Whaling ship off the coast of Macquarie Island, a protected world heritage area.

With Christmas Island battling a spill of phosphate and fuel oil making national headlines some of the leading environmentalists are equally disturbed by illegal fishing in the Australia’s protected marine World Heritage Areas.

In a recent call to action the head of the Australian Greens party, Senator Bob Brown, is leading a twitter campaign against the Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru III which he claims is now inside Australian territorial waters and the World Heritage area of the subantarctic Macquarie Island.

According to Senator Bob Brown, the activist group Sea Shepherd has informed him that it’s vessel Bob Barker has followed the Japanese harpoon ship into the area between Macquarie Island proper and its off offshore islets, an area which is 4 to 6 miles inside Australia’s territorial waters. Macquarie Island, famous for its huge penguin and seal colonies, is part of Tasmania and was declared a World Heritage area 20 years ago.

“It is utterly embarrassing that the Australian government is allowing this harpoon ship’s incursion. I have sent a message to the Prime Minister urging appropriate action – that is, for Tokyo to have this ship exit immediately,” Senator Brown said via his twitter account @SenatorBobBrown.

The senator also mentioned a new bill to, according to Brown, ”…ensure that there was a patrol boat with the authority of Australia in our Antarctic waters, if the Japanese come south again next season … to engage in the slaughter of hundreds of these warm blooded mammals that Australians want to see protected.”

Environment spokesman Greg Hunt said this week the opposition would consider supporting the Greens bill, although it had yet to see the detail.

Senator Brown’s political party the “Australian Greens” was formed in 1992, however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and is considered one of the world’s first Green parties. The party currently holds 9 seats in the Australian senate, one member in the lower house of the Parliament of Australia and has grown in national importance since the 2010 federal election where the Greens received more than 1.6 million (about 13%) of the Senate vote.

Second Mate Peter Brown launches the drone from the Steve Irwin

The Sea Shepherd crew has intercepted the Japanese whaling fleet on Christmas Day, a thousand miles north of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The Sea Shepherd ship, Steve Irwin, deployed a drone to successfully locate and photograph the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru on December 24th. Once the pursuit began, three Japanese harpoon/security ships moved in on the Steve Irwin to shield the Nisshin Maru to allow it to escape.

This time however the Japanese tactic of tailing the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker will not work because the drones, one on the Steve Irwin and the other on the Bob Barker, can track and follow the Nisshin Maru and can relay the positions back to the Sea Shepherd ships.

“We can cover hundreds of miles with these drones and they have proven to be valuable assets for this campaign,” said Captain Paul Watson on board the Steve Irwin.

The drone named Nicole Montecalvo was donated to the Steve Irwin by Bayshore Recycling of New Jersey, and Moran Office of Maritime and Port Security, also of New Jersey.

Captain Watson having received reports from fishermen when the Japanese ship passed through the Lombok Strait waited south of the strait at a distance of 500 miles off the southwest coast of Western Australia. Sea Shepherd caught the whalers at 37 degrees South, far above the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Eleanor Lister – Quarter Master on the Steve Irwin – British Citizen from Jersey

“The chase is on for the next 1000 miles,” said Quartermaster Eleanor Lister of Jersey (U.K.).

With the Steve Irwin taking up the resources of three of the Japanese ships the Bob Barker remains clear of a tail and the Brigitte Bardot is clear to scout out the factory ship, having superior speed to the harpoon vessels.

The Sea Shepherd crew have found the Japanese whaling fleet before a single whale has been killed.

“This is going to be a long hard pursuit from here to the coast of Antarctica,” said Captain Watson. “But thanks to these drones, we now have an advantage we have never had before – eyes in the sky.”

More about the Steve Irwin Drone can be found on the Sea Shepherd website here.

 it’s deadlicious™: Terreur – Ed. Bel Air. 1965 – via mudwerks

Without science, we wouldn’t know that prehistoric creatures, like this short-necked plesiosaur
at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum were real (image source)

Why I Like Science By Sarah Zielinski
on Smithsonian’s Surprising Science

 Science is under siege these days. Some politicians proudly proclaim that evolution is just a theory and that climate change is a conspiracy among scientists. Health gurus advocate homeopathy or “natural” remedies rather than modern medicine. Parents ignore the advice of doctors and experts and refuse to vaccinate their children against deadly diseases. People who are quite happy to reap the benefits of science—new medical treatments, for example, or sci-fi-like technological devices—advocate for schools to teach religion in science class.

And so I think it’s time for the rest of us to speak up. Let’s explain what it is about science that satisfies us, how science improves our world and why it’s better than superstition. To that end, I’m starting a new series here on Surprising Science: Why I Like Science. In coming months, I’ll ask scientists, writers, musicians and others to weigh in on the topic. And I’m also asking you, the readers, why you like science.

keep reading »

Click here to view the embedded video.

Death of a Siren by Raoul Servais

This darkly surreal and poetic tale was created by the Belgian master of animation Raoul Servais in 1968.  The website of the Raoul Servais Foundation contains lots of info about the author and his works.     —via Animalarium

A lifeboat negotiates stormy conditions off Ile d’Ouessant in Brittany, France
Photograph: Phillip & Guillaume Plisson /Rex Features – The Guardian via mabelmoments

The Sea: First Wonder of the World – a feature in pictures »

Ernest Shackleton biscuit from 1907 South Pole expedition to sell for £1,500»

A single biscuit from Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctica ­expedition looks set to make a packet at auction. The Huntley and Palmers snack that stopped the explorer and his exhausted men starving to death in 1909 is expected to fetch £1,500. It has somehow survived intact for an amazing 102 years since returning from the intrepid group’s hut on the frozen wastes near the South Pole.

Specially made for the grueling trip and fortified with ­concentrated milk protein Plasmon, the biscuit helped keep up the mens’ diminishing strength as they returned from their trip, called the Nimrod mission. One, Frank Wild, later told how Shackleton made him eat the snack daily to stay alive as they headed home from their failed bid to reach the South Pole.

more »

Cobh, Ireland – (full size)

Lifebuoy Royal Disinfectant Soap 1904 »

Illustrated front covers from The Queenslander: (set A), (set B)

Published between 1866 and 1939, The Queenslander was the weekly summary of the Brisbane Courier (now The Courier Mail) newspaper . This weekly edition enabled the news to be distributed to the regional and outlying areas of the state.

A selection of beautifully illustrated covers from the 1920s-1930s are shown here. Some drawings depict the daily life of Queenslanders during this time while others highlight local and national events. –State Library of Queensland, Australia

The Capture of the Pirate Blackbeard by Jean-Leon Gerome Ferris
raiseyourraggedsails via sailorjunkers

‘Flying Merguin’ by Jon Carling : Slug Ship

World’s fastest Ferrari ends up in Atlantic Ocean in road race crash

THE world’s fastest Ferrari went for an unscheduled clean when it span out of control and ended up in the Atlantic. The 240mph Enzo suffered a “slight mishap” on gravel during a road race and careered into the ocean.

more »

Ship in Aberdeen Harbour fuel leak to be inspected

BBC Scotland – An offshore supply vessel at the centre of a leak of about 1,000 litres of fuel oil into Aberdeen Harbour is to go into dry dock for possible repairs.

Oil spilled from the offshore supply vessel Skandi Foula during refuelling at the Torry dock on Friday. The affected area was cordoned off.

Shell UK said 500 litres of oil had been recovered.

more »

more photos of Port of Felixstowe »

Felixstowe still the UK’s busiest container port »

UK ports handled 512 million tonnes in 2010, a 2% increase over 2009, but still 12% below the 2005 level, according to statistics from the Department for Transport (DfT).  Felixstowe, in the south-east, maintained its position as the UK’s largest container port in 2010 with just over two million containers, up 12% on 2009.

Although throughput figures for Felixstowe are not published by the port’s owner, Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings, the DfT’s container number is thought to represent around 3.4 million teu.

In the next few weeks, Felixstowe will officially open its new berths 8 and 9, which are able to handle the very largest container vessels, including the recently ordered Maersk Line Triple Es of 18,000teu capacity.

• keep reading »
• The Port of Felixstowe on No Way to Make a Living blog »

Churchill, Chance and the ‘Black Dog’

The wartime prime minister’s dark moods, plus a series of lucky encounters, may have transformed the course of human history, writes John Gray.

Towards the end of his long life, when he was staying in a house lent to him by friends in the south of France, Winston Churchill sent for a young man who was helping him write one of the books with which he occupied his retirement.

Churchill needed the young man as a researcher. But he also valued him as a companion, particularly in the evenings when he would otherwise feel lonely.

One cold night they were sitting before the fire, where pine logs were hissing and spitting as they were burnt away. Churchill watched the blaze in silence. Then he growled: “I know why logs spit. I know what it is to be consumed.”

keep reading »

Bulldozers Tear Into Big Washington Dams

Dignitaries and at least one bona fide celebrity kicked off the historic event for watershed restoration on Washington’s Olympic peninsula Saturday morning. It was the start of a three-year, $351 million project to dismantle two dams near the mouth of the Elwha River, opening the waterway to salmon for the first time in a century. (See a map of the region.)

It’s also the largest dam removal in the history of a country with 80,000 of the man-made structures, many of them aging, silting up, and no longer useful (or at least necessary). Some, like the two Elwha dams, were built without fish ladders, meaning they serve as completely impenetrable barriers to fish migrations. On Saturday at the base of the dam, officials counted only 72 salmon, unable to swim any farther upstream…

keep reading »

Staxxon’s Space-Saving Shipping Container

New Jersey startup’s recently-patented technology has the potential to revolutionize the shipping industry.

Failure magazine – Improvements in efficiency tend to be hard-won in the liner shipping industry—the service of transporting goods by means of high capacity, oceangoing vessels like the Emma Maersk. To be sure, ocean carriers are always looking for ways to make operations more efficient, efforts that have included: using low-friction paint to reduce hull friction, utilizing “smart” shipping containers that feature RFID technology, and building ever-larger ships, including the 20 “Triple-E” behemoths recently ordered by Maersk.

But Staxxon, a startup based in Montclair, New Jersey, is taking what might be loosely described as an “inside the box” approach to addressing the inefficiencies involved in moving empty intermodal containers. The company’s patented technology—utilized in steel containers that fold from left to right like an accordion—is elegant in its simplicity…

• keep reading »

Remembering 9/11′s Heroes Afloat»

Posted by David Braun of National Geographic

Growing up between Long Island and Manhattan where my father lived, and having him take me down to the tugboats in the Chelsea neighborhood as a child, or on Circle Line cruises or fishing out of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, I remember how quickly my perspective on the city changed: from weekend visitations defined by crowded streets and stores to salt brine and wonder, be it of a powerful diesel marine engine and the men who kept its pistons turning or the strange sen-sation of catching my first fish, a conger eel, a true sea monster, at the age of eight. New York for me became what it had been for my father when he’d arrived at Ellis Island as a boy of 12, a place where freedom and Lady Liberty were intimately linked by the great harbor and rivers of one of the nation’s founding port towns.

A clear September morning many years later, the men and women who make their livings on those same waters were rudely awoken to the fact that our nation’s bordering oceans can no longer protect us from our enemies.

Just off Governors Island, Coast Guard Petty Officer Carlos Perez was at the helm of a 41-foot utility boat sent from Staten Island to check out the initial report of an airplane hitting the World Trade Center…

keep reading »

Before Panama Canal, Snails Hitched a Ride

Long before there was a Panama Canal, at least two marine snails made a fantastic journey between oceans, crossing not on land or water but in the air.

By analyzing mitochondrial DNA from horn snail species on both sides of the North American continent, scientists concluded that this journey occurred twice in the last million years — 750,000 years ago, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 72,000 years ago, in the other direction.

The snails were hitchhikers, probably attaching themselves to the leg or belly of a shorebird that flew across Mexico, said Eldredge Bermingham, a geneticist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

more on NY Times »

New Orleans: Algiers youngster enjoys monitoring river traffic

Nate King, 6, is lucky that he lives close enough to the Mississippi River to feed his hobby: watching ships, boats and barges go by.

Nate lives in Algiers, a couple of blocks from the river, and throughout the summer — and on weekends and many days after school — he drags one or both of his parents, Liz and Matt King, up to the top of the levee to spot ships.

His parents are responsible for bringing the binoculars. Persistently but not necessarily patiently, Nate will wait for a ship or a work boat to pass. He carries a pencil and a little notebook in which he records the names of the vessels. If a ship or boat is too far away to see the name, he will shout, with increasing urgency, “Try and get the back of that guy, Mom. Get that guy, Mom! Get that guy!” His mother will then use the binoculars to spot the name and call it out, clarifying the spelling if necessary, so Nate can record it accurately.

more »

The Most Famous Russian Polar Icebreaker »

The icebreaker symbolizes a whole epoch in the history of Russia. The place is very popular both among the guests of Saint-Petersburg and its native citizens. In the beginning of the 20th century Russia was a leading country that developed the Polar Ocean with the help of linear ice-breakers. Russian ships ‘Ermak’ and ‘Svyatogor’ were the strongest ice-breakers in the world. Ship ‘Svyatogor’ that was renamed into ‘Krasin’ later is the second Polar ice-breaker in Russia with the most perfect construction.

more photos »

Mikhail Mikhailovich Cheremnykh
(Russian, 1890-1962)
Crimea — The All-Union Health Resort, May 12, 1944
from a great new blog called Tass Posters

• The Order of Ushakov, April 15, 1944
• Our Pechenga, November 4, 1944
• The End of the Resort Season, September 16, 1944
• Expel the Pirate from the Black Sea!, September 15, 1944
• Fascist Reports, False Reports, August 17, 1942
• Naval Guardsmen, June 26, 1942
• Cargo Ships and Submarines, 1944
• There Was a Shout Near Orel and it Echoed in Rome, August 2, 1943

 from the Archives of ITAR-TASS »

Cool Retro Photos from the Archives of ITAR-TASS »

“A place for rest in a whale’s mouth”, Y. Muravin, 1960

Whale Fishing Facsimile of a Woodcut in the
Cosmographie Universelle of Thevet in folio Paris 1574

above: Flensing is the removing of the outer integument (blubber) of whales. English whalemen called it “flenching”, while American whalemen called it “cutting-in”.

New England ships began to explore and hunt in the southern oceans after being driven out of the North Atlantic by British competition and import duties. Ultimately, American entrepreneurs created a mid-19th-century version of a global economic enterprise. This was the golden age of American whaling.

An early winter in the north Pacific in September 1871 forced the captains of an American whaling fleet in the Arctic to abandon their ships. With 32 vessels trapped in the ice and provisions insufficient to weather the nine-month winter, the captains ordered the abandonment of the ships and the three million dollars’ worth of property carried on board but in the process saved the lives of over 1,200 men.

From the Civil War, when Confederate raiders targeted American whalers, through the early 20th century, the American whaling industry was overwhelmed by new, crippling economic competition, especially from kerosene, which was a superior fuel for lighting. New Bedford, once the fourth busiest port in the United States, gave up whaling. (+)

Whale Fishery — Attacking a Right Whale, New England whaling ca. 1860

see also: American Experience Timeline: The History of Whaling in America »

Humpback whales await flensing at a whaling station; Sechar, Vancouver Island, British Columbia »

Japan Quintessential: A Holiday Guide »

Whaling in Chukotka: Photos on English Russia »

Whaling is very popular type of hunting in Chukotka. Today we’ll meet locals of the village Lavrentiya, located on the shore of the Bering Sea.

The Chukchi Peninsula, Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula, at about 66° N 172° W, is the northeastern extremity of Asia. Its eastern end is at Cape Dezhnev near the village of Uelen. It is bordered by the Chukchi Sea to the north, the Bering Sea to the south, and the Bering Strait to the east. The peninsula is part of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia. The estimated population of the region in 1990 was 155,000.

The peninsula was traditionally the home of the native Chukchi people, some Eskimo peoples (Siberian Yupiks and Sireniki Eskimos), Koryaks, Chuvans, Evens/Lamuts, Yukagirs, and some Russian settlers.

The peninsula lies along the Northern Sea Route (the Northeast passage). Industries on the peninsula are mining (tin, lead, zinc, gold, and coal), hunting and trapping, reindeer raising, and fishing.  (wikipedia)

tear sheets from illustrator Harold Von Schmidt on Today’s Inspiration

Sevenstones Light Vessel circa 1950

Gay sailors coming forward in wake of DADT»

The law banning gays from serving openly ended Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. Now that it’s history, gay sailors are coming forward in ways ranging from showy to subtle. Others are simply blunt.

One of them is Master-at-Arms Seaman Casie Jude, who’s posted in Italy. In a Facebook update on Tuesday she wrote, “Dear Navy: I’m gay. Duh.” One of her commenters replied, “I knew it!!!”

Another sailor coming forward is Lt. Gary Ross. The 33-year-old surface warfare officer was married very early this morning at a small ceremony in Duxbury, Vt. to his partner of 11 years, Dan Swezy. It was the first same-sex marriage after the repeal by a servicemember.

more on militarytimes.com »

‘There was nothing to find out’

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. — As the highest-ranking member of the U.S. military to come out as gay, retired Rear Adm. Alan S. Steinman had much to celebrate when the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” became official.

To guard against discovery, Steinman said he remained celibate, refusing to even socialize with other gay men, during the 25 years he served in the military. “There was no possibility they would find out,” he said of military investigators, “because there was nothing to find out.”

Lt. Col. Chris Rowzee, an active member of the Air National Guard in Toledo, Ohio, spoke about how her partner was afraid to mow the lawn of the property where the couple lived, and how they both avoided shopping together. During one military deployment, Rowzee went into septic shock, requiring an emergency operation. Since Rowzee’s partner wasn’t listed as a spouse or family member, she only learned of the operation by scanning a list of U.S. casualties.

Lynn Briere, a chief warrant officer in the Coast Guard, said she used code words on email and during phone calls, not wanting to leave clues that she was in a same-sex relationship. “I even went on dates with guys, just to keep my cover,” she said.

more on msnbc »

Dozens of calls after explosion in Zeeland

A concrete caisson has exploded on a beach in the south-eastern province of Zeeland. The blast on Ritthem beach was heard in large parts of the province.

Police have sealed off the area which is covered with debris. A police spokesperson says pieces of concrete are spread up to a distance of 100 metres from the crater. The crater is three metres in diameter. The caisson, which is a huge hollow concrete structure used in underwater construction, has been completely destroyed.

Police believe a World War II mine may have come into contact with the caisson.

–keep reading »

update: Massive blast on Dutch beach deliberate

A blast in a caisson on a beach in the southern Dutch province of Zeeland on Friday evening was caused deliberately using high explosives, police report.

–more »

NASA Satellite Debris Likely Fell in Ocean, May Never Be Found

No credible reports yet of UARS spacecraft pieces, agency says.

National Geographic News

After 20 years in orbit, NASA‘s UARS satellite has fallen to Earth, most likely into a watery grave at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. But its exact resting spot may remain a mystery forever, NASA said.

(Also see “Space Debris: Five Unexpected Objects That Fell to Earth.”)

The U.S. military’s Joint Space Operations Center estimated that the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, toppled from the sky at 12:16 a.m. ET Saturday.  (See “NASA Satellite Falling Faster Due to Solar Activity.”)

If that’s correct, the 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of debris that were predicted to survive reentry would have splashed down in the northern Pacific, far west of California. But “we may never know” exactly where the spacecraft met its fate, NASA’s Nick Johnson said on Saturday.

• keep reading »

drtuesdaygjohnson (via ahoyhoyyy)

Scientists Want Publisher to Refreeze Greenland

The news release promoting the latest edition of Britain’s influential Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World hailed it as “the Greatest Book on Earth.”

Not the way climate scientists see it.

“Fiasco” was the word chosen by one scientist in an e-mail to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., alerting his colleagues to erroneous claims made by the publishers of the atlas (whose name derives from The Times of London) about the speed at which Greenland’s glaciers are melting.

A new atlas depicts Greenland as having lost around 15 percent of its ice since 1999, with significant portions of coast ice-free.

• keep reading »

(AP) Diana Nyad: Ending Swim Was ‘Huge Disappointment’

Diana Nyad ends Cuba-US swim bid after jellyfish stings

US endurance athlete Diana Nyad has abandoned her attempt to swim 103 miles (166km) from Cuba to Florida, after being stung by a dangerous jellyfish.

She ended the bid after doctors warned that another sting from a Portuguese Man-Of-War could be life-threatening. The 62-year-old had swum about 49 miles (79km) in shark-infested waters after setting out from Havana on Friday.

• more »

Everything Old is New Again:

Illustrated by Jack Davis, September 1974 – *see the set on Flickr »

Gemeinnüzzige Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs bd 2 plates Berlin;
bei Gottlieb August Lange, 1780-1789 »

New Species of Dolphin Discovered Off the Coast of Australia

A new species of dolphin was discovered by Australian zoologists off the coast of Melbourne, after they realized the 150 or so porpoises that were previously thought to be bottlenose dolphins actually differed significantly in skull shape and DNA. That, kids, is why you should always double-check your homework.

• MORE »

A Step-by-Step Guide to Celebrating »

Boston Globe: The Big Picture – Vessels sail during a great parade of the Culture Tall Ships Regatta on the Bay of Gdansk near the eastern Polish Baltic Sea city of Gdynia Sept. 5. The Culture 2011 Tall Ships Regatta featured two races from Klaipeda to Turku to Gdynia as part of the Tall Ships festival season, during which participating cities showcased their cultural activities, according to organizers. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters) #

Don’t ask…  no, really…  – via mudwerks

Maritime Monday is compiled every week by Monkey Fist

Monkey Fist is a smack-talking, potty mouthed, Yankee hating, Red Sox fan in Portland, Maine.  In addition to compiling Maritime Monday, she blogs about nautical art, history, and marine science on Adventures of the Blackgang and The Scuttlefish

Submit story ideas, news links, photographs, or items of interest to her at MM@gcaptain.com.  She can also out-belch any man.

The Maritime Monday Archives »

After taking evidence on all options the Fisheries Agency of Japan‘s special review committee on whaling is considering a national ban, says the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

According to that paper, a majority of committee members continue to support whaling for research purposes but, for the first time ever, a minority of the delegates acknowledged that after 25 years, Japan had failed to gain international support for the research, and proposed that whaling be scaled down or halted.

This news comes from the same review committee which was formed in April following a season in which, citing harassment by Sea Shepherd, the fleet returned home having caught just 170 of its intended 945 whales.

Further, the Austrailian newspaper The Age, reports:

At the recent International Whaling Commission meeting in Jersey, Britain, Japan’s commissioner Kenji Kagawa said the government made the difficult decision to recall the whaling fleet part way through its season last February to protect human lives.

“But I would like to stress that our decision does not indicate any change in Japan’s whaling policy,” Mr Kagawa said.

However, the Fisheries Agency that supervises the fleet has been unable to obtain support for the ships from the Japan Coast Guard.

If the fleet is to return, it must find a way to secure ships and whalers against harassment by Sea Shepherd.

Yomiuri said the review’s majority stated: “Research whaling is justified on the basis of an international treaty. It should be continued without yielding to heinous interference.”

The minority said: “If we cannot gain understanding on the research whaling in the international community, we should scale it down or halt it.”

No news has been reported on the official government reaction to the committee’s report.

Scallops Ride to Rescue — Demand, Rising Prices Keep Former Whaling Port in Massachusetts Above Water

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Known as the “Whaling City,” this coastal New England community celebrates its salty air and maritime heritage at every turn. A section with cobblestoned streets is known as the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. The annual mid-winter “Moby-Dick Marathon” brings together townsfolk for a 25-hour nonstop reading of the epic that was inspired by author Herman Melville’s journey on a whaling ship that departed New Bedford in 1841.

But the city’s modern fortunes are tied to a far smaller sea creature: scallops.

Scallops account for New Bedford’s status as the largest U.S. commercial fishing port in terms of value at $249 million in 2009, according to the latest federal fishery statistics. And scallops, unlike lobster, have proven remarkably recession proof with prices rising steadily through the downturn even as the amount caught held relatively steady. The wholesale price for a pound of the U.S. sea mollusk is $11.20, 41% higher than in November 2007.

U.S. fishermen say the weak dollar makes the famously meaty scallops that thrive in the northern Atlantic more affordable.

Belgium, France, and other countries are buying more. Fresh-scallop exports to Canada alone jumped 110% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year and rose 22% to France, according to federal trade statistics.

Many expect to see higher demand for scallops from China, which banned Japanese seafood because of concerns about radiation following the March earthquake and tsunami.

At the same time, the U.S. scallop supply is limited by federal conservation rules to an annual catch of roughly 50 million pounds. Areas where they can be caught are rotated to allow beds of young scallops to grow.

There is growing global demand for lobsters, too, but supply has been plentiful, with record landings in 2010, and the price has been only slowly coming back after plunging in 2008. The industry has resisted many lobstering limitations, believing open access to the fishery is best long-term for preserving fishing jobs, said Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

While rising prices are a boon for the scallop industry, it’s also bringing concerns. “The thing that scares me is that if the price gets too high, [restaurants] will take it off the menu,” said Peter Medeiros, the general manager the Whaling City Seafood Display Auction, New Bedford’s bustling seafood trading hub, where boats pull up to the dock starting at 5 a.m. daily, chock-full of scallops that are typically collected by towing a dredge or fishing net along the sea floor. The crew then shucks and ices the scallops at sea.

While scallops thrive in many parts of the world, the Placopecten magellanicus species of the Atlantic scallop fishery is coveted for its size, said David Rudders, a scallop researcher with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “I’ve seen them as big as Coke cans,” he said.

Heftier scallops have grown in popularity as tastes for scallops have changed, said Roy Enoksen, the 72-year-old president and co-founder of Eastern Fisheries, Inc., considered the largest of the scallop purveyors that line New Bedford’s waterfront, just off Herman Melville Boulevard. Scallops have graduated from being a bacon-wrapped appetizer or a supporting role on a fried-food platter to entree status, he said.

New Bedford restaurants serve dishes like pan-seared scallops with orange-ginger sauce. Eastern Fisheries employs a master chef who on a recent day sauteed scallops and endive in the company’s test kitchen.

“If you’re in the food business and the item you’re serving can be the center of the plate, you’ve arrived,” Mr. Enoksen said.

Dressed in classic New England attire of red-plaid shirt, khakis, and Sperry Top-Sider boating shoes sans socks, Mr. Enoksen, who started fishing scallops at age 11, described how global trade is rapidly transforming the industry.

His company now ships 15% of its scallops to Europe; five years ago, its only substantial trading partner was Canada. “If you told me 20 years ago that I was going to be concerned about things like the exchange rate of the euro, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said.

With demand growing, Eastern Fisheries is this month opening a scallop farm, to cultivate smaller bay scallops, off the coast of China.

And with scallops in a fresh heyday, some in New Bedford, which has double-digit unemployment, believe scallop catch limits could be lightened. The Atlantic scallop fishery has been designated as “not overfished” for a decade by the National Marine Fisheries Services.

“Of all the fisheries, scallops are on top right now, but it could be better,” said Kristin Decas, the director of the Port of New Bedford, which regularly brings international seafood buyers on a tour of the working waterfront. “There could be more money coming in and more jobs from scallops,” she said.

Copyright (c) 2011, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Photo: Atlantic Sea Scallops courtesy NOAA’s National Marine Fishing Service

Japanese whalers may cut out from Antarctic waters early and head home as the annual expedition continues to be dogged with confrontations from environmentalists.

Japan’s Fisheries Agency said that Japanese whalers have suspended their operations since Feb. 10, pointing to harassment from the anti-whaling environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

“The Sea Shepherd boats have been chasing the Nisshin Maru very closely and continuously,” said Fisheries Agency official Tatsuya Nakaoku. “We must firstly think about the safety of the (Nisshin Maru) crew.”

Mr. Nakaoku said the Nisshin Maru is taking a break from the hunt while it assesses the conditions. While this would not be the first time for a whaling trip to be cut short, it would be unusual for the fleet to turn back early citing aggravation from the militant environmental group, now in its seventh maritime campaign against Japanese whalers. The whaling season typically runs until mid-March. Mr. Nakaoku emphasized that the decision to stop the hunt has not been made and declined to specify how long the suspension will last. The last time a whaling ship returned home early was in 2007 when one of the ships caught fire following an encounter with the conservation group, according to Mr. Nakaoku.

It has been an especially tense season for the Japanese whalers, who have been fending off confrontations from the activists since the start of the year. Sea Shepherd environmentalists lobbed stink bombs and other objects at ships in early January. Paul Watson, the head of the U.S.-based group and the captain of one of the boats pursuing the whalers, said the group most recently hurled 25 meters of rotten butter and more stink bombs onto the decks of the whaling fleet on Feb. 9, the day before Japan suspended operations.

“Oh yeah I think you can very well say this is a victory,” Mr. Watson told JRT by telephone from the Steve Irwin boat in the Antarctic over the potential early end to the hunt. “This is our best year yet. Every year we come down stronger and every year the whaling fleet comes down weaker.” The Sea Shepherd added a high-speed boat to its fleet this year, making it easier to track and disrupt the whalers’ ability to hunt. Japan has returned in recent years without fulfilling its catch quota due to increasing harassment from the campaigners.  Continue reading

While the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society did confirm on their website that they did in fact strong arm the whalers out of the whaling ground, this report from the New Zealand Herald is saying the whole thing is a bluff:

Activists who have led the fight against Japan’s whaling operations in the Southern Ocean say reports of the annual whale hunt being suspended are a bluff.

Regular attempts by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to interrupt hunts have caused irritation in Japan.

“Putting safety as a priority, the fleet has halted scientific whaling for now,” said Tatsuya Nakaoku, an official at the Fisheries Agency.

“We find Sea Shepherd’s harassment extremely regrettable.”

But Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson said he was suspicious about the true movements of the Japanese.

Whaling boat the Nishin Maru was in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica and could be returning to the Southern Ocean via the Indian Ocean, he told Radio New Zealand.

“I believe that they might be trying to head across the South Atlantic and into the Indian Ocean to come on the other side of their whaling grounds to start again and then they’ll send their harpoon vessels west.” Continue reading

Just who is telling the truth?  We’ll have to see…

Photo: The Yushin Maru No. 3 and the Nisshin Maru flee from the Bob Barker (photos by Sam Sielen)

Here we go again…

Reports are coming in from both sides about an incident that occurred earlier today in the Southern Ocean between – wait for it – the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Japanese whalers er, Japanese whale researchers.  True to form, both sides are pointing fingers.  Here’s the report (click to download PDF) from Tokyo’s Institute of Cetacean Research:

At about 0710JST today, the Yushin Maru No. 3 (YS3), a Japanese Antarctic whale research vessel was subjected to attack by the Netherlands-registered vessel Bob Barker (BB) and the provisionally Australian-registered trimaran Gojira (G).

The G and two zodiac boats sent from the BB repeatedly approached the YS3 and deployed multiple wire ropes (propeller foulers) in front of the YS3 course and threw multiple projectiles. At about 0910JST at least two of the wire ropes entangled in the YS3’s propeller.

At 0928JST the YS3 sent a Mayday signal. The attack continued for a number of hours despite the mayday call. No attempt was made by the SS vessels to assist.

The BB activists deployed at least 10 propeller foulers and threw more than 80 butyric-acid filled glass bottles and at least 5 smoke bombs against the YS3. More than 30 butyric acid bottles landed on the YS3. The G activists fired multiple paint-filled projectiles from launchers and used a large sling shot to fire more than 30 butyric acid bottles. More than 10 of these hit the YS3.

During the attack the YS3 was broadcasting a warning message and made use of its water jet-pump as a preventive measure to make the activists desist from further approaching.

No injuries to the Japanese crew from the activists’ attack have been reported.

Meanwhile the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is claiming the Yushin Maru No. 3 tried to ram one of their vessels, and even went as far as hurling a medium-to-large sized blunt-ended bamboo rod at them! (click HERE for video)

The Yushin Maru No. 3 deliberately turned into Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ship the Gojira today in an attempt to ram and destroy the fast multi hulled vessel skippered by Captain Locky MacLean.

“It was like staring death in the face when that steel hull suddenly turned into us. We just narrowly avoided being cut in half,” said Captain MacLean.

Both vessels were on a parallel course, with the Yushin Maru No. 3 on the starboard side of the Gojira. Suddenly the Yushin Maru No. 3 made a hard turn to their port in an attempt to disable the Gojira.

Captain MacLean saw this in time to hit the throttle, effectively avoiding collision with the Yushin Maru No. 3 with the stern of the Gojira by a mere 10 feet.

Delta boat operator Chad Halstead narrowly avoided being injured when one of the whalers threw a bamboo spear at the boat crew. Sea Shepherd crew recovered a few of these potentially lethal bamboo spears.

Be careful out there kids!! You can join in on the discussion on this incident in the gCaptain forum HERE.

Pictured: The Sea Shepherd Conservation Societies new high-speed whale hunter hunting vessel M/V Gojira they must have picked up when we were too busy not caring.

Historians at the Mystic Seaport Museum are turning to advanced new technologies in order to restore the world’s last remaining wooden whaling vessel, the Charles W. Morgan. The whaleship, built in 1841, has been on display at the Connecticut museum for nearly 60 years and, for the first time, is being retrofitted to once again sail on the highseas.  The New York Times has the details on the technology used in the restoration:

To learn as much as possible about the old ship and ensure its successful restoration, the specialists here are turning to the art and science of imaging.

They are deploying lasers and portable X-ray machines, laptops and forensic specialists, cameras and recorders, historians and graphic artists to tease out hidden details of the ship’s construction and condition. The project, begun in 2008, is producing a revealing portrait. It shows the exact placement and status of many thousands of planks, ribs, beams, nails, reinforcing pins, wooden pegs and other vital parts of the Morgan, giving shipwrights a high-tech guide for the rebuilding of the historic vessel.

…

In a more sweeping assessment, specialists have sent laser beams racing across the Morgan, inside and out, seeking to record inconspicuous details and form a digital archive of exact measurements. The laser scans can track details as small as an eighth of an inch and have swept the entire ship across its 114-foot length and 28-foot width — once a cramped home to a crew of 35.

The scans have produced “millions of points of information” and a wealth of three-dimensional images, said Kane Borden, research coordinator of the restoration. “The results are pretty spectacular to look at.” Keep Reading

[Image credit: Harry R. Feldman, Inc. via New York Times]

Love it or hate it Season 2 of Animal Planet’s hit maritime reality tv show Whale Wars aired last night.

A novel could be written to describe gCaptain’s official thoughts on the mission of Sea Shepherd to halt Japanese fishing of whales in the Antarctic so we would rather hear your thoughts in the comments below. Here are some relevant links to get the conversation started:

• gCaptain Forum: Whale Wars Discussions
• Official Whale Wars Site
• Whale Wars Article – The New Yorker
• Whale Wars – Google News
• Watch clips of Whale Wars on HULU
• #WhaleWars on Twitter
• Official Sea Shepherd Site

Take Sides on Facebook:

• F off Japan. Leave the whales alone!
• I root for the Japanese while watching Whale Wars!

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:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.”

Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments or read what others have to say about Whale Wars in gCaptain’s forum HERE.