Japanese Whalers Set to Hunt Unimpeded in the Southern Ocean? - Page 2
CNN has reported on the details of the injunction: “Last month, the Japanese research foundation Institute of Cetacean Research and the Japanese firm Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. secured a U.S. District Court injunction against Watson and his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, according to the institute's website. The injunction prohibits Watson and his group from coming within 500 yards of the plaintiffs on the open sea, according to a copy of the court document on the institute's website”.
So, does this prevent Sea Shepherd from interfering with Japanese scientific whaling activities? Online conservation discussion forums quickly became filled with raging debate. Most members seemed to come to the conclusion that a US federal injunction would be impossible to enforce upon foreign registered vessels in international waters, while Watson was quick to proclaim his astonishment that a US court was claiming jurisdiction over non-US ships.
Former Australian Greens leader, Bob Brown, took over leadership of Sea Shepherd following Watson’s resignation and is set to direct future activism alongside Australian director Jeff Hansen. Current board member Marnie Gaede will take over the position of Sea Shepherd’s president in the US. Without Watson at the helm, it has emerged that the organisation still intends to disrupt this year’s Japanese hunt in the Southern Ocean, though the Sea Shepherd remained quiet about its tactics, given the legal restrictions involved.
Three Sea Shepherd vessels – the Steve Irwin, Brigitte Bardot and Bob Barker recently left New Zealand en route to the Southern Ocean. A new ship named the Sam Simon is set to leave the Tasmanian port city of Hobart in the next few days and link up with the other vessels off the Antarctic coast. The story behind the acquisition of the Sam Simon is intriguing. The 56-metre long ship was purchased for $2 million through a disguised US company from the Japanese government. It was obtained from a berth right next to the whaling fleet in Japan.
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