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Greenpeace Stops Japanese Whalers

Greenpeace activists are saying that they have managed to chase the Japanese whaling fleet from its hunting grounds in the Southern Sea.

greenpeaceThe Greenpeace ship Esperanza

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza claims that the whalers fled the area after a chase worthy of an adventure novel. The Esperanza and the whaling ship had a dramatic chase through hundreds of miles worth of thick fog before forcing the catcher ships, which harpoon the whales, from the factory ship Nisshin Maru. The catcher ships will be unable to hunt so long as they are separated from the factory processing ship.

Greenpeace Japan campaigner Sakyo Noda said: "We came here to stop the fleet from whaling and we have done that. Now they are out of the hunting grounds they should stay out."

The fleet will most likely refuel from a nearby tanker before returning to the hunting area. The Japanese government took a predictable view of the situation, warning the protesters against further interference with their Antarctic whale hunt.

Keiichi Nakajima, the president of the Japanese Whaling Association, said: "Past activities of Greenpeace have been responsible for vessel collisions that risk the lives and safety of our researchers and crew and are illegal under international maritime law. I urge Greenpeace ... to keep a safe distance."

But Greenpeace, who credited their actions so far with depriving the fleet of two days of whaling, showed no signs of backing down. Greenpeace spokesman and Esperanza resident Dave Walsh said: "If they start whaling again we will launch inflatables and put ourselves between the harpoons and the whales. We are not here to attack whalers; we are here to defend whales."

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Ryan (not verified) says:

Hell yeah! I wonder how Keiichi Nakajima would feel if someone chased him around Japan with a harpoon in the back a of a truck, trying to kill him.

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Brad (not verified) says:

Nice one, Dave. Keep up the good work on the Esparanza and stay safe out there!

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A (not verified) says:

Greenpeace - Terrorist Corporation

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seejake (not verified) says:

ROCK ON RAINBOW WARRIORS!!! Message to Japan and the world: Whaling for "scientific research" is a perpetuated lie that needs to end!

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Axle (not verified) says:

I hope the Esperanza hits a whale and sinks.

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Mike (not verified) says:

Oh for the love of God, I hope they do get into their little inflatables and float in the path of the harpoons. The more of these moronic eco-terrorists that get killed the happier I become :) These idiots aren't doing anything for the long run. They're pissing off the government and workers, hurting economies and families. Sooner or later, probably sooner with their lack of grey matter, these people will do something stupid enough to get them all arrested. So woopdedoo, you stopped them for what, a week by then? If you really cared, or had brain one in that dreadlocked stoned-out cranium of yours, you'd think longterm and try to actually get laws passed. Then maybe you know, things might change. But of course, this process is beyond the mental capabilities of about 99.7% of Greenpeace members who merely follow the propaganda and brainwashing of the higher-ups.

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Mike (not verified) says:

Stupid hippies .. I hope the Japanese navy boards your ship and throws you all in jail. Good luck getting Tofu in Jail.

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Ryan (not verified) says:

Great success! However you would think that dumping of oil into the ocean with your outrageous ship is also killing the whales and everything else around. Even if you don't have a spill you are still releasing oil and a plethora of other lubricants into the water from your engine.

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woah (not verified) says:

I can't believe there are people on here actually defending whaling practices and stuff... what right does any human have to hunt a whale? Seriously... this is the 21st century who can still defend "might makes right"? It's messed up. Leave the whales alone!

Heartless bastards. What if some psycho wanted to kill you because he wanted your blubber? No blood for blubber!

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Aldrea (not verified) says:

Greenpeace FTW. Those dumb hippies are out there making much more of a difference than your lazy arses. When is the last time you tried to get a law passed, or even got far enough from your keyboard (since you love hearing yourself type) to vote on something?

If I had even an extra hundred bucks to spare I'd be out there with them on their little inflatables.

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Ben Schiendelman (not verified) says:

Hear, hear! Way to go Greenpeace. Saving some of the thousand whales Japan wants to kill this year is a noble goal.

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Mike (not verified) says:

Greenpeace FTW. Those dumb hippies are out there making much more of a difference than your lazy arses. When is the last time you tried to get a law passed, or even got far enough from your keyboard (since you love hearing yourself type) to vote on something?
If I had even an extra hundred bucks to spare I’d be out there with them on their little inflatables.

HAHAHA! I love how you're following the stereotypical moronic defense. Attack the other person instead of proving your own point. I work for my University's Student government and I vote in every major election I can. You don't know me so don't try and berate me because you can't defend your point properly. Anyone with half a brainstem, that obviously excludes you, sees the fallacy of your argument, you're doing nothing but mudslinging. So bravo. Truly bravo, your political bravado is astounding!

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John (not verified) says:

Wonderful, you save the whales and most likely deprive workers of the money needed to support themselves and their families.

I hope you enjoy eating your dinner knowing you just deprived a family of theirs.

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sam (not verified) says:

Wonderful, you save the whales and most likely deprive workers of the money needed to support themselves and their families.
I hope you enjoy eating your dinner knowing you just deprived a family of theirs.

what do you tink this is 1849? what does you old man do for a living? hunt buffalo with his bare hands?

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Richard McCoy (not verified) says:

Thank you to the people at Greenpeace. Its always good to know that here are people out there who are brave enough to stand up and fight for what they believe is right and to be fair the overwhelming majority of the world population who are aware of the issues are in agreance with you.

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Bill Vincent (not verified) says:

These kinds of tactics have never accomplished anything other than prove what many people believe...Greenpeace are a bunch of extremist whack-jobs. As said before...there is a right way to do this, and a wrong way..and Greenpeace has made a career out of doing EVERYTHING the wrong way.

As for all the earth-children crying about the poor animals...chill out. Unless you're all die-hard vegans, you need to stfu.

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Jim (not verified) says:

WARNING: NON-RANTY COMMENT AHEAD. PLEASE APPLY BLINKERS ;)

I'll believe that Japan is acting in a spirit of good scientific enquiry when I can find one major paper in a reputable scientific journal that could only have been accomplished by mass culling and dissection, rather than non-lethal methods. That's not hyperbole, I searched NCBI Pubmed for papers.

There's representative sample sizes, and then there's just blowing smoke up everyone's rears. Pathology doesn't advance that much in a year that you need to grab a huge sample in case you can discover more about whale anatomy.

Plus, the more Greenpeace members there are out on the ocean wave, the less there are interrupting actual research like GM crop trials (which except for maize, supported their claims of negative environmental effects)

Oh, and you know what's really a threat to whalers' jobs? The fact that no bugger wants to buy whale meat any more! The japanese govt. is actually promoting it in schools to try and prop up the industry. Sort of like Jamie Oliver, but with blubber instead of healthy food. Jamie Whalerver maybe :P

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Nobody You Know (not verified) says:

Whaling would be more fun if it was like this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=XE2hA8qCS40

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FLU-BIRD (not verified) says:

Greenpeace are nothing but a bunch of pirates and crinimals glorified by a bunch of stupid liberal jerk faced idiots

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yeyeyeye (not verified) says:

bill vincent is rite i guess except the last part about the vegan sht. Greenpeace has good intentions but are doing the job stupidly, i mean chasing them around all day aint gona make them stop long term.

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Vincent (not verified) says:

I think if I were captain of a whaling vessel and was boarded by the sea shepherd group I would do everything in my power to defend my ship and crew. Illegal boarding is an indicator of piracy and should be met with whatever force is necessary to stop it immediately. Yes, that may mean lethal force. Especially after hearing the sea shepherd leader/captain say he would love nothing more than to send my ship to the bottom. Threaten the lives of my crew? I think not. I think it very funny that the Animal Planet channel has a disclaimer for Whale Wars that the comments and commentary in the show aren't necessarily the views of Animal Planet. I've never seen a disclaimer for any other show on that channel; ever. Doesn't sound very kosher to me.

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timekeeping software (not verified) says:

They were forced to do that to compete with all the other fanatics.