http://worldagainstwhaling.org/
June 24th, 2009 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal - The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society today officially announced Operation Waltzing Matilda the 6th Sea Shepherd campaign to defend the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary from Japanese poachers.
About 30 members of the media attended the press conference despite the hotel manager insisting that the meeting had to be low profile and held in the back of the lobby hidden by the bar.
This is a research project, said Captain Paul Watson. Weve decided to demonstrate our solidarity with the Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand Research projects. Our primary objective is to research non-lethal means for defending whales. Of course this may include research into Japanese ships hull plate thickness, vessel stress tests, and paint chip analysis, as well as observation of whaler behavior in response to olfactory stimulation.
To illustrate the research theme of the Sea Shepherd campaign, Sea Shepherd Netherlands Director Laurens de Groot and Sea Shepherd UK Director Steve Roest donned inflatable boats marked research and armed themselves with Styrofoam harpoons to chase IWC delegates. In their attempt to get delegate tissue samples for research purposes, they had difficulty finding elusive Japanese whalers. However, Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett innocently stumbled into the path of the harpoons and because Australia is apparently voting to support the slaughter of Humpbacks in Greenland, he was considered a legitimate target.
