Anti-whaling activist from Sea Shepherd arrested in Japan’s dolphin-hunting town

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Adam Westlake in Features, National with 17 Comments
Anti-whaling activist from Sea Shepherd arrested in Japan’s dolphin-hunting town

Japanese police say they have arrested a 25 year old anti-whaling activist from Germany has been arrested in the small western town of Taiji, renown for its annual dolphin slaughter. Nils Greskewitz, who investigators say has known connections with Sea Shepherd, a famous militant environmentalist group, was arrested for vandalizing a public statue in the town on Monday.

The young German man had been in Japan since Friday, and was participating in anti-whaling protests taking place in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. Greskewitz is said to have bent the harpoon part on the statue of a whaler in Whale Beach Park. The police reports say that he had been hanging from that part of the 3 meter (10 feet) high statue, and it didn’t support his weight. Greskewitz has said that it was not his intent to cause damage.

Taiji gained worldwide attention after the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove showed how dolphins are lured into enclosed groups and slaughtered every year. These events routinely draw protests and animal rights activists from around the world. Japan’s whaling industry has also been a regular target for Sea Shepherd and its leader, Paul Watson, who take sometimes violent action at sea against Japanese ships in order to disrupt the hunting practices.

[via Radio Netherlands]
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  • Ryohei Uchida

    Yep, yet another offence to add to the Sea Shepherd charge sheet. Why do people put up with these thugs?

    • truthseekers666

      Thugs… Isnt that the Japanese Govt and the Whalers you idiot.

    • http://www.facebook.com/deborah.planck Deborah Gramer Planck

      Yea such a horrible then to do their trying to save the oceans for YOU and all your love ones

    • dumb

      isnt hunting whale in a sanctuary illegal? o the boat says research, that makes it okay. how much jail time do you get in japan for throwing plastic water bottles onto the deck of a ship? i wish i could show you what a thug is

  • sealLover

    They are not thugs, they are heroes. Japan is the thug. Sorry, the son of a bitch motherfucker that should be eradicated.

    • Ryohei Uchida

      Heroes? Because they commit acts of violence in the name of ‘protecting’ non-endangered species? Hardly.
      Anyway, there will be plenty of time to debate their heroism after Paul’s been locked up and is rotting away in a Costa Rican prison. With a little luck, he might develop an appreciation there for what it is to be on the receiving end of violence.

      • truthseekers666

        Its not about endangered its about Whales being highly intelligent. Would you kill your child just because children arent on an endangered list? Get a life.

      • dumb

        do you have examples of any acts of violence? from the research iv done stink bombs n paint arent really violence, as apposed to the japanese crew physically maiming members of sea sheaperd with mace, grappling hooks, metal projectiles etc. And as far as ramming boats the japanese have taken out at least one of the sea shepherds, and only one time truly rammed the boat which caused more damage to there vessel if anything. do some research… and then go catch a harpoon

  • http://www.facebook.com/usagi.usamomo Usagi Usamomo

    Yeah,good Job! Keep going! Nice to read it was a German :D Go Nils! Thanks

  • thomasomalley

    Violent action? please clarify – if Paul Watson had a violent bone in his body those POS Japanese fishermen would all be dead and that would be a good thing.

    • installer14

      your crazy if you think murder of humans are a good thing. In the end, you cant compare human life with dolphins. You need to be behind bars before you commit a crime.

      • thomasomalley

        Why can’t you compare human life to a dophins life? Scientists have proven beyond any doubt that dolphins are so intelligent that they deserve basic human rights as non-humans and there are legal groups working to do just that. It would make captivity illegal and killing them murder, so what makes your life more special than theirs. Your the one who needs to be behind bars if you think mass murder of these intelligent creatures is OK. The earth is plagued by humans, not dolphins the Japanese say they are ‘pests’, I think the Japanese are pests, but it doesn’t mean we get to kill them, but they think it’s OK to murder cetaceans.

  • Stephen Hambrick

    Gee you can certainly see the reporter here supports Japan and it’s eradication of whales and dolphins. SSCS a militant conservation group…yeah right. Wake up and smell what you are shoveling.

  • Commonsense

    Vandalizing public property to show that you dont like something is so infantile. Even little kids know not to do that and here we have adults posting and cheering this act on, some are even talking about killing a human life as a good thing so that their self interests are preserved. Whale hunting may not be great but if your logic is to the point that your willing to commit a crime punishable by capital punishment, then the evil is you, not the fishers.

  • Albion_ada

    Well done, Nils. Well done, Sea Shepherd. You have my full support in your fight against these mindless butchers. I too have written countless polite mails and letters, begging, pleading .. for years. No good. And I won’t do it any more. Sea Shepherd is the only group that gets ANY results, and clearly it works – or else Japan would not be so hellbent on getting hold of Watson. They even managed to bribe the German government (but I guess that is not too difficult these days) to assist! Using monies donated to the victims of the Tsunami for whaling ..? That just shows you the depth of this particular swamp of brutality and corruption. I am not sure, Japan, what there is these days to be proud of for you. Kyoto? Not nearly good enough. What would lovely Kyoto look like the blood of these whales and dolphins running in channels through its gardens? What would Buddha have to say about this reckless slaughter ..? Karma, y’know …

  • truthseekers666

    Japan keeps getting its harpoons stopped. Soon they will learn that the world will take no more of Japans bull!

  • http://www.facebook.com/deborah.planck Deborah Gramer Planck

    Japan is grasping for any straw they can fine, they already raided their hotel room and confiscated all their equipment for this harmless event, which such at the most been a slap on the wrist. They are just looking for anything they can, to make them leave, so the public cann’t see the horrific slaughter of innocent whales, and dolphins by the Taiji killers. NEVER GIVE UP!