Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace Go Toe-to-Toe

Things have never been cordial between Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace (at least I can’t recall a time). But the fire is super hot right now. Greenpeace is accusing Sea Shepherd of being disgraceful for calling out Japan on spending Tsunami relief funds on whaling.

Executive Director of Greenpeace Japan, Junichi Sato, had some words for Japan’s inexcusable dispersion of relief funds to the whaling industry:

Not only is the whaling industry unable to survive without large increases in government handouts, now it’s siphoning money away from the victims of the March 11 triple disaster—at a time when they need it most. This is a new low for the shameful whaling industry and the callous politicians who support it.

Shortly thereafter he said Sea Shepherd’s same position was “really disgraceful.” Is that disgraceful like when Greenpeace tried whale meat in the name of their campaign? Or disgraceful like when Greenpeace protected whalers from Sea Shepherd?

All I know is that Sea Shepherd puts their lives on the line every winter in a true venture to save whales and, in turn, the human race. Greenpeace, as Paul Watson puts it:

They raise some $40 million dollars a year on their anti-whaling campaigns and all they do is produce mail-outs asking for funds. They have not sent a ship to the Southern Ocean to hang banners for years.

And So It Begins. Again!

Today, Japanese whalers have left harbor for another winter of slaughter in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. And therefore Operation Devine Wind begins.

But there is more to this story. A new element which makes it infinitely more disgusting than the whaling itself. The Japanese government is issuing $28 million in earthquake recovery funds to the whalers! Yes, you heard me right. The money people around the world shared with Japan to help them get back on their feet is being used for whaling.

ABC news reports:

The Japan Fisheries Agency says the trip’s use of $28 million from the earthquake recovery fund is legitimate, because one of the towns devastated by the March earthquake and tsunami was a whaling port.

Legitimate? Because one of the towns hit was a whaling port? FUCK! YOU!

I am one of the millions of people who donated their hard-earned money to help Japanese citizens rebuild their lives. And now, as it turns out, I have inadvertently helped to fund this winter’s whaling campaign.

I am beyond words to express how absolutely absurd this is. Let’s examine the enormity of this decision:

1. That’s $28 million that won’t be used to rebuild schools, hospitals, and homes; to help rebuild the Japanese economy; or even to research, improve, and build new electricity solutions that can withstand future natural disasters.
2. This is a huge “fuck you very much” to everyone who donated to disaster funds. “While we appreciate your money to help rebuild our country, we’re going to go ahead and use it to continue our whaling industry which is disapproved by most of you who donated money.”
3. Japan’s whaling industry has no funding because there’s little support and few who care about its survival. So while this thievery enables them to have a campaign this winter, it’s but a desperate attempt to keep a dying industry alive. Come next winter they will again be scrambling for funding. Especially because this winter Sea Shepherd will most definitely again kill their quota.
4. When the next natural disaster hits Japan, many will be reluctant to donate money, concerned about how it will be spent. This will screw Japanese citizens in their time of need next time around like they’re being screwed right now.

So thank you, Japan. You have officially cheated your citizens out of trust, money, and support. Disgusting.

Murder, Murder, Murder in Taiji

Man, it just never fucking ends. Report after report about cetaceans being frightened into the cove before being brutally slaughtered by cowardly men. In today’s report from the Cove Guardians:

The pilot whales in the Cove did not quietly go to their deaths. They fought as best they could, churning up the water and dashing on the rocks. Ultimately though, 22 to 25 of them were pushed into the killing Cove…Those pilot whales not killed today had to swim in the blood of their family members and listen to their death cries. They will die in the early light tomorrow.

There’s the unfathomable events of World War II in which millions of Jews were being herded into makeshift prisons, watching and listening to their friends and family members being slaughtered without any means to escape or defend themselves. There’s the horrific enormity of bodies stacking up at rivers’ ends in Rwanda during the massacre of 800,000 people from Hutu/Tutsi tribes in 1994.

People rise up and protest these macabre occurrences; at a minimum they lament them, even from afar. But when the same thing happens to dolphins—debatably the second-smartest animals on earth—few people seem to give a shit. Well there are masses of people who care, but either not enough or not the right people to make a difference.

It must be exhausting for Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians to witness this genocide day after day. They are living at the forefront of a disassembly line. And while they’re making a difference and putting the murderers in the spotlight, the butchery continues. Even amid the aftermath of Japan’s recent natural disasters:

We have been asked why we are making noise about whales and dolphins when there is so much human misery in Japan at the moment. The better question to ask is why the Japanese government is allowing this slaughter to happen. Why is the government allowing these two dozen individuals in Taiji to bring shame and dishonor to the entire nation when there is so much misery here already?

Fuck, Taiji—enough already. It’s not worth the money you’re making. Face your conscience and move on to something productive. Something beautiful. Anything.

Ayukawa Whaling Destroyed by Tsunami

Japanese city Ayukawa is one of only a handful of whaling companies left in the country, Ayukawa Whaling. And with Japan’s recent tsunami, it was demolished like so many other towns.

What makes Ayukawa unique is that it is home to Ayukawa Whaling, the primary source of industry for Ayukawa. In fact, it seems that without the whaling company the town can’t survive. Japanese fisherman Hiroyuki Akimoto claims:

There is no Ayukawa without whaling.

And retired whaler Makoto Takeda notes:

This could be the final blow to whaling here. So goes whaling, so goes the town.

Knowing that a whaling company has been devastated is blissful news to animal-rights activists and environmentalists alike. It seems that in any capacity this is great news. Except now it is only bittersweet.

What appears to be the death of Ayukawa Whaling is a direct result of Japan’s recent natural disasters. So with all of the people of Ayukawa enduring ultimate catastrophe, there isn’t much to celebrate.

The news of Ayukawa Whaling closing its doors is notable. But a party seems like nothing short of apathetic.

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.

Sea Shepherd Crew in Taiji Missing After Earthquake

The entire Sea Shepherd crew working to save dolphins in Taiji is missing. Sea Shepherd has repeatedly attempted to make contact but have not yet heard from any of them. They reported having seen the water recede so they were definitely in the area when the tsunami hit.

The missing cove guardians are Scott West, Mike Vos, Tarah Millen, Carisa Webster, Marley Daviduk, and Brian Barnes. With 1,000+ dead in the wake of today’s tsunami, I hope they were among those who escaped unscathed.