Sea Shepherd

Do you know the group called “Sea Shepherd“?
They are an American anti-whaling group. Their leader and founder is Paul Watson. He has become infamous in Japan.

Unlike the group “Greenpeace” who protest and petition groups and laws that they’re against, Sea Shepherd actively follows and attacks whaling vessels.

It is often said that Japan, Iceland and Norway are the only countries that practice whaling in modern times. But in smaller numbers, Inuit Eskimos in Canada hunt whales, as do some islands in the Caribbean, Greenland, Indonesia, The Netherlands, Russia, and Alaskan Eskimos in the United States.

Even though these countries hunt whales legally with permission the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the Sea Shepherd group follows whaling fleets with the intention of disrupting them in an attempt to end whale hunting.

Japanese whalers, in particular, are targeted mainly because they get past the international ban on commercial whaling by conducting whaling for “scientific research” purposes (with the extra meat being sold to restaurants and supermarkets), (Norway and Iceland simply ignore the commercial whaling ban), and because Japan hunts more whales than other countries.

Personally, I think 鯨肉 (whale meat) is tasty.

鯨肉 (whale meat)

But, like most people in Japan, I don’t eat it often. And I have heard that there are an over-abundance of whales in the world’s oceans…but I’ve also heard that they’re close to extinct. I have no idea which statement is accurate. But if whales are almost extinct, then I certainly support an end to whaling.

But I don’t support the Sea Shepherd group. They’re actions at sea are dangerous and put human lives (both whalers’ and their own crews’) at risk.

It was reported today that the Sea Shepherd‘s flagship, the “Steve Irwin“, rammed Japanese whaling vessels last Thursday in their attempt to disrupt their hunt.

The "Sea Shepherd" rammed the "Yushin-maru".

Whales are beautiful creatures and people in most countries could never imagine eating one…but that alone doesn’t mean they can’t be eaten by anyone.
As I said above, I’m not sure whether whaling should be stopped or not…but I am sure that the Sea Shepherd‘s dangerous actions should stop. Greenpeace has better tactics…getting the laws changed.

夏休み

Today is the first day of my kids’ 夏休み (Summer vacation). They don’t have school again til September 1st!

(But unlike in America, in Japan—the new school doesn’t start after summer holidays. So my kids will be in the same grades until April (which is the start of the school year in Japan)).

Today we’re gonna go watch the 「ゲゲゲの鬼太郎」の映画 (“Ge-Ge-Ge No Kitarou” movie).

(I mentioned this movie is this previous post here. )

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In the news, I heard that an Australian rent-a-car business painted “Save a whale…harpoon a Jap!” on one of their vehicles.

That’s out of line, in my opinion. Even if they’re opposed to Japan’s whaling practices.

I found a picture of the vehicle online. This is it:

Why would someone…especially a company, think that it’s alright to write derogatory remarks about other people?

I considered writing my opinion on whaling on this post…but decided against it. I’m not trying to start a controversial website.