The Australian Federal Police have raided two boats owned by the anti-whaling group the Sea Shepherd at the behest of Japanese authorities.I watched the last season of shows out of curiosity and couldn't help but sympathize with the Japanese. The Sea Shepherd crowd is a little bit sanctimonious for me, and frankly some of the tactics they use against the Japanese could be property called eco-terrorism.
Both the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker were raided by AFP officers as they docked in Hobart on Saturday.
Their arrival marked the end of their summer campaign, chasing and clashing with the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
The Steve Irwin arrived to Princes Wharf about 8.30am (AEDT) - engine problems had cut short this season's campaign.
It was greeted by a crowd of well wishers but federal police officers were also there - armed with a search warrant.
Sea Shepherd boss and the ship's captain Paul Watson was detained and his crew interviewed before they were released.
He said there is a possibility the raids could lead to a court case.
"They've already seized log books, videos, photographs, charts, GPS recordings and copies of the computer hard drives," Capt Watson told AAP.
"There's nothing I would love better than to have this whole thing blow up in an Australian court, let's clean all the laundry once and for all."
Sister vessel the Bob Barker arrived at Princes Wharf about 2.30pm and underwent a similar search.
Captain Paul Watson was tossed out of Greenpeace in 1977 because he promoted violent direct tactics even that organization couldn't tolerate.
I'm kind of surprised the Japanese put up with as much from these people as they do. You may remember back in July of 1985 Greenpeace was threatening to disrupt a French nuclear test...so the French sunk their boat, The Rainbow Warrior. This year one of the Sea Shepherd vessels sunk after a collision with a Japanese ship, and given some of the tactics that have been demonstrated on the TV show, it's a small miracle they haven't managed to sink their other ships or kill some of their crew during dangerous maneuvers against the Japanese.
I like whales as much as the next guy, but smarmy radicals using borderline terrorist tactics do not impress me nor make me with to support their efforts.
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I love watching whale wars ... but I am always on the side of the Japanese. Though I have to admit it's good fun hearing a bunch of young guys talking like they're about to go into a desperate battle for the sake of all humanity ... and then run around throwing stink bombs and just being annoying.
It is so strange to see these great men of war trying to protect the whales. I'll bet very few of them are as gung-ho to join our military and fight in a real war.
They'll put their lives on the line to protect the whales, but the (human) unborn....not so much.
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