A brief note from Captain Paul Watson aboard the Steve Irwin en route to the Southern Ocean for Operation Divine Wind.

Concern for Who’s Safety?

So I was thinking about the international concern for safety in Antarctic waters this winter. Governments have gathered and issued statements urging concern for safety. New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, is dialoguing with Japanese Minister Seiji Maehara about his concerns.

But all of this talk about safety in the Southern Ocean is about humans. It’s about people not hurting other people. What everyone is forgetting is that some of those humans are in those waters with an intent to murder hundreds of whales. What about their safety? Why aren’t governments and foreign ministers urging that humans treat whales with the same concern for safety?

This is war. There is no safety.

Concern for Safety in Southern Ocean Continues

The governments of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands recently released a joint statement of concern for imminent clashes in Antarctic waters this winter. And as the NZ Herald reports, New Zealand is pursuing “a diplomatic end to whaling instead of joining Australia’s legal case in the International Court of Justice.” Foreign Minister Murray McCully notes “here you have a pretty explosive cocktail.”

Concerned that this winter’s conflicts will escalate, McCully said he is dialoging with Japanese Minister Seiji Maehara about the possibility of people losing their lives. Obviously stemming from whalers having armed coast guards aboard their ships. He also noted that New Zealand is “committed to the elimination of whaling in the Southern Ocean at the earliest possible time,” and that they would consider asking the United States to support their appeal.

Foreign Minister McCully also made a very appropriate statement about the curiosity about why Japan continues to whale:

It simply doesn’t make any economic sense for Japan to continue to spend large amounts of taxpayers’ money subsidizing a dying industry in the Southern Ocean.

I’ll say. And it’s one of a number of reasons Japan should cease from this grotesque practice of illegal genocide.

Joint Governments Call for Safety in the Southern Ocean

The United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands have released a joint statement urging caution during this winter’s anti-whaling season in Antarctic waters. They declare:

We are deeply concerned that confrontations in the Southern Ocean will eventually lead to injury or loss of life among both whaling crews and protestors, many of whom are nationals of our countries.

They point to the incident this past January in which the Shonan Maru 2 rammed the the Ady Gil as a reference to their concern. However, while they do express their concern for human life in the Southern Ocean, they also declare their opposition to whaling:

We remain resolute in our opposition to whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, established by the International Whaling Commission, and are disappointed at the recent departure of the Japanese whaling fleet for the Southern Ocean.