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January 27th, 2010
January 25th, 2010 Lat 41 27 91S Long 99 26 02E




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January 20th arrived for me with a mix of excitement and dread. After 7 weeks as a Sea Shepherd/Bob Barker crew member, I was parting ways w/ our tightly-knit group of rabble-rousers. The one certainty about Sea Shepherd is that plans always change. Now, the Steve Irwin was heading back to Fremantle, Australia, for some helicopter repairs and this was to be my only ride back to land. Had I stayed w/ the Bob Barker, I'd be missing some crucial AR work back in Canada later in the month, so with short notice and heavy heart, it was time to part ways. This departure was way sooner than I'd anticipated, and I hate leaving anything unfinished; I'd hoped for at least another 3 weeks on campaign. At least the Bob crew are still heading south to chase the whaling fleet and impede their poaching. The Bob is still in good hands, photographically speaking; Glenn and Lincoln will be the principal shooters.

The 20th was packed with last minute editing, downloading, ftp-ing, packing, hugs and tears. We were on our way to meet the Steve within one of the fiords of Kerguelen Island, in the southern ocean between Africa and Australia. These are French waters and our unwanted escort, the ever-present Shonan Maru No.2 actually stayed back in international waters awaiting our return. To date, the Bob has not picked up a tail. Fingers crossed.

The purpose of our meeting was to transfer much needed water, food and oil to the Bob, in exchange for myself and the Ady Gil crew who all have commitments to meet back on land. Late afternoon approached and we were told we'd see the Steve within the hour. Amber and I clambered up onto the bow rails, talked and swung our feet, and squinted into the heavy fog, looking for the steely outline of our ally. Then the most amazing thing happened.... dolphins, dozens of beautiful Commerson's dolphins came to investigate our vessel. At only five knots they easily kept pace, playing in our wake but mostly staying near our bow, swimming just inches away from the hull. One of our small boats was launched and the dolphins went crazy for that, swimming so close that we could have reached out and touched them (but only took photos, of course). Hundreds of dolphin photos later, there appeared the Steve, barely visible but finally tangible. Many of the crew members from each boat had worked together on previous campaigns and the anticipation of reunion was contagious. This moment was also the first time anyone other than the Bob crew had seen our vessel; we were so proud to show her off! Many of us call the Bob a "her"; no one seems to contest it. The Steve crew all agreed that she was impressive. Though the Bob is smaller than the Steve, she comes across as lean, mean and scrappy. Her main advantage over the Steve is that she's a Norwegian whaling ship, MADE for the ice and the harshest climates. Yes, we're awfully proud of all the work we put into her since she was purchased in Africa.

We lowered planks, hooted and hollered, snooped around and compared each other's ships, shook hands and exchanged farewell hugs and all necessary goods before heading our separate ways.

Compared to my former digs the Steve Irwin is a spacious and elegant ship. Nothing against the Bob, of course, who has many perks: huge mess and lounge areas, large rooms, ensuite bathrooms, a bridge with windows that open and a lot of storage area, not to mention an amazingly resilient frame, built with the breaking of ice in mind. The Bob is an amazing ship. However, the Steve Irwin has been with Sea Shepherd for many years and is a visibly well-loved and well-stocked vessel, with walls decorated in paintings, photography, charts, campaign and demonstration memorabilia.

As we head north to Fremantle, my sadness at leaving the Bob crew gives way to the excitement of meeting new crew, new activists, and learning the ways of a different ship. I had hoped to be assigned galley duty again (when not taking photos), but I was instead asked to take up some quartermaster duties on the bridge! I couldn't be more excited about this because I get to learn basic navigation skills and experience a different side of ship life. My shift is from 8pm to midnight and though my tasks are menial (charting our course, taking hourly notes on position, humidity, visibility, etc), I have a lot of fun fulfilling them.

I had heard that our captain, Paul Watson, was a great poet and sure enough, he does not disappoint! He writes fantastical tales from centuries past, stories of romance and princesses and sirens and war, as well as lengthy political rants. To my pleasant surprise, Paul often comes up to the bridge to read aloud, and also share music about pirates, romance and politics. We keep the bridge dark at night so that we can see lights that might approach on the horizon. There we were last night, a group of us surrounded in blackness, save for a bit of luminescence beyond the bow giving form to the fog around our boat, singing loudly and probably off-key, to Gordon Lightfoot and other folk singers. I'm lucky to have had so many moments in life that feel close to perfection and I consider this evening among them.

The adventure will soon continue in Australia. I have three weeks there to catch up with family, see more of the country, visit sanctuaries, do animal cruelty investigations and generally keep working on We Animals. I'm looking forward to taking part in future Sea Shepherd campaigns. The very best thing about my work is that I have animal rights families scattered all over the world. When people travel from afar to work and live together for a common cause, such as here on the boat, the bonding is swift and deep. In this transient life of mine, groups like Ape Action Africa, Farm Sanctuary, Save the Chimps, Igualdad Animal and now Sea Shepherd have my loyalty, my trust and a big ol' piece of my heart.

Onward!
Jo


January 19th, 2010
Photo Gallery From Sea Shepherd Mission Posted




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It's difficult to get many full updates out from here in the Antarctic, but I've managed to post a gallery of photos that show a snapshot of life on the M/Y Bob Barker on this latest Sea Shepherd Mission.

Please check it out here:

open link


January 15th, 2010
Ady Gil Captain Attempts to Serve Arrest Warrant to Captain of the Shonan Maru No. 2




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[reposted from open link]

On Friday, January 15, 2010, the crew of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s vessel Bob Barker surprised, chased, and engaged the Shonan Maru No. 2, a security ship from the illegal Japanese whaling fleet. The engagement took place between the hours of 8:30 pm and 12:30 am (AEST).

The Shonan Maru No. 2 recently achieved infamy when it violently attacked the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil, threatening the lives of its crew and sinking the vessel due to sustained damage. Today though, the Shonan Maru No. 2 was on the run from the Bob Barker, the irony being that Sea Shepherd adheres to a strict policy of non-violence and has an unblemished 30+ year record of never causing or sustaining any serious injuries while at sea.

Under New Zealand law, a citizen is empowered to serve an arrest warrant on a suspect for a crime that carries a penalty in excess of eight years imprisonment. The charge of attempted murder qualifies and thus Captain Pete Bethune acted in accordance with New Zealand law in his attempt to serve the captain of the Shonan Maru No. 2 who deliberately sank his ship and almost killed his crew and himself.

After a surprise launch, one of Sea Shepherd’s small boats snuck up on the Shonan Maru No. 2 and over a period of more than four hours the Bob Barker slowly closed the gap and harassed the vessel, ordering it to stop and submit to arrest for the crime of attempted murder on the crew of the Ady Gil. Each evasive maneuver from the Shonan Maru No. 2 cost the whalers critical speed.

Said Captain Paul Watson, President and Founder of Sea Shepherd, "Captain Pete Bethune had little choice but to attempt to serve the arrest warrant himself. Down here at the edge of nowhere, without back up from his government, he found he was the only sheriff in town. A captain of a ship that has been sunk by another captain has the authority to bring his attacker to justice. Captain Bethune has been attempting to do just that."

Attempts by this illegal whaling vessel to discourage the small boats launched by the Bob Barker included the use of Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs), several very high-pressure water cannons, and evasive maneuvers. Some of the crew aboard the Shonan Maru No. 2 were also wearing cylinders on their backs attached to (as yet unidentified) hand-held devices resembling weapons.

Once it became apparent that the Shonan Maru No. 2 would not submit to the arrest, the Bob Barker turned around to continue the hunt for the factory ship of the illegal Japanese fleet. This will prove difficult with the Shonan Maru No. 2 continuing to follow and monitor the Bob Barker, but Sea Shepherd’s flag ship Steve Irwin is also on the prowl for the illegal whaling fleet, and hopes are high that the floating house of blood known as the Nisshin Maru will soon be located—and shut down.


January 12th, 2010
About Politics




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January 12th, 2010.
5pm (Melbourne time)
Somewhere in the Antarctic Ocean, at least 1000km south of Tasmania.

Australia's opposition Leader Tony Abbott commented on the recent clashes between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese whale poachers. "We don't like whaling, we would like the Japanese to stop. On the other hand, we don't want to needlessly antagonise our most important trading partner, a fellow democracy, an ally."

His comments sum up why Sea Shepherd and so many other conservation groups go it alone: spineless government diplomacy.

The selective lawlessness of these Australian Antarctic waters was proved this week when the Japanese whaling vessel, the Shonan Maru No.2 rammed, destroyed and sunk the Sea Shepherd vessel named Ady Gil. Nothing more than on-shore squabbles about who-did-what ensued despite damning video and photographic evidence that the whalers were at fault. Despite Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's election promises to end the Japanese commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd is the sole organization making an active, physical attempt to end the slaughter of 1000 whales each year.

Sea Shepherd crews are composed of volunteer conservationists, engineers, cooks, administrators, scientists, parents and students. We leave our families, homes and pay cheques for months at a time, risking life and limb in one of the most unforgiving climates in the world. We are doing this to stop the poaching of whales, which are internationally recognized as endangered. We don’t have the power of governments at our sides, but we’ve organized ourselves as a small and mighty group of individuals to stop the illegal actions of these whalers.

If we can do this, if we can turn our convictions into action, why can't the politically powerful take a comparatively small stand? They may believe that they are putting economic relations between themselves and Japan at risk, but the world, and more importantly, the International Whaling Commission knows that the Japanese "research" is a sham. It would take very little effort for the governments to band together and put its collective foot down on this illegal commercial whaling, perhaps ending it for good. Isn’t risking temporary and tense economic relations a small price to pay for saving lives and enforcing international law?

Australia and New Zealand, send your countries' vessels down here to the Antarctic to help us stop the Japanese from poaching whales. Everyone, put sanctions on Japanese imports until they end the whaling. New Zealand, follow up on your promise to investigate the ramming that occurred here last week, which endangered the lives of six of our crew. Better yet, charge the Shonan Maru's skipper with attempted murder. Australia, stop being bullied by the Japanese embassy, hosting their spy planes, raiding our conservation vessels and placing visa restrictions on our staff.

Diplomacy at the expense of ecology needs to end, not soon, not next year, but now, while endangered species are being needlessly slaughtered. If you indeed want to see the end of whaling, act swiftly; in this season alone, the lives of almost 1000 whales are at stake.

For the animals,
Jo-Anne


January 7th, 2010
Update from the Antarctic




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I've had to keep everything confidential until now because I've been on Sea Shepherd's secret vessel, the M/Y Bob Barker, which is a 50-yr old Norwegian whaling ship of all things. It was purchased in Africa and refitted by SS volunteers, which was our port for over a month while the boat was fixed up and brought back to life. Yep, Bob Barker bought Sea Shepherd a ship!

Donated all the money ($5,000,000) for the ship and fix-up as well, and all of associated expenses. Amazing. He is AMAZING.

The regular SS ship, the Steve Irwin, departed from Australia as usual for the Antarctic campaign to stop the Japanese whaling fleet. After years of being harassed by SS, they decided to ramp up their security etc. The Irwin left Australia w/ a tail, one of the Japanese ships. The fleet also added two "security" ships to their fleet, whose goal is to shut us down, basically, and keep an eye on us so that the Irwin's coordinates could be sent back to the factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, and they could continue to evade the Irwin.

SS added the Ady Gil to their campaign this year (the "Earthrace", a small sexy boat, named after Ady Gil who donated it to SS) and made a big media stink about it.

The Bob Barker left Mauritius on December 17th, still undetected and a surprise for the Japanese whalers.

Finally in Antarctic territory, the Irwin got a call from, of all things, a cruise ship, which had sighted the fleet. The expedition leader is apparently a fan of SS and knew the Irwin and the Ady Gil were searching for the whaling fleet. The coordinates of the Nisshin Maru were then sent to us, and of we went to find 'em.

Find 'em we did, and we've been in a bit of a battle ever since. Our cover was finally exposed so we're only now able to write about it, and it's all over the media: SS' third vessel!

The Nisshin caught on quickly that we were an SS ship, and sent their harpoon and security ships to tail us. By this morning (2am), we were surrounded by 4 harpoon ships that would take turns maneuvering closely around us and forcing us to reduce speed while the Nisshin Maru moved away. They sped towards bad weather, which slowed us considerably. We deployed one of our small boats and roughed it in horrible weather before turning back to the Barker. All this before 9am!

Things were looking hairy, but the Ady Gil appeared and buzzed around the Nisshin like an annoying bug, delaying their progress north and throwing stinky and organic cocktails which would possibly taint the meat on board, or coming on board. This was all w/in sight and we were thrilled to have company on our mission, finally! After a few hrs the Ady Gil came by our boat to say goodbye. The 6 crewmembers were all on deck, waving, and we all hooted and cheered at each other. Within moments, a harpoon ship changed course and went straight for the Ady Gil, turning on their water cannons, LRADs (long rang acoustic devices) and charging the boat before they could move out of the way. Incredibly, they actually rammed the Ady Gil, which ripped off the entire bow of the boat.

We called immediate Mayday. The Ady Gil continued to float, and we were able to deploy our small boats and go to their rescue. Had they been rammed a few meters towards the center of the boat, the 6 crewmembers would have perished (from being crushed, or from hypothermia).

The day has been a long one of rescues, media, and a billion things. We've been picking up the scraps of the Ady Gil all day, and we're now towing its remnants while we decide next steps.

We are hoping that the ship that rammed us will be brought up charges for attempted murder. All remains to be seen.

"Sea Shepherd" is one of the top 30 Google searches around the world right now. We're doing tons of interviews.

Perhaps the Ady Gil was our sacrificial lamb, and this will bring huge exposure to the whaling issue, and to the whaler’s behavior. Perhaps this will help finally end illegal whaling in the Antarctic.

Today.... It’s really incredible that no one was killed.

We have the 6 crewmembers on board the Bob Barker now, who'll remain with us for the duration of our campaign as we continue to follow the Nisshin Maru. We target that ship specifically because that's where they process the whales. If we disable or at least block that ship, we stop the whaling.

I shot the entire day in detail, including the ramming of the Ady Gil. SS is in the process of sending these pics worldwide. I'll post some soon as well. Keep watch at open link and in this week's news.

More soon.

For the animals,
Jo-Anne