“Ninja” patrol vessel joins the annual Antarctic dispute with Japanese whalers
The Sea Shepherd flagship ‘Steve Irwin’ was shadowed by a Japanese security vessel as it escorted the badly damaged Brigitte Bardot to Fremantle for repairs, the anti-whaling group says.
Paul Watson, skipper of the ‘Steve Irwin’, said the crew of the Shonan Maru No 2, the Japanese whaling fleet's security ship that tailed the two vessels, were dressed as ninjas.
The Brigitte Bardot arrived in Fremantle Harbour Thursday after being damaged by a freak wave on December 29 in the Southern Ocean, about 2.500 km southwest of the West Australian port.
Captain Watson said the Shonan Maru No 2 had been waiting for the two ships as they made their way to Fremantle and tailed them for days.
“It is actually quite comical because when we flew over and documented what is on board, they are all dressed like ninjas; like black head-to-toe with masks on,” he told reporters.
Australia’s Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the federal government should be asking Japan why a whaling vessel had followed the Steve Irwin from the Southern Ocean into Fremantle.
An explanation should be sought from the Japanese ambassador, Senator Siewert said.
The Shonan Maru 2 was still sitting off the West Australian coast Friday.
“The Australian federal government needs to be asking or telling the Japanese government that that ship is not welcome in our waters and it should not be shadowing the Sea Shepherd,” Senator Siewert said.
“It should be putting a boat into the water and sending a customs vessel down with the Sea Shepherd to monitor what the Japanese fleet is doing in our waters.”
Suggested Stories
-
May 21st 2013
Falkland Islands: it’s a three-side debate; Argentina must recognize Islanders right to decide their future
-
May 18th 2013
Chile investigates alleged case of blast-fishing close to a major Humboldt rookery
-
May 17th 2013
The Arctic eight-member Council has accepted China and India as ‘observer states’
-
May 16th 2013
Solar activity at its 11-year peak; major flares could impact Earth over the weekend
4 comments Feed
Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.
The Australians are setting a fine example of trying to pressure the Japanese to stop their farcical 'scientific' whale slaughter (while they have hundreds of tons of stored whale flesh stored in cold stores because the Japs don't want to eat this any more). Not sure what this has to do with legal fishing around the Falklands EEZ, as those vessels are commercially fishing, not trying to murder the whales.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!