Sea Shepherd Australia has released video of clashes with Japanese whaling ships in the southern ocean, to support its review of the altercation.

** The videos are labeled private, so I did not include the links, as I took it the links were only for the media to view. I did watch the footage and the descriptions below are accurate in my view.

The press release is headlined – “Dramatic Footage puts lie to Tokyo claims.”

The Full Release:

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Flash grenade explodes over oil tanker in Antarctic waters

Feb. 26, 2013 – Fremantle, Australia:

Sea Shepherd Australia has released dramatic footage showing its ship, Bob Barker, squeezed and buffeted between the giant, Japanese whale factory ship, Nisshin Maru, and the oil tanker, Sun Laurel. As water cannons rained down on the Bob Barker and it was smashed between the much bigger ships, a Japanese coast guard concussion grenade explodes over the Bob Barker and the oil tanker.

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Sea Shepherd reports the whaling ship Sun Laurel was refueling and was entering the Australian waters.

This is of course, bad news for whales.

The Release:

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Sun Laurel in possible breach of MARPOL regulations
Whaling vessels being refueled in Australian waters
Potential oil spill in Antarctic environment

Feb. 17, 2013 – MELBOURNE, Australia  — At 2:45 am AEDT this morning, the fuel tanker for the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sun Laurel, entered the Australian Antarctic Exclusive Economic Zone at a position of 63° 07’ South, 84° 52’ East.

Captain Luis Pinho of Australia, onboard the SSS Sam Simon, has been in constant communication with AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Association) to keep them abreast of the situation.  He stated, “We have been pursuing the Sun Laurel all night and they have been operating at very unsafe speeds, in extremely dangerous conditions with icebergs and poor visibility. A number of times my crew and I could smell diesel from the wake of the vessel ahead. We collected samples that we have onboard which exhale an odor of oil. We are very concerned, for an oil spill in these pristine Antarctic waters would have a catastrophic effect on the Antarctic wilderness.

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The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker blocked the transfer yesterday of a dead whale to the Japanese ship, Nisshin Maru.

The Press Release:

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Feb. 15, 2013 – MELBOURNE, Australia  — After an 18-day 2,500 nautical mile chase the Japanese whale poaching fleet and Sea Shepherd Australia’s fleet are now fully engaged in a confrontation as the Japanese whalers begin their attempts to kill whales. The Sea Shepherd crew is working hard to block their illegal activities and uphold the 1986 global moratorium on commercial whaling.

At 1753 AEDT the Yushin Maru No. 2 harpooned a large Minke whale at 66° 02’ South and 75° 44’ East, 57.5 miles from Australia’s Davis Research Base, inside Australia’s Antarctic Territory.

At 1820 AEDT, the harpoon ship attempted to transfer the dead whale to the butchering ship, the Nisshin Maru. The SSS Bob Barker radioed to inform the illegal whaling ships that they would not be allowed to transfer the poached whale and moved into position to block the transfer.

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A press release from the Sea Shepherd organization indicates the Japanese whaling fleet has abandoned its harpoon vessel, as it is nearly out of fuel.

The Sea Shepherd has apparently been successful in preventing a refueling tanker from connecting with the whaling fleet.

The Release:

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Feb. 11, 2013 – MELBOURNE, Australia  — An anonymous source within Korea has reported that the Japanese whaling fleet is in total disarray, with Sea Shepherd Australia’s ship the SSS Sam Simon tailing the refuelling tanker for the Japanese whaling fleet, the Panamanian-registered and South Korean-owned vessel Sun Laurel.  The Sam Simon plans to follow the Sun Laurel in hopes to track them straight to the Nisshin Maru.

The source detailed that the Sun Laurel was only contracted to refuel the Japanese whaling fleet until mid-February, but because Japan’s Whaling Program is so closely connected to their commercial fishing interests, they are using their clout within the fishing industry, attempting to pressure the Sun Laurel to refuel the whalers below 60° in Australia’s Antarctic Territory, with the threat of blacklisting the Sun Laurel from future contracts if they don’t abide.

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It appears the Sea Shepherd organization has scored another success, this time in cutting off the fuel supply to the Japanese whaling ships – in intercepting the refueling tanker.

The Press Release I received early this morning:

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Feb. 7, 2013 – MELBOURNE, Australia  — This morning at 0630 AEDT Sea Shepherd Australia’s ship, the SSS Sam Simon, found the refuelling tanker for the Japanese whaling fleet, the Panamanian registered and Korean-owned vessel Sun Laurel, 1,250 miles South of Albany, Australia (at 55 Degrees 41 Minutes South and 119 Degrees and 08 Minutes East).

The Sea Shepherd ship SSS Steve Irwin has changed course to meet up with the Sam Simon and plans to block access to the tanker by any illegal whaling ships attempting to refuel.

The Sun Laurel refuels the Nisshin Maru several times during the whaling season. By intercepting the Sun Laurel, the Sam Simon has literally cut off the fuel supply to the whaling fleet with the potential of forcing the whalers to cut their season short.

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