Whale Wars Season 3 Premiers Friday, June 4 th The third season of Animal Planet’s hit television series Whale Wars launches on Friday, June 4 th at 9 PM in the U.S. The new season of Whale Wars follows Sea Shepherd’s 6 th Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign, named Operation Waltzing Matilda in honor of Australia’s unofficial national anthem, on the three-month journey to the South Ocean Whale Sanctuary to stop illegal whaling.
Update: Captain Pete Bethune’s Trial – First Phase Complete The first phase of Captain Pete Bethune’s trial in Japan has ended and he remains both unbowed and in good spirits. Captain Bethune is being represented by a highly capable team of Japanese lawyers. Though some in the media have written that Captain Bethune pleaded guilty to four out of five counts against him, this is incorrect, as Captain Bethune continues to maintain his innocence on all counts. He contested some of the facts claimed by the Japanese prosecutor, including, most importantly, that anyone on the Japanese vessel the Shonan Maru 2 was ever injured by anything done by anyone on a Sea Shepherd vessel. A crewmember from the Shonan Maru 2 claimed to have been injured by rancid butter tossed onto the Shonan Maru 2 by Sea Shepherd volunteers, but the evidence revealed that no doctor ever actually saw the alleged injury and there was no dispute that this crewmember was fine before his vessel ever arrived back in port.
Update: Captain Pete Bethune’s Trial – First Phase Complete The first phase of Captain Pete Bethune’s trial in Japan has ended and he remains both unbowed and in good spirits. Captain Bethune is being represented by a highly capable team of Japanese lawyers.
Update: Captain Pete Bethune’s Trial – First Phase Complete The first phase of Captain Pete Bethune’s trial in Japan has ended and he remains both unbowed and in good spirits. Captain Bethune is being represented by a highly capable team of Japanese lawyers. Though some in the media have written that Captain Bethune pleaded guilty to four out of five counts against him, this is incorrect, as Captain Bethune continues to maintain his innocence on all counts. He contested some of the facts claimed by the Japanese prosecutor, including, most importantly, that anyone on the Japanese vessel the Shonan Maru 2 was ever injured by anything done by anyone on a Sea Shepherd vessel. A crewmember from the Shonan Maru 2 claimed to have been injured by rancid butter tossed onto the Shonan Maru 2 by Sea Shepherd volunteers, but the evidence revealed that no doctor ever actually saw the alleged injury and there was no dispute that this crewmember was fine before his vessel ever arrived back in port.
Update: Captain Pete Bethune’s Trial – First Phase Complete The first phase of Captain Pete Bethune’s trial in Japan has ended and he remains both unbowed and in good spirits.
Bluefin Tuna Highly Endangered According to Japanese Expert Japanese Fishing expert Masayuki Komatsu admits Japan made a mistake on Bluefin tuna.
Finally- Australia Government Initiates Legal Action On Japanese Whaling It has taken three years, but finally the government of Kevin Rudd has decided to act on their election promise of 2007. Australia is officially initiating a legal action against Japanese whaling in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands.
Update: Captain Pete Bethune’s Trial Starts Today The criminal trial against Sea Shepherd Conservation Society volunteer Captain Pete Bethune began in Tokyo on May 27. Captain Bethune was arrested in March and remains in maximum-security detention in Tokyo. He was detained after boarding the Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru 2 in February to protest the sinking of Sea Shepherd’s vessel Ady Gil (which he captained) as well as Japan’s illegal whaling operations. He faces several charges, including trespassing and property damage.
Democracy Now! Interviews Sea Shepherd’s Scott West One month after the BP oil spill, Democracy Now! speaks to Scott West of Sea Shepherd, a former top investigator at the Environmental Protection Agency who led an investigation of BP following a major oil pipeline leak in Alaska’s North Slope that spilled 250,000 gallons of oil on the Alaskan tundra. Before West finished his investigation, the Bush Justice Department reached a settlement with BP, and the oil company agreed to pay $20 million. At the same time, BP managed to avoid prosecution for the Texas City refinery explosion that killed fifteen workers by paying a $50 million settlement
The Bob Barker Goes Dutch The Dutch Stand Strong in the Face of Demands from Japan The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is happy to report that there is at least one world government with the courage to stand up to the economic bullying by the government, the whaling industry, and the corporations of Japan. In the face of incredible political and economic pressure from Japan, the Netherlands has not only refused the Japanese demand to strike the Dutch flag from our ship the Steve Irwin , they have now officially registered our ship the Bob Barker under the Dutch flag. Since 2005, pressure from the Japanese government has cost us the flags of Canada, Great Britain, the Cayman Islands, Togo, and Belize
