23 December 2005
Recalling Tuesday
by Philster, onboard the Esperanza
Copyright Greenpeace/Davison
The idea was made to get "Tweety" the Hughes 500 helicopter in the air to see if we could find the rest of the fleet. Several flights later 7 am rolled around and we were none the wiser as to where the fleet must be. The Arctic Sunrise headed our way in the meantime. We had looked behind every iceberg - some resembling mountain ranges that had broken off and left to drift. All the while navigating around what I have labelled "bull in a china shop" ice. An odd array of intricate pieces of ice carved by nature that resemble ornate crystal strewn about the ocean.
We continues to search until exhausted we drifted for the night. The sauna begged to me and I heeded its call. Outside the sunset the, longest ever as it came to the horizon, ever so slightly dipping below the horizon then bouncing back into the sky. I thought of NZ way to the north of us and wondered how summer was shaping up.
7.30 wake up this morning....... a the thick Scottish accent of the photographer on board came, "good morning Phil, there is a Japanese catcher boat coming towards us. Do you copy?" I copy. 2 minutes later I am dressed on the bridge coffee in hand. Not to many others up yet. There, well you would normally say 'She' when talking about ships, but with her strange outline... because "it" was purpose built for one thing. To race through the "bull in the china ship ice", past ice seeming the size of small nations, weaving behind an Antarctic minke whale that has strayed into the "Research" path of the Whalers. Spotting a target from the flying bridge of the catcher, the gunner walks forward and with the whale's last breaths, lactic acid coursing through its veins, the harpoon brings about its demise. Insane to think that this is happening in The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Tweety gets off the deck, I've indicated with two raised arms that Hughie the Pilot is no longer connected to the deck and away he goes. Flying into the distance the radio call comes.
"We've spotted the Nisshan Maru" Yes!!! We found the whalers in an ocean twice the size off the United States. Tweety comes back and picks up the Photographer and Videographer who from the air, manage to film a whale being shot. The hunt is on. We launched four inflatable boats and the Captain Frank takes the Esperanza to the stern (back) of the Nisshan Maru. The Kyo Maru the oldest of the catchers and the one that I boarded in 1998 (a story for another time) has a dead Antarctic minke lashed to her rail. She makes three attempts to pass us from behind and on the port side. The Kyo Maru nudges us each time until the fourth attempt when she blatantly crosses our bow. A very aggressive manoeuvre to get into position to be able to unload the dead whale strapped to her side so they could go and get another one. The killing boats lining up to take their turn to unload their catch.
Meanwhile the struggle with the Kyo Maru continues as the inflatables try to impede the transfer. One boat comes out the back of the melee upside down her crew climbing onto the upturned boat. Frantic waving on the bridge wing by me caught the eye of one of our boats and they went back to look after the wet crew. Another boat gets caught up and spins around and is being dragged backwards through the water. The crew from the catcher continue to hose them and hit them with boat hooks until the line is cut and they drift out the back, the engine underwater. The whale is released, the Kyo Maru cuts sharply to starboard in search of the next kill and the minke is seen dragged unceremoniously backwards, blood spilling from the mouth up the ramp of the mother ship with "Research" written on the side.
In amongst the craziness I noticed two pods of Orca's. We pulled back and collected the boats and licked our wounds. The Whalers now knew we were here, and that we mean business. We pack up, dry off and make ready for the next day. Suddenly the solitude of harvesting whales had been broken. A total of 8 inflatables and both the Arctic Sunrise and the Esperanza all behind the Nisshan Maru, her loud speakers warning Greenpeace, with the captain's voice, "Stay away from our ship or we will have to hose you down". A sign at her stern says, "Greenpeace misleads you". It was the longest day alright, summer solstice, I mean.
The hunt came to a halt shortly afterwards and the four whalers and two Greenpeace ships drifted close by until the morning.
Comments
Don't worry! Once Sea Shepherd arrives they will show you how to stop these pirates from slaughtering these whales!! Meanwhile, keep on holding up your protest signs and watch the killing. -Bob
Posted by: Bob Smith at December 23, 2005 11:08 PM
Hey Bob - sounds to me like Greenpeace have been doing a hell of a lot more than just holding up banners. Did you actually read the blog or did you just skip to writing a comment insinuating that they haven't succeeded in saving any whales (when in fact they have)?
L.
Posted by: Lisa at December 24, 2005 5:20 PM
I really do appreciate all that Greenpeace is doing to annoy the Japanese whaling fleet, however, these whalers consider Captain Watson a formidable opponent because he is dead serious about shutting these criminals down. His methods have been criticized by Greenpeace as being too radical. That point of view is absolute nonsense. After all these years the Japanese are still whaling! Now that Sea Shepherd has arrived on the scene I hope that Greenpeace will be willing to work together with Sea Shepherd but so far all I have witnessed are broken promises on behalf of Greenpeace. I dunno, maybe that will change? -Bob
Posted by: Bob Smith at December 25, 2005 2:24 AM
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