20/08: i'm so sad

i just saw sharkwater for the third time. i saw it twice on the ship whilst in the galapagos islands last year and just then i was the only person in the whole cinema watching it....

up to 100 million sharks are killed each year for their fins, where they are often still alive while the fins are cut off. they are then thrown overboard and drown because they cannot swim.

YOU COULD COMPARE IT TO HAVING YOUR HANDS AND FEET CHOPPED OFF AND LEFT TO FEND FOR YOURSELF

they have been here for more than 400 million years, since before the dinosaurs and have survived FIVE MASS EXTINCTIONS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

90% of the shark population have been killed.

it takes about 25 years before they can even have babies!!!

sharks don't EAT people. more people are killed by elephants than sharks

australia plans on opening a shark finning industry in queensland on the great barrier reef.

http://www.sharksavers.org/content/view/260/9/

i urge each and every one of you to go and see the film sharkwater to learn more about sharks and what's happening to them and the oceans and all the other marine/bird life that caught in the fishing lines.
it's showing in melbourne right now
it's available on DVD already

what would the world be like without sharks?

There is increasing alarm around how the loss of sharks may affect the oceans as the great lungs of the earth. Phytoplankton are the micro-plants of the ocean that collectively represent the biggest quantity of vegetation on the planet. Phytoplankton consume more carbon dioxide than all the trees in our forests and produce most of the oxygen we breathe. And, they are food for lots of different species of fish. And many of those fish are, in turn, shark food.

http://www.sharksavers.org/content/view/68/77/

further reading:

http://www.sharktrust.org

http://savingsharks.com/

http://www.sharks.org/

http://www.seashepherd.org/longline/

http://www.sharkwater.com

14/08: sharkwater is finally showing in melbourne !!!!

but at a selected few cinemas.

please go see it. it's amazing.

check out the trailer at the bottom
more info here
www. sharkwater. com/

Sharkwater
1hr 28min - Rated PG - Documentary

Hoyts Highpoint, Maribyrnong
Highpoint Shopping Centre, Rosamond Rd, Maribyrnong, VIC 3032 - Map
10:30am 3:00 7:30pm

Hoyts Northland, Preston
Northland Shopping Centre, 50 Murray Rd, Preston, VIC 3072 - Map
10:00am 5:00 9:20pm

Village, Sunshine
Sunshine Mkt Pl, Harvester Rd, Sunshine, VIC 3020 - Map
11:00am 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:00 9:00pm

Hoyts, Chadstone
Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1340 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone, VIC 3148 - Map
10:20am 12:15 7:00pm

Village Europa, Knox
435 Burwood Hwy, Wantirna South, VIC 3152 - Map
11:00am 1:00 3:00 7:00pm

12/08: The Steve Irwin - now in brisbane !!!!!

from captain paul watson

"After several months docked in Melbourne, Sea Shepherd's ship the Steve Irwin has left its adopted home of Melbourne and is now in Brisbane, Queensland, home state of the ship's namesake. The ship is in Brisbane undergoing preparations for the upcoming Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Musashi.

Special thanks to the residents of Melbourne for all your support over the last two years. Your generosity and encouragement have contributed significantly to our efforts to save whales in Antarctica. "

21/07: Operation Musashi – The Entirely Possible Impossible

Operation Musashi – The Entirely Possible Impossible

Commentary by Captain Paul Watson

Can a small handful of volunteers bring down the largest whaling fleet in the world?

The answer is yes.

We have the powerful Japanese whaling fleet on the ropes and all we need to do is deliver the knock-out punch.

The Japanese pirate whalers are hurting bad. They are over fifty million dollars in debt and we have stopped them from getting their full kill quota for three years in a row.

Our first campaign in 2005/2006 saw us chase the fleet for 3,500 miles westward along the Antarctic coast. Although handicapped by a slower vessel we confronted them three times and we kept them on the run. We sideswiped their supply ship and forced them to return to Japan and by the end of the season, the whalers were 83 whales short of their quota. We had cut their kill numbers by 10%.

We knew that we would need a faster ship if we were to return in 2006/2007. We also had the problem that our ship the Farley Mowat was placed under arrest in South Africa because of pressure from the Japanese and Canadian governments.

Thus began the impossible mission of Operation Leviathan. As I searched the globe for a faster ship, Captain Alex Cornelissen deftly managed to cut the Farley Mowat out of Cape Town harbour by departing covertly at 0300 Hours in the morning, following a freighter out in the dark with all lights shut off. They then successfully eluded the South African navy escaping into the Indian Ocean.

Following that daring escape the Farley Mowat weathered extremely severe weather until reaching the friendly port of Freemantle in Western Australia where the ship and crew were welcomed as heroes and Mayor Peter Tagliaferri presented us with the honour of having Fremantle declared our honourary home port.

Meanwhile I had inspected a ship in Malta but it was to expensive to purchase. By June I had located a 2nd ship in Trinidad and after spending two months working to purchase the vessel we were forced to drop the acquisition due to illegalities with the ship's owner.

With the next whaling season rapidly approaching, we finally found the perfect ship in Edinburgh, Scotland in October. It was the Westra, the retired Scottish fisheries patrol vessel. We bought it during the first week of November thanks to a bank loan from a very loyal and generous supporter. By mid-November the ship was in drydock and by December 5th, the Westra now renamed the Robert Hunter was heading south down the length of the entire Atlantic Ocean through the Straits of Magellan reaching the Ross Sea by January 19th, 2007.

I took the Farley Mowat out of Melbourne and met the Robert Hunter in the Ross Sea where our crew constructed a helicopter deck on the Robert Hunter in only two days.

It was not easy. The Japanese government has pressured the Canadian government to pull our flag. We re-registered with Belize but within 9 days, the Belizean flag was pulled but not before we were able to depart from Tasmania southward towards the coast of Antarctica. We entered the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary as an unregistered pirate ship.

Together the two ships hunted down and engaged the Japanese fleet twice. Then an accident occurred on the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru - a fire that killed one of their crew and crippled the ship.

The Japanese whaling fleet was forced to retreat back to Japan with less than half their kill quota. More than 500 whales were spared.

The Japanese government was furious and forced the British registrar to pull the Red Duster from the Robert Hunter leaving us flagless.

We quickly re-registered our two ships under the Dutch flag, a nation not vulnerable to being dictated to by Japan or any other pirate whaling nation.

In June 2007, I entrusted Captain Cornelissen to take the Farley Mowat to the Galapagos and then onto Iceland for Operation Ragnarok, the campaign to intervene against illegal Icelandic whaling operations.

The Robert Hunter remained in Melbourne to prepare for a return to the Whale Sanctuary in December.

Once again we had the Herculean task of raising the funds for the next campaign.

By the time the Farley Mowat reached the Galapagos, Iceland decided to cancel it's whaling operations and the Farley Mowat turned it's attention to confiscating illegal long lines, intervening against shark poachers and stopping plans by a company called Planktos to dump iron dust into the ocean off the Galapagos.

That summer we investigated and seized 45,000 shark fins and over 100,000 sea cucumbers from poachers and smugglers in Ecuador.

I was awarded the Amazon Peace Prize by the President of Ecuador and a contract was placed on the heads of Sea Shepherd Galapagos Director Sean O'Hearn and myself by the sharkfin mafia of Manta, Ecuador.

Sean was forced to resign at the assistance of his wife and one of our police officer supporters sent me a bullet proof vest.

By the end of the year, Planktos had been stopped. Captain Alex Cornelissen took up the position of Sea Shepherd director for the Galapagos and I was ready to take the helm of the Robert Hunter for the return voyage to Antarctica in a campaign we named Operation Migaloo.

In a move that the late Robert Hunter would have approved of, I renamed the ship the Steve Irwin to reflect the passion of Australians in opposing illegal whaling and to focus on the symbol of the whales of Australia – Migaloo, the beloved white Humpback whale who the Japanese said they would harpoon if they got the chance.

We headed southward on December 5th after Teri Irwin officially launched the ship under Steve's name. Onboard was a film crew from Animal Planet to begin work on a series to be called Whale Wars.

It was a long, dangerous, and successful pursuit as the Steve Irwin covered over 22,000 miles in three legs chasing the Japanese whaling fleet across the vast expanse of the remote and unpredictable Southern Ocean. We boarded a harpoon vessel creating an international incident that captured headlines around the world. Most importantly we shut down whaling operations to the point that once again the whalers failed to take their kill quota.

Of their quota of 50 Humpbacks they did not take one. Of their quota of Fin whales they did not take a single one. Of their quota of Piked whales they took 582. We saved the lives of 522 Piked whales and a total of 622 whales of all three species.

It was an economic and public relations disaster for the Japanese whaling fleet and their frustration was demonstrated when they threw concussion grenades and shot at our crew, one of the bullets striking me in the chest and a concussion grenade throwing cameraman Ashley Dunn to the deck injuring his thigh.

Fortunately my bullet proof vest stopped the bullet and there were no serious injuries from the confrontation.

We discovered that we could find them and shut down their operations. Our only handicap was the need to refuel. It takes about 10 days to return to port, a few days to refuel and re-provision and another 10 days to return to the fleet. That was when the whales 583 whales died.

If we could secure another ship we could shut them down 100%.

And that is our impossible mission for the present. We can and we will return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in December with the Steve Irwin. The task now is to find and secure a 2nd fast ship to relieve the Steve Irwin when it is forced to return to port to refuel.

Towards that end we are working to raise more funds to purchase a 2nd ship. We also need to raise funds to fuel, outfit and provision two ships.

We won't have any problem crewing the ships. We are being overwhelmed by applications. This is a relief because now we will be able to crew the ship from a pool of many individuals of many skills and abilities. Our last campaign was slightly handicapped by a few quitters and a few faint hearted types who did not seem to understand that to be a Sea Shepherd crewmember requires a rare type of passion and courage. If someone is not willing to risk their life for the defense of a whale they don't belong on our crew. And if they don't understand why we would ask that question they don't belong on our crew.

I personally believe that taking risks to protect endangered species is far more noble and worthwhile than risking one's life to protect real estate, money and oil wells and they pin medals on people who do that.

We fight for life, for diversity and for the future of humanity and all living things and in my opinion that is the ultimate justification for sailing into harm's way.

Which brings us to Operation Musashi.

Miyamoto Musashi is a legend in Japan and I chose the name because Musashi wrote of the strategy of the twofold way of pen and sword. In other words Musashi knew that in addition to aggressive intervention, it was necessary to communicate and educate.

Last year for the first time ever in Japan, the issue of illegal Japanese whaling made the headlines. The reason is that our dramatic and aggressive tactics were news and this enabled us to tag messages to the news stories about the slaughter of the whales.

This has brought us support in Japan from Japanese people who oppose the whale killing policies of their government.

Our interventions are the sword of direct action and the media is the pen and thus our approach is exactly what Musashi had in mind.

A few years ago, everyone told us that fighting the Japanese whaling fleet was a losing cause – the ruthless crimes in the Southern Ocean were being committed by a Yakusa controlled union crewing large ruthless killing machines. The Nisshin Maru was the formidable Cetacean Death Star. The murdering crimes of the whalers were taking place over vast stretches of iceberg studded, frigid, storm tossed hostile seas. We didn't have the money. We didn't have the ships. In other words only a fool would think of venturing into those hostile waters without adequate resources on a Quixotean exercise in futility.

But I remember what my friend Martin Sheen once said to me. "Losing causes are the only causes worth fighting for."

And enough people have called me a fool to the point that I have no problem believing them and thus striking out on the path of the fool like Don Quixote on a hopeless mission to protect innocence and life was, well to be frank, it was very appealing.

And now our hopeless, impossible mission has made such an impact that I now believe we can win this war to drive the criminal whalers out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

There is no question that we have the moral high ground. The Japanese whalers are targeting endangered and defenseless whale in a whale sanctuary in violation of international law and the moratorium in commercial whaling. They are sadistic killers involved with the Japanese Yakusa in an industry that has no honour and of no necessity to the welfare of the Japanese people.

We are going forth to defend and protect life. We have never injured anyone. We are so non-violent that our ships are vegan vessel. We have never been convicted of a felony crime anywhere in the world. We are volunteers risking our lives to protect life.

The Japanese government can call us eco-terrorists and pirates until Mount Fuji erodes away but the fact remains that we fight for life and they kill for profit.

In this case the good pirates wear black and our Jolly Roger is a symbol of hope for the whales and for the protection of our oceans. We are pirates of compassion and life in a battle to subdue and defeat the pirates of greed and death.

Woody Allen once said that 90% of success was just showing up. In this case he is absolutely right. We just need to continue showing up on the tail of the Japanese fleet, harassing them and intervening against their killing. We need to wear them down by forcing them to endure financial losses every year until they are so far in debt they will have to submit.

We can and we will destroy the Cetacean Death Star. We intend to sink the Japanese whaling fleet – economically. Without hurting a single person we can drive their operation into bankruptcy and we can end the killing.

Your investment in our operations have and will continue to show results.

What is the life of a whale worth to you?

Your trust and support for my crew and I will be repaid with the gift of life for the whales and a gift of promise to the future survival of our oceans.

More information at www. seashepherd. org

02/07: 2008-2009 Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Musashi

the following is straight from www.seashepherd.org !!!!!!!



While in Santiago, Chile for the 60th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Sea Shepherd Conservation Society officially announced plans to return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to once again oppose illegal Japanese whaling activities. Sea Shepherd is represented at the IWC by Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd, and the Honourable Ian Campbell, former Minister of the Environment for Australia and current member of Sea Shepherd's international Advisory Board.

This year's campaign, Sea Shepherd's fifth campaign to Antarctic waters, will be called Operation Musashi in reference to the legendary Japanese strategist, Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi's Book of Five Rings included the approach of the Twofold Way of Pen and Sword. Sea Shepherd's goal is to send two fast ships to the Southern Ocean with the purpose of continuously keeping the Japanese whaling fleet on the run.

"We intend to sink the Japanese fleet economically," said Captain Watson. "Our strategy is to prevent whales from being killed, to force Japan to spend money on fuel without killing whales. My crew and I will not watch whales die, we will not bear witness to the cruel slaughter of a single whale without risking our lives to prevent its unlawful and cruel murder. If the members of the IWC refuse to act to save the whales, then it is up to us to take this fight onto the high seas where we will prevail in the next season even more successfully than we prevailed in the last season."

The name Operation Musashi was chosen to reflect Sea Shepherd's approach of aggressive, yet nonviolent, confrontation and the increasing global awareness of Japan's ongoing illegal whaling activities; thus the crossed feather pen and katana (sword) under the skull with the imbedded sperm whale and dolphin yin-yang symbol. The Banzai flag background gives reference to the ecological imperialism that Japan is committing against the whales of the Southern Ocean.

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) was the greatest samurai warrior, strategist, and tactician of all time and is a personal role model and hero of Captain Watson, who incorporated Musashi's ideas into his book Earthforce! An Earth Warriors Guide to Strategy. Sea Shepherd intends to transform Setsuninto - the sword {harpoon} that takes life - to Katsujinken - the sword {harpoon} that gives life. Sea Shepherd's ship, the Steve Irwin, will be outfitted with a very special harpoon for this year's campaign.

Sea Shepherd is not a protest organization. It was established in 1977 to intervene against the illegal exploitation of marine life in accordance with the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature. However, as with all Sea Shepherd campaigns, all strategies and tactics are designed to avoid any physical injury to the whalers.

"We have never injured a single person in our 31 year history," said Captain Watson, "and we intend to keep that record unblemished."

25/03: Sea Shepherd Moves North to Protect Seals

from http://www. seashepherd. org

Sea Shepherd Moves North to Protect Seals

Many of the crew of the Steve Irwin did not have much time to rest before flying from Australia to Bermuda to join other Sea Shepherd volunteers onboard the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat.




From Icebergs at the bottom of the world to ice floes in the far north, Sea Shepherd crew cannot be accused of fair weather campaigning.




"I haven't seen summer in a long long time," said Amber Paarman 24 from South Africa.




The Farley Mowat with a crew of 19 departed from Dockland in Bermuda at 1700 Hours on March 24th, bound north for the Gulf of St. Lawrence to enter the ice field nurseries where Canada intends to slaughter 325,000 seal pups.




It will only take a few days for the ship to reach the Cabot Strait. Canada has warned the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to not enter Canadian waters. However the ship has the right of passage through waters outside of the 12 mile limit. The ship will not be entering within the 12 mile limit. Most of the seals are slaughtered outside of 12 miles.




Crewmembers have joined the ship from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Ecuador and the Netherlands.




The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has opposed the slaughter of seals since 1977 and has sent a ship into the ice to protect seals in 1979, 1981, 1983, 1998 and 2005. The Society sent crew to the ice in other years by helicopter and has been steadfast in its opposition for over three decades. The slaughter was shut down in 1984 until 1994 and then resumed in 1995.




The Farley Mowat Departs from Dockyard in Bermuda on March 24th, 2008 on the way to protect harp seals in Eastern Canada


Amber Paarman from South Africa casts off the stern ropes on the Farley Mowat and prepares to head North to Canada


side note: the steve irwin is still docked at victoria harbour, docklands melbourne if anyone can wants to go down and see it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

13/03: Sea Shepherd Heads Home As Whaling Season Comes To A Close

from www.seashepherd.org

Sea Shepherd Heads Home As Whaling Season Comes To A Close

There are less than 10 days left in the Japanese whaling season, and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ship, the Steve Irwin, has reached the limit of its fuel reserves.

“We have no alternative but to retreat from the Southern Ocean,” said Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd. “We have just enough fuel to make it back to port. We’ve done everything we can do down here for this season, and it has been an enormous success. I believe we have saved the lives of over 500 whales.”

Since departing Melbourne on February 14, the Steve Irwin has covered over 6,000 nautical miles chasing the Japanese fleet from as far west as 96 Degrees East to as far east as 136 Degrees East. The majority of the chase took place inside the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters between 62 Degrees South and 65 Degrees South. In total, the Steve Irwin pursued the Japanese whaling fleet for over 3,500 nautical miles. The Nisshin Maru was tailed and harassed for over 1,800 of those miles.

Sea Shepherd can reliably report that no whales were killed during the 17-day period of February 23 to March 10. Added to the 3 weeks that Japanese whalers were prevented from killing whales in January, that brings it to a total of 5½ weeks—or nearly half the whaling season—in which no whales were killed.

“Our success will be reflected in the final kill figures,” said 1st Officer Peter Brown. “There is no doubt in my mind that we have made a significant impact on their profits this season, and I am assuming they are not very happy.”

In response to the International Whaling Commission’s condemnation of Sea Shepherd’s interventions in the Southern Ocean, Captain Watson said, “While they were in London talking about whales, we were down here actually protecting the whales. So they can condemn us until the cows come home, but I think we served our clients, the whales, as best we could, and every whale’s life saved has been a victory for us. We feel satisfied for the lives we have saved, and we feel remorse for the lives we were unable to save. The IWC members should feel ashamed for allowing Japan’s criminal poaching activities to continue.”

Sea Shepherd will work to secure a second ship to return to the Southern Ocean next season along with the Steve Irwin, although it is hoping that Japan will choose instead to withdraw from continued illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean.
“We don’t enjoy this conflict with the Japanese,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We do this to defend the whales, not to offend Japan, but if we are offending Japan by defending the whales, then that is the way it must be.”

06/03: Whales Frolic in Peace around the Cetacean Death Ship

from seashepherd.org

Whales Frolic in Peace around the Cetacean Death Ship

The crew of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin watched a very peaceful sight today as two Humpback whales accompanied by a pod of Pilot whales swam around the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru as if to taunt them for being unable to continue their whaling operations.



One of the whales appeared to be half white, perhaps the half brother or sister to the beloved and famous all white whale Migaloo.

The Nisshin Maru has stopped running and is dead in the water at 63 Degrees 22 Minutes South and 114 Degrees, 37 Minutes East.

The Sea Shepherd crew will not allow any whales to be killed by the Japanese whaling fleet for as long as the Steve Irwin remains with the fleet.

"I have not seen a whale die since I left Greenpeace in 1977," Said Captain Paul Watson. "We will not allow a whale to die on our watch down here and as the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, 'we are prepared to risk our lives, our ship and all,' in order to guarantee that the whales remain unharmed."

The Japanese have not killed a single whale since February 23rd. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society hopes to prevent the killing of any more whales for the next two weeks.

Over the last 36 hours the Steve Irwin has chased the Nisshin Maru westward for over 725 miles in 50 hours averaging a speed of 14.5 knots. During that time, the two ships have passed numerous Piked, Humpback, Pilot, Fin and Blue whales.

"I cannot even begin to describe what a joy it is to see these whales swimming free as the largest whale killing ship in the world cruises harmlessly past them because we are here," said Engineer Jessica Gartlan 20, from Melbourne, Australia.

23/02: Hot Pursuit in a Frozen Sea

check seashepherd.org for more news too >>>

Hot Pursuit in a Frozen Sea

Sea Shepherd Hot on the Tail of Japanese Harpooners

The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin in hot on the tail of the Yushin Maru No.2 and is chasing the ship through a snow storm through an obstacle course of icebergs.

"We have them on the run," said Captain Paul Watson. "The Yushin Maru is only a mile in front of us and running at full speed. The Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 which carries armed Japanese Coast Guard officers is one mile behind the Yushin Maru and closing aggressively"

This chase is taking place well inside Australian Antarctic Territorial waters. The position at 1530 Hours (Melbourne time)(0345 G.M.T.) was 62 Degrees 30 Minutes South and 096 Degrees 58 Minutes East.

The Steve Irwin is preparing a boarding party to deliver a warrant ordering the Yushin Maru No. 2 and the other Japanese whaling vessels operating illegally in the Australian Whale Sanctuary to surrender themselves to the nearest Australian port.

14/02: sea shepherd to return to antartica - tonight !!!!!!

(from www.seashepherd.org)

Sea Shepherd Launches Operation Migaloo II
The Hunt for the Japanese Whale Poachers Resumes

After twelve days of repairs, refueling, re-crewing, re-supplying and re-provisioning, the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin is returning to the Southern Ocean. The estimated time for departure is 2000 hours Melbourne time on Thursday February 14.