MOONBATS all ASEA

       Greenpeace Fights Battle with Rival Anti-Whaling Ship

A battle for what is being called "the high moral wave" was on Sunday night being fought off the wild coast of Antarctica as the world's two leading international marine protection groups fought each other over which would stop the Japanese whaling fleet.

With an international crew of volunteers, a helicopter and a deep warchest, Greenpeace International has sent two boats, the Arctic Sunrise and the faster Esperanza, to the Southern Ocean to stop the Japanese whaling fleet as it tries to catch 900 minke, blue and other whales for "scientific research".

The animal rights protector Captain Paul Watson, who co-founded Greenpeace in the 1970s and later set up the more radical Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was also in pursuit of the fleet on Sunday in his ship, the Farley Mowat. Watson, who accuses Greenpeace of being "the Avon ladies of the environment" and of being more interested in publicity than in enforcing international law, intercepted the Nisshin Maru factory ship on Christmas Day. Each environmental group now accuses the other of endangering lives by trying to ram its vessels.

     Maybe they'll sink each other. Hey, I can dream can't I?

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         Greenpeace fights battle with rival anti-whaling ship

A battle for what is being called "the high moral wave" was on Sunday night being fought off the wild coast of Antarctica as the world's two leading international marine protection groups fought each other over which would stop the Japanese whaling fleet.

With an international crew of volunteers, a helicopter and a deep warchest, Greenpeace International has sent two boats, the Arctic Sunrise and the faster Esperanza, to the Southern Ocean to stop the Japanese whaling fleet as it tries to catch 900 minke, blue and other whales for "scientific research".

On Sunday night the group, which located and gave chase to the Japanese fleet before Christmas, claimed to have the whalers on the run in mountainous seas peppered with icebergs. "The fleet seems to be running in circles, stopping and going in different directions. It's the sixth day in a row that we have seen no whales transferred to the factory ship. It's unlikely that whaling is being undertaken," said a spokesperson.

The animal rights protector Captain Paul Watson, who co-founded Greenpeace in the 1970s and later set up the more radical Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was also in pursuit of the fleet on Sunday in his ship, the Farley Mowat. Watson, who accuses Greenpeace of being "the Avon ladies of the environment" and of being more interested in publicity than in enforcing international law, intercepted the Nisshin Maru factory ship on Christmas Day. Each environmental group now accuses the other of endangering lives by trying to ram its vessels.

Sea Shepherd had requested the presence of the Australian navy to monitor events in the Southern Ocean, but Australia's Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, said that Sea Shepherd's threats to attack the fleet "risk setting back the cause of whale conservation many years".

Watson said on Sunday: "Stop threatening us, Mr Campbell, and charge us if you believe we are acting unlawfully. Stop posing for the Japanese [who] are in blatant violation of international conservation laws."

Despite a short truce at Christmas in which the captains swapped greetings, Watson and Greenpeace were at daggers drawn again on Sunday with Sea Shepherd accusing the larger group of refusing to say where the Japanese fleet was.

"Greenpeace has misled Sea Shepherd and betrayed us. The Japanese fleet does not give a damn about protests. [Greenpeace] just take pictures and hang banners. We are down here to enforce international conservation law and to stop the illegal whaling operations."

Greenpeace retorted: "Greenpeace distance themselves from Sea Shepherd because of their inability to commit to non-violent tactics. But we'll do what we can to put bodies between harpoons and whales and protect the whales non-violently," said its spokesperson Danny Kennedy. Watson on Sunday warned Greenpeace that Japan had dispatched a warship to the Southern Ocean to protect its whaling fleet and arrest the conservationists for piracy. This could not be confirmed.

On Sunday night, the three conservation ships were reportedly trying to spot the Japanese harpoon vessels. "They are sweeping along the [Antarctic] coast corridor with radar and helicopter reconnaissance flights with the objective of ferreting out the positions of the illegal harpoon vessels," said a spokesperson for Greenpeace.

Backstory
The bad blood between Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd goes back to 1979, when Paul Watson, membership number 008, left the Greenpeace Foundation he helped set up in Canada in 1972. In 1978, he formed the Sea Shepherd society. While Greenpeace adopted an ethic of non-violence, Watson (55) believes in confrontation and has been accused of piracy and terrorism.

The Mail & Guardian

Comments

[Phoenix]

>"the Avon ladies of the environment"<

Give me a break. Is this some sick pun. Whale stuff is used in all kinds of cosmetics. Hello?

I like that the Japanese need 900 whales for research. What are they researching?... How long it will take to eradicate the species by harpoon?

Ah well..... go stick a few whales as long as you make these groups sink themselves and provide fish food for what's left in the ocean.

[Steel]

I still remember my father trying to explain ambergris.

I was probably 8 or so and reading Moby Dick.

Pop popped up with ... 'whale puke' is the most valuble commodity on Earth.

HUH?

He tried several different tacks to drive that thought home.

I never really understood until I smelled a skunk.

[Phoenix]

What does the smell of a skunk have to do with ambergris? Does it smell like skunk? Where does one find ambergris? Why is it valuable? Why does the whale throw up?

I suppose I could Google this. But I know you will answer. :)

[Steel]

Welp, baleen whales eat krill and other small shrimp-like creatures and do so by scooping them up in massive quantities through their 'baleen', a gill-like membrane that is in their mouths. Most whales are 'baleen'.

Now, when a whale pukes, the resultant 'product' resembles a big loogie about 6' in diameter. It'll float until other sea creatures consume it. IE. Not too long.

Because it's mostly water, it doesn't bob on the sea surface, it is more like an iceberg, that is, it just sits, floats and is mostly under water.

One would never know one was anywhere near ambergris except that it STINKS TO HIGH HIGH HEAVEN.

You can imagine that finding whale puke in the middle of a gazillion square miles of open ocean is a rare occurence.

Skunks and all MUSK animals have glands that are odor specific. By that I mean that the musk STINKS and STINKS or a looong time. Lasting it is.

Now, most perfumes utilize some form of musk to be lasting.

People torture civet cats just to make them discharge their musk.

NOTHING on this planet is as lasting as ambergris.

The very finest, most expensive perfumes have as a base - whale puke.

I am not talking Channel No. 5 here. I am talking custom made scents that cost $1000.00 a gram.

As to WHY a whale might puke ... I can only assume it must have been something they ate.

Does that help?

[Phoenix]

I might puke.

Surely it does so because, like a snake, it cannot digest the undigestibles. Wait a minute....a snake doesn't throw up. But it poops out the undigestible stuff.

So how do they get the stink out of the ambergris so the bouquet of the perfume will have its smell?

Is JOY the most expensive perfume in the world?

Thanks for the information. I learned something......although I know I heard it before, I'd forgotten about it...and then thought it was whale poop.

[Steel]

Oh no, there are 'parfumeries' that make custom scents that are way more expensive than anything you have ever heard of.

I really don't know how they separate the stink from the lasting aspect of that stink. It is a chemical thing.

I DO know that a very good and terrifying read is Perfume by Patrick Susskind.

He delves as far into the world of scents much further than I ever thought I'd go.

It is on my personal top 10 list.

[Phoenix]

I'll have to get that book. Mainly out of curiosity because you called it 'terrifying'.

How can the world of scents be terrifying? Unless you got sent to Room 101 and the jackboot was really a skunk.

[Steel]

Susskind is or was an English teacher in Germany. It took him many years to write it. It was a HUGE best seller in Europe, but it took 2 1/2 years to translate into English. (He wrote it in German)

If you know German, they don't make new words - they just add on more and more suffixes. There are about 250 different German words that mean 'smell/odor' in the original transcript.

The beauty of this book is that it conveys this laborious detail and, as well, the author's intent.

Tom Cruise bought the screen rights back when they were fairly cheap ala One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

That was in the early 80s. They have been trying to film it, and I do believe it has been mostly filmed.

But it has not been released. At least to my knowledge.

It is one of the most terrifying reads in the history of novel writing.

It's not all that long either. Maybe 220 pages. But when you pick that book up and start you WIIL cancel everything else in your day until you are finished with it.

I don't say this lightly. It is a true tour de force in the horror/mystery genre.

It is and will remain on my top 10 list.

It's not all that easy to find anymore. You should go to Powell's Book Store online and buy a used paperback copy.

You would be well advised to buy 3 copies. You'll want to see to it others read it as well.

Truly, truly a masterpiece.

His next book was a bust. It's called The Pigeon. But it was actually written years before Perfume and the publisher just wanted to capitalize on the success of Perfume.

The words in Perfume will stay with you for the rest of your life - it is THAT good.

You will thank me for this my dear.

[Phoenix]

You mean I can't get it on Amazon? darn.

But. We have a used-book store here that is listed in the top 20 in America. I kid you not. It's in a loft of a downtown building, and it's huge. Mildred has run it for 30 years. She is so nice you can't stand it. If you say, "Mildred, I'm looking for Perfume by Patrick Susskind." she'll say in her soft voice, "Well.... you know, I think it might be over here." You follow her through bulging racks and stacks and beat-up and hand-made bookcases, and she'll lead you right to it. I'll check.

[Steel]

Heh, that's funny.

I have bought the book several times. The last time I got it was in Santa Cruz CA in a very small bookstore.

Rather than try and find it myself, I just went to the person behind the counter and said I wanted it.

They said much as that and led me right to it.

DO file the fact that Powell's Bookstore is THE place to find used or out of print books. They are by far the largest purveyor of same on the planet.

Cool place too. Been in business for at least 70 years in Portland OR. I used to live within blocks of it and would get lost in their stacks. An amazing place.

They love books there. You would never leave.

[Fisher]

I have 10kg of AMBERGRIS sitting in my warehouse now! It doesn't look like those dinosaur's eggs chanced by the Australian couples. Mine looks like a speckled (full of unidentifiable specks & GOD-knows-what), uneven off-white to rusty orange plasticine lump. Yes, very waxy, floats on water, doesn't oxidise under constant sunlight. Have tried washing the waxy feel with strongest household detergent but it stays and the musky, little sweet & warm aroma lingers on the fingers! Can't help sniffing!

I got it from parts of Indonesia where Sperm Whales frequent. Feel free to contact me directly at the following:

My e-mail: info@reapindonesia.com
Mobile: + 62 812 9589 777

Thanks.

Peter