Activists Prepare for Whaling Season

It's killing season in Japan, the factory ship has headed out sea, unceremoniously this year, though.  Wonder if that has anything to do with the anti-whaling activists whose attention they are probably trying to avoid?  And why wouldn't they?  According to this article, the Sea Shepherd activists plan to disrupt the 2008-09 whaling season, like they did the last.  Last season Japan was only able to slaughter 551 whales, almost half of their 1,000 whale quota.  That is pretty bad-ass! Meanwhile, in Australia, the Environment Minister, Mr. Peter Garret, the former lead singer of Midnight Oil, is revealing the details of a $4 million anti-whaling program.  Mr. Garrett said that the Australian government was undecided about whether to send a ship to shadow the Japanese hunting fleet.

Mr Garrett said he intends using diplomatic efforts together with the results of the new research project to influence the IWC and force Japan to stop hunting, "I'm not under any delusions as to how difficult and challenging this task is,” he said.

For more on this story read here. Whoa! Hold it there!  Diplomatic efforts have not worked thus far, and it seems that the only people who are trying to actively do something are folks at Sea Shepherd.  It's not the research that is the issue, it is the fact that whales are being slaughtered illegally for profit!  Now that Peter Garrett is in a position of power, a position where something could be done, why not do something?  Diplomacy can only get you so far, and activists are putting their lives at risk because governments are unwilling to do anything.