"Surfers have long been huge supporters of Sea Shepherd and the connection they have with the ocean is very real,"

"If any group of people gets what we are trying to achieve it is them."

I would hope that surfers are a little smarter and more educated then what these guys believe.

Going out and attacking ships??? Violence is not the answer to the whaling situation. The Japanese have been whaling for hundreds of years, it’s engrained in their culture, they need to change the culture and the thinking of the Japanese. Idiots in boats being violent is not going to stop them.

What surfer wants to been seen with a pirate skull and cross bone image on their board anyway, looks a bit try hard to me.

looks like an attempt to sell more pop-outs to me.

kbomb your a peacnik wanker. Diplomacy will not work here, other groups have been trying it for years. It doesn't work. It took a nuke to sort out the Japs in World War II, a case of AK47's would help Sea Shepherd right now far more than any cultural education.

Whaling for hundreds of years? Fuck off, hundreds of years ago these guys had never heard of the Southern Ocean and thought the world was flat. Ingrained in their culture? Dude, they are putting whale meat into pet food. If whaling is so ingrained into their culture why does their whaling industry need huge government subsidies? Why do we Aussies let them kill whales in our waters? Give the whalers the same treatment they meet out to the whales. Let's harpoon them. Stink bombs and whistles is pissing into the wind.

Sea Shepherd has been the only group that has kept whaling in the media. Keeping whaling in the media is the only way it will ever be stopped. I support Sea Shepherd. I am a surfer. Sea Shepherd is way more connected to the ocean than your peackic brain could imagine.

Dear Rubber-rob,
Thank you for enlightening me, of course ak47’s are the answer, and well done on making a very relevant point with the nuke and ww2.
Also I am pretty sure the correct term these days for people from Japan is Japanese.
Don’t get me wrong, I am against whaling, but I think the seashepard is doing more damage to the anti whaling message then it is good.
Keep up the great work.

rubber-bob, you have so much pent up aggression that i fear this outlet or even surfing will not satiate you. time to see a professional mate! .... before you hurt some-one close to you.

Dear kbomb,

I am glad I enlightened you ... You see we have been touting the diplomatic approach for over 30 years. It is way past time for a bit of violence in the Southern Ocean.

The Japanese, far from becoming educated with their scientific look at Minke and Pilot whales or learning the error of their ways from our diplomacy are now looking at a "scientific" cull of Southern Wright whales (the same ones our tourists pay to look at). They also have their eyes on a few Blue Whales as well. Diplomacy has done zero to stop whaling and culture ended with the advent of fossil fuels, hi tech hunting and laser guided harpoons. The abuse of the ocean by the whole world needs to stop now.

Some violence and bloodshed at sea could sort a bit of this out pronto.

Oh yes, violence and bloodshed will solve everything. It has worked so well in the past ...

Violence as negotiation is like fucking for virginity.

And are these so called high performance expoxy pop outs made where?

China/Thailand and the waste from these highly toxic products are disposed in appropiate recyling facilties ,yeh right

save a whale in the Antarctic and destroy a ecosystem somewhere else.

Suppose they are ''trying hard''

Rubber-bob, where do you get your information from?

Whale meat (Kujira here in Japan) is way too expensive to be found in pet food. Second, it`s not that easy to come by, it`s seasonal (of course) and you will find a little in supermarkets, once or twice a year in school lunches (lunch is provided in schools) and occaisionally in Isakaya`s (Japanese pubs) and higher end restaurants.

Also, in regards to the heightened awareness the Sea Shephard has garnered through the media- I can assure you, it`s not even a blip on the radar here. The sinking of the Ady Gill was a 30 second grab on the late night news and of course the slant was that they attacked the Japanese. That was it, nothing more. The Japanese media are more concerned with showing pictures of the Cherry Blossoms or crimes perpetrated by foreigners.

Finally, you`re sort of right in one sense- only small pockets of Japan have been traditionally whaling for a few centuries,　hence their presence in Hawaii, the Japanese chased humpbacks throughout the Pacific in the 18th and 19th century. Whaling only began in earnest at the end of WWII, when the population was starving and whales were seen as a cheap and abundant source of protein. With newer technology and faster boats, they saw that as a way of feeding the populace.

And I`ll tell you the real reason that the Sea Shepherd will NEVER succeed- Just like you mate, the Japanese don`t like being told what to do. They will burn cash before they give in and I can tell you that their pockets are way deeper than SS and GSI.

Zenagain: The analysis was carried out by Frank Cipriano, a professor at San Francisco State University, on samples of pet food purchased by the EIA in February from supermarkets in Shizuoka and Otsuchi, near Tokyo.

DNA analysis showed that dried dog food from Shizuoka contained Antarctic minke and a packaged dog food product purchased in Otsuchi contained dolphin DNA.

Japan allows the hunting of up to 700 whales a year for what it claims is scientific research, although opponents claim it is a pretext for commercial whaling. -Sapa-AFP

OK if the Sea Shepherd will never succeed what will? No one else is bothering much. In 2009 sea Shepherd reduced the number of whales taken by Japanese fisherman to a small fraction of their "scientific" quota.

I tend to agree with Zenagain, why would a proud nation stop doing something they have invested so much in because a bunch of tofu eating hippies told them to? I don't know if Japan is similar to other Asian cultures in this way but it would be way too much loss of face.

The only sure way I've always thought would work is to let economics do the talking. Back off completely on the issue. Negotiate a deal through the IWC that ensures the conservation of whales that are economically valuable to us and let Japan do what they like with the rest. Eventually, when the Japanese Govt is tired of subsidising what is a costly industry they will stop of their own volition with no loss of face.

As for whale meat in dog food...big deal. I'm sure you could find wagyu beef in some dog food here in Oz. But it aint gonna be the eye fillet, it'll be the gristle and offal. It's good use of a resource to use everything you can from any carcass.

"It's good use of a resource to use everything you can from any carcass".
Too true Benski can't really argue with that.!

A decade or so ago a heap of pilot whales washed up on Ocean beach (TAS). A pet food company offered to take the lot and clean up the mess. Permission denied. Instead the council buryied them in the dunes and even today oil is still seeping out.

BUT I still reckon a bit of argy bargy in the Southern Ocean is a good thing! Without it the world would have forgotten all about whales. Paradoxically whales are only one of hundreds of creatures we are systematically pushing into scarcity or oblivion. Very few care.

"Paradoxically whales are only one of hundreds of creatures we are systematically pushing into scarcity or oblivion. Very few care."

Sad but true.

What research are GSI doing in order to create a more environmentally sustainable board making process? Maybe they should concentrate on this rather than some lame ass marketing effort (board looks like it was designed by a talent-poor 12 year old). "Global Surf Industries" I think they should fuck-off along with those Southern Ocean pirates Sea Shepherd. Don't believe the hype - they are in it for their own selfish ends. Anyway, this is to all you hypocrites out there - what's the difference between eating whale and pork/beef? I disagree with whaling but I also disagree with bad farming practices and overfishing- I don't see Today Tonight doing an expose on that. Bunch of hypocrites.

3fs you are shooting from the hip. GSI are probabaly more environmentally aware than you could comprehend.
Whales are a wild and endangered species, farm animals are not.
I disagree with all animal farming practices and I don't eat the flesh of any dead animal ever. Go back to school sunny boy and learn something ...

But - the art work is rather lame ass ... here at least we agree

Good people, I see you are all oppossed to whaling but you are all opposed to the Sea Shepherd. Here are some facts to take surfing with you ...

There was an international ban imposed on commercial whaling almost 30 years ago. Everyone agreed, even the Japs.

But the Japs found a loophole and kept up the commercial whaling anyway, they now call it science. They do their "science" in Australian and international waters. We let them use our waters. We can send the navy to stop South Americans stealing Patagonian Tooth Fish but when it comes to Japs and whales we do nothing. The products of this "science" find there way into restaraunts, school lunch boxes, meat shops and pet food. It is a very commercial science that they practice.

You all disagree with this but you all oppose the only folk who keep it in the media and keep the battle alive. The whale battle is all but lost due to your complacency.

I would buy a pirate painted popout but the money is better off going to Sea Shepherd direct. They can have the lot.

Rubber-bob,
As I said before it’s Japanese, you should start using it otherwise people will start to think you’re a narrow minded racist.
The people of the sea Sheppard should be spending their large amounts of time and money doing all they can to try and close the loop hole instead of going out there putting lives at risk. Can you imagine the international issues if someone gets killed?? Whaling would not be the issue if that were to happen.

"I see you are all oppossed to whaling but you are all opposed to the Sea Shepherd"

Yeah that's about right, although since I happily eat the meat of other mammals I don't philosophically oppose whaling. If they could be killed in a more humane manner, I would have no problem with a sustainable harvest of whales. It would be hypocritical of me not to. But given the current method of killing a whale, yeah I oppose it.

"They do their "science" in Australian and international waters."

They aren't Australian waters. We lay claim to the international community does not acknowledge them as ours. They're outside our exclusive economic zone which is recognised by the international community.

"We can send the navy to stop South Americans stealing Patagonian Tooth Fish but when it comes to Japs and whales we do nothing."

That was a private fishing vessel breaking the law in waters within our EEZ. Very different from a govt vessel engaged in what are entirely legal activities outside our recognised EEZ.

"You all disagree with this but you all oppose the only folk who keep it in the media and keep the battle alive."

By keeping the battle alive they are doing nothing more than stiffening the resolve of the Japanese to continue. I really don't think an adversarial approach will work to stop any whaling. I think that they are only ensuring more whales die than need be.

rubber bob,
sea shepherd do nothing except keep a section of the sensationalist media happy. i don't believe anyone who is influenced by this section of the media will have any effect in aiding this worthy cause. in other words: if the main argument for supporting sea shepherd is media exposure, do you trust the messenger?
i don't! as far as good causes go, i can only think of a handful which were helped by mainstream media support but heaps that were harmed.
do you have access to measured effects (positive/negative) of sea shepherd's media exposure!

Stunet - I value your articles greatly and read them all. Great journalism and well written.

stunet and kieru: I do acknowledge that there are others involved in the anti whaling movement and that there is work going on behind the scenes but the following remains:

The Japanese take whales from Australian waters.
When the Argentinians tried this with Patagonian Toothfish we sent in the navy and confiscated boats.
When the Indo's venture south to our waters looking for scalefish, shark,turtles or whatever we send in the navy and confiscate boats.

If the Australian Government sent the navy to intercept a Japanese whaler the world would look and (in our waters at least) whaling would stop. But they don't. This fact alone motivates Sea Shepherd.

Instead of intercepting whalers, in 2009 the Australian Government sent the Federal Police to Hobart to board the Steve Irwin. In this raid they confiscated the ships log, video footage and generally harrased a visiting boat. Some may say that they deserved this but I am not that sure.

Sure Sea Shepherd are a bunch of yobs, I don't deny this but I like them anyway. I have been on the Steve Irwin and met some of them. They are dedicated and hard core in their care for the oceans. This in itself is admirable. I do acknowledge they are not everyones idea of an ideal protest but in 2008 they effectively reduced the Japanese harvest of whales by over 50%. No one else came within a bulls roar of this sort of result.

rubber-bob

You keep restating inaccuate things. The Japanese don't take whales from Australian waters. The Australian navy intercepts private fishing vessels breaking laws within our EEZ. The Japanese are not doing this. They are not breaking any law and they are not taking whales from Australian waters. They are in international waters over which Australia lay claim but the international community does not recognise this.

If the Australian Navy intercepted a Japanese government whaling ship in international waters, which is what you're suggesting, it would be very close to an act of war.

Rubber-Bob I support Sea Shepherd.

The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is recognised by the majority of nations subscribed to the Antarctic treaty and as ratified by the IWC. At it's inception in 1994 Japan was the sole dissenter opposed to the establishment of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Japan has continued to hunt minke and the endangered Fin whale in the sanctuary under the loop-hole of scientific whaling.
The legal basis of this transparently false claim will be the subject of the Court case being lodged by Australia against Japan in the International Court of Justice.
It's arguable but highly likely that Sea Shepherd;s continual high profile harassment of Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary has precipitated this action. It has maintained and increased public pressure on an issue the Govt was happy to keep in the too hard basket.
Why would a proud nation stop doing something they are invested in?
Because international pressure and public focus makes it in their long term interest to do so.
The court case now brings the lie under which Japan has conducted commercial whaling into the international and legal spotlight.
Sea Shepherd have been instrumental and arguably a primary cause in keeping this issue live.
They have saved whales directly from being slaughtered in an internationally recognised sanctuary. For that I applaud them.
Now pass me one of them pop-outs shipmate.

Given the japanese government sanctioned overfishing of their australian tuna quota over more than ten years by several hundred percent per annum that was recently detected, and that they ended up paying a few million reparations for, on an estimated several billion dollar theft, as far as Im concerned they dont have a leg to stand on.
They have 'lost face' and shamed themselves as untrustworthy anyway. No wonder our efforts to encourage sustainable tuna fishing practices were failing.
But thats no more the japanese people individually than it was the 'australian people' who sent troops to Iraq when some 96% opposed it and Howard went ahead anyway.
So, its not rascist to oppose their practices, unless of course they claim a superior entitlement to their actions?
Oh, excuse me, they have havent they! So they are claiming a rascially motivated entitlement to the practice? That is rascist. Especially when, as has been pointed out, CULTURALLY its a relatively modern phenomonen.
AT least Sea Shepherd are out there, cold wet and in danger, what are you doing Stu?

Woops......... that was meant for kbomb not Stu, my bad