The Animal Planet program “Whale Wars” is already one of the more controversial shows on television, chronicling the travails of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as it pits its motley volunteer navy against Japanese whalers hunting in the iceberg-strewn Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the Antarctic Ocean.But Season 3 of the show is about to get even more interesting. At a Sea Shepherd fundraiser on Oct. 17, the society unveiled its new boat, the frankly menacing-looking tri-hull speedster formerly known as Earthracer. The spidery craft has been renamed the Ady Gil in tribute to the Hollywood businessman who helped acquire the vessel and cut the society a million-dollar check. It has been painted black and festooned with the skull-and-crossbones, and will join the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin when the Antarctic campaign begins anew in December.
The Ady Gil can attain speeds of 50 knots and currently holds a world speed record for circumnavigating the Earth in 60 days.
“Now we can intercept those harpoon boats,” Watson told a crowd gathered at the Hollywood Hills home of philanthropist James Costa. “We’ve already cut their [whaling] quota to 50%, and this year we’re going to get to 80%.”
For six years, Sea Shepherd has routinely harassed the factory vessel Nisshin Maru and other Japanese vessels engaged in whaling under a clause in an International Whaling Commission treaty that bans commercial whaling but allows for limited research whaling. Japan is a signatory to the treaty but Sea Shepherd claims Japan's whaling is not for research but rather commercial in nature and is therefore illegal. As much as the Sea Shepherd activists have irritated the Japanese vessels, however, they never had a vessel fast enough to keep up with Japanese harpoon boats. Until now.
“We’re speaking the language that the Japanese whaler understands: profit and loss,” Watson said. “For the last few years, they’ve made no money. Give us one more year and we can bankrupt them.”
The Japanese Fisheries Agency, which monitors the whaling, did not reply to phone and fax messages in Japan. However, its support of whaling is well-documented, best articulated by statements on its website such as: “Those members of the IWC who are opposed to the sustainable use of whale resources and who try to impose their views on the rest of the world are subverting the purpose of the treaty and have caused the IWC to become dysfunctional. Their position is contrary to scientific finding and the widely accepted principle of sustainable use.” Said Costa, “When I went to Antarctica, I thought that this is a place where humans don’t belong. I am so grateful to Paul Watson and others who do something to get people the hell out of there.”
Actress and activist Daryl Hannah voiced the opinion of many at the gathering when she said, “Sea Shepherd is one of the few great environmental organizations around. They don’t spend their budgets talking and messaging and putting out calendars. They get out there and do the work and actually stop hunting and poaching and fishing. They put their bodies on the line.” Hannah worked 18 days on the Sea Shepherd ships last season in Antarctica.
A clearly excited Ady Gil said of Watson, “This man is like the Mother Teresa of the oceans.” He had the crowd laughing at his own story of transformation to animal rights activism, then said, “I have to tell you, this is a bad-ass ship. It’s a little rough inside, it needs some pimping.”
He then proceeded to lead a live auction to raise money for fuel and a few improvements to the ship.
In 2008, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported that Japan had lowered the annual quote for minke whales from 945 to 750. The fleet continues to also hunt 50 endangered fin whales annually.
-- Dean Kuipers
Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
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