Sea Shepherd: Greenpeace should Refuel and Return to Stop Whaling

“I really have to question just what is Greenpeace's motivation in coming down here year after year,” said Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd. “Their campaigns are always more of the same, buzzing about in rubber boats, hanging banners and filming whales being killed. Things have changed dramatically since Sea Shepherd has been intervening. Whales don't die when we show up. Instead the whalers run and they keep running. The whalers have never run from Greenpeace before and they were not running from them this year either. Even the whalers have admitted they have been running from the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin .”

Greenpeace uses the whaling issue in a fund-raising advertising campaign, including online advertising rights to major newspaper websites, to Google and other media sites. According to Sea Shepherd they spend only a fraction of that money on the whaling issue.

“This is all well and good,” said Captain Paul Watson. “But with the amount of revenue Greenpeace is bringing in why are they leaving for the season? They should get up to the nearest port, fill up their fuel tanks and get back down to the Southern Ocean and continue their campaign. The whalers will be down here for another two months. Plenty of time to refuel and return. But they won't do it. They have their pictures and they have their story and that is fuel enough to generate a fund-raising program for the rest of the year.”

Sea Shepherd has an annual budget of about 2 million dollars which is dwarfed by the budget of Greenpeace estimated to be in excess of one hundred million dollars.

“We will do everything we can with the resources we have but I can tell you this,” said Captain Watson. “If we had a fraction of the Greenpeace budget we will have two ships down here from the beginning of the whaling season until the end."

The Steve Irwin is still following the whaling fleet but is being shadowed by the Japanese ship Fukuyoshi Maru No 68 which keeps the whaling fleet informed of the position of Sea Shepherd.

“Because of this spy vessel tailing us we will not be able to close in on the whalers but we can continue to chase them and keep them on the run and if they are running they won't be whaling,” said Captain Watson.

When the Esperanza departed the whaling fleet Sea Shepherd 2nd Officer Peter Hammarstedt called Greenpeace Campaign Leader Karli Thomas on the Esperanza to request the position of the Nisshin Maru. According to Sea Shepherd, Thomas responded by saying that it was not necessary for Sea Shepherd to have the coordinates for the Nisshin Maru because the Oceanic Viking, the Australian Patrol ship, would continue documenting the activities of the factory ship to carry on the work that Greenpeace has been doing. She refused to give the co-ordinates of the Nisshin Maru saying that Greenpeace had no intention of cooperating with Sea Shepherd.

Sources:

• Sea Shepherd, Jan 27, 2008 - Greenpeace Protects Japanese Whalers from Sea Shepherd
• IndyBay, Jan 26, 2008 - Low fuel forces Greenpeace to abandon Whaling Fleet
• Greenpeace News, Jan 26, 2008 - Esperanza en route to Hobart
• Sea Shepherd, Jan 26, 2008 The Rocky Whaling Fleet Horror Show
• Photo credit: Captain Paul Watson on board the Steve Irwin. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society