Voice from the Deep!

Excellent news for the whales – very bad news for the Japanese…

After almost a week of battling dense fog and heavy winds and swells the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin has once more found the Japanese whaling fleet.
The fleet was located at 0930 Hours at the position of 67 Degrees 18 Minutes South and 163 Degrees 52 Minutes West.

Google earth location - previous locations are here 

“We are 7 miles from the fleet and approaching. We see the Nisshin Maru and two harpoon vessels the Yushin Maru #1 and the Yushin Maru #2,” said Captain Paul Watson. “They appear to be whaling and are not moving. If we don’t catch up with them before they begin to move, we are close enough now that we will not lose the Nisshin Maru.”
There is a lot of loose ice and moderate patches of fog. The winds are at forty knots which means the helicopter cannot be deployed.

The Steve Irwin is now in close pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet.

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Breaking News from Operation Musashi

Sea Shepherd Returns to the Southern Ocean for the Whales

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin has departed Hobart, Tasmania to return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Steve Irwin left the dock in Hobart at 1600 Hours on Wednesday, January 21st, local time.

It also looks like the Yushin Maru #2 has been repaired at sea and is on it’s way back to the Southern Ocean…

“It’s back into the Whale Wars for us,” said 1st Officer Peter Hammarstedt of Sweden.

Hobart welcomed the Steve Irwin very warmly. Tasmanians brought down all the food needed to replenish the pantries of the ship. The dollars and cheques handed over the rail to the crew more than paid for the berth, the pilotage, and port costs.

“There is no doubt that Australians love whales,” said Captain Paul Watson. “And we love Australia. It’s hard to believe but back in 1978 we were fighting to stop Australian whaling at Cheynes Beach near Albany in Western Australia. And today we now have a former whaling nation as the most passionate defenders of the great whales on the planet. It gives me great hope that eventually Japan will become as passionate about protecting whales as their government now is dedicated to slaughtering them.”

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The TV show was viewed by an average of one million people a week and broke into the top ten rated shows on basic cable in its finale.  The series showcases a diverse group of people who are not always perfect, but are dedicated, compassionate and willing to risk their lives to save the lives of the gentle giants.

Whale Wars will be airing internationally in the coming months.  Stay tuned for season two of Whale Wars currently filming in Antarctica on our Operation Musashi campaign, due out in the summer of 2009.

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It’s that time of year again…  The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society needs your help, more than ever in this financial climate, to save countless whales from the lethal killing machine of the Japanese Whaling Fleet.

Its time for Round Two in the battle to save the endangered whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. After a month and a half of chasing the Japanese whaling fleet, we have been forced to return to refuel.

But we need to return South again as soon as possible. Every day we are away, whales die. The whale slaughter lasts for four months and to stop the killing we need the fuel, provisions, and maintenance to keep our ship at sea so that we can keep intervening against their illegal whaling activities.

And to do that we need to refuel and reprovision three times during this campaign.  

The good news this year is that fuel and oil costs are down. In fact, it is going to cost us US$90,000 less this year, than last, to fill up our fuel tanks with 200 tons of diesel.

The bad news is that it is still expensive and with the economic downturn internationally, it is more difficult to raise donations. Globally, all nonprofits are suffering.

And thus we need to appeal once again for the funds to enable us to return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to resume our interventions against illegal Japanese whaling activities.

Sea Shepherd are also in need of a varied assortment of equipment and supplies to carry on the protection of the whales in the Southern Ocean…

Here is a “Wish List” and if you can supply any of the items then please do so, as any items at all will help the cause. – Sea Shepherd Wish List

You can also make a monetary donation by clicking here and submitting your payment details in the appropriate area.

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