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Two Sea Shepherd boats - Steve Irwin and Bob Barker - arrived in Hobart this morning. That means the Japanese whaling season is about to kick off, within the "whale sanctuary" of the southern ocean. I used to be a fan of what Sea Shepherd does, but after the deliberate scuttling of the Ady Gil last summer, I'm no longer quite so convinced about them.
I think that in order to stop Japanese whaling we need to educate the average Japanese person about whales and whaling. Take them out to watch the humpbacks migrating, then show them footage of a whale being harpooned, undergoing a slow, painful death, for the sake of "tradition". The Japanese are, in general, fine people. But challenging them publically seems to be a poor strategy for a nation where the greatest shame is the loss of face.
That said, I have a much bigger problem with Japanese tuna fishing, with stocks of blue-fin and Altantic tuna now on the brink of collapse. A few years ago the International Fisheries Commission reduced Japan's tuna quota. In response, the Japanese government announced a new "scientific fishing" quota that restored the total catch to Japan's requested quota. But then the state of most fisheries is depressingly dismal.
Anyhoo, here are a few photos of the Steve Irwin from the summer before last, when in docked in Hobart for emergency repairs after a collision with a whaling vessel.
I think that in order to stop Japanese whaling we need to educate the average Japanese person about whales and whaling. Take them out to watch the humpbacks migrating, then show them footage of a whale being harpooned, undergoing a slow, painful death, for the sake of "tradition". The Japanese are, in general, fine people. But challenging them publically seems to be a poor strategy for a nation where the greatest shame is the loss of face.
That said, I have a much bigger problem with Japanese tuna fishing, with stocks of blue-fin and Altantic tuna now on the brink of collapse. A few years ago the International Fisheries Commission reduced Japan's tuna quota. In response, the Japanese government announced a new "scientific fishing" quota that restored the total catch to Japan's requested quota. But then the state of most fisheries is depressingly dismal.
Anyhoo, here are a few photos of the Steve Irwin from the summer before last, when in docked in Hobart for emergency repairs after a collision with a whaling vessel.
