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Sea Shepherd Chases Japanese Fleet Out of Australian Waters
Report from Captain Paul Watson
Onboard the Steve Irwin

The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin has successfully chased the Japanese
whaling fleet out of the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory.
For the last 10 days the Japanese fleet was killing whales not far off
the coast of the Australian Antarctic Territory. On the morning of
February 23rd, Sea Shepherd intercepted the fleet about 80 miles north
of the Shackleton Glacier.

Over the last 24 hours the fleet has fled north and they are now above
the 200 miles territorial lines that defines the Australian Antarctic
Economic Exclusion Zone and the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
No whales have been killed during the last 30 hours.

"It is incredibly satisfying to be moving through these waters seeing
Fin whales, Piked whales and Humpback whales spouting and breaching and
knowing they are safe from the harpoons as long as we are here." Said
Canadian crew member Shannon Mann 35 from Calgary, Alberta.

The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin continues to pursue the Japanese fleet
with the objective of doing so for the next three weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Great Southern Ocean Chase - Day Two - The Chase Continues

It’s hard to kill whales when you’re running with your tail between your
legs and the Japanese whaling fleet is running, north then west, then east,
then west, then east again trying to throw the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin
off their rear-ends, but our electronic teeth are firmly embedded in their
rear stern ends and they are not shaking us loose. When they turn, we turn,
and where they flee to, we pursue. If they stop we will be on their backs
like fleas on a dog.

The seas down here are constantly changing from calm to whitecaps, to heavy
swells and the visibility goes from crystal clear to foggy from moment to moment.
The sun shines and then without warning sleet and snow lash out at the ship and
an hour later the sun is shining once again. The sky fades from blue to grey to
white then to blue again.

The sea is full of icebergs and hazardous semi submerged rock hard growlers. The
icebergs are dangerously beautiful unique ice sculptures ranging from alabaster white
to cobalt blue and emerald green.

In the sea are whales and penguins and in the frigid air are majestic albatross and
petrels. We are not alone out here. We¹ve seen Humpbacks and Piked whales, Fin whales
and Blue whales, Sperm whales and Orcas.

And the birds! Every day we see so many species. Some of which are:
Wandering Albatross, Royal Albatross, Black Browed Albatross, White capped Albatross,
Yellow Nosed Albatross, Grey-Headed Albatross, Sooty Albatross, Southern Giant Petrel,
Northern Giant Petrel, Antarctic Fulmar, Cape Petrel, Antarctic Petrel, Snow Petrel,
Kerguelen Petrel, Blue Petrel, Gray Petrel, Wilson¹s Storm Petrel, Black Bellied Storm
Petrel.

This is a magnificent place marred only by these cruelly destructive whalers and the
greedy rapacious Patagonian and Antarctic Toothfish poachers.

My crew and I are happily chasing these vicious killers and each day we stay on their
sterns is a day they cannot kill a whale.

Behind us is the large and fast Japanese stern trawler Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 staying
a steady 6.2 miles to our stern reporting our every move to the Japanese fleet. What
this means is that it is difficult for us to close in on the fleet but we are tracking
them and they know if they stop to whale we will catch up with them so they can only
continue to run.

Onboard the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 is a detachment of armed Japanese Coast Guard. The
Melbourne Age confirmed through Japanese Coast Guard spokesperson Takashi Matsumori,
in Tokyo that this military unit is in the Southern Ocean to "to protect human lives
and assets".

It is of course interesting that Japan insisted that the Australian Customs ship Oceanic
Viking had to remove its deck guns and they did, yet armed Japanese Coast Guard officers
are in the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters acting like they own the place.

The evening of February 24th ended with the Steve Irwin plowing into heavy seas, engine
full out in hot pursuit of a fleeing Japanese whaling fleet.

Another day passing without a whale being killed. It was a happy day for the crew and
earlier in the day we passed a large Fin whale that breached alongside the ship, we knew
that the big guy could have been killed today if not for us being here and that alone makes
our voyage down here worth all the sacrifice, the cost and the effort.

Yesterday on January 23 at 0600 Hours, the Steve Irwin located the Japanese fleet at 63
Degrees 30 Minutes South and 97 Degrees and 7 Minutes East deep inside the Australian
Whale Sanctuary.

At midnight on February 24th, the Japanese fleet was outside the Australian Whale Sanctuary
at 61 Degrees 31 Minutes South and 106 Degrees 30 Minutes East since the chase began, the
Japanese fleet has fled 340 miles from where they were first located although the zig-zagging
course they have taken over the last two days covered at least twice that distance. They are
burning a great mount of fuel and achieving nothing and that cuts into their profit margin
and that is the only language they understand.

Tomorrow will be Day Three and the chase will continue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sea Shepherd Aussie Crew Prepared to Be Taken as Prisoners to Japan

The Australian government has informed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society that they are
not prepared to provide any assistance if the Japanese whalers seize any crew from the whale
conservation vessel Steve Irwin.

Japan has said that any crewmembers seized by their crews will be returned to Japan for
prosecution for interfering with their whaling operations.

In a message to Captain Paul Watson, Tony Donne of the Australian Federal Police, speaking
on behalf of the Australian government wrote:

"As the Australian Government has previously outlined, now that the monitoring mission of
the Oceanic Viking has been completed, neither protest nor whaling vessels can in any way
assume that the Australian Government will be in a position to respond immediately in the
event of any serious incident. You should also understand that it may not be possible for
the Australian Government to intervene, in the event of another boarding incident, to
facilitate the transfer of people from one vessel to another on the high seas."

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is very much aware of the fact that the Australian
government cannot be depended upon for assistance in the remote waters of the Australian
Antarctic Territory. There is no Australian government presence in the territorial waters.
There are armed Japanese Coast Guard officers in these waters which is a de facto invasion
of Australian sovereignty by the nation of Japan, a fact that Canberra has not said a word
about.

It will be interesting to see what the Australian government will or will not do if Japanese
whale poachers seize Australian citizens in Australian waters for protecting whales in support
of an Australian Federal Court order prohibiting the killing of whales by Japan in these same
waters.² Said Captain Paul Watson. ³Australia will effectively become a vassal state to Japan
having already ceded armed control of the territorial waters to the Japanese Coast Guard. What
a disgrace that will be to see Australian whale defenders put on trial in Japan, by poachers
specifically prohibited from whaling By Australian law, for upholding the law in Australian
territory.²

Jeff Hansen 34, of Fremantle said, "I am an educated citizen who knows that the Australian
government will not end whaling in Australian waters by Japan unless they act to uphold the
law and the concerns of the Australian people who want this annual slaughter to be ended. This
is an Australian Whale Sanctuary and I am risking my life to protect it and I am prepared to
be taken prisoner by the Japanese whalers and hauled off to court in Tokyo if that is what it
takes to end this on-going crime against the whales, against Australia and the world. If this
effort requires me to make a personal sacrifice than that is what I am prepared to do. This
issue is the Gallipoli of our generation and we must resist this invasion by Japanese poachers."

The Australian crewmembers prepared to be taken prisoner are:

Dr. David Page is 49 years old and a specialist anesthetist from New South Wales. Dr. Page
is a father of 2 and has supported his wife when she chaired the Cancer Council where she
received an AM, Australian Honour.

Robert Garcia is 44 years old and a father of two beautiful girls. Robert grew up in Heidelberg,
Victoria and is self employed, a jack of all trades. Robert has also done a lot of community
work including helping out the Margaret Oats food van which feeds the homeless in Collingwood
Victoria.

Alex Wallman is 27 years old and grew up in Geelong, Victoria. Alex is very passionate about
the environment and helps out with various groups. He is a professional Graphic Designer.

Nicola Paris is 32 years old and grew up in Fremantle, Western Australia. Nicola has run for
state and federal parliament (Greens), she has also worked for a senator in the political system
for several years. Nicola is a long term peace, social justice and environment advocator.

Jeff Hansen is 34 years old and currently lives in Fremantle, Western Australia. Jeff has a
double degree with honors in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science and a Diploma of education.
Jeff also has a mortgage and a high paying professional position. Jeff’s grandfather was one of
17 from Tasmania. Of those 17 was ordinary seaman Teddy Sheean who currently has a RAN Collins
class submarine named in his honor. Jeff is a very proud Australian who can no longer sit around
and wait for our governments to act on their false promises while this cherished land fades away.
Like his great Uncle Teddy Sheean, Jeff believes in fighting for what is right, and he does this
not alone but with the support of thousands of Australians that stand behind him!

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has retained a lawyer in Tokyo and is prepared to cover the
legal costs of defending our crew in Japan if need be.

“We need to take a stand on this atrocity," said Robert Garcia.

"Antarctica is the last relatively untouched wilderness in the world and that is something I’m
prepared to make sacrifices for." Said Dr. David Page.

"The government may have surrendered the whales to the Japanese whalers, but the Australian people
will never abandon them." Said Nicola Page.

"We spend billions exploring space for extra-terrestrial life, yet at the same time we are exterminating
some of the most magnificent, intelligent and socially complex beings on this planet. We need to defend
the whales from the ignorance and the arrogance of their killers." Said Alex Wallman.

In addition to the five Australians willing to board the whaling ships for deportation to Japan there
are volunteers from the United States, Canada, Sweden, South Africa, Great Britain and the Netherlands
willing to board the ships to deliver a strong message that the killing of whales in Antarctic waters
will not be tolerated anymore.

"We will see the end of whaling down here in this Whale Sanctuary or we will die or be imprisoned in
our attempts to stop this arrogant poaching of whales by Japan." Said Amber Paarman 24, of Cape Town,
South Africa.

Tomorrow Sea Shepherd will mark the fourth week that whaling has been shut down in the Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary this season. The Captain and crew are preparing to make that five and
six weeks.

The temperatures are falling, the storms are increasing and within a few weeks conditions will force
the Japanese fleet to head for home.

"They will be going home without their full quota and that is a certainty," said Captain Paul Watson.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cold Case Keystone Cops Comedy Chase Continues

"Who are those guys."

         - Butch Cassidy to the Sundance Kid

The captain of the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 had only one job in the Southern Ocean this year. It was a
rather easy gig really. Keep chasing Steve Irwin.

All he needs to do was take his big ugly stern trawler down to the coast of Antarctica with some
Japanese Coast Guardmen as passengers. No need to set any nets or haul gear - just tool around
following any protest ships that happen along.

My crew and I on the Steve Irwin first saw the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 on January 15th when they
arrived mysteriously in the midst of our stand-off with the Japanese whaler Yushiin Maru No. 2.
From that day on they have followed us everywhere we we have gone like an unwanted shadow. If we
moved towards them, they moved away. They tended to keep a distance of 6 nautical miles between
themselves and the Steve Irwin.

We knew why they were there. Their job was to keep the Japanese fleet updated in real time on the
coordinates of the Steve Irwin.

Sea Shepherd has acquired our very own official Japanese government shadow. We were flattered. This
had to be expensive. A large ship like this has to be using 10 to 15 tons of fuel a day plus a large
crew to feed and maintain plus the Coast Guard officers and all of it dedicated to little old us.

From January 15th until February 1st the Fukuyoshi Maru No 68 followed our every move. They even
followed us to the 200 mile limit off Tasmania and returned to the whaling fleet when we carried
on to Melbourne to refuel.

During that time we had some fun with them. One day we dropped off two inflatables and our helicopter
behind an iceberg. As the Japanese ship following us reached that point our crew swooped out from
behind the ice and ambushed them. The Sea Shepherd crew shot them with cameras and then returned to
the Steve Irwin.

When we returned the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 was waiting for us. Once again the Japanese fleet were able
to prevent our closing in on them as their escort boat kept them posted on our every movement.

For the last seven days the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 has been tailing the Steve Irwin for over a
thousand miles - east then south then north then west and back to the east again. Nine ships
are down here going in circles with the Steve Irwin chasing a fleet and being chased in turn
by the Japanese Coast Guard on the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 2.

We knew that we would never be able to close in on the Japanese fleet with this Japanese spy
ship glued to our stern. We had to ditch them. But how? They were much faster than us.

Early this morning we got our chance. The weather was nasty, visibility was zero with
dense fog and there were dozens of icebergs all around. We turned and circled an iceberg
and then stopped. We watched the Japanese ship approach on radar. They passed close by
and continued onward in pursuit of where they last saw us heading. We have not seen them
visually or on radar for the last twelve hours.

And so we set out once again to track down the Japanese whaling fleet hoping the Fukuyoshi
Maru No. 68 does not pick up our trail again.

I can imagine the scolding the Captain of the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 must have gotten. ³What
do you mean you lost them? You had one simple job down there and you lost track of them!²
We now have seven more whale safe days under our belt. The Steve Irwin is heading toward
s the Japanese fleet waiting for them to stop and kill whales. Once they stop we will be
on them and the decks of the Nishiin Maru will once again stink with rancid butter as they
hustle to get away from us once more.

One thing we have discovered down here is that these "macho" men who kill the defenseless
whales are cowards. They are afraid of a confrontation with Sea Shepherd. They run like
little school girls every time we approach. For a Yakusa controlled union, these sailor boys
are milquetoast little wimps and it is difficult to have any respect for them at all.

They have no problem pulling the trigger to send a blunt nosed explosive harpoon into a
whale¹s back but they run scared from a boatload of vegetarians. Put these boys in a
small open whale boat and a hand-held harpoon and they would pee their pants.

The Captain of the Nishiin Maru has not had a very good last few years. We chased him
3,000 miles along the Japanese coast in 2005/2006. He fell 85 whales short of his quota.
Last year during the 2006/2007 season, the Nishiin Maru was chased by Sea Shepherd, hit
with our stink bombs and then suffered an accidental fire that cost million of dollars
and killed one of his crew. He also fell to only half his quota. The campaign was a
financial disaster. This 2007/2008 season will also prove to be a financial disaster.
They will not get their quota and may not even reach half their quota again. And if
they return next year we will be here waiting for them, ready to diminish their profits
and cause them further embarrassment.

Woody Allen once said that "90% of success is just showing up."

If we keep showing up, if we keep chasing them, harassing them, blockading them, embarrassing
them, and most importantly if we keep costing them profits, we will win this war to save the
whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Great Southern Ocean Whaling Ship Chase - Day Eight - The Chase Continues

Pouncing on the Slaughterhouse in the Frozen Southern Mist

February 23rd to March 2nd, 2008

Report from Captain Paul Watson
Onboard the Steve Irwin
Penetrating deep into the Southern Ocean we passed the 65 Degree South line and continued
onwards. All the ship¹s officers and crew were very much aware of the danger we were moving
towards.

The weather is getting increasingly nasty, each day nastier than the day before. The ice
floes filling most of Porpoise Bay are fast and solid and steadily sending out assaults of
bergs and growlers. At the speed we need to maintain to pursue the whalers, hitting one of
those solid cobalt blue chunks of iron hard ice could punch a hole into our steel hull. It
had happened to a tourist ship a few months before and they were in waters less dangerous
than this. It¹s like a minefield of frozen horror with these bergy bits bobbing up and down,
sometimes visible and sometimes not and especially now that night has returned to these parts.

Not that the days are much better. Fog, sleet, frozen rain, hail, and sea spray make
observations very difficult and the chunks of ice are everywhere and only this time invisible.

The years of experience we have spent navigating the ice floes off Eastern Canada to protect
seals is paying off with the voyages down in the Southern Oceans. But still the entrance to
Porpoise Bay looked forbidding and all the signs screamed "stay away".

But the Yushiin Maru was in there and that was where we headed. Into the frozen maw of hell - on
the eighth day of our pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet since we relocated them on February 23rd.
And as we approached the ice sheet of Porpoise Bay, there they were! First we spotted the Yushiin
Maru and she tried to lead us North. We ignored her and continued South and finally there on the
radar was the moving target we were looking for - the Nishiin Maru, the Cetacean Death Star, the
world’s largest floating slaughterhouse, the most evil and bloody cruel ship on all the world’s oceans.

The dense fog parted and there she was, like an evil wraith silently moving amongst massive icebergs,
quiet, efficient and deadly. The rest of the fleet, at least four other vessels scattered in different
 directions but we remain focused on the Nishiin Maru. If they had any thoughts of whaling today or
tomorrow, we have ruined their plans. And like the cowards they are, they began to run and once
again we began to chase but this time we had them in our sights.

My only regret is that we don't have our helicopter and pilot Chris Aultman onboard. Without a hanger
onboard we could not risk taking the helicopter out a second time. I’m hoping we can construct a new
helicopter deck with a hanger before we are forced to return to these waters at the end of this year
again.

I have to admit it I do get weary of returning to these waters each year but we have the satisfaction
of knowing that we get stronger and more effective with each season. And as long as these ruthless
killers keep coming down her to slay defenseless whales we will continue to come down here to stop
them. We will never surrender the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to the killers of whales - never!

Ahead of us is the stern of the Nishiin Maru cowardly fleeing through the maze of bergs. Flocks of
Giant petrels are flying alongside and ahead of us and the whales in these waters need not fear the
harpoon today. The Shepherds of the sea are here with and amongst them and the killers remain on the run.


Monday March 3rd Update:
Sea Shepherd’s Non Toxic Organic Non-Violent Response to Whale Killers

In Africa, black Somali poachers are shot on sight for poaching elephants
and the world approves.

In India, Indian poachers are shot for poaching tigers.

Yet when the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society crew toss rotten butter onto
the deck of a wealthy high tech Japanese whale poaching operation in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, there is a gasp of horror from those who
fear to offend the great economic bully from Asia.

The crew of the Steve Irwin did not injure anyone. The entire confrontation
was documented by both ships and there has been no video shown by either
side documenting violent actions against the very violent whalers.

With all the reaction in some media, one would think the Japanese whalers
are the innocent victims of a horrific act of violence.

Yet these same whalers are violating international conservation law and an
Australian Federal Court order by illegally slaughtering endangered whales
in an established whale sanctuary.

The Sea Shepherd crew did not shoot any of these poachers like the rangers
in Africa do when they encounter elephant killers in the bush. No, we tossed
rotten butter and fake banana peels onto their deck to discourage their
illegal operations. The material tossed onto the deck of the Nishiin Maru
was both organic and non-toxic.

Of course the Japanese whalers are putting their spin on the story
describing butter acid as caustic and harmful when it is completely
unharmful. Not all acids are harmful. If they were we would not drink orange
juice and some just smell bad.

It is a fact that butter becomes Butyric acid when it goes bad - that does
not make it toxic - just obnoxiously smelly.

The objective in tossing a foul smelling substance onto the deck of the
largest floating slaughterhouse in the world is simple - to discourage the
grisly work of mutilating the bodies of some of the largest and gentlest
creatures on Earth.

There is no industry on earth as horrifically violent as whaling. Whales die
in prolonged unimaginable agony as blunt tipped harpoons smash into their
backsides and shred internal organs. They may take up to forty minutes to
die as they drown in a mixture of salt water and their own blood. They
thrash and roll on the surface of the sea and scream piteously as they look
up to see arrogant men gloating over their suffering.

Yet some people get upset because these same people now have smelly decks
and can’t continue their foul sadistic work.

For the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, our clients are the whales and we
are defending them by intervening to enforce international conservation law
in accordance to the principles established by the United Nations World
Charter for Nature.

We have not committed any crime and despite the fabrications of Japanese
public relations spin doctors we have not injured any persons. In fact in
over thirty years of high seas interventions the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society has never caused an injury nor have we been convicted of a felony.

Yet in that time whalers, sealers, shark finners, turtle poachers and
illegal fishermen have assaulted us, beaten us, bloodied us, rammed us, shot
at us and threatened our lives but that never seems to be a story of
interest because according to our critics we are exposing ourselves
voluntarily to the violence of the ocean rapers. In fact after being
assaulted by sealers who struck my crew with clubs and injured them the
Canadian police refused to press charges against our attackers because we
"had provoked the violence by opposing the killing of seals."

We have had a very successful campaign this year in the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary. We have saved hundreds of whales. We have chased this Japanese
killing fleet for thousands of miles and they will not fill their death
quota and they are not very happy about that.

The crew of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin are satisfied that we behaved
responsibly, we did not injure anyone, we did not damage any property but we
have saved lives, hundreds of lives of the most social complex, gentle and
intelligent creatures in the sea.

We did our planetary duty and we upheld the law and all of us on this
gallant ship are both proud and satisfied at what we have accomplished.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 3rd Update at 2130 Hours

At 2115 Hours on March 4th the Nishiin Maru did a complete 180
Degree at the position of 63 Degrees 24 Minutes South and 111
Degrees and 11 Minutes East

The Japanese factory ship is now headed back to the harpoon vessels
to the East.

The Nishiin Maru has led Sea Shepherd on a chase of 726 nautical
miles over the last 57 hours from the point when the Steve Irwin
first visually identified them

The behaviour of the Nishiin Maru is very strange. Nothing was
accomplished by running full speed to the West.

Perhaps they realized that they would not be able to shake the
Steve Irwin and they have decided to return to the main body of the whaling fleet. Perhaps they will attempt to take whales. If
so we will physically block their operations. Or perhaps they
have decided to go home - probably not!

Another day without whales killed and every day we keep them
from killing is a victory for the whales.

There is only two more weeks or so in the whaling season. The
weather is getting nastier and the temperatures colder. We will
make sure they don't kill any more whales.

The Great Southern Ocean Whaling Ship Chase - Day Twelve The Chase Continues
Westward, then Eastward then Westward and then Eastward Again

Whales everywhere and not one to kill.
Whalers run like frightened school girls.
- Sea Shepherd Haiku
No one appears to know what the Japanese whalers are doing - including
the Japanese whalers.
Last night after leading the Steve Irwin on a chase 750 miles to the west,
the Whaling fleet factory ship Nisshin Maru did a hundred and eighty degree
turn and headed back east again.

The Yushin Maru #2 is hundreds of miles to the east with the rest of the
whaling fleet.

But without the Nisshin Maru there can be no whaling operations which brings
us to the twelfth day since returning to the Whale Sanctuary that whales
have not been killed.

Meanwhile the Japanese government has shifted into high gear public
relations mode to disseminate mis-information and have called in the
Ambassadors of the Netherlands and Australia to call for the condemnation
of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

They can lie and say anything they like really, we don¹t mind, because the
bottom line is that Sea Shepherd is succeeding in preventing the Japanese
whalers from killing whales. They have yet to reach the halfway mark on
their kill quota and they have only about 10 days left to do so.

A few people have contacted us to say they disapprove of our actions. We are
not impressed. We tell them to find us a single whale that disapproves of
our actions and then we will reconsider but the fact is that our clients are
whales - not people and we intend to represent our clients and to defend
them from death and destruction.

We intend in the next 10 days to make it impossible for the whalers to
resume their barbaric activities.

We are not worried about any political or legal consequences for our
actions. Despite Japanese allegations we have not injured anyone and we
don't intend to injure anyone. My crew and I deliberately place ourselves
into harm's way to protect these whales and when you have committed yourself
to placing your life on the line for a cause - non-lethal threats and name
calling have absolutely no effect on what we do and how we do it.

Our job down here right now in the Southern Ocean is to stop the illegal
killing of whales and we are doing just that. We will not be deterred by
Japanese propaganda and threats. We are here to uphold international
conservation law against a vicious whale poaching operation.

And there can be no dispute that what the Japanese are doing is poaching.
Targeting endangered species like Fin whales in an established international
whale sanctuary in violation of a global moratorium on whaling and in
contempt of an Australian Federal Court order specifically prohibiting
Japanese whaling in the Australian Antarctic Territory is by any definition
- poaching.

As I¹ve said many times, the poaching of whales by Japan in the Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary is no different than poaching elephants in Africa,
tigers in India or sharks in the Galapagos National Park.

The one big difference is that the rangers shoot elephant and tiger poachers
and the Ecuadorian police jail shark finners. In the Southern Oceans the
Japanese whine about a few stink bombs.

Some of the stories in the Japanese media have been way over the top but
many believe what they read in the newspaper or see on television and we
can't control gullibility. But in a strange sort of way these stories help
us to be effective.

In the last few days, Japanese media have reported that we fired over 2,000
containers of chemical acid onto the decks of the Nisshin Maru. They claim
that two crew and two Coastguardsmen were injured in the attack. They claim
we have a missile launcher to fire the containers. They claim that we are
firing corrosive acid that is damaging their ship. In the most bizarre claim
they have reported that our crew boarded the factory ship and directly
squirted acid into the eyes of the whalers and attacked them on deck with
broken beer bottles.

All real dramatic stuff but all of it over-exaggerated and grossly
inaccurate.
The fact is that my crew delivered two dozen VB beer bottles filled with
rotten butter acid which stinks terribly but is less corrosive than orange
juice (citric aicd). The crew also delivered two dozen paper packets of
Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose. This is a non-toxic food grade product that
is used to coat pills making them easier to swallow. It is very slippery in
water. The strategy behind this is to make conditions on deck uncomfortable
for processing dead whales. The decks stink and it is difficult to move
around. I personally witnessed the impact of every container and not one
container landed in close proximity to any person on the Japanese ship. All
containers were thrown by hand. There was no missile launcher. No Sea
Shepherd crew boarded the Nisshin Maru and there was no hand to hand
fighting with crew squirting anything into the eye of any of the Japanese
crew. The four armed Japanese Coast Guard officers should have some
explaining to do if we had boarded the ship and they had not apprehended>BR> anyone. In all of the video footage distributed by the Institute for
Cetacean (marketing & product development) Research there is no video shown
of injures. If there were indeed injuries, the video would be there for sure
- it is not. It¹s all just spin-doctoring in an attempt to make the public
feel sympathy for whale killers.

I must admit it is a challenge for the public relation flacks representing
the Japanese whaling industry. It is like being hired by serial killers to
give them a good image.

But the truth is the truth and lies, exaggerations, rumours and distortions
will not be enough to bring legal charges against my crew or myself for
simply trying to uphold international law against ruthless whale poachers.

And Sea Shepherd history speaks for itself. We don¹t cause injuries to
sentient beings. We never have and we don't intend to start. The compassion
of my crew even extends to not allowing the products of animal slaughter and
abuse to be consumed onboard our ships. We represent kindness to life and we
represent compassion.

So it is indeed a task for the P.R. whores to cast compassionate vegan whale
defenders as the bad guys and ruthless whale serial killers as the good
guys. That might work in a world where the AXIS powers had prevailed in 1945
but not in the world today where most of the civilized world looks on the
killing of whales as murder and most believe that action must be taken to
stop the escalating levels of flora and fauna extinctions and that we must
exercise a new morality that seeks to eliminate cruelty against other
creatures and destruction of the natural world for profit.

But how does this work in our favor. The Dalai Lama is a Sea Shepherd
supporter and he once sent us a little icon called Hayagriva. Hayagriva
represents the compassionate aspect of Buddha¹s wrath. What this means is
that one should never injure anyone but when the opposition cannot see
enlightenment, you scare the hell out of them until they do.

So our pirate image works well at doing just that and when the whalers,
sealers and shark finners begin to believe their own exaggerations about us
it works in our favor. So sometimes the good guys do indeed wear black.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day Thirteen
Operation Migaloo II - The Chase Continues

West then East then West then East we go,
The Steve Irwin is fast, the Nisshin Maru is slow,
Five Hundred whales remain uncaught,
Worth all the weather and whalers we have fought.
                   - Sea Shepherd thoughts.

Report from Captain Paul Watson
As the Steve Irwin sticks like crazy glue to the Japanese factory ship
Nisshin Maru the two vessels are now back where both started from five days
ago.
What is the Japanese whaling fleet doing?

First they run at full speed 750 nautical miles to the west and then turn
around and run full speed back to the place they started running. In that
time they have used over 100 tons of fuel at a cost approaching $100,000.
And they have not killed a single whale.

The harpoon vessels are doing nothing but waiting for the return of their
mother ship. The whaling season is coming to a close and a very large storm
is approaching from the west, large enough to prevent the whalers from
hunting for days.

The much faster Steve Irwin has been running circles around the Nisshin Maru
for over 1500 miles.

The International Whaling Commission will be meeting in London tomorrow and
our disruption of Japanese whaling activities will be on the agenda in the
closed door sessions.

The whalers are threatening to sue Sea Shepherd for their financial losses
although it is not clear just as to what jurisdiction they intend to pursue
their desperate claim. They will get no money out of us - we don¹t have any!

Although Japan has condemned Sea Shepherd's interference they have not
issued any charges and no actual crime has been committed. No injuries and
no physical damages other than to their pride. They have no criminal nor
civil case, because the fact of the matter is that the Japanese whaling
fleet are nothing more than poachers. The entire operation is organized high
seas crime backed up by corrupt government officials in Japan in collusion
with the notorious Yakuza - the Japanese gangsters who control the Union
that provides the crew to the whaling fleet.

They do have financial damages in the tens of millions of dollars in having
gotten less than their targeted quota.

One more day will mark two solid weeks that we have stopped their whaling
activities since returning to the Southern Ocean. Added to the three weeks
in January that we halted their operations we will have an unprecedented
five weeks of total disruption of all illegal whaling activities in the
Southern Ocean.

All in all Operation Migaloo is turning out to be our most successful
campaign against illegal Japanese whaling ever.

Never before have we or anyone else been able to pursue these poachers from
the beginning of the whaling season until the end. We departed from Melbourne
on December 5th and we are now in our third month on the high seas enduring
increasingly hostile weather and high seas.

As I type this report the ship is bucking and heaving, rolling and lurching
- it is not pleasant. But the increasing ferocity of the weather will be our
ally in preventing any further killings of the great whales. They can¹t kill
whales with us here and they can¹t kill whales in these foul seas.

We have had the Nisshin Maru in our sights for five days. Few of the whaling
crew venture out onto the decks - the odor of the rotten butter extract we
splashed over their deck lingers, and the stench is so bad that after a few
minutes it will cause even the most hardened of sailors to retch and chunder.
It has been a difficult voyage for me I have to confess. Lots of personal
disappointments and frustrations, an overwhelming agenda of issues to
address, dealing with logistics and strategies and at the same time
over-seeing campaigns in different areas of the world to protect sharks,
seals and to oppose illegal fishing.

Sometimes I just feel tired and emotionally defeated but then I look across
the few hundred metres of water and I see the most ruthless and merciless
ship on the ocean - the world¹s largest and most destructive whale killing
machine afloat and I see that evil ship fleeing with its crew of cowards
from our smaller ship of volunteers and I feel absolutely wonderful.

Every moment that the Nisshin Maru runs from us is buying time for the
whales to live. To have stopped this death machine for five solid weeks has
made me very happy indeed and I know that we will be able to return to port
after a very successful mission and it will be a campaign that everyone who
has participated in or supported us will be proud of.



Sea Shepherd Orders Japanese Fleet out French Territorial Waters Japanese Whaling Ship Complies
At 0800 Hours (1900 Hours GMT) the Captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation

Society ship Steve Irwin ordered the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru
to leave the waters of the French Antarctic Territory.

The Nisshin Maru has been under pursuit for 7 days through the
waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory.

"We notified the captain of the Nisshin Maru that he had no right
to bring armed Japanese military personal into the waters off the
French Antarctic territory." "Said Captain Paul Watson.

The Japanese ship did not respond but 15 miles into French waters,
the Nisshin Maru suddenly did a 180 degree turn and headed west
again back into Australian Terriotorial waters.

Sea Shepherd has informed the French government and the
Antarctic research station of Dumont d¹Urville of this
transgression of the Antarctic treaty prohibiting military with
weapons into the Antarctic Treaty zone. Australia has not
responded to the Japanese presence in the Australian Antarctic
Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ)
The Nisshin Maru turned around at the position of 63 Degrees 27
Minutes South and 136 Degrees and 19 Minutes East.

The Nisshin Maru has led the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin on a 7
day chase east then west then east and now west again covering
over 1600 miles. The Japanese factory ship has been unable to
shake the Sea Shepherd¹s pursuit despite bad weather and heavy seas.
"We will continue to dog their every move." Said Captain Paul
Watson."They are running out of time. The have only 13 days left
in their whaling season and then they have to return and they will
be returning
without even half their illegal quota."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sea Shepherd Media Release March 7th, 1800 Hours.
Japanese Fire On Sea Shepherd Crew - Three Injured

Steve Irwin Captain Shot

Cameraman and Crewmember Injured by Flash Grenade

At 1545 ( 0445 G.M.T.)a clash between the crew of the Sea
Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin and the Japanese whaling ship Nishiin
Maru turned violent when Japanese Coast Guard threw flash
grenades at the crew of the Steve Irwin.

Captain Paul Watson was struck by a bullet in the chest which
fortunately was stopped by his Kevlar vest. The bullet struck just
above the heart and mangled Captain Watson¹s anti-poaching
badge on his sweater underneath. Doctor David Page pried the
bullet from the vest.
Doctor David Page was videotaped prying the bullet from Captain
Watson’sKevlar vest. "You have been hit by a bullet," he said.
The kevlar vest and badge effectively saved Captain’s Watson life.

Ashley Dunn 35, from Launceston, Tasmania suffered a hip injury
when he tried to get out of the way of the exploding grenades.

Ralph Lowe 33, from Melbourne, Australia received bruises to his
back when one of the flash grenades exploded behind him.

The Japanese were retaliating against the Sea Shepherd crew for
tossing rotten butter on the decks to discourage whaling activities.
The clash came after a weeklong pursuit by the Steve Irwin of the
Nisshin Maru, in an effort to stop illegal whaling activities in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Earlier in the day at 0800 Hours (1900 G.M.T.) the Steve Irwin had
ordered the Nisshin Maru to leave French Territorial waters. The
Japanese whaler complied and turned around and headed back west
into Australian waters.

The confrontation occurred inside the Australian Territorial Zone at
the position of 63 Degrees, 41 Minutes South and 133 Degrees 27
Minutes East.

Video and photos of the incident are being transmitted to Sea
Shepherd’s head office.

Captain Paul Watson
Master - The Steve Irwin
Master - The Farley Mowat
Founder and President of the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
www.Seashepherd.org

Captain@seashepherd.amosconnect.com

Please reply in plain text without attachments
Our ship's computer cannot open attachments and it is costly to download them.





EDITOR'S NOTE: We were in a great hurry to get this sea-logue, sent via emails
from Captain Paul Watson, to you our readers, that we did not feel we had time
nor necessity to edit or correct typos more than we have. We will be updating
this page as the e-mails come in from the Steve Irwin.

Stay tuned!

Send your protests to the Japanese Government as well as the Australian Government.
Please speak up for the animals on this planet who have no voice!

Many thanks to Michael Shonfield from "Channel G" for making us aware of this grave incident.

 
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