Sea Shepherds justify their position
Anti-whaling protesters have defended their actions in the southern ocean after ramming a Japanese whaling ship and copping international criticism. The environment minister Malcolm Turnbull labeled The “Sea Shepherd” group, irresponsible, and he was joined in the attack by Greenpeace and the International fund for animal welfare. But Sea Shepherd say the Japanese are flouting the international whaling moratorium and are prepared to keep using their ships to block the Japanese from killing whales. For their part the Japanese Fisheries Agency have described Sea Shepherd as “maritime terrorists”. Phil Stubbs spoke by satellite phone to Paul Watson, the captain of Sea Shepherd’s vessel, the Farley Mowat. He started by describing the methods used by the Japanese fleet to kill whales.