Brigitte Bardot Severely Damaged, Sends Distress Call

While in pursuit of Japanese whalers the Sea Shepherd vessel Brigitte Bardot was severely damaged by a rogue wave which cracked its hull. It has been taking on water while the storm continues to bombard it with waves, and the Steve Irwin is racing 240 miles toward the ship and its crew in response to their distress call.

Brigitte Bardot captain Jonathan Miles Renecle is confident the ship will stay afloat until the Steve Irwin arrives. However, based on the photographs they posted of the tied up hull I think there is cause for alarm. The entire crew of ten would certainly perish if left in the water for even a short period of time.

What’s more, what does this mean for the campaign? Can Operation Divine Wind meet its objectives without the Brigitte Bardot? Can it be quickly repaired and put back into this campaign?

This is a huge blow to the campaign. But most importantly, I hope for the best for the stranded crew. Here’s to a speedy rescue via the Steve Irwin. Hang on, folks!

This video is beyond beautiful and I am left speechless. How many people besides Michael Fishbach (the narrator/savior in this video) can say they directly saved a Humpback whale with their bare hands? Wow.

There is a crew of saviors working to help Blue Penguins who are suffering as part of the Rena oil spill. Apparently the beaches are being cleaned up but the surrounding rocks are not. And this is where the Blue Penguins reside. This video shows the crew gathering penguins they will clean up and return to the site.

One segment, beginning at 1:18, is particularly heartbreaking. There are two penguins in a nest with their egg. The crew has to make a decision about how to handle these penguins because if they’re not cleaned they’ll “suffer the fate” of the oil but if they remove them the chick will definitely die. They decide to leave the penguin who is nearly oil free and only take the one who is saturated in oil. So they’re separating mates who, as we know, are bound for life.

It’s tragic, really. And the entire scenario originated with the irresponsibility of humans.

For my Tumblr followers you will have seen this on Radar. But I wanted to share for those not using Tumblr because it’s simply too awesome to pass up. A library of photos of this man nursing the dolphin back to health have been posted if you want to see more.

Via: urlesque

Pilot Whale Rescue Near Scotland

While some humans disregard cetaceans as nothing more than an insentient product, other humans value life as a precious gift and recognize the importance of the balance of nature.

Last last week a pod of pilot whales was in danger of being stranded in an estuary near Northern Scotland. But a small group of human beings came to their rescue, saving a large number of them.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue collaborated with other groups—including the Navy’s bomb unit and the Coastguard—to shepherd the pod back into open waters. Reportedly they were able to save around 44 whales while roughly 25 perished.

While the death of 25 pilot whales isn’t something to celebrate, the lives of 44 others being saved by humans definitely is. Now let’s hope those pilot whales will travel in any direction other than North, where citizens of the Faeroe Islands await this very animal for mass slaughter.

Love Thy Enemy

One of the things I love about Sea Shepherd is their overall sense of compassion. Everything they do is about compassion for animals, and for the human race who can not survive without them.

When it comes time to get dirty Sea Shepherd does not hold back. They are as aggressive as necessary with people who murder animals for pleasure or industry. Yet they have no hatred for these people, which is an important factor that many fail to acknowledge. While Sea Shepherd recognizes these offenders must be stopped at any cost, they do not curse them into the depths of hell.

Two cases in point:

1. Just last week, while protecting Bluefin tuna in militarily-hostile waters off the Libyan coast, Sea Shepherd saved the life of one of the very fisherman they were hunting down. He had severely severed his wrist and was treated by Megan Jolley, the medic aboard the Brigitte Bardot. Then he was returned to his fishing vessel and advised that he must seek hospitalization to avoid a life-threatening evolution of his wound.
2. Back in 2009 Japanese whaler Hajime Shiraskai reportedly fell off the Kyoshin Maru No. 2 and a distress call was issued. Captain Paul Watson offered to help search for Hajime and assured the whalers they would not harass them during their search, even though the Yushin Maru 3 said they “would not accept help from an eco-terrorist organization.” They even deployed their helicopter to aid in the search.

However aggressive Sea Shepherd seems, their actions are in the name of compassion. They “love thy enemy” even as they exhaust all of their efforts and resources to stop them. How many activist organizations can say that?

Update: Cove Guardians Alive and Well!

The six missing cove guardians have reported back to loved ones that they are alive and well. Hallelujah!

Apparently they spent the night on a hill, high above the devastated town of Otsuchi. Coming down off the hill they experienced a scene of great enormity. Sea Shepherd reported about the words of the cove guardians leader Scott West:

They walked out over scattered debris, roads that were completely wiped out, and walked past numerous dead bodies amidst piles of rubble. At one point yesterday they saw and heard a woman in the water screaming for help, but she was washed out to sea before they could do anything to rescue her.

Wow.

Japan is experiencing great devastation right now and Sea Shepherd volunteers are right in the middle of it. I would bet in the coming days we’ll learn about how those shepherds of dolphins will have become shepherds of victims of Japan’s natural disaster. After all, they obviously have the heart for it.

Dick Van Dyke Rescued by Porpoises

This sounds like a story from The Onion, but it’s apparently true.

Dick Van Dyke snoozed off on his surf board (did anyone know he surfs?) and drifted out to sea. He recognized the severity of his situation upon waking up, because no land was in sight. He saw fins approaching him and thought they were sharks. As it turns out they were porpoises, and they pushed him back to shore.

During the recent failed meeting between Taiji officials and Sea Shepherd, Taiji’s Municipal Assembly President, Katsutoshi Mihara, noted “the townspeople don’t regard dolphins and whales as more special than other animals.” Interesting. You can stick this story in that file. Fuckers.

Via: nprfreshair