Sea Shepherd Offers a Day of Truce to Japan for Christmas Captain Paul Watson today sent a message to the Captain and crew of the Shonan Maru No. 2 wishing them and their families a Merry Christmas: “ Shonan Maru  No. 2, Shonan Maru No

Sea Shepherd Demands Action by the Netherlands In a news release today, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands stated support for an amendment to Dutch law that would facilitate vessel deregistration. Dutch Sea Shepherd Board member Laurens De Groot responded, “We have a Dutch ship with a Dutch captain and Dutch crewmembers, and we demand that the Dutch government take action to protect our safety from the dangerous and illegal attacks by illegal Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.” De Groot is a former Rotterdam police officer who now serves onboard the Rotterdam registered marine conservation ship Steve Irwin for Sea Shepherd. The Steve Irwin is scheduled to depart from Fremantle in Western Australia on December 7 th , 2009 to once again interfere and harass illegal Japanese whaling operations in the waters off the coast of Western Australia.

Sea Shepherd Helps Improve Communication Systems in the Galapagos After a long process dealing with procedures, permissions, getting documents stamped, and arranging sponsored air transportation, we finally have the donation from ECWF of radio equipment sitting inside the Sea Shepherd office in the Galapagos.

Japan Attempts Amendment of Dutch Statutes It appears as though Japan may have finally succeeded in gaining enough influence in the Netherlands to attempt to dictate Dutch law. Because the Steve Irwin , the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s flagship (used to obstruct activities by Japanese whalers in violation of international laws and in an internationally recognized Whale Sanctuary), is registered in the Netherlands, the Japanese authorities have lodged an official complaint regarding the conduct and behavior of the Steve Irwin .

The Issue of Safety at Sea Every year the International Whaling Commission brings up the issue of Safety at Sea despite the fact that the IWC has no jurisdiction, authority, or expertise regarding this issue. Japan maintains that the activities of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society pose a threat to the safety of Japanese whalers