anti-whaling activists

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Sea Shepherd Gives Up on Japan Whaling Fight—for Now

Conservation organization says it's no match for Japan's funding, military-level technology

(Newser) - For more than a decade, a marine conservation group has dogged Japanese ships trolling for whales near Antarctica. But the BBC reports that Sea Shepherd is now being forced to cancel those efforts, noting it's been outplayed by Japan's cutting-edge technology and deep wallet. "Japan is now...

Sea Shepherd Founder Arrested

Paul Watson faces charges in decade-old incident

(Newser) - A leading anti-whaling activist has been arrested in Germany. Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, was busted on Saturday over a 2002 clash with a Costa Rican "illegal shark finning operation" off Guatemala, the group says in a statement. The group says the warrant is tied to an "...

Activists Tangle With Japanese Whaler

Sea Shepherd up to its usual tricks; Japan not amused

(Newser) - It's whaling season in the Antarctic Ocean, which means the rotten-butter-wielding activists at Sea Shepherd were busy making life miserable for the Japanese whaler Yushin Maru No. 2 today. Activists hurled paint and butyric acid—found in the aforementioned rotten butter—at the ship, as well as ropes designed...

Rogue Wave Damages Anti-Whaling Vessel

Steve Irwin racing to help stricken Brigitte Bardot

(Newser) - A rogue wave off Antarctica has dealt a major setback to conservationists' efforts to thwart Japan's annual whale hunt. The wave hit the Sea Shepherd Society's Brigitte Bardot as it chased the Nisshin Maru factory ship, badly damaging one of its pontoons, the BBC reports. Another boat, the...

Japan Uses Disaster Budget to Fund Whaling Hunt

Official defends the controversial move

(Newser) - Of Japan's $230 billion in supplementary budgets meant for tsunami reconstruction, $29 million will be used for … a whaling hunt. An official confirmed the move today, and simultaneously defended it, noting that some whaling towns were hit badly by the March 11 tsunami, and the funding will help...

Activists Halt Japan Whale Hunt
 Activists Halt Japan Whale Hunt 
Feb 16, 2011 4:00 AM CST

Activists Halt Japan Whale Hunt

Harassment making Antarctic hunt 'unsafe,' says fisheries official

(Newser) - The Japanese have temporarily suspended an Antarctic whale hunt because of repeated harassment by activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The hunt, aiming to bag as many as 945 whales, has been halted because of "violent" disruptions, said the nation's top fisheries officials. No one has been injured...

Whaling Protesters Deliberately Sank Own Boat

Its skipper says sinking was done for public sympathy

(Newser) - Verbal harpoons are flying in a public feud between the leader of the Sea Shepherd conservation group and the former skipper of the group's high-tech "Batmobile" boat the Ady Gil, which sank after a collision with a Japanese ship earlier this year. Skipper Peter Bethune says the boat was...

Activists Slime Whalers With Butter, Paintballs

Japanese worried projectiles could injure or kill someone

(Newser) - Conservationists chucked paintballs and rotten butter at Japanese whalers, while the whalers fired back with water canons in their latest pitched, if unconventional, naval battle in the Antarctic Ocean yesterday. No one was injured in the clash, the AP reports. Paintballs are a new weapon for the Sea Shepherd group,...

Japanese Whalers Injured by Acid-Firing Activists

Face, eye injuries claimed from rancid butter spray

(Newser) - Three crew members of a Japanese whaling vessel suffered face and eye injuries from acid fired by anti-whaling protesters during their latest clash in the Antarctic Ocean, their employers said today. The Sea Shepherd protesters said they shot butyric acid—which they maintain is nontoxic—produced from stinking rancid butter,...

Whaler, Activist Ship Collide Off Antarctica

Second clash this year in Japanese whaling standoff

(Newser) - The anti-whaling ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica today—the second major clash this year in the increasingly belligerent standoff over Japanese whaling. The activist group Sea Shepherd, which sends vessels to confront the fleet each year, said a small...

Activists Vow to Bust Boat-Destroying Whalers

Sea Shepherd donations are pouring in after sinking

(Newser) - The head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says that if the Australian and New Zealand governments fail to arrest the Japanese whalers who sank the Ady Gil, he'll do it himself. Paul Watson—whose group has already filed piracy charges against the crew of the Shonan Maru and is...

Boat Destroyed, Whaling Activists Take to the Air

Whale war heats up after Sea Shepherd boat is destroyed

(Newser) - The anti-whaling group whose high-tech boat was destroyed by a Japanese whaler in Antarctic waters yesterday has continued to pursue their target by helicopter, and vowed to keep up the harassment. "We now have a real whale war on our hands," declared the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's leader,...

Whalers Sink Activist Boat
 Whalers Sink Activist Boat 
Jan 6, 2010 2:15 AM CST

Whalers Sink Activist Boat

Crew safe after Ady Gil rammed by Japanese in Antarctica

(Newser) - An activist boat operated by the Sea Shepherd conservationist group has sunk off Antarctica after a clash with Japanese whalers. All six crew members were saved after the Ady Gil high-tech speedboat was sliced in half by the Japanese ship Shonan Maru, the Times of London reports. The boat was...

Watching Whales More Lucrative Than Hunting Them

(Newser) - Whale watching generates about $2.1 billion annually, making it far more profitable than hunting the giant mammals, a new report says. Income from whale watching has doubled over the last decade, according to the report, issued by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "Whale watching is clearly more...

Nations Move to Breach Whaling Ban

Greenies say talks "wave the white flag" to whale killers

(Newser) - Secret government meetings could usher in a new era of legal commercial whaling for the first time in more than 20 years, the Independent reports. Twenty-eight whaling and anti-whaling nations have met twice to reach a compromise on the ban, which came after the near-extinction of many species. Environmentalists say...

Nations Mull Secret Whaling Compromise

Plan would let Japan hunt legally, but decrease slaughter

(Newser) - Representatives from more than 70 governments gathered last week at a secret meeting in London to hash out a compromise that would allow Japan to resume commercial whaling for the first time in more than 20 years. Pro- and anti-whaling nations discussed plans to lift the worldwide ban on whaling,...

Whaling Protester Says He Was Shot
Whaling Protester Says He Was Shot
Mar 7, 2008 10:03 AM CST

Whaling Protester Says He Was Shot

Japanese vessel denies using bullets against activists

(Newser) - An anti-whaling activist says he was shot during a clash with a Japanese ship on the high seas, the Guardian reports. Japanese officials deny the allegations from the captain of the Sea Shepherd and say they fired only flash grenades, not bullets. Paul Watson, though, says he pulled one from...

Activists Hurl 'Acid' at Whalers
Activists Hurl 'Acid' at Whalers
Mar 3, 2008 8:46 AM CST

Activists Hurl 'Acid' at Whalers

Action draws condemnation from Japan, Australia

(Newser) - In the latest clash between Japanese whalers and activists in Antarctic waters, members of a militant anti-whaling group threw bottles of a slick, foul-smelling rancid butter concoction onto the whaling fleet's flagship. Japanese officials said three sailors were injured when butyric acid, found in spoiled butter, splashed into their eyes,...

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