It is November and the Sea Sheppard team are gearing up for another season of interruption against the Japanese whaling fleet.

This time, however, the annual hunt masked as scientific discovery, is controversial for another reason. It is even drawing criticism inside Japan. The reason for this is around $30 million USD worth of funding that has come not just from the government, but directly from a fund set aside to help rebuild the economy in the area of eastern Tohoku wrecked by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Whaling has always been a controversial outside of Japan, but has barely made an impact inside the country. This year, the task of the Japanese whaling fleet is to kill 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales. The iron and mercury rich meat will find its way into some supermarkets, where it will be bought by few people or in some restaurants, where again, it will be an occasional dish. Most of it is destined to be frozen and stored, like with the whale meat from previous kills. For the Japanese government, this is a twisted piece of principle. The principle of not being told what to do by outsiders and of continuing an old tradition, forced on the country by food shortages, and disregarding increases in technology that turn the killing of a few whales close to the shore, to a mass, industrial killing spree anywhere in the Pacific.

This year, even the Japanese are complaining.

An Abuse of Funds

The Japanese government have always poured funds into the whaling project. If it was not for government largesse, the project would fail. Now Greenpeace have reported that the whaling project is receiving funding from money set aside to help Tohoku overcome the devastation of the March, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The amount is thought to be 12.1 trillion yen, which works out at about $30 million US dollars or £19 million. This money comes technically from the Japanese Fisheries Agency, which regularly funds operations of this kind, but the agency lobbied central government for a slice of the Tohoku relief fund.

Junichi Sato

Japan’s fisheries agency argued that the funding would actually help the local communities, who rely on whaling for their income. Junichi Sato, however, has argued that the whaling programme and the tsunami recovery effort are totally unrelated. He told Australia’s ABC that the money would be used “to cover the debts of the whaling programme.” Sato says this is because “the whaling programme itself has been suffering from big financial problems.”

A New Tactic

Last season the Sea Shephard team were able disrupt whaling efforts to such an extent that Japan abandoned its effort before completing it. This year both the New Zealand and the Australia governments have lodged formal complaints against Japan for their determination to kill whales again. Naturally, these protests will fall on deaf ears. Australia have decided to take  things further by taking legal action through the International Court of Justice, though whether this would have anything other than a moral victory is moot. Turning the southern Pacific into a protected nature  reserve would have more of an impact, as would serious attempts to limit Japan’s ability to plunder fish such as tuna from across the world through international fish markets.

As for Greenpeace and the Sea Sheppard team, this is a new year with a new tactic. The plan is simple, stop Japan killing any whales. As Ecorazzi have reported, the Sea Sheppard Conservation Society (SSCS) have added a fourth, mysterious ship to their fleet. Known as Sam Simon, the ship is being kept under wraps until Operation Zero Tolerance gets underway in the Southern Ocean this year. The fleet will contain four ships, a helicopter, three drones and eight small RIBs. These will be staffed and aided by over a hundred volunteers from around the world. This includes Paul Watson, who is being sought by Interpol for skipping bail in Germany after a dubious legal action by Costa Rica, which came a matter of months or even weeks after a round of funding from Japan.

For the SSCS, maintaining a high quality fleet and effectively side stepping Japanese attempts to track and control them is vitally important. As the sinking of the Ady Gil demonstrated in the past, maintaining a fleet and complying with ship insurance regulations is difficult for organizations like the SSCS and it is important to do things in the right way. Luckily the society have friends in high places, as shown by the names on the boats such as The Simpsons’ Sam Simon and also Bob Barker. This risk, however, will be increased due to the society’s attempt to cut the whaling fleet off closer to the Japanese mainland. This risks incidents involving the Japanese navy and maybe even legal action in Japan if they stray into Japanese waters and are arrested. The one hope is that it will cut down the number of whales killed or maybe even stop it altogether.

In a recent press release posted by JiJi Press, the Japanese Whaling fleet returned back from the Southern Atlantic Ocean with a total of 267 dead whales. Of those caught and killed, 172 whales were pregnant.

When you think of it, it is at best an outrage. Japan’s press release was that it was a “successful catch,” when in truth, whale meat is being stockpiled for people who eat it only as a luxury. The fact is, less than 2% of the Japan’s population eat whale meat.

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Justice is really blind, now that a U.S. Federal Court Judge, Richard A. Jones, is willing to listen to a frivilous lawsuit filed by the Japanese to stop the Sea Shepherd from its activities to hinder the Japanese from their so called "scientific research".

In a recent Associated Press release, The Tokyo-based Institute of Cetacean (Whale) Research along with a few other countries are seeking to get a U.S. federal court to order the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to cease disrupting its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica.

What is amazing to me that a U.S. federal judge is willing to hear Japan’s whaling argument or even allow it into the federal court system. Why? Consider the fact that our own President was supposed to take the side of anti-whaling, based on his initial campaign promises.

But, as we have seen, no sanctions – other than a letter – have been written and authorized by the President – and sent to the Faroe Islands, which somehow is supposed to tell them to “stop whaling”.

It is kind of like the recent spy plane recovery. A several trillion dollar spy plane is downed in Iran. Instead of destroying or recovering it, Obama felt that we could just get it back by asking for it. Well, it will be returned – in pieces!

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In a recent blog from the New York Times, a “cushioned warning” has been recorded about whales,

made by President Obama against Iceland.

The warning is tantamount to saying how much the budget was cut, when in reality nothing was really “cut”.

This is a portion of the blog regarding whaling is what I want to focus on:

In a move hailed by conservation activists, President Barack Obama initiated potential diplomatic sanctions against Iceland this week for its commercial whaling activity. The sanctions include six measures ranging from possibly limiting cabinet-level visits to Iceland to limiting cooperation with Iceland in the Arctic region. Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent article in the Huffington Post, the Faroe Vikings are at it again.

Captain Paul Watson and a few f his crew of the Sea Shepherd. Photo courtesy Fotopedia

” Paul Watson, captain and marine activist arrived in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s vessel, The Brigitte Bardot, to Torshvan harbor earlier in the week, creating a media frenzy in the small Nordic village bound by the cruel custom of killing in the name of culture. Local villagers showed up to oppose Sea Shepherd’s presence by offering local whale meat to the little girl and bystanders. However, the youngster refused stating, “No thank you. I don’t eat my friends.”

“Later in the week, members of the Sea Shepherd crew unveiled a mass underwater dumping ground of whale carcasses, further pointing to the large amount of waste that surrounds the sporadic hunting episodes of the socially complex marine mammals, which are listed as “strictly protected” under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, also known as The Berne Convention. Read the rest of this entry »

One of several Japanese Officials admitting to the Japanese media he accepted whale meat as a bribe.

If it isn’t enough that Japanese Officials have been caught and exposed in recent months in their own whaling cover-ups, you would be surprised (maybe not) about the Japanese PR machine and whales.

In an enlightening book about Japanese whaling and diplomacy and whales, the Japanese people (just like America) have been dumbed into believing the press. I say this because for those of you that actually search the Internet daily, you will find articles and press releases about what is going on in the U.S. from outside sources, while the inside focus on housing issues or the recent drug busts.

Pretty much “smoke and mirrors”. Read the rest of this entry »