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.

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.

Bluefin Tuna Highly Endangered According to Japanese Expert Japanese Fishing expert Masayuki Komatsu admits Japan made a mistake on Bluefin tuna.

It Could Have Been Avoided Introduction by Captain Paul Watson The recent devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could have been avoided if one former Federal EPA agent had been allowed to do his job. Scott West, who now works for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, retired early from the EPA after the Federal government pulled the plug on his investigation into negligence by British Petroleum (BP) in Alaska in 2006

Japanese Whalers Shoot Themselves in the Face with Pepper Spray On February 11 th , during a confrontation between Sea Shepherd and the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru 2 , an incident occurred that provided an excuse for the Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR) to issue a media statement accusing Sea Shepherd of injuring three Japanese crewmembers with butyric acid (rotten butter). According to the ICR media release, the three men were injured when butyric acid splashed into their faces. Captain Paul Watson doubted the story because butyric acid, which is essentially rotten butter, is non-corrosive, nontoxic, and organic.

Fears, Jeers, Cheers, and Loathing for Sea Shepherd In South Park Editorial by Captain Paul Watson I knew as soon as I heard that South Park would be lampooning Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars that it would be viciously brutal. No one gets a free ride with Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But, I also knew that whatever they were planning it would be good for the whales, and that was all that I was really concerned with, so I was not disappointed

First Wave of Opposition Hits Taiji Shores In the wake of the controversial and highly acclaimed movie “The Cove,” the first wave of opposition has arrived in Taiji, Japan on the opening day of the dolphin slaughter season. Ric O’Barry, the star of “The Cove,” successfully made it into Japan and to Taiji along with other Save Japan Dolphins staff and news crews from the U.S., Germany, and the U.K., and for the first time ever – three Japanese television crews

Assaulted Journalists Convicted for Documenting Seal Slaughter Following their arrest on July 16, journalists Bart Smithers (South Africa) and Jim Wickens (United Kingdom) have been convicted of entering a protected marine area without a permit on the Namibian coast. They appeared in the magistrate’s court in the coastal town of Swakopmund for their trial