ANIMAL FORUM

>Last night I saw a great documentary on channel 4 called Battleship
>Antarctica -
>An account of film-maker Morgan Matthews two months filming with
>Greenpeace. On their 2007 expedition to confront a Japanese whaling
>fleet in the Antarctic Ocean, he captured footage of the eccentric
>crew on board, exploring their decision to spend months at sea and its
>impact on life and love
>
>I was saddened to see that the rumours about Greenpeace being a
>corporate fat cat that has lost sense of its ideals were true. They
>came across as completely spineless in the face of adversity and
>seemed to forget the reason for their very existence. The coward
>captain should have been made to walk the plank. His refusal to talk
>with Sea Shepherd, and his downright sulking, whilst at the same time
>being prepared to suck up to the Japanese whalers marks him as a
>complete waste of space.
>
>Sea Shepherd came out as having huge balls and taking the fight right
>where its needed, and not being afraid to stand up for the principles
>they believe in. In fact everything Greenpeace wasnt!
>
>I shall no longer be supporting Greenpeace and my membership will now
>be with Sea Shepherd.
>
>Thank God for programs like this that tell us where our donations are
>being used or wasted.
>
>Well done Sea Shepherd, please pipe me aboard.
>
>see
>http://www.seashepherd.org/about-mandate.html

>On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 06:41:53 +0000, John Wright
>wrote:
>
>>Last night I saw a great documentary on channel 4 called Battleship
>>Antarctica -
>>An account of film-maker Morgan Matthews two months filming with
>>Greenpeace. On their 2007 expedition to confront a Japanese whaling
>>fleet in the Antarctic Ocean, he captured footage of the eccentric
>>crew on board, exploring their decision to spend months at sea and its
>>impact on life and love
>>
>>I was saddened to see that the rumours about Greenpeace being a
>>corporate fat cat that has lost sense of its ideals were true. They
>>came across as completely spineless in the face of adversity and
>>seemed to forget the reason for their very existence. The coward
>>captain should have been made to walk the plank. His refusal to talk
>>with Sea Shepherd, and his downright sulking, whilst at the same time
>>being prepared to suck up to the Japanese whalers marks him as a
>>complete waste of space.
>>
>>Sea Shepherd came out as having huge balls and taking the fight right
>>where its needed, and not being afraid to stand up for the principles
>>they believe in. In fact everything Greenpeace wasnt!
>>
>>I shall no longer be supporting Greenpeace and my membership will now
>>be with Sea Shepherd.
>>
>>Thank God for programs like this that tell us where our donations are
>>being used or wasted.
>>
>>Well done Sea Shepherd, please pipe me aboard.
>>
>>see
>>http://www.seashepherd.org/about-mandate.html
>
>It was quite an eye opener.
>
>Great story here about how it all started and maybe this is how it
>should continue. Lip service doesnt pay dividends!
>
>The cruel, violent, despicable, blood thirsty thugs in the whaling
>industry can hardly complain about being treated as they treat others.
>
>Neptunes Navy
>http://www.seashepherd.org/fleet/fleet sea shepherd.html
>
>Sea Shepherd
>
>THE SHIP THAT STARTED IT ALL...
>...AND THE CAMPAIGN SHE WON --
>AT THE COST OF HER LIFE.
>The Sierra Campaign
>Between 1968 and 1979 a whale hunter-killer ship roamed the Atlantic
>Ocean. She changed name and ownership several times in a continuing
>attempt to evade the conservation and fishing regulations of dozens of
>nations.
>
> By 1979, the ship was operating under the name Sierra. Her crew
>included four employees of the Taiyo Fishing Company of Japan, of
>which an investigation of shipping manifests by the Observer newspaper
>showed was the primary purchaser of the outlaw whalers catch. (The
>Japan Whaling Commission claimed ignorance of the ships activities.
>To this day, Japan is the principal market for whale meat.) Her
>captain was Arvid Nordengen, a Norwegian.
>
>The Sierras operations were shockingly efficient. Only the prime
>tail meat was taken, and the remaining 80% of the whale was thrown
>away. It was estimated that she had killed over 25,000 individual
>whales. Andrew Maurice Behr, director of the Sierra Fishing Company in
>South Africa, was quoted in the Argus, a Cape Town newspaper, as
>saying that whales were endangered anyway. The world will soon be rid
>of them, so why not make a profit from them before they disappear?
>
>Having been sensitized to the slaughter of whales by a close encounter
>four years before, Paul Watson had vowed to himself that he would hunt
>down the Sierra and end her career.
>
>With a grant from the Fund for Animals Captain Watson purchased a
>19-year old North Sea cod trawler and renamed her the Sea Shepherd.
>Additional funds for preparation and fuel came from the Royal Society
>for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
>
>Using information from a variety of sources, over time Captain Watson
>narrowed down the Sierras location to somewhere in the eastern
>Atlantic between Spain and Morocco and headed there in the Sea
>Shepherd. Twelve days out of Boston, on July 15, 1979, the Sierra was
>spotted. She turned and ran at full speed toward Portugal.
>
>Unfortunately, the seas were too rough for a controlled ramming, so
>the Sea Shepherd ran along side as both ships headed toward the
>Portuguese port of Leixoes.
>
>The next day, slipping out of port before the authorities noticed, the
>Sea Shepherd surprised the Sierra drifting just outside. By radio,
>Captain Watson warned Captain Nordengen of what he was going to do and
>accelerated to full speed.
>
>The reinforced bow of the 779-ton Sea Shepherd connected with the bow
>of the 650-ton Sierra and kept on going. Captain Watson circled around
>and hit the Sierra again on the port side, tearing open a 7- by
>10-foot (2- by 3-meter) hole. The Sea Shepherd then slammed sideways
>into the smaller Sierra, staving in a long section of the Sierras
>port-side hull.
>
> Listing badly, the Sierra ran for protection toward some Portuguese
>naval ships. The Sea Shepherd headed for Spanish waters, but a navy
>ship overtook the Sea Shepherd and convinced Captain Watson to return
>to Leixoes.
>
>In early November, 1979, without a hearing or trial, a Portuguese
>judge awarded the Sea Shepherd as damages to the owners of the Sierra.
>(Some inquiries suggested that the judge had been bribed by a
>representative for Andrew Behr). Afraid that the Sea Shepherd would be
>converted to whaling operations, Captain Watson and his crew scuttled
>the Sea Shepherd on the evening of December 31, 1979, by opening the
>sea valve in the engine room, and even though it pained them very
>much, sent her to the bottom.
>
>The Sierra had been towed to Lisbon for repairs, though the Portuguese
>authorities lied to the American consul and told him that the ship had
>left the country. Taking advantage of the Sierras immobility, a team
>of underwater demolition experts made preparations to finish the
>career of the whaler.
>
>On February 6, 1980, after undergoing US$ one million in repairs, the
>Sierra was sunk at dockside by a single limpet mine that blew a small
>hole in the hull. The ship took on water and slowly sank until it
>struck the bottom. Nobody was injured.
>
>The sordid career of the Sierra was finally brought to an end.
>
>Later that year more limpet mines sank half of the Spanish whaling
>fleet. A reward offered by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for
>the sinking of whaling ships caused owners to mistrust their underpaid
>crews and shut down their own whaling operations. Sea Shepherd and her
>allies had achieved in one year what 10 years of rhetoric and national
>posturing had failed to do.

> On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:06:00 +0000, Adenoid Hynkel .
> wrote:
>
>>Later that year more limpet mines sank half of the Spanish whaling
>>fleet. A reward offered by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for
>>the sinking of whaling ships caused owners to mistrust their underpaid
>>crews and shut down their own whaling operations.

>
> wrote in message
>news:5i7cn39a4pfkerum22nlqd2oesps87defr@4ax.com...
>> On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:06:00 +0000, Adenoid Hynkel .
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Later that year more limpet mines sank half of the Spanish whaling
>>>fleet. A reward offered by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for
>>>the sinking of whaling ships caused owners to mistrust their underpaid
>>>crews and shut down their own whaling operations.
>
>They are no better than the Taliban!