Nations fail to agree on curbing Japan whale hunt

AGADIR, Morocco — Japanese officials and environmentalists traded blame Wednesday as nations failed to reach a deal to curb whale hunts by Japan, Norway and Iceland—countries that kill hundreds of whales every year.

The 88 nations of the International Whaling Commission held two days of intense closed-door talks on a proposal to ease the 25-year-old ban on commercial whaling in exchange for smaller kills by the three countries that claim exemptions to the moratorium on hunting for profit.

About 1,500 animals are killed each year by Japan, Norway and Iceland. Japan, which kills the majority of whales, insists its hunt is for scientific research — but more whale meat and whale products end up in Japanese restaurants than in laboratories.

A key sticking point appeared to be that the agency declared a whaling sanctuary in 1994 in the Southern Ocean south of Australia, but Japanese ships hunt freely there because the agency has no enforcement powers.

Australia has already launched a complaint against Japanese whaling at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the U.N.'s highest court.

Acting IWC chairman Anthony Liverpool said in an open meeting Wednesday that "fundamental positions remained very much apart."

Complete Story.

Sea Shepherd - Popular Culture and South Park

When Sea Shepherds plans for a new reality television show with Animal Planet were announced - we had to the following to say about it:

"Perhaps one of the most chilling departures from the entire 40 year global eco movement was this year when Sea Shepherd traded it's last shred of dignity and credibility for the cameras of Animal Planet and thus began Eco-Edutainment Television, where media messaging and outright fabrication of events have subsumed the horrors of actual whaling. Where dead whales and story lines are traded with advertisements for SUV's and laundry detergent. This is a meeting of eco media and horror that never should have happened and now that it has will change the landscape of the global eco movement for years to come."

No truer words have been written about the ongoing embarrassment to the global eco movement that is Sea Shepherds Whale Wars.

We're not the only ones to take notice, popular culture commentators South Park decided to expose Sea Shepherd this week in what can only be described as "Skewering the Emperor with no clothes."

We have been covering Sea Shepherds media rise and mistakes for the past year in an ongoing series of blog posts. In one year Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd have managed to completely redefine the term for "conservation," taking the concept from quantifiable metrics for eco success to a series of often inane talking points and million dollar media spectaculars that leverage main stream media's desire to sell advertising as their conservation vehicle.

Meanwhile whales keep being killed, year after year, while Whale Wars ratings climb. It is high time we discuss and enable real and lasting conservation efforts. Reality television shows are not conservation, and fortunately South Park has just embedded that idea with the next generation of conservationists.

Sometimes the best way to enact conservation change is with a popular culture backlash.

Unfortunately Sea Shepherd is soon to announce a new reality television show with sharks in the coming weeks. We're pretty sure the folks at South Park are looking forward to that announcement as well, while the rest of the shark conservation world cringes at the prospect.

See complete Whale Whores episode here.

Sea Shepherd-Wagging The Conservation Dog

We blogged about the "shot that never was" a few months ago.

A lie sent forth by Sea Shepherd so egregious, so fantastical, that we were pretty sure people would see through it's blatant transparencies and demand action.

Alas, as Shakespeare once pointed out, "all the world's a stage and we are merely players". It would seem that Paul Watson's media people read Shakespeare.

As Sea Shepherd flounders around in the Southern ocean (once again) searching desperately for television ratings under the guise of saving whales let's pause for a moment and perhaps listen to the other side of this issue. The points they bring up are important.

Real conservation is goal and result oriented. What Sea Shepherd is doing with the hard earned millions of well meaning eco donors is tantamount to creating a floating version of the Moulin Rouge...except at the end of this bacchanalia of poor judgement, made up press releases, and missed opportunities there remains next years whale hunt.

Sea Shepherd is as ineffectual this year as it has been for the past ten when it comes to stopping the hunting of whales. The addition of a 24/7 film crew from Discovery Channel's Animal Planet adds to the dangers and unnecessary hubris that is Wagging The Conservation Dog.

Press Release JWA

“Last season in the Antarctic, the presence of the Animal Plant film crew pushed the Sea Shepherd extremists into committing more and more dangerous actions, all for the benefit of the camera,” said the President of the JWA, Mr Keiichi Nakajima.

“Paul Watson even orchestrated a fake event to make it look like he was shot, all of which was aimed at denigrating Japan and boosting the ratings of the Animal Planet un-reality TV series.”

Mr Nakajima said JWA was even more concerned this season because there is now the added expectation that the Sea Shepherd-Animal Planet crew will take even greater risks and perform even more serious criminal acts for the second series for Animal Planet.

Note: Whaling has no place in today's oceans, we have always said this. But profiting from the death of whales as Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet are doing with their new show Whales Wars is, in our opinion, worse.

Sea Shepherd-Time to Depart From The World Scene?

Here's why we would like to see Sea Shepherd depart as gracefully as they can from the international eco-scene.

For the past year we have been carefully watching the "main event" for the big non profits, the battle to save whales and enlighten the public over Japan's involvement in the ongoing commercial whale slaughter on the Southern Ocean.

Both Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd had vessels on site in 2008 chasing hunter and factory ships here. We became increasingly disillusioned and then stunned at Captain Paul Watson's ratcheting hysteria, false claims against the Japanese, and multiple bogus media reports.

These wild reports depicted an eco organization not in touch with anything except making headlines for it's self and titular head. Sea Shepherd anti whaling crews who were "held hostage" by the Japanese were only there when Watsons vessel sailed away "abandoning them" on Japanese whaling vessels.

At one point Watson went as far as claiming he had been shot by Japanese whaling crews, a news report that was picked up verbatim by almost every blog and media source on the planet.

Unfortunately, the entire report was a media charade, and Watson had never been shot. The media had a field day with a video of a bullet proof vest and Watsons surprised look, but no follow up has ever been done by Sea Shepherd and he has not submitted his vest or bullet for any testing to authorities...ever.

But this is not the main reason for wanting to see Sea Shepherd gone. It's the quality of eco-work that is lacking from Sea Shepherd. Paul Watson believes that just showing up with a vessel and creating a bogus media storm by throwing around wild accusations is enough to change the public's view and change political policy. For all intents, once he has departed the area of operations Sea Shepherd ceases to remain on message, choosing instead to highlight the "next big thing".

The term for this is "drive by eco-news". What is needed is follow up, undercover work, and dedication. Case in point Greenpeace Japan announced today that it's members in Japan have uncovered what happens to a large amount of the scientific whale meat harvested from the Southern Ocean. In a stunning revelation they have found much of it gets distributed as a form of graft within Japan, either stolen, or "disappeared" by the crews of the government run whaling vessels. It has created a stir within Japan, where graft is considered a social faux pas and a culturally sensitive topic. This is how you change policy.

For Watson and Company they seem to have missed this point. It is time to consider retirement lest Sea Shepherds legacy devolve into that of hysterical non effective eco crazies who no real agenda but the next fake news report depicting events that never really happened.

Isn't the stark reality of whale hunting enough without the self imposed media theatre that Watson and Sea Shepherd bring to the international scene?

How much harm does this do to legitimate eco groups worldwide who are increasingly seen though the same lens?

Paul Watson Shot? Wait a Minute!

Something is not right about the latest action on the Southern Ocean. At hand claims and even a video showing what looks like a shot through a bullet proof vest worn by Sea Shepherd's Captain Paul Watson.

In this video he claims to have taken a direct round to the heart region. For all intents it looks like he has, with the bullet passing deeply into the vest only to be stopped dramatically by a shield he was wearing below the vest.

The media are having a field day with this.

Now let's break this one down.

1. The shooter, presumably firing from the Nisshin Maru, was in a concealed position when he fired that shot. Not one of the Sea Shepherd crew maintain they saw anyone with a rifle on board. So let's assume concealment as being out in the open would have given the shooter away.

2. Both the Nisshin Maru and the Sea Shepherd vessel were underway at the time and on moving seas. The shooter had to adjust not only for random waves and distance, but from a concealed position had to account for wind, also assuming that Watson was moving around as well at the time.

3. To make that one shot, and were not talking about a stationary book depository in Dallas, the odds are almost incalculable that the shooter got Waston directly over the heart with just one single round. It's a simply amazing shot.

Now for the real question, "why?"

Why would the Japanese government risk everything by trying to kill Captain Paul Watson?

Clearly had this shot killed Watson they would have lost everything they have worked for to date with the International Whaling Commission and with world opinion. Watson would have become a Whale Martyr and whaling as we know it would stop due to unprecedented pressure from outraged group worldwide. What was in it for Japan to even attempt to try and kill this extremely high profile whale activist in full sight of multiple cameras and witnesses?

They did use flash bang grenades and it was caught on tape, but the single shot?

Kevlar and Ballistic Vests

To penetrate a Kevlar or ballistic vest from a distance you need at least a 7.62 mm round. Obvious choices would be military rounds with some sort of armor piercing capability. That is assuming the shooter knew that Watson was wearing a bullet proof vest in the first place. Obviously from the penetration the shooter understood this, otherwise this kind of round would have passed through Watson and rattled around the ship.

The Point?

We'll be the first to say that what Japan is doing is wrong. Whaling should end. What Watson and Sea Shepherd have done with this claim is raise the credibility stakes of both sides to an absolute win or lose scenario.

Japan and Waston should call for an independent commission to look at both the vest and the recovered spent round to determine where it came from and what type of round it was. If it is proven that the round was fired by the Japanese they should be forced to end whaling. This was attempted murder, nothing more or less.

If Paul Watson made this story up, the credibility of Sea Shepherd will be forever lost, their status as a non profit should be pulled, and Sea Shepherd should go away.

Time will tell, but probably not the shooter in this case, whoever it was.

Whale Wars-Captain Paul Watson Claims to be Shot

Just when you thought this years Southern Whale hunt could not get any more dramatic, there's word today that Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd has been shot. He's unharmed...and talking to the media.

In fact there's also video.

What prompted the shooting, according to those on site, was a rotten butter attack by the crew of the Sea Shepherd upon the Japanese whale fleet...yes, a rotten butter attack.

One question, why was Paul Watson wearing a Kevlar vest in the first place?

CNN-Japanese whalers and anti-whaling activists clashed in the waters near Antarctica on Friday, with each side offering conflicting accounts of a confrontation with violent overtones.

The official said a whaling crew member threw a device that explodes with a warning bang to discourage the activists. The crew member threw the device after activists threw a foul-smelling acid found in rotten butter toward the whaling ship, the official said.

Watson was shot, the group said, and two others were injured. A 35-year-old from Australia hurt his hip trying to dodge a flash grenade, and a 33-year-old Australian received bruises after a flash grenade exploded near him.

An official the Japanese Fisheries Agency said the Sea Shepherd began throwing smelly chemicals toward the whaling vessel around 12:36 p.m. local time. About an hour later, the official said, a safety officer aboard the whaling vessel threw a ball that explodes to produce a warning bang.

"They might have mistaken that was a shooting sound," the official said. "We are not shooting a gun or anything at them."