The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is rejecting the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as a corrupt and irrelevant body that has lost all credibility as an organization responsible for the conservation of the world's whales. Sea Shepherd will be sending ships back to the Southern Ocean in December to once again intercept and intervene against illegal Japanese whaling activities. “It has become increasingly clear that Japan has been bullying, buying, and threatening nations to vote in favor of ending the global moratorium on whaling,” said Captain Paul Watson, founder and President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. “The IWC no longer has any credibility, it is an irrelevant organization. Many of the nations voting for Japan have zero interest in the issue of whaling. They vote the way they are paid to vote.” The Sea Shepherd ships and crew have demonstrated that direct intervention can cut the kill quotas in half and can cost the Japanese whaling industry their profits. During the last season, Sea Shepherd interventions saved more whales than the Japanese whalers were able to kill. “The answer is intervention and enforcement of international conservation law – not compromise and submission to Japan, Norway, and Iceland,” said Captain Paul Watson. “As far as I am concerned, the letters IWC stand for Irrelevant, Wearisome, and Corrupt.” Sea Shepherd is intending to send the ships Bob Barker and Steve Irwin (and possibly a third ship) to the Southern Ocean in December along with an international crew of volunteer activists. Sea Shepherd has not been deterred by the loss of one vessel, the Ady Gil, the damage caused by the ramming of the ship Bob Barker, and the taking of Captain Peter Bethune as a prisoner back to Japan. “Ships are expendable; the whales are not. If it takes risking our lives and our freedom to shut down this ruthless and barbaric and illegal slaughter of the whales, then that is what it will take, and we have proven that we are equal to the task,” said Captain Watson. The 2010/2011 campaign will be named Operation No Compromise as a response to the proposal to legalize commercial whaling to appease Japan. All this comes ahead of the June 21 launch of the IWC conference in Agadir, Morocco. Japan is lobbying countries to end a ban on international whaling along with Norway and Iceland. According to video and reports, Japan has been using under the table bribes to garner votes from smaller countries to vote to lift the ban. They have been accused of using sex workers and development bribes to buy votes. At the present, Japan continues to kill whales under their “scientific research” program. American President Barack Obama's administration appears ready to vote to lift the ban, arguing that it would enable the international community crackdown on the number of whales slaughtered annually. However, Greenpeace has recently said that at current whaling levels, a number of whale species could go extinct in the next decade or so. The affects of whale species going the way of the Dodo could have devastating ecological on marine life, which Greenpeace has said could have detrimental long term changes to ecosystems. The Agadir conference appears to be flooded with controversy after the reports of Japanese corruption and the international community's readiness to acquiesce to their demands. ** Portions of this article were originally published by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. BM
