Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Sea Shepherd Announces New Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Musashi

Sea Shepherd Supporter | 27.06.2008 16:17 | Ocean Defence | World

While in Santiago, Chile for the 60th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Sea Shepherd Conservation Society officially announced plans to return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to once again oppose illegal Japanese whaling activities. Sea Shepherd is represented at the IWC by Captain Paul Watson, Founder and President of Sea Shepherd, and the Honourable Ian Campbell, former Minister of the Environment for Australia and current member of Sea Shepherd's international Advisory Board.



This year's campaign, Sea Shepherd's fifth campaign to Antarctic waters, will be called Operation Musashi in reference to the legendary Japanese strategist, Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi's Book of Five Rings included the approach of the Twofold Way of Pen and Sword. Sea Shepherd's goal is to send two fast ships to the Southern Ocean with the purpose of continuously keeping the Japanese whaling fleet on the run.

"We intend to sink the Japanese fleet economically," said Captain Watson. "Our strategy is to prevent whales from being killed, to force Japan to spend money on fuel without killing whales. My crew and I will not watch whales die, we will not bear witness to the cruel slaughter of a single whale without risking our lives to prevent its unlawful and cruel murder. If the members of the IWC refuse to act to save the whales, then it is up to us to take this fight onto the high seas where we will prevail in the next season even more successfully than we prevailed in the last season."

The name Operation Musashi was chosen to reflect Sea Shepherd's approach of aggressive, yet nonviolent, confrontation and the increasing global awareness of Japan's ongoing illegal whaling activities; thus the crossed feather pen and katana (sword) under the skull with the imbedded sperm whale and dolphin yin-yang symbol. The Banzai flag background gives reference to the ecological imperialism that Japan is committing against the whales of the Southern Ocean.

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) was the greatest samurai warrior, strategist, and tactician of all time and is a personal role model and hero of Captain Watson, who incorporated Musashi's ideas into his book Earthforce! An Earth Warriors Guide to Strategy. Sea Shepherd intends to transform Setsuninto - the sword {harpoon} that takes life - to Katsujinken - the sword {harpoon} that gives life. Sea Shepherd's ship, the Steve Irwin, will be outfitted with a very special harpoon for this year's campaign.

Sea Shepherd is not a protest organization. It was established in 1977 to intervene against the illegal exploitation of marine life in accordance with the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature. However, as with all Sea Shepherd campaigns, all strategies and tactics are designed to avoid any physical injury to the whalers.

"We have never injured a single person in our 31 year history," said Captain Watson, "and we intend to keep that record unblemished."

Sea Shepherd Supporter
- Homepage: http://www.seashepherd.org

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech