What the Japanese are doing is illegal. They are criminals, and at least Paul Watson is out there trying to stop them. Anyone who is against whaling but thinks Paul isn’t accomplishing anything good by doing what he is doing needs to check their facts: Last campaign the whalers were short on their quota by 305 whales, because they were chased all over the ocean by the Steve Irwin. That, to me, is a big and well deserved measure of success.

There is much misinformation on these comments.

First off, Sea Shepherds need to walk a fine line. Paul is not stupid. He knows the pen is mightier then the sword. Whenever possible he uses the pen then the sword. PR is hugely important. If he starts employing more ‘extreme’ tactics, he risks alienating the public from him – and that is not what we need.

I am a proud supporter of SS and just increased my monthly donations. I am happy to see my money goes really far.

Remember that the battle on the high seas is dangerous. Any tactic they use against the whalers can be easily turned against them. It is not easy to be aggressive, get results and yet prevent life loss or injury. True, many of the crew are amateurs. But as Paul says, you can’t replace passion…sure, passion and experience is awesome, and those people are valued. But passionate volunteers are an awesome force to reckon with. Don’t forget that the volunteers do get training. They try to cover their bases the best they can.

As was said before, we waited long enough for the whaling to stop through the diplomatic channels. It has not worked. I hate to say it and although I admire Greenpeace in many ways, they did walk away from their anti-whaling campaigns. Their diplomatic route may or may not work, I don’t know.

When it comes to issues like whaling, one needs to make regular public passionate about what SS does. Whale Wars have certainly accomplished that and I am pleased to see Animal Planet returning for a third season.

And all the critics, please try to remove your emotion from your comments and truly, in your hearts reflect on what you are saying. There’s no amount of PR or TV time that would make up for the risk many of thee volunteers are taking just by being on the Steve Irvin in the Antarctic sea. You do not have to agree with what they do, but give them at least the respect and bow to their courage. They are walking the walk, they do what they believe in and for that they should be earning our respect, not our scorn.

Cheers to all the SS supporters – I hope you’re all walking the walk too and at least supporting SS as many of us do. If we cannot be there, the least we can do is support their campaigns financially.

It’s great they are trying to do something, since it’s pretty obvious the Japanese are abusing international law. I have to say though that if I was a potential donator, I’d think twice about contributing after seeing the ineffectiveness of their last campaign. Media attention here may be a double edged sword for them.

These fucking clowns are going to get themselves killed, and no one is going to care.