Brigitte Bardot Crew Safe and Sound

This morning Sea Shepherd announced that the crew of the Brigitte Bardot is now safe and sound. They and their vessel are being shepherded (I can use puns if I want to) back to port where they will work feverishly to repair the hull which was damaged by a rogue wave.

Sea Shepherd is going to lose some ground monitoring Japanese whalers with two ships out of commission. However, the good news is that the Bob Barker is in direct pursuit of the whalers they discovered early in their campaign. What’s more, the Bob Barker is Sea Shepherd’s ice-class vessel, meaning they can confidently chase whalers into growler-infested waters if necessary.

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!

The organization Visit London snapped a shot of the Steve Irwin passing under London’s Tower Bridge today. I see it’s still bearing its covert paint job which intended to disguise the vessel as a possible Navy ship during Sea Shepherd’s Bluefin tuna campaign.

I would love for Sea Shepherd to visit the coast here in Portland, Oregon. It would be magnificent to witness one of their vessels up and close.

Photo: Visit London | Via: @visitlondonweb

Final Images from the Berserk Yacht

Last winter five men—Jarle Andhøy, Samuel Massie, Leonard J. Banks, Tom Gisle Bellika, and Robert Skaanes—embarked on a journey to retrace the steps of Roald Amundsen, the man who first ventured to the South Pole. The new venturers set forth on this journey in an extremely ill-prepared vessel called the Berserk, which was more suitable for a weekend tour around the Bahamas.

Jarle Andhøy and Samuel Massie were dropped off onto the Ross Ice Shelf and the others anchored in the bay. Shortly thereafter a very aggressive storm approached and the Berserk triggered their distress beacon.

A Wellington navy vessel responded to the distress call as did Sea Shepherd’s Steve Irwin. In the end, however, the crew of the Berserk perished at sea while their friends aboard the ice shelf barely survived. The following video comprises clips of the crew’s final goodbyes before they separated. It’s quite touching to be sure.

Bond Posted for the Steve Irwin

In case you all missed it, the Steve Irwin’s bond has been paid and the vessel has been released back into the hands of Sea Shepherd. If you don’t know the background story, I posted about it a couple weeks back.

This is awesome in general. But what’s more it means the Steve Irwin will soon be on its way to the Faeroe Islands to protect Pilot whales during The Grind. Hang on, little cetaceans, Sea Shepherd is on the way!

Photo: Barney Moss

Help Post Bond for the Steve Irwin

For those of you who don’t know, the Steve Irwin was locked down and detained by British authorities last week shortly before they were to leave port in Lerwick. The reason for the detainment was because a Maltese fishing company by the name of Fish & Fish filed a civil lawsuit against Sea Shepherd, citing they damaged their property.

The property in question is a fishing net used to capture Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean Sea last year. Sea Shepherd believes the nets were being illegally (after the close of season with no inspector on board) used to capture the Bluefins and consequently the fish were freed.

Sea Shepherd must post a bond of $1.4 million to release the Steve Irwin. Without this money they risk having the vessel held indefinitely and—according to Sea Shepherd—possibly sold.

So right now they’re pushing hard to raise these funds. If you ever wanted to donate to Sea Shepherd, now would be the time.

Sea Shepherd and Hayagriva

Hayagriva is a Buddhist/Hindu deity of wisdom and knowledge. And if you’re a dedicated watcher of Whale Wars, you may have seen a clip in Season 3 (or was that Season 2?) when a discussion sprouts about a statue of Hayagriva on the foremast of the Steve Irwin.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The Hayagriva is an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of absolute compassion. But this manifestation is a dark as to frighten evil for the sake of compassion. Hayagriva is endowed with a skull necklace, long claws, and sharp fangs. Which, as the Dali Lama explains, is purposeful:

You never want to hurt anyone, but sometimes when they cannot see enlightenment, you scare the hell out of them until they do.

I was reading over the weekend about how the Sea Shepherd crew aboard the Steve Irwin is chasing illegal Bluefin-tuna poachers in waters under a no-fly zone. These waters are currently lacking any sort of patrolling or policing because they’re right in the middle of a war zone while international militaries pursue Moammar Gadhafi. Yet there they are, chasing poachers. Just like they confront Japanese whalers in Antarctic waters where there are no policing bodies enforcing anti-whaling laws.

So what does this have to do with Hayagriva? Sea Shepherd’s mission as an organization is to protect animals out of compassion. And with their black vessels flying traditional jolly rogers and aggressive confrontations, they are a fearful bunch of people. Just like Hayagriva they figuratively boast fangs and claws for the sake of compassion.

There are lots of videos of Sea Shepherd attacks from the viewpoint of Japanese whalers. They all evoke a sense that those poor whalers must feel some adrenalin pumping away when Sea Shepherd vessels appear on the horizon. And given that the Dali Lama presented Paul Watson with that statue of Hayagriva, it seems like their efforts are right in line with the Buddhist philosophy of compassion even when it spawns something frightful.

Steve Irwin in Dangerous Waters

Sea Shepherd recently announced that as part of their Bluefin tuna campaign they are heading into dangerous waters off the coast of Libya. NATO has declared this area a no-fly zone because of an international onslaught on Moammar Gadhafi, which means there will be no one patrolling the waters for policing poachers.

As is the way of Sea Shepherd, they have volunteered to be guardians of these animals who are supposed to be protected yet aren’t. And as is the way of civilization, man’s interests (in this case, war) come before the interests of animals. So war has drowned out protection for this endangered species.

But these waters aren’t dangerous in the way Antarctic waters are. The enemy isn’t mother nature’s storms or Japanese whalers; it is pirates and military occupation.

As travel blog Gadling reports, the previously black Steve Irwin has been painted in camouflage and labeled with a giant “77” on its bow in hopes that it will be confused with a Navy vessel. And complete with barbed wire and fake weapons, this disguise has served them well.

Photo: Deborah Bassett, Sea Shepherd

It has been reported around the web that a few different pirate skiffs have eyed the Steve Irwin then backed off after being fooled by the clever paint job and props. Even a Black Hawk helicopter approached the ship mistaking it for a Dutch warship.

So just when you think the Sea Shepherd crew is hardcore, they prove to be all that and more. Now they’re flirting with pirates and NATO forces in a military zone to protect Bluefin tuna.

I definitely heart Sea Shepherd.

I am going to send an email to UCONN’s quarterback Johnny McEntee, asking him to join Sea Shepherd in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Just imagine butyric acid or pseudo corpse in his hands on the deck of the Steve Irwin or the Bob Barker.

That said, Sea Shepherd is on their way to destroying Japanese whaling this winter. So with all luck, there will be no need for a masterful thrower anytime in the foreseeable future.