National
Ida Torres on Feb 25 2013
After a collision in the Southern Ocean between
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships and a Japanese whaling vessel, the conservation group has made public new footage of the Nisshin Maru pushing the Bob Barker into a South Korean fuel tanker.
Following yesterday’s encounter with Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru, wherein environmental activist group
Sea Shepherd saw damages made to their ships
the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker, its captain Paul Watson told Australian Associated Press (AAP) that they expect the Southern Ocean whale-hunting season to be cut short. "The ICR (Japanese Institute for Cetacean Research) has announced a temporary halt in their whaling operations, which over the last few years usually means they're ending it for the season."
Paul Watson, the founder the of environmental activist group
Sea Shepherd, has released a statement claiming that they have been rammed twice by the factory ship from Japan's whaling fleet, the Nisshin Maru, in the Southern Ocean waters. He adds that there have not been any injuries, and that everyone is ok, but the Steve Irwin vessel was hit in the stern, while the Bob Barker was also rammed and is taking on water in the engine compartment. Sea Shepherd also alleges that the Japan Coast Guard is throwing "concussion grenades" at the anti-
whaling group.
Environmental extremist and anti-whaling group
Sea Shepherd has issued a statement that accuses Japan's fleet of spilling oil in Australian waters. Using four vessels to try to obstruct Japan's yearly whale hunt in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd says it has collected samples from the oil slick it discovered on Sunday near the Sun Laurel,
the whaling fleet's re-supply ship. In addition, the group says one of Japan's harpoon ships has tried to crash into them as they prevented the transfer of a dead whale to the Nisshin Maru mothership.
Activist group
Sea Shepherd says that is has located the key resupply ship for Japan's whaling fleet, the Sun Laurel, and plans to prevent any of the nation's vessels from refueling. The 5,700 ton tanker ship is said to have been found in the Southern Ocean, roughly 1,250 nautical miles south of Western Australia.
