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10/3/10
Operation Waltzing Matilda has come to a close after three long, weary, and dramatic months upon the most remote and hostile seas in the world. This past weekend, the Sea Shepherd ships Steve Irwin and Bob Barker were welcomed by crowds of cheering supporters in the port of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
We will not know the final results until the Japanese whaling fleet reports back to Tokyo in April, but we cut the kill quotas nearly in half during the three previous years and this year was much more effective, so the results promise to be very satisfying. We know we have cost the whalers tens of millions of dollars in lost profits.
In this
edition of the Sea Shepherd E-News, I have a report on Operation Waltzing
Matilda, an update on Captain Peter Bethune, an interesting parody about
the global impact that whaling has on the environment, and much more. Please
read on...
Because of your generous support, we just completed our most ambitious and
effective campaign to defend the great whales that we have ever undertaken.
Operation Waltzing Matilda, our sixth voyage to the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary to oppose the illegal whaling activities of the Japanese whaling
fleet, was astoundingly effective.
From the water cannon battles between our ships, to the high-level diplomatic showdowns between Australia and New Zealand and Japan, this battle is being fought on many levels and in many places. With ships being rammed and sunk, and a prisoner of war being taken back to Japan, the conflict was more intense this year than ever before.
Get the details about our most notable campaign moments and what's next. The Shonan Maru 2 transporting Sea Shepherd prisoner, Captain Peter Bethune, was spotted heading toward the Lombok Strait on February 25th.Sea Shepherd has arranged for expert legal representation for Captain Bethune upon his arrival in Japan.
This
is the first time that a New Zealander has been transported as a prisoner
of war to Japan since World War II. Read
the full story.
The whales are to the ocean what trees are to the land - both whales and
trees store carbon by the ton.
The slaughter of whales by the Japanese whalers is not only a violation of the Antarctic Treaty, it is also a significant factor in releasing large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere by removing the whales as significant repositories of carbon.
The last century of commercial whaling has released some 100 million tons of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere, which is an amount of carbon equivalent to burning 130,000 sq km of temperate forests.
Whales have an important role in storing and transporting carbon in the marine ecosystem. Learn more about why saving whales is good for the planet!
It is only through the continued support of concerned citizens such as yourself that we are able to persist in our efforts to protect our planet's marine wildlife.
I hope
that you will take great pride in the important difference that you can
make by supporting
our efforts. Thank-you!
For the oceans,
Captain
Paul Watson
Founder and President
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E-mail: captainwatson@seashepherd.org
Tel: +1 (360) 370-5650
Fax: +1 (360) 370-5651
Website: http://www.seashepherd.org