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Jeremy Bloom of the site 'Red, Green, and Blue' reported yesterday on Japanese whalers’ apparent retreat in the middle of this year’s whaling season.

It is still unclear if the hunting season is finished or only suspended, but there is strong indication that it is finished.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ships have caused all sorts of problems for the whalers and prevented them from catching anything close to their quota this year. They’ve reportedly caught less than 100 of their 1000-whale quota about halfway through the season (which is supposed to end in mid-March) and Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society reports that it has blocked “all whaling operations since February 9th and… 75% of all whaling operations for the month of January.”

“The Japanese government blames Sea Shepherd for the (possibility of) bringing the fleet home early, but what it actually means is that it has proved incorrect that Japan’s commercial whaling, which Japan calls research whaling, makes business sense and is sustainable,” Greenpeace Japan Secretary General Junichi Sato said.

Of course, if this is the case, one has to wonder if all the activism, international awareness-raising, political pressure, legal battles, and recent semi-forced admission that Japanese government officials were illegally accepting gifts of whale meat, is part of what is driving demand down.

“Captain Alex Cornelissen of the Bob Barker is in contact with the Chilean Navy to report the movements of the whaling ship to Chile,” the Sea Shepherd reports. “The Chilean government is closely monitoring the movements of the Nisshin Maru, and has made it clear to the Japanese whalers that whaling and the transportation of whale meat through Chilean waters is illegal. For now, the Steve Irwin and the Gojira will remain in the Ross Sea to await the movements of the whalers.” With not many nations actually willing to protect their waters from whaling, Chile’s efforts here are noteworthy and perhaps another reason why Japanese whalers are finding it difficult to meet their quotas like they did in the past.

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and take a look at their new boat, the gojira (meaning godzilla). possibly one of the badest ass looking sea vessels i've ever seen.

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Oh!  I missed this topic!  

Yeah that vessel looks like something from the Johnny Quest or Venture Brothers cartoon.  Or maybe the Bat-boat.  Lol!

Why are they still whaling though?  I dont understand.  The oil is no longer needed.

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Originally Posted by Dennis Young:
Oh!  I missed this topic!  

Yeah that vessel looks like something from the Johnny Quest or Venture Brothers cartoon.  Or maybe the Bat-boat.  Lol!

Why are they still whaling though?  I dont understand.  The oil is no longer needed.

They had another boat that looked a lot like that (the "Steve Irwin" I think it was called" which was "accidentally" rammed and sunk by a Japanese whaler last year.

The whaling is still going on partly for commerical reasons (there's still a reasonably big market for whale meat in Japan) but more for cultural and pride reasons - in other words: "we've been doing this for centuries and we're not going to stop because a few western hippies want us to".

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Wow.  Well, we've been bombing asian countries for a long time.  Maybe we shouldnt stop doing that either.  Lol!

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Well I missed this one too!  The Steve Irwin got sunk?!  I wonder if this series is still on Animal Planet?  I haven't heard much since Bob Barker gave them 5 million for another vessel.  It was pretty shocking, some of the stuff that was on "Whale Wars".  I so admire John Watson & his crew.  I'll have to look into this.  There just aren't enough hours in a day to keep up with everything!  (Too many magazines to read, lol!)

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I feel the same way about this that I do the Ivory wars in Africa.  I just dont see a good reason to kill animals for stuff we almost never use anymore.  

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Originally Posted by Sarah Skinner:
Well I missed this one too!  The Steve Irwin got sunk?!  

Sorry, wasn't the Steve Irwin got sunk, it was their other "stealth boat", the Ady Gill.