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Sea Shepherd 'sank its own anti-whaling boat'

Tokis-Phoenix

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Sea Shepherd 'sank its own anti-whaling boat'
An estranged former member of direct action anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd alleges it ordered its own boat to be scuttled to win public sympathy.
Peter Bethune was captain of the hi-tech Ady Gil when its bow was shorn off in a collision with a Japanese whaler it was shadowing in January.
It sank two days later, but Mr Bethune now alleges he was ordered to scuttle it by Sea Shepherd head Paul Watson.
Mr Watson denies the claim - the latest twist in a bitter row between the two.
Commentators say the feud threatens to undermine the standing of the anti-whaling lobby in the publicity battle over Japan's whaling programme.
Full story;
Sea Shepherd 'sank its own anti-whaling boat'
I knew it all along !!!
 
What a surprise...

I had already showed a vid that it was intentional in that other whaling thread... Only it was still only speculation at that time.
 
I'm not surprised either. There's a TV show called "Whale Wars" that I'm sure is well-known, and apparently the unintended general message that gets delivered from it is that Sea Shepard is disfunctional and inept. That's according to my friends who do watch it. (I almost never watch any TV myself.)
 
Now all we need is for those Chinese fishermen to make a similar admission, and the world will be right again, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
However, the American businessman who donated $US1 million ($1.02 million) towards the high-speed boat which bore his name, Ady Gil, has backed Mr Bethune's claims, telling Radio New Zealand that Mr Bethune was pushed into agreeing to sink the vessel.

The moral of the story: always think twice before being charitable. Chances are the recipient isn't going to be as conscientious with your money as you would have been.
 
Not really surprising, really. Stating the obvious, but actions like this really damage the credibility of their cause. I think its reflective of groupthink phenomenon, where the protesters believe they need to fight the "evil" they face with similar tactics. I bet the British climatologists did a similar thing with their research data a few years ago, fudging them to make a more compelling case. They don't consider how that harms their own position... The outcome actually hurts them more in the long run. It reminds me a quote by the great historian A J P Taylor about the British Duplicity during the Suez Crisis:

"The moral for British Governments is clear. Like most respectable people, they will make poor criminals and had better stick to respectability; they will not be much good at anything else. "
 
Update;

A collision between a Japanese whaling vessel and a high-tech protest boat off Antarctica was the fault of both captains, New Zealand has ruled.

The 6 January collision cut the bow off the protest boat.

But Maritime New Zealand said that there was no evidence either side deliberately caused the collision, instead blaming poor seamanship.

It occurred as protesters from the Sea Shepherd environmental group sought to thwart Japan's annual whale hunt;

Full Story;
Whaling collision 'fault of both sides'

Yeah i will accept that. There was definitely fault on both sides. I still believe that Sea Shepherd are highly suspicious in the incident after reading the confession article (which grounded suspicions that i already had), but at least the Japanese whaling boat has not had to completely take the blame for the incident as out of the 3 possibilities (Sea Shepherd completely at fault, Both groups at fault, or Japanese Whaling vessel completely at fault) i believe that the the Japanese whaling vessel being entirely blamed for the incident would have been the most unfair/incorrect ruling.
 
A collision between a Japanese whaling vessel and a high-tech protest boat off Antarctica was the fault of both captains, New Zealand has ruled.

Japanese news media has not reported this news because people are not interested in which side is justice, while Anglo-American news agencies may be interested. Difference of degree/area of interests between Japan and the rest of world usually has certain gap.
 

I wouldn't necesarily come to the conclusion that Japanese "people are not interested in which side is justice", but rather perhaps they are just tired of this saga. It has dragged out far too long and to no benefit of either side. We are always forcing the issues of whaling down Japanese people's throats, to the point perhaps that ordinary everyday Japanese just don't want to think about it anymore.
I don't agree with whaling, but i think the issue needs to be dealt with through civilised political debating & campaigning rather than animal rights extremism. All this bad behaviour & disrespectful attitudes from animal rights activists has just blackened their anti whaling cause, leaving less strongly opinionated people to shy away from its complexities.
The general impression i get is that Japanese people like simple well thought out causes decorated with cute mascots & pictures, not complex drawn-out grey area criminal court cases where there is nothing simple, sensible or cute about them. What is appealing these days to the ordinary everyday Japanese person about joining the whaling debate?
Not that i'm condoning the general lack of interest or anything like that.
 

Japanese media did not report it because the acts of Sea Shepard is obviously illegal and thus it's meaningless to discuss which side is justice.

If Sea Shepard wants to accuse Japanese Whalers, they should come to Japanese court, not New Zealand court. NZ judgement is not valid in Japan.
 
Hey wait last I knew ... and who am I to be an expert on this, but purposly parking you more agile ship in front of a larger less agile ship is illegal according to international sea law, boarding another ship without permission is seen as an act of piracy/terrorism, and throwing line and nets infront of a vessel with the intent of disableing it propulsion systems is illegal...
While I may not agree with whaling as a whole I deffinately think these idiots of the Sea Shepards should be hauled in as eco-terrorists, their captains licenses should be revoked and their ships confiscated.
Japan has a maritime self defense force that should "patrol" in the area that their countries ships are opperating and when these idiots try and pull their stunts again arrest them.
 
The Sea Shephard's are what some people believe to be 'terrorists' becuase of the actions they take on whaling vessels, and that's a logical thing to think.
But unlike a lot of other 'terrorist' movements, the Sea Shepherds are different for what their goal is.
I come from America, where terrorism is almost seen and feared everyday in the media. And many americans support the sea shepherds, but not everyone since it is a very contraversial issue.
First of all, the Ady Gil that was t-boned by the Security Ship (which is over 5 tones larger) was not even in the ship's line of course. That is fact. Many of the japanese said that the Ady Gil suddenly got in the way at last second to make them hit it, but that is obviously not true since the water that gets sucked under the enormous ship took the Ady Gil with it.
And yes, I do agree that the Sea shepherd's actions should be in every right considered illegal. But it is no surprise since the captain is rightly labled a 'radical'.
In the whole history of the world there had been numerous radical movements (French Rev., American Rev., Vietnam War, Britian Colonizing in India) and from the pattern of history, it wouldn't be a dumb thing to follow radicalism to some people.
Both sides are not going to budge. It just happens that Sea Shepherds are always the first to take initative and fire.
The Japanese culture is in my opinion, one of the most interesting and proud group of people in the world. It's sensational that they balance tradition with the superior and engrossing modernism.
Theyhave made their life on fishing for many years since they are an island.
But then you have culture shocks, where what one country considers vidal and improtant, the other sees it as disgusting and damaging to the ecosystem.
Just like Captain Paul Watson has said, "people said that we couldn't stop slavery." When told that stopping whaling is impossible. And aside from the time frame, both are very similar to each other.
 
I have done research actually. A lot of it. We have our own building at my school for Sea Shepherd and Japanese Whaling research and to measure both sides.
It's a huge topic particually here, and that's why I would never suggest what I am saying needs 'more research.'

"Video footage of the incident, shot from the Japanese vessel and released by a pro-whaling organisation, appears to support the environmentalists' version of events. In it, the Ady Gil can be seen almost at a standstill to the right of the Japanese vessel, which appears to alter course in its direction, while firing on it with a high-pressure hose. As the larger ship looms over it, the crew of the trimaran — clearly not expecting an impact — scramble into the open back of the boat." - Timesonline.co.uk
 
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