Southern Ocean drama

[William_H]

Our TV news is being overloaded with stories of a collision between a Japanese whaling ship and a Greenpeace speed boat. You may have seen some of the stories.
What gets me is the "spin" coming out of Greenpeace and similar but opposite coming out of the Japanese.
There is video from both sides and everyone wants to invoke Rules for Avoiding collision at sea. Greenpeace are throwing around statements like attempted murder and deliberate collision.

Now I am sympathetic to the whales and do not support the Japanese "scientific research" killing of whales when clearly it is to provide whale meat to eat.

However the spin from greenpeace is OTT to the point where they aree losing credibility.

They took their ship and this "speed boat" down there to rumble. Their stated intention was to get between the whales and the whale chaser. As they have done for several seasons now. To get their speed boat hit and have the bow chopped off in a collision is hardly surprising. It is like starting a brawl in a pub then when you get hit claim to be an innocent bystander.

Interesting they are claiming huge value for the lost speed boat. Yet in fact it was built for a round the world speed attempt and then became a left over from an expensive project. hardly anything like the value they claim.

It seems to me that "greenies" believing they are on a " mission from God" can do no wrong and are happy to distort the truth to any degree in support of their agenda. (As worthy as it maybe.)

olewill having a rant

 

[webcraft]

.
If you think it is worthy why are you having a rant Will? They are obviously going to spin anything and everything as much as possible - everything is about the media these days. You can hardly blame them.

- W

 

[30boat]

We must not allow this incident to shift our attention from the whaling industry.The Greenpeace people probably went overboard on this occasion but what they're fighting for is very valid.Anyway there are a few videoclips in YouTube that appear to show the Japanese Whaler intentionally ramming the speedboat.

 

[BruceDanforth]

It is the Sea Shepherd not Greenpeace and the boat rammed is ex. EarthRace.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Olewill,

Fairly extensively discussed on Scuttlebutt yesterday.

 

[Dockhead]

.
If you think it is worthy why are you having a rant Will? They are obviously going to spin anything and everything as much as possible - everything is about the media these days. You can hardly blame them.

- W

Ends justify the means, eh? Cause is worthy, so distortion and hysteria is ok?

I am with Ole Will on this one. I don't support Japanese whale-killing, but I don't like these methods at all. I am almost sympathetic to the Japanese, even if they rammed the boat -- the greenies were intentionally interfering with the work of the Japs and making a spectacle out of it. It's hard work getting down to the Southern Ocean, and dangerous, and those Japs very understandably would want to get their work done and come home. I might ram the greenies myself, being in a similar situation.

 

[reginaldon]

Ends justify the means, eh? Cause is worthy, so distortion and hysteria is ok?

I am with Ole Will on this one. I don't support Japanese whale-killing, but I don't like these methods at all. I am almost sympathetic to the Japanese, even if they rammed the boat -- the greenies were intentionally interfering with the work of the Japs and making a spectacle
out of it. It's hard work getting down to the Southern Ocean, and dangerous, and those Japs very understandably would want to get their work done and come home. I might ram the greenies myself, being in a similar situation.

"I don't support Japanese whale-killing,"
-------------------------------------------------
Don't sound like it!

Not entering the debate it's just rather inconsistent.
My great-grandfather was a Whitby whaler anyway.

 

[castaway]

I think the point with this is that when one starts to doubt the credability of their statments, as might be the case here, does that call into doubt other claims they also make ??

Personally I want to trust what the ecologists say, and I prefer not to have to pick through tabloid hype to get there..

Have a good day ! Nick