" 'THE WHALES NEED US...' TO LEAVE THEM ALONE" JEFF PHILLIPS

"The whales need us and we need you..." Capt. Paul Watson

"We should really leave those people alone." Musician Ralph Towner, referring to the whales

"We all know the Japanese whalers are EVIL, right? We all know that, in essence, the responsibility for enforcing the "sanctuary" aspect of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary lies with the governments of Australia and New Zealand who are FAILING MISERABLY in their duty. Here I am in full agreement with Paul Watson...But Watson and Sea Shepherd are day by day becoming more and more like those who they hate...AND THIS IS WHAT I DON'T LIKE. This is why I no longer support Sea Shepherd...all of this hoopla about whaling is totally neglecting the bigger picture, the REALITY of what the threats to ALL WHALES ARE: naval LFA-sonar and other "non-lethal" weapons systems; disruption of habitat and noise pollution; and ocean toxicity from chemical and radiological pollution, including POP's (persistant organic pollutants) and ED's (endocrine disruptors)...So WHO is doing all this, in an astronomically bigger way than the Japanese? HUMAN INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION, of which we all are a part; but more specifically, the military-industrial complex and the trans-national corporations who the Pentagon works for...In the Watsonian paradigm, the root of all problems afflicting the whales is Japanese; this is not true by a factor of light-years!" But it makes for great tv!

ANALYSIS OF THE "DISCREPANCIES"

In the videos below, first you see footage shot on board the Ady Gil moments before the "ramming." The crew are "waving goodbye" to the Bob Barker, and moving at significant speed, as you can see from the foam trail behind them. In the distance you can clearly see the Japanese ship approaching, already in motion. In subsequent footage you see the two boats "collide" but relative motions of the vessels is unclear; obviously, the Japanese boat is moving at speed, and the Ady Gil was moving at similar speed only seconds before.

Two HUGE "discrepancies" between Paul Watson's "version" and what the video footage shows: 1) The Ady Gil was NOT sitting there "stationary" like Watson said, and 2) the Japanese boat didn't "suddenly start up its engines and ram the Ady Gil. The Ady Gil WAS in motion, on a heading close to that of the Jap boat, AND the Jap boat had been visible for a long time, and can be seen in the footage to be coming up behind the Ady Gil. They were both moving at similar speeds on similar courses.

http://www.seashepherd.org/matilda/video.html

In the footage below, shot from the Japanese security vessel, you can CLEARLY SEE that the Ady Gil was IN MOTION on a heading that would cross the path of the Jap boat; as the video progresses, it looks as if the Ady Gil is actually INCREASING in speed, as you can see from the increased foam trail behind her.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/whaling-war-set-to-worsen-after-crash-20100106-luej.html

Watson's "version" of what happened is a fabrication, a lie. Sea Shepherd's own footage contradicts his 'story.' The Ady Gil was NOT sitting there motionless; it was actually on a heading to cross the path of the Jap boat. And they saw it coming for a long time.

And EVEN IF the Jap boat appeared to be "aiming" for the Ady Gil, wouldn't you think that any skipper who was awake and paying attention would go "Hey, she's coming a bit in our direction!" THEN use those extremely powerful engines...which were ON...otherwise, we wouldn't see the foam trail from their forward motiion...to get SAFELY OUT OF THE WAY? They had plenty of time to do this...UNLESS the plan was to LET THEMSELVES BE HIT, even to PLACE THEMSELVES in the path of the Jap boat.

It seems to me as if BOTH SIDES WERE WORKING TOGETHER ON THIS. The Jap boat comes from behind towards them, JUST AS THEY ARE 'WAVING GOODBYE' to the Bob Barker; the Ady Gil seemingly pays no attention to the Jap boat looming up on them, until the "final seconds" when they move directly into the path of the Jap boat, at speed.

It looks as if BOTH BOATS STEERED INTO EACH OTHER'S PATH actually...JUST AS IF IT HAD BEEN PLANNED TO HAPPEN THAT WAY.

Most significantly, there JUST HAPPENED TO BE another boat..Sea Shepherd or Animal Planet people...who JUST HAPPENED to in the PERFECT POSITION to photograph/film the "moment of impact"...WELL BEFORE IT HAPPENED.

All this adds up to BULLSHIT, in particular when you examine the recent history of Sea Shepherd's joint venture with Animal Planet and the completely unbelievable 'dramas' that have "afflicted" Watson and that were "captured on film" by Animal Planet.

Season Four of Animal Planet is already a GUARANTEED HIT!!!

Interestingly, I wrote at length about all this BEFORE this "ramming" incident, as I could already smell the odour of the rotting carcass of 'truth' concerning all this. Read it here:

" 'Bad Actors': Sea Shepherd, Animal Planet, 'Sea-lebrities' and Endocrine Disruptors"

http://synthaissance.blogspot.com/2010/01/bad-actors-sea-shepherd-animal-planet.html

Within hours of the "ramming" incident, the Sea Shepherd web-site had a brand new "DONATE NOW" screen across it! And Watson's "cries of bloody murder" went out across the land, web and airwaves. His New Year's editorial reads like a story-book pseudo-romantic fantasy of good guys and bad guys laced with "tele-nvironmental" rhetoric with themselves as the foci of attention. Check it out...

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-100102-1.html

Here at least Watson has remembered to talk about the whales themselves a little instead of just the "clearly evil Japanese" and the clearly heroic "eco-warriors."

"THE WHALES NEED US..."

"The whales need us and we need you and together we are all achieving solid results and together we are making a real difference in helping to defend and protect our oceans from the greed of those who are ignorantly and arrogantly intent upon destroying life in our oceans." These are the closing words of Watson's editorial. But who is he talking about?

We all know the Japanese whalers are EVIL, right? We all know that, in essence, the responsibility for enforcing the "sanctuary" aspect of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary lies with the governments of Australia and New Zealand who are FAILING MISERABLY in their duty. Here I am in full agreement with Paul Watson.

If the Australian and New Zealand governments would simply fulfill their international legal responsibility to make sure that the whales here are in no way disturbed, then none of this stupidity with Sea Shepherd, boats getting sunk, fake "made for tv' dramas, etc, etc...none of this would be necessary.

This is not happening, AND Sea Shepherd was doing a great job of being "eco-warriors" UNTIL tv became part of the picture, and the consequent big money interests came into play. Since then, Sea Shepherd's approach has been "made for tv" with unbelievable stuff like the bullet on the badge, the "ramming" of the Ady Gil, etc.

Watson is OBSESSED. They act like that. It's SAVE THE WHALES NO MATTER WHAT...even if it means distorting, lying, and/or staging fake reality for tv. For all I know, Watson may even BELIEVE his own lies.

All this criticism of of the GIANT Watson BY NO MEANS means that I support the Japanese; they are EVIL. But Watson and Sea Shepherd are day by day becoming more and more like those who they hate...AND THIS IS WHAT I DON'T LIKE. This is why I no longer support Sea Shepherd.

Right now, the onus of burden lies with the Australian and New Zealand governments to enforce the reality of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary.

Finally, all of this hoopla about whaling is totally neglecting the bigger picture, the REALITY of what the threats to ALL WHALES ARE: naval LFA-sonar and other "non-lethal" weapons systems; disruption of habitat and noise pollution; and ocean toxicity from chemical and radiological pollution, including POP's (persistant organic pollutants) and ED's (endocrine disruptors).

Sure the Japanese whaling fleet and the butchers of Taiji, as documented in The Cove, ARE the brutish, blood-thirsty, murderous barbarians...and all the other demonizations, too...that Watson constantly bellows. WE ALL KNOW THAT ALREADY. They are easy targets, however; their actions, no matter how gruesome, in reality affect only a tiny percentage of the global cetacean population. It's OURSELVES that we refuse to examine.

GLOBAL THREATS TO ALL CETACEANS

The systemic, global threats mentioned above affect EVERY SINGLE CETACEAN ON THE PLANET. And most of us as well. Yet where have you ever heard Paul Watson addressing these issues? Indeed, they are the REALITY yet are totally ignored by the Sea Shepherd people. Why? Because it's too BIG of an issue? Remember, Watson tells us in his editorial that "taking on the might of an entire nation" is not a problem for them. But how about if that nation is Amerika, Inc? In the Watsonian paradigm, the root of all problems afflcting the whales is Japanese; this is not true by a factor of light-years!

"...to defend and protect our oceans from the greed of those who are ignorantly and arrogantly intent upon destroying life in our oceans." So WHO is doing all this, in an astronomically bigger way than the Japanese? HUMAN INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION, of which we all are a part; but more specifically, the military-industrial complex and the trans-national corporations who the Pentagon works for. Trans-continental shipping, military vessels and their noise and chemical pollution; seismic testing and exploration for oil and minerals; indiscriminate dumping of wastes; toxic river run-off from pesticide-laden agricultural lands.

THESE are much more difficult to "taget" as the "enemy"...because it is US...the people watching "Whale Wars" on tv, the people who are donating millions of dollars to Sea Shepherd.

As I understand it, the governments of Australia and New Zealand have decided to send a team of scientists down to "study" the whales. This sounds good at first, as it gives the impression of a "concerned" government...but think again. It's really little more than "PR" designed to deflect attention from the glaring fact that IF the governments of Australia and New Zealand REALLY CARED about the whales, they would stand up to the Japanese and fulfill their duty under international law to uphold the "sanctuary" created in the Southern Ocean to give the humpbacks a safe haven.

That they refuse to do this, yet pretend to care by sending a 'research vessel' is blatant hypocrisy. It seems like EVERYONE is wrong, or going about 'good' things in increasingly wrong ways.

Watson and Sea Shepherd may actually be making things worse than ever for the whales, not only by further angering the Japanese "hornets" but also by contributing more than their share of fossil fuel consumption, noise and now chemical pollution from the Ady Gil, into the Southern Ocean.

We need to "leave those people alone", in the words of Ralph Towner. The Southern Ocean Sanctuary should be totally free of human activity, whether it's whalers, eco-warriors, or scientists.

I read recently that some scientists are declaring that cetaceans now be defined as "people." When you look at what we do to ourselves, this could be the LAST thing the whales need.

And you're right, Captain Watson..."The whales need us..."...to LEAVE THEM ALL ALONE.

JEFF PHILLIPS
LYTTELTON NEW ZEALAND