WHALING TRUCE IN HIGH SEAS RESCUE

[Anonymous]

Whaling truce in high seas rescue
A
Japanese whaling ship joined in the search for two anti-whaling
activists who went missing during a confrontation in icy seas off
Antarctica.
A temporary truce was called during a
joint, eight-hour search for the two members of the conservation group
Sea Shepherd, who were later recovered.The pair became lost during a
clash in which the activist group splashed acid onto the deck of the
whaling ship.The Japanese government called the actions “piratical” and
“dangerous”.The incident happened in the early hours of Friday, after
the activist ship The Farley Mowat caught up with Japan’s Nisshin Maru
whaling ship.The US-based Sea Shepherd group said its activists managed
to douse the deck of the whaler with six litres of non-toxic but foul
smelling butyric acid.

‘Extreme relief’
During
the confrontation, US activist John Gravois and Australian activist
Karl Neilsen became lost in the heavy fog and snow.Mr Gravois later
told the Australian Associated Press that their inflatable dinghy was
damaged after it collided with the whaling ship and they quickly fell
behind the group.He said they managed to tie their boat to an iceberg
to stop themselves from drifting, while they awaited rescue.”When they
found us it was a feeling of the most extreme relief that you can
image,” he said.They were eventually found by the Farley Mowat, but the
activists had earlier asked for help in the search from the Nisshin
Maru.”They were willing to do that – (it’s) nothing we wouldn’t do for
them as well,” said Johnny Vasic, international director of the Sea
Shepherd group.”It’s a kind of rule of the sea and sailors.”He said
they had thanked the Japanese whalers for their help, but that they
would continue to pursue them.

Outraged
Mr
Vasic also defended the tactic of pouring acid on to the ships, saying
it had no harmful effects other than smelling bad and was aimed to
disrupt the whalers’ work.”That’s one of our tactics, to wake them up
to the smell of rotting flesh while is all over their ships,” he told
the BBC from on board one of the activist ships.A spokesman for the
Japanese Foreign Ministry told the BBC said he was outraged that
Japan’s ships had been attacked in this way.He pointed out that all the
members of the International Whaling Commission had agreed to try to
prevent incidents like this taking place.Japan says it plans to cull
850 minke whales this winter and 10 fin whales, as part of what it
calls its programme of scientific research.Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace
have vowed to do all they can to disrupt the hunt.

[Author]

February 14, 2007 at 10:57 AM