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Bob Barker to Rescue the Whales
Seashepherd - 05.01.2010 22:34
Bob Barker Donates $5,000,000 to Sea Shepherd for Ocean Conservation
Another whaling ship arrived in the Southern Ocean today, unexpected and right on time: the Bob Barker.
The 1,200-ton Norwegian built Antarctic harpoon vessel caught up with the Japanese whaling fleet at 0300 Hours on Wednesday, January 6th, in the area of Commonwealth Bay off the Adelie Coast at 143 Degrees 17 Minutes East and 66 Degrees 43 Minutes South. The Norwegian flag cracked in the chill Antarctic air as the silhouette of the whaler gave every indication that the ship was sent to support the Japanese whalers.
The Japanese could be forgiven for thinking that the pro-whaling Norwegians had sent a ship to support their illegal whaling activities in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. But any excitement turned to disappointment quickly as the Norwegian flag was hauled down and the black and white skull with crossed Trident and Shepherd’s crook was raised to announce the arrival of the Bob Barker, the latest ship acquired for the Sea Shepherd ocean defense fleet.
Thanks to a $5,000,000 contribution from American television personality and icon Bob Barker, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society was able to quietly purchase and refit the former Norwegian whaler in Africa. The ice strengthened fast chaser boat quietly departed from Mauritius on December 18th to join up with the Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Ady Gil in the Southern Ocean.
Barker has also funded the cost of a helicopter that will accompany the society’s ships. The aircraft is named The Nancy Burnet after the president of United Activists for Animal Rights, an organization Barker also supports. This new helicopter will participate in future campaigns.
“I’m delighted to be able to help the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in its mission to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans,” said Barker. “There is lot of talk about preserving our ecosystems and species, but this is one organization that puts these words into action.”
For the first time ever, Sea Shepherd has three ships on the Japanese fleet and each ship gives the campaign unique abilities. The long range fast ice class Bob Barker will take the lead in harassing the Japanese fleet and will be able to stay on station for three solid months without refueling. The Steve Irwin will be carrying the campaign helicopter and will coordinate all flight activities in addition to blocking loading operations on the Nisshin Maru, the factory ship. The Ady Gil, with twice the speed of the Japanese harpoon vessels, will concentrate on intercepting the fast chaser vessels to block their hunting activities.
The objective of the Sea Shepherd fleet is to sink the Japanese whaling fleet economically – to bankrupt the whaling industry by cutting whale kill quotas in half and costing the whaling fleet their annual profits.
This year’s campaign has been named Operation Waltzing Matilda to reflect the Sea Shepherd’s gratitude to the people of Australia for their incredible support since 2005 for our activities.
Thanks to the generous support of Bob Barker, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been given the means to seriously impact the profits of the whaling industry this season. Now more than ever, we are confident that we will be able to drive the outlaw whalers from the waters of the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary.
The Japanese whalers are discovering that the price is no longer right. With Sea Shepherd cutting their kill quotas in half and cancelling their profits for a fourth year in a row, the heavily subsidized whaling industry is on the ropes financially.
“We intend to bankrupt the whalers,” said Captain Paul Watson.
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| Lees meer over: natuur, dier en mens | | aanvullingen | | uit dit artikel zijn aanvullingen verplaatst naar de ruispagina | | | Foto's | Sea Shepherd - 05.01.2010 23:25
Barker
Bob Barker
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| | Anti-whaling activists accuse Japan fleet of | NN - 06.01.2010 14:35
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society anti-whaling vessel Ady Gil on 6 January 2010 - photo from Institute of Cetacean Research of Japan
The Sea Shepherd said the bow was sheared off the Ady Gil
Anti-whaling activists have accused a Japanese vessel of ramming their high-tech speed boat during a confrontation in the Southern Ocean.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says its vessel was sliced in half, but all six crew were rescued.
Earlier the campaigners - who are trying to stop Japan's whaling fleet - said they threw chemicals onto the whaling boat to prevent it being used.
Japan's fisheries agency said the group had obstructed the whalers' operations.
The agency said it was the fourth time this season that the anti-whaling activists had interfered with the whaling fleet's operations, Kyodo news agency reported.
In recent years the two sides have confronted each other regularly in waters around the Antarctic.
"This seriously escalates the whole situation," Sea Shepherd spokesman Paul Watson said, according to The Age newspaper in Australia.
The activists said their boat, the Ady Gil - a high-tech speed boat that resembles a stealth bomber - had its bow sheared off in the clash near Commonwealth Bay.
The Sea Shepherd group sends boats to Antarctic waters each year to try to stop the Japanese whaling fleet hunting whales under the auspices of a scientific research programme.
Japan abandoned commercial whaling in 1986 after agreeing to a global moratorium but international rules allow it to carry out a limited whaling programme.
| | Jammer | NN - 06.01.2010 16:26
Helaas, het mooie schip "Ady Gil", de stealth speedboot die op biobrandstoffen vaart is verloren in een laffe aanval van de Japanse walvisjagers. De boot lag volgens het Nederlandse bemanningslid stil zonder brandstof, toen plotseling het japanse schip opdook en hun koers bijstelde richting de Ady Gil.
De neus van de futuristische boot is verloren gegaan samen met een stuk van de vleugel. Het schip was Sea Shepherd geschonken door een zakenman en had een waarde van 950.000 dollar.
| | of toch wel | jaap - 06.01.2010 17:01
Sea shepherd zijn inderdaad geen fascisten omdat ze op discovery channel komen. Maar Brigitte Bardot (ja dat model, getrouwd met een voormalig adviseur van front national en heeft zelf ook een paar dubieuze uitspraken gedaan) speelt wel een belangrijke (onder andere adviserende) rol in Sea Sheperd.
 http://www.seashepherd.nl/news/media_060302_1.html
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