Whaling war set to worsen after crash
ANDREW DARBY AND JONATHAN PEARLMAN
January 7, 2010
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/whale-watch/whaling-war-set-to-worsen-after-crash-20100106-luej.htmlTorn apart ... wreckage of the Ady Gil.
CONFLICT in the Antarctic over whaling is set to escalate, despite calls for calm after a Japanese ship tore the bow off a protest vessel yesterday.
The hardline Sea Shepherd group said it had no intention of withdrawing from the southern waters after the loss of its $2 million ''stealth boat'', Ady Gil, which was was hit by the Japanese Shonan Maru 2.
Speaking before the crash, the acting Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, rebuked Japan over the revelation by the Herald that its whalers had organised spy flights from Australian airports to watch the Sea Shepherd ships.
''I make it very clear on behalf of the Australian Government we do not condone this action by the Japanese Government,'' Ms Gillard said. "We are urgently seeking legal advice about the matter to see what our options are.''
The Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, cautioned that the Government needed to get more information about the crash before commenting on its cause.
But Sea Shepherd's leader, Paul Watson, was defiant.
"If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken,'' he said. ''We now have a real whale war on our hands.''
The crash came after a day of harassment of the whaling fleet in Australian Antarctic waters by Ady Gil and another Sea Shepherd ship, Bob Barker.
In the skirmishes, the Ady Gil's crew tried to entangle the propeller of the factory ship Nisshin Maru but were pursued by Shonan Maru 2, which was there to protect the whaling fleet from the activists.
The Ady Gil, low on fuel, was at a standstill and farewelling fellow activists on board the Bob Barker when the incident happened, said its skipper, Pete Bethune, a New Zealander.
Mr Bethune told the Herald the 1000-tonne Japanese ship turned towards the 18-tonne Ady Gil from about 75 metres away when most of its crew were on deck.
''We thought they were going to turn a water cannon on us and I told my crew to brace for that,'' he said. ''Then they T-boned my boat. It was just massive. It's finished. It's been my life for four years, and now it's gone. It's a miracle we all survived.''
An Ady Gil crew member, Laurens de Groot, said the crash was no accident.
''They have no mercy those guys. They were trying to kill us, ramming us like that in one of the most hostile environments in the world. The only way to describe it is attempted murder.''
However, video footage released by Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research last night showed the Ady Gil gradually increasing speed into the path of the Shonan Maru 2, countering the Sea Shepherd account that the ship was not moving.
The six aboard were uninjured and left the floating rear section for the Bob Barker without trouble in the icy conditions.
''Today is a clear example of how the Japanese don't give a *expletive deleted*it,'' Mr Bethune said. ''But this is the end of whaling. You can't go around saying you're trying to conduct scientific research when you're prepared to drive into other people's boats.''
Last night the two pieces of the trimaran were still afloat and the activists were salvaging what they could, including 400 litres of fuel.
The Shonan Maru 2 and two whale chaser boats stood by for some hours after the incident, but did not communicate with Sea Shepherd. The Nisshin Maru steamed away.
An investigation is to be mounted by the Government of New Zealand, which is the flag state for the Ady Gil.
The Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop, said the Government had bungled its attempt to end whaling and damaged relations with Japan.
''This has now become an embarrassment for the Government,'' she told the Herald.
The conflict is likely to renew within days when Captain Watson's vessel, the Steve Irwin, arrives on the scene.
Malcolm Cook, of the Lowy Institute, said the repercussions of the latest incident were likely to be ''ugly'' as both governments responded to conflicting domestic pressures.
''Clearly it is now a large and continuing irritant in the bilateral relationship … The irritant seems to grow each year - I am sure this incident will make it grow even more.''
