawmakers who employ him?'
the point is that a couple of whalers making conscious decisions based on personal morals to not kill whales will not stop whaling. nor will pissing them off. nor even pissing off the board-room bosses who never see or care about any of the coal-face stuff. i don't believe picking on 'the japanese' or pissing off their government is going to solve any dispute either.
industries are not controlled by the players but by the economic god and this god doesn't appear to have a soul or conscience.
it seems most people here are in agreement that the current situation sucks but while we use our energy and passion to disagree, blame and vent our anger the situation continues. i see sea shepherd and support for them as being an extension of this misplaced energy.
i don't have any cures but i would like to see a more dispassionate, unbiased and fact based discussion.
then at least we might, as a group, start to pull in the same direction.
"i don't have any cures but i would like to see a more dispassionate, unbiased and fact based discussion."
Kieru, with all due respect could you point out any examples where a sovereign government has changed their policy on an moral issue based on "dispassionate, unbiased and fact based discussion"
That is just not the way the world works.
Govts change based on strong international pressure.
History shows us that with abundant clarity.
SS are maintaing international pressure by continually keeping the issue front and central.
Do you think Australia would have launched it's legal action without the constant publicity generated by SS?
freeride, actually the discussion i was referring to was within this thread.
i agree that international pressure is an avenue for change but we do disagree as to how that should occur.
whaling is a violent act. sea shepherd retaliates with violence and here the vicious circle in which we humans continue to travel begins.
sorry i don't condone violence and history shows through all our collective disputes and wars that as a species we haven't wised up much.
i don't think the actions of sea shepherd can lead to a solution and i believe that the whales, being peace loving creatures, would agree.
"and i believe that the whales, being peace loving creatures, would agree."
Given a certain intelligence, that would depend on whether an explosive harpoon was pointed at them, threatening them and their kind with a slow and painful death.
freeride, fair comment regarding the bulldozer driver. My point is that maybe they don't have the choice whether or not to participate. Maybe this is the only job they can get? I highly doubt they are doing what they are doing purely to kill and mutilate whales. Japan's economy isn't the strongest in the world. No economic growth, actually a negative GDP% growth... Maybe this was the only job they could find?
They should be more violent, if anything.
Yay, go get them Sea Shepherd! Peacenik behaviour simply won't work in the Southern Ocean. My suggestion is the bow and arrow are a tad underpowered and a good high powered hunting rifle may be a better bet!
From Brianp "The Japanese have been whaling for centuries, it carries cultural significance that isn't stressed in our society."
Hey Brian, just a quick correction on your comment that the Japanese have been whaling for years, this is only partly correct, the vast majority of Japanes communities have only been eating whale since the early to mid 20th century, when commercial whale meat became abundant and cheap and it was a regular item on school lunch menu's.
The majority of Japanese people have not been eating whale meat for much more than 50 -60 years. true there are some communities that have had a much longer tradition of hunting whales, but it is the small minority and the methods of hunting did not have nearly as much impact on overall whale numbers as do modern factory farming methods today.
As for your argument about, destroying peoples livelyhood, i think that this is a bit of a weak argument, whaleing is definately not the industry that is propping up the Japanese economy.
I personally dont think that a violent approach to the issue is particularly helpful and very much makes the japanes whalers look like the victim, which is counter productive.
totally agreed with more violence concept. war should be a hell.
but these "wars" are dull. don't slaughter their men and rape their women, just send few treehuggers to hassle their fishermen in the high seas. what a joke
Geoff, fair point regarding the recent uptake in the consumption of whaling post WWII. I read the article Wikipedia sources and if it's true then I retract my comments regarding whaling as a cultural activity.
In regards to peoples livelihoods, I was not saying do not stop it because of peoples livelihoods. Rather I'm saying that the Sea Sheppard crew are shooting stink bombs at the wrong people. This won't deter the deckhand from whaling... What does he care? As long as he's on the clock, getting paid, everything's dandy...
Ironically, the same article you source says;
"Tensions have also mounted over the harassment of the Japanese whaling fleet by eco-activists determined to disrupt the annual hunt. Ironically, Morikawa argues, the Sea Shepherd's confrontational tactics have enabled the Japanese government to rally domestic support for a program that has otherwise aroused little enthusiasm among Japanese. "
It seems the Sea Shepherd are actually helping the overall plight of the whalers in the eyes of the Japanese public...
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fb20100425a1.html
Japan contains approximately 2% of the worlds population but consumes over 10% of global marine resources. It steam fishing fleets inordinate distances across the globe to actively participate in the over exploitation of global marine ecosystem well beyond their own national economic zone. Their national government consistently ignore or deflect all attempts by international organisations and other Governments to moderate their exploitative behaviour.
As a nation Japan use significant economic power to bribe and influence smaller island nations to support their unbending attitude to marine exploitation. Japan is by no means alone in doing these things, but it has consistently resisted all and every attempt to strike a more reasonable balance.
Regardless of the strong moral imperative against Whaling, the earths marine resources are finite and reaction against any nation that fails to honour its obligation to act in a sustainable manner is going to be predicable. The Sea Shepard Society believes that it is locked into a serious resource war with an unrepentant and intractable violator of the first order. It is not hard to understand what brought them to their hard line attitude, and while violence in any form is aborent, history has shown that it is sometimes the only means by which to bring about change.
great! let's bash japan and start another war and then another and then another and then ............
we'll call this one the 'i like to eat this so F off war'
i'll start the argument for japan:
western countries don't treat the cute cows, pretty sheep and funny pigs humanely. they consume an inordinate proportion of global meat production (90%). the farming practices for meat (which can't be sustained within their own borders and so they corrupt third world cultures for more pasture) massively contribute to the no.1 global problem of warming the atmosphere. this multi-millennium practice continues through major deforestation for pasture worldwide, enormous production of methane and the list of crimes against the planet through meat production continues .......
they outrageously defend these abhorrent acts as being part of their identity ie. cultural.
the negative effects of fishing practices are not even close to being in the same league so let's also add to the list the fact that westerners are arrogant and when given a logical argument are unreasonably aggressive which proves that they have an ingrained culture of violence.
'humans will be the first species to be the masters of their own extinction' (source unknown) but unfortunately prior to this parting will have caused the extinction of thousands of former cohabitant species.
war is good and the sooner we rid the planet of this pestilential human species the better.
Hey kieru
Ill lend you a noose bro
>kieru - western countries don't treat the cute cows, pretty sheep and funny pigs humanely.<
Oh, I love this argument! It is the most pathetic and non-poignant argument ever! How can you compare the slaughter of domestically farmed animals with that of free ranging whales? You've been living in Japan too long!
Japan has sent it's whaling vessels towards the Southern ocean today.
They agree they are hunting in an Internationally recognised sanctuary but have used the reason that because it is "scientific research" they are exempt from recognising the sanctuary.
The "lethal scientific reasearch" , whereby whale meat ends up as a commercial product is the basis of Australia's court case against Japan.
Japan included humpback whales in it's scientific whaling as a way to leverage other countries.
Interesting article published in The Saturday Paper over the weekend: "The last pirate: Paul Watson splits with Sea Shepherd" (behind paywall.. well worth a sub though)
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/environment/2022/10/15/the-last...
So... what's changed in the thirteen years since Stu's article was written?
I find it very hypocritical that Captain Paul Watson only calls himself vegetarian and not vegan.
Dairy and eggs are some huge animal killers. Bobby calves and male chicks are slaughtered by the millions as they are no use to either industry yet he still supports this?