from:http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100412-1.html
Sea Shepherd News
Monday, April 12, 2010
Operation Waltzing Matilda is a Spectacular Success
The Japanese whaling fleet set out for the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary with a permit issued by the Japanese government to kill 935
protected Minke whales, 50 endangered fin whales and 50 endangered
humpback whales. Their objective was to kill 1035 whales in total.
Intervention by the three ships of the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society prevented them from taking that number. Sea Shepherd crewmembers
were successful in cutting that kill quota by more than half. Their
success at saving the humpbacks was 100%, and their success at saving
fin whales was 98%.
Of the fifty humpback whales that were targeted, they did not take a
single one.
Of the fifty fin whales that were targeted, they managed to kill only
one.
Of the 935 targeted Minke whales, they killed 506.
In total, the illegal Japanese whalers murdered 507 whales.
Sea Shepherd successfully saved 528 whales- our biggest impact on the
whale quota to date.
It was worth the months of effort. It was worth the cost. It was
worth the loss of the Ady Gil. It was worth the arrest of
Captain Pete Bethune.
Thanks to the courageous crews on the Steve Irwin,
the Bob Barker, and the Ady Gil, thanks to the
hundreds of shore based volunteers, thanks to the thousands of
supporters, and thanks to Bob Barker and Ady Gil, Sea Shepherd hunted
down the whale killers, confronted them, harassed them, and shut down
their operations for a third of their season.
What did this cost the Japanese fleet?
If the average value of a whale is a quarter of a million dollars,
then we succeeded in depriving the Japanese whaling fleet of around $132
million USD.
It is safe to say that the Japanese whaling industry did not make a
profit this season. The whaling fleet needs to kill at least 700 whales
just to break even on expenses.
And on top of their loss of profits was the waste of fuel expended
while being chased by Sea Shepherd, the cost of security and defense
systems, the cost of surveillance flights, public relations expenses,
loss of labor costs (because the workers did nothing while the ships
were being pursued). With no whales to cut up, they sat in the mess and
gambled, drinking sake and tea.
"The lack of samples could affect the accuracy of our research,"
Fisheries Agency Takashi Mori said of the low catch.
“We hope so, but most importantly we know that the lack of ‘samples’
will impact their profits,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We hit them long
and hard this year and all our efforts and risks have paid off. There
are now 528 whales swimming freely in the Southern Ocean that would now
be dead if not for the fact that we intervened. It is a happy day for my
crew and I and conservationists worldwide, a happy day indeed.”
Choosing to play the victim of “eco-terrorists,” Mori blamed "violent
interference" by Sea Shepherd activists who he said paralyzed whaling
for 31 days.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is absolutely proud of the fact
that we managed to “paralyze” lethal whaling operations for 31 days.
“I could not have used a better word to describe our actions,” said Bob
Barker Captain Chuck Swift. “We absolutely did paralyze their
despicable operations for 31 days, and I am ecstatic to finally have
official Japanese acknowledgment of our success. Thank you Mr. Mori for
this validation.”
Sea Shepherd is now repairing damage to the Bob
Barker, searching for a potential replacement for the destroyed Ady
Gil, and working to help defend Captain Pete Bethune who remains a
prisoner of the whale wars in Japan.
Said Captain Watson, “Ships are expendable, endangered and protected
whales are not. We lost a ship and we have one crewmember taken
prisoner, and no injuries were caused nor sustained. I think we did
bloody well this year. Now we need to re-organize, raise more funds,
repair and prepare the ships and go back in December to do an even
better job.”
Operation Waltzing Matilda was the sixth voyage by Sea Shepherd to
the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and the most successful voyage to
date.
