The Sea Shepherd Society this week has finally decided to end their campaign of sabotage against the Japanese Whaling fleet and it’s flagship the Nisshin Maru. As the season draws to an end, they will be setting new coordinates for another mission aboard their vessel the Steve Irwin. It’s been an emotional month which has seen a deterioration of ties between Japan and Australia, and thanks to the additional efforts of Sea Shepherd, opinions on the matter have become far more polarized than they were at the start of the season. Though as far as Sea Shepard is concerned it was a success, claiming they have prevented the capture of an estimated 500 whales, but to what ends and at what cost?
Tensions have rose to a state of fever pitch on both sides of the whaling debate these previous weeks, with accusations firing back and forth as the violence has escalated. First came attacks with bottles of various chemicals and butter acid being hurled from the Steve Irwin, which then precipitated further action later when the Japan coast guard (which had come in aid of the fleet) was forced to retaliate with non-lethal flash-bangs or stun grenades. Soon after Sea Sheperd leader Paul Watson made to somewhat surprising claim that he was the target of a failed murder attempt by Japanese coast guards. These claims have since adamantly denied by the Japanese government and largely ignored in general.
The skipper of the Steve Irwin Paul Watson is also the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a kind of maritime animal liberation front, which formed after Watson split with Greenpeace in the 1970’s on the basis of their non-violent policies. Greenpeace have since been eager to distance themselves from Sea Shepherd who pride themselves on their tally of sunken ships and rarely shy away from putting human lives in danger for the sake of our cetacean friends, earning themselves the label of “eco-terrorists”.
However despite harsh criticism from groups such as their supposed allies Greenpeace, Paul Watson is convinced his mission is just and moral, attempting to evoke, by force, an Australian court order (ruled on the same day) upon Japanese whaling ships acting within the guidelines of international agreements . However the Australian government has also denounced Sea Shepard, with recent calls of condemnation from Foreign Minister Stephan Smith.
In their crusade to push the animal rights agenda forward, Sea Shepherd only seem to have hindered the debate against whaling, undermined international law, undermined Japanese sovereign liberties and isolated the Japanese who, quite rightly, feel they have been unfairly singled out as one of several whaling nations. The negative attention Japan has received has been vastly disproportionate when compared to the inhumanities perpetrated by many other industrial nations on a regular basis (including Australia). Even more disturbingly it has stoked some racist sentiments and attempts to demonise the Japanese. One only needs to browse Facebook to see a whole array of groups bearing titles like “F*ck off Japan” which are peppered with even more racial platitudes on their discussion boards. Yet, oddly enough there has little hue and cry over our european cousins in Norway and their planned whale hunt this year. The quota of which is 1,052 minke whales for the 2008 season. Instead Paul Watson and his crew will go to protest Canadian seal clubbers this month, but I doubt we will here much from the public or media to demonise the Canadians who, unlike the Japanese whalers, only kill for the fur trade.
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