Australian whaling protesters 'rammed'

It's funny that they are trying to portray Sea Shepherd as the bad guys and denying any wrongdoing on the part of the whalers. It's so obvious that the Rudd government is in their pocket.

Ady Gil crewman tells of Japanese whaling vessel terror

Here is the view from the Sea Shepherd's Ady Gil crew.

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Pictures confirm it was not an accident. Look at the water cannons.

A CREWMAN aboard the anti-whaling ship allegedly rammed by a Japanese whaling vessel said it was "like looking death in the eye".

The Mercury reports Laurens de Groot, 29, was standing on top of the Sea Shepherd's Ady Gil when the collision with the Shonan Maru 2 happened in the Southern Ocean off coast of Antarctica yesterday afternoon.

"It was the most terrifying moment of my life - when you look up and there's the bow of a thousand-tonne steel ship hanging above you, about to split you in two. You're looking death straight in the eye," he said.

"I was standing on the roof of our vessel. Thank God I could just jump out of the way as soon as the bow hit us.

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"I fell on the deck of our ship and almost rolled off.

"They kept hosing us down with their water hoses as they rammed us. They were running us down and still hosing us".

Six crew members aboard the Ady Gil were rescued, one with broken ribs.

For more of de Groot's account, visit The Mercury.

The Federal Government has ordered an investigation into the clash which destroyed the $2 million Ady Gil.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority had been directed to investigate the incident.

She said she had seen incident of the video.

"It deeply concerns me. Lives are at risk. It seems miraculous that lives were not lost," she said today.

Accusations

Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson has accused Japanese whalers of a high seas hit-and-run, disputing claims the collision was accidental.

Japan's Fisheries Agency has blamed the Ady Gil for the crash, saying it slowed suddenly while crossing in front of the Shonan Maru.

But Mr Watson today labelled the claim ridiculous, saying the whaling ship deliberately rammed the boat in a high seas "hit and run".

"The Ady Gil was stationary at the time it was struck," Mr Watson said on Macquarie Radio.

"The Shonan Maru did a quick turn and came in real fast, they were aiming for the cockpit, where the crew were, and fortunately we got the engines in reverse and backed up just enough so that the front of the ship was torn off instead of hitting the cockpit.

"They were trying to sink the ship. We put out a mayday distress signal and the Japanese refused to respond - it was a hit and run really."

A spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, Glenn Inwood, contradicted Sea Shepherd's account of the incident.

"The (Ady Gil) skipper put the boat into full sting to try to cut the Shonan Maru off," he said on ABC Radio.

"You can see that the Shonan Maru is moving to the port to try and avoid a collision and there's no avoiding the collision with the Ady Gil.

"It's a fast boat, she heads off full steam in front of it and miscalculates. So it's no wonder that it came to the grief that it has."

Asked if the environmental group would press charges against the whalers, Mr Watson said: "There's no law down here, there's no way to bring charges against anybody.

"Japan does what it wants, where it wants. They're killing these whales in violation of international law. And if they were to injure or kill any of us, their government will justify and defend their actions."

Mr Watson again called on the Government to send naval ships to stop the whalers exploiting the southern ocean whale sanctuary, which falls in Australia's Antarctic Territory waters.

"(Environment Minister) Peter Garrett promised before he was elected that he would come down here and stop the illegal Japanese whaling activities - we're still waiting for him to do so," Mr Watson said.

Ms Gillard said the Australian Government would not send a boat to monitor operations in the Southern Ocean.

The Oceanic Viking was sent to the region two years ago to observe and "it did not influence behaviour", she said.

Japan aims to slaughter nearly 1000 minke whales this summer as well as 20 rare fin whales and 50 humpbacks.

first idiotic comment says it all.

mick straycat of darwin Posted at 3:51 PM Today

So the innocent just happened to park their ultra-fast ultra-stealth ultra-expensive boat in front of a much bigger boat. No worries, the stupid and gullible people of this world will all pitch in to buy them another big boy's toy. I do hope they save some money to donate to Hindu who object to my eating their scared cow.
 
It's funny that they are trying to portray Sea Shepherd as the bad guys and denying any wrongdoing on the part of the whalers. It's so obvious that the Rudd government is in their pocket.QUOTE]

I agree - it is terrible - they are also showing footage where they are trying to say the Sea Shepherd accelerated into the whaling boat. The Rudd government is all talk on this issue, they need to take a more decisive stand - but that will never happen.
 
I have never personally met a Japanese person who was some in their country's psychotic obsession with killing whales :crazy:
And I have discussed this issue with a number of them over the years. :straightface:
They tell me how people in Japan eat whale meat less and less and how it must be subsidized.
How basically its consumption will die out with the last of those still alive from the "WW2 generation"
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However, they appear to be wrong. :eek:
It seems that killing these whales for a high amount of profit is just to lucrative for their government subsidised whalers. :cool:
So what has to happen is that the people of Japan must be actively for a change in government policy.
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Now how to go about I do not really know. :confused:
But I do not think that enough Japanese can be made to care about whales so that their government ceases to fund their extinction.
No, what matters to many of the Japanese is face, they must be made to lose face over this issue.

The good thing is that each of us as individuals can make that happen.

If you have the opportunity to engage in conversation with a Japanese tourist(particularly a male one). Then make sure to embarrass them about this whole whaling business, exploit the fragile ego that many have. Exaggerate the level of barbarity that others outside of Japan attach to these heinous acts.
If enough people do things like that when personally dealing with Japanese as they go abroad, well, then I think some whales could be saved.
 
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