Japan's whaling fleet is believed to be quitting the Antarctic under heavy conservationist and diplomatic pressure, just halfway through its worst season.
The Japanese government has decided to cut short the season and the fleet is heading back to port, sources in Tokyo told the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The sudden departure has raised hopes Japan may be moving to end its widely opposed, 23-year-old "scientific research" program, which has killed about 10,000 Antarctic whales.
Advertisement: Story continues below "Under pressure from all fronts, the Japanese whaling fleet is apparently withdrawing early this season from the internationally recognised sanctuary around Antarctica," said IFAW's global whales campaign director, Patrick Ramage.
"We hope this is a first sign of Japanese government decision makers recognising there is no future for whaling in the 21st century and that responsible whale watching, the only genuinely sustainable use of whales, is now the best way forward for a great nation like Japan," Mr Ramage said.
No immediate official confirmation was available from Japan. But the factory ship, Nisshin Maru, was today steaming towards Drake Passage, below South America, pursued by the Sea Shepherd group's vessel Bob Barker, having left its nominated whaling grounds 2000 nautical miles behind.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale ... 1aw0k.html
DEEP JOY!!!!!!
DEEP JOY!!!!!!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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The tragedy of the commons. Why did it take so long for the memo to get to Japan.
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Cos they're arrogant fuckers...
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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Ever see The Cove, Gob?
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
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Kind of like those Sea Shepherd people. some how I think if they weren't shadowing Japanese whalers they'd be throwing orange paint on old ladies in fur coats.Gob wrote:Cos they're arrogant fuckers...
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Do whales have souls, or do you have compassion, Gob ol'mate?
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I suppose I'll be paying more for my whalemeat butties in future then... 
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?
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Au contraire, Big RR. The heroism of Sea Shepherd is the principal reason that Japan has suspended its annual slaughter, and Japan itself has said so:
This is an example of good prevailing over evil, and we should celebrate it as such.Hirosh Kawamura, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said the hunt has been "temporarily suspended" since February 10 due to the actions of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Reason is valuable only when it performs against the wordless physical background of the universe.
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Hear Hear Andrew!!!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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That may well be so, but those in the organization (at least the ones i've seen on Whale Wars), are still "arrogant fuckers." And asshole who does something good is still an assholeAndrew D wrote:Au contraire, Big RR. The heroism of Sea Shepherd is the principal reason that Japan has suspended its annual slaughter, and Japan itself has said so:
This is an example of good prevailing over evil, and we should celebrate it as such.Hirosh Kawamura, an official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said the hunt has been "temporarily suspended" since February 10 due to the actions of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
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Thank god for the good doing assholes then!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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Well Gob, does the end always justify the means? Many political movements are steered toward violence (albeit in pursuit of the good result) by good-doing assholes.
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Not always no.
And we weren't really discussing the means, more the perception of the persons "assholeness".
I feel the means they use are well justified, heroic even.
And we weren't really discussing the means, more the perception of the persons "assholeness".
I feel the means they use are well justified, heroic even.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
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Agreed, we were discussing "assholeness", not means, but the two are often intertwined. The assholes will often push and/or take things too far.
and FWIW, I don't think the Sea shepherds have crossed that line yet (at least that I've seen or heard about), but I wouldn't be surprised if they do (anymore than I would be surprised if the Japanese do).
and FWIW, I don't think the Sea shepherds have crossed that line yet (at least that I've seen or heard about), but I wouldn't be surprised if they do (anymore than I would be surprised if the Japanese do).
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Well they've got this season's hunt shut down, so good on them I say!
If she does I'll push her overboard.
We've got a Japanese exchange student staying with us sometime this year. If it's at the right time in the season, we'll take her whale watching, see if she drools....Japan's farm and fisheries minister Michihiko Kano said Japan would halt its Antarctic whaling mission for the rest of this season because of harassment by the US-based militant environmental group on the high seas.
Mr Kano said today that Japan would call its harpoon ships home "to ensure the safety of the whaling crew amid the continuing harassment by anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd", public broadcaster NHK said.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale ... 1ayy8.html
If she does I'll push her overboard.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”