Sea Shepherd “Collides” with Whaling Vessel – Video

Published: February 7th, 2009 by Mike | SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

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Here is a brief snippit of one of the articles on the “collision” of the M/S Steve Irwin and a Japanese whaling vessel:

Japanese whalers and radical anti-whaling activists trying to stop the hunters from pulling one of their kills out of the Antarctic Ocean collided Friday in an incident Tokyo condemned as “appalling and unforgivable.” No one was injured.

Activist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said his boat was chasing the Japanese ship dragging a whale on board when another Japanese boat shot in front of his vessel, causing a collision.

In a statement, the Institute of Cetacean Research — the Japanese government-affiliated organization that oversees the hunt — condemned the protesters’ actions, characterizing the collision as a “deliberate ramming” that occurred while the Japanese were trying to load a whale on board one of their ships.

Appartently this is the second “collision.”  Here is video of the first incident:

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Here’s what Captain Paul Watson had to say:

“We told them to not continue their illegal whaling operations and that we would be blocking the stern slipway of the factory ship,” said Captain Paul Watson. “They decided to test our resolve and apparently expected us to retreat when they charged in ahead of us to make the transfer.”

Captain Watson said that the Steve Irwin became difficult to control under a barrage of metal objects, blasts from the water cannons, and the disorientation caused by the LRAD acoustic weapons that the whalers were using on the conservationists.

“I was dazed by the sonic blasts being used on us at close range.” said Captain Watson. “I have to admit it was difficult to concentrate with that devise being focused on us.”

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About The Author
After graduating the Catholic University of America in 2005 with a B.S.B.A. in Finance, Mike went on to Tahoe to help with the launch of gCaptain's sister site, UnofficialSquaw.com. In June of 2008 Mike joined gCaptain.com as the first full-time employee in charge of sales and marketing and the day-to-day operations of gCaptain.com and Unofficial Networks, LLC.
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Categories: Incidents

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  • Funny how the Sea Shepherd crew is shocked that the Japanese finally decided to fight back, with superior numbers and with multiple LRAD units.
  • If as NAUTICAL LOG Posts have suggested this Dutch pirate ship MS "Steve Irwin" had not been refuelled in Hobart, TAZ. These incidents could not have happened. NAUTICAL LOG has contacted NUMAST, The Netherlands, and Australia and did not receive even a courtesy acknowledgement of its e-mails. Clearly they are not in the least interested - until somebody gets killed. In fact in these latest incidents Sea Shepherd HAVE had people injured, this information came from on board personnel.
    Good Watch
  • OneEighteen
    Might not have been intentional. This is a classic example of what happens when one vessel tries to overtake another too close to the stern. The bow gets sucked right into the quarter near the propellar. Even with hard over rudder the bow gets pulled in. I realize that the Irwin was't trying to overtake, but they were in the position where that usually happens.
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