This is where activism has taken us?

Militant activism has changed regimes, shaped countries and awarded rights to those unable to attain them without the use of force. There are just causes worth fighting for; freedom, equality, love, and whales...wait what?

Yes, just when you thought it didn't get any more radical than Greenpeace, we have the members of Sea Shepherd Conservation. A rag tag team of pirate hippies hellbent on stopping the killing of innocent whales, even if it means killing human beings in the process.

Led by Paul Watson who is quote "rewarded by the friendship with many members of different species" of the ocean. The group maintains the cause of being a thorn in the side of Japanese whaling vessels in the Antarctic seas.

Now before I get too ahead of myself, let me say that I don't advocate whaling one bit. I'm not put under the illusion that the Japanese are using loopholes in international law to legally harvest whales in the name of "research". They kill upwards of 400 whales in a year, how much could they possibly need to research.


However, what they are doing is legal under the precedents of international law and is a contributing market to the Japanese economy. What members of Sea Shepard are doing is completely illegal and is borderline piracy. The Japanese are well within their rights to defend themselves when ignorant bleeding-hearts throw explosive devices with chemicals, board their ships to destroy equipment, and even do crap like this:




My sympathy isn't simply reserved for the Japanese though, I have the most sympathy for the young gullible activists that Watson and his cronies recruit. These people's lives are at risk at the hands of an idiot crew that, judging from videos I've watched, have no clue how to manage a ship. Most of this evidence can be seen in a completely objective show on Animal Planet called Whale Wars. Despite the show obviously being a tool for propaganda, there is plenty to see documenting the incompetence of these people.

In one episode, while practicing one of their "attacks", they accidentally flip a zodiac boat while launching it from a crane. On the boat were five people, and judging by the span of time in the show, it took about 20 minutes for them to figure out how to pull them out of the well below freezing waters.

There are prominent equipment malfunctions and glitches, along with the general risk of injury and death to crew when they engage the Japanese, even going so far as boarding the whaling ships and encountering them personally. But not Watson of course. He stays comfortably in the bridge of the ship while the college kids he brainwashes do all the dirty work.

In an age of genocide, sex-slavery and general inequality, this is where so much money is being put to wage war? Large rubber cylinders with fins? I think whales are majestic creatures, but I would much rather see someone using militant means to rescue young girls in Thailand that are sold on markets and raped repeatedly for the pleasure of perverted businessmen.

Sources: Sea Shepherd Website