Bob Barker Sees Bright Side To Ady Gil Disaster [UPDATED w/Video]

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by Michael dEstries January 6, 2010
Categories: Animals, Causes
Tags: .

Bob Barker was recently contacted by the Associated Press for some comments on the Sea Shepherd collision; especially in light of his $5 million dollar donation to the organization and newly named boat in his honor. Here are some highlights from the famous Price is Right host:

On the collision:
“To think I had just become involved in it, then they had the worst accident that they’ve had! I thought, ‘Barker, what have you brought on to these people?’”

On if he knew about the Sea Shepherd’s controversial tactics before he contributed:
“I knew that they get in there and try to get between the whalers and the whales. They are just doing wonderful things. Sea Shepherd operates under the UN World Charter for Nature to uphold international conservation laws and directly intervene against illegal activities on the high seas.”

On the projectiles launched by the Sea Shepherd:
“Nontoxic, biodegradable, organic chemical warfare.”

On the disaster’s impact and what it will mean for this future support:
“This will probably get more notice for what they’re trying to do out there than anything in a long time, so it has a bright side. I absolutely continue to support them, more so than ever, in good times and bad.”

via AP

Barker also appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show. Check it out below:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • Hideyoshi Toyotomi

    Someone declare “nontoxic, biodegradable, organic chemical warfare” on this old fool. He needs to learn some respect.

    • orcalove

      Wow that says something coming from a faceless coward who blogs for the Japanese. i hang on every word you say.. to LAUGH!

    • Brendan

      Yoshi you need to go back to playing nintendo, this is real life out here.

      • Jennifer

        Although the practice of whaling is indefensible, the Sea Shepard and her crew are acting in a dangerous manner on the high seas. Tangling another ships propeller, shooting at it with any kind of weapon is also indefensible. There are better ways to go about saving whales than putting human lives at risk. These people also have a pirate insignia on their ships, which may seem like a cute joke, but is actually a sign that they answer to no one and other ships must defend themselves against them.
        Unless you know anything about the laws of international sailing, you really don’t have a right to comment on the Japanese actions.

      • Hurray for Bob Barker

        Jennifer,

        You wrote: “There are better ways to go about saving whales than putting human lives at risk.”

        Since you apparently have all the answers on how to stop the Japanese from whale poaching, please elaborate.

    • Hideyoshi Toyotomi

      Hideyoshi Toyotomi you need to get some sleep. Working hard for the money you’ve been receiving from whalers

    • Mark

      Barker is awesome! He’ll accomplish more good in a day than you could ever hope to in your life. Don’t be a loser! Join a winning team zip!

    • shayne

      Its rotten butter stink bombs dude. its the kind of thing teenagers have been messing with since rotten butter was first discovered. Harmless stuff but horrible to smell.

      And theres video out now showing that the Ady Gil was stationary when attacked. Trying to sink a small speed boat in the most dangerous waters in the world (You only need 10 minutes in that water to die of hypothermia) doesn’t gain one the right to bleat about “respect”

      • Tim

        The boat was not stopped it was under motor. it was off the starboard bow and it moved right in front of the whaler, there was no way the whaler could stop and I doubt anyone on the boat thought it was. this was either a distraction or a publicity stunt but it wasn’t an accident from sea sheperds perspective. what a waste of a sweet as boat.
        I hate whaling but thats just stupid disregard for saftey and rules of the sea. if its engine was on (wake so it has to have been) its obligated to give way to the bigger boat which didnt have the manuverability to dodge.

      • Jack

        Tim – The Ady was attempting to avoid collision and turn away. If you check you tube and see the video from the Bob Barker, you can clearly see the Japanese ship turn aggressively into the smaller boat and fire it’s water cannons after the collision. The act was intentional and uncalled for.

      • Carl C Revine

        You need to see the video from a different perspective. The perspective from the Ady Gil showed the Whaler coming at them, Peter wasn’t even at the helm. They were not crossing the whalers path, rather the Whaler came at them intentionally and crossed their path with no attempt to deviate their course.

    • Whalefriend

      Nice remarks from a whale killing law ignoring race

    • http://ecorazzi.com kristina kenngott

      you need to learn respect .Bob Barker is a great man . Your failure to see that tells us alot about you

    • JEK

      ahahahahahahah, what a stupid comment!!
      you the japanese should learn some respect for the international laws and for the environmet!!!

  • Dude

    Somebody ban the Toyotomi troll ffs…

    • EARTHWARRIOR117

      Why? I find his horseshit to be rather entertaining.

    • Hideyoshi Toyotomi

      Oww shucks.

      Wish I could say the same about yours!

      • don miguelo

        How dare you dishonor the good name of a cultural and political daimyo with your predictiable and wrong trash?

        …also: “Toyotomi Hideyoshi had been given the nickname Kozaru, meaning “little monkey”, from his lord Oda Nobunaga because his facial features and skinny form resembled that of a monkey.” WIKI

  • Jennifer

    Oh and Brendan, you’re right, this is real life. Real, human lives, both Japanese and American were put in danger by the brash, thoughtless actions of the inexperienced crew of the Sea Shepard and that blubbery blowhard Paul Watson. He is a joke.

    • don

      What about the whales lives? Stop the whaling at ANY cost you dreamers. Life is not a fairy tale where everyone is nice. Some people have to be told to stop. Even in war you are not supposed to hose down the survivors.
      Jennifer, tell us what other actions to use that don’t endanger humans. And I don’t think the crew members are all American.

      • dammit

        If you want to stop the whaling at any cost Don, why don’t you go with the SS and jump in front of a harpoon? Surely you’re willing to put your money where your mouth is aren’t you? Go on, take that harpoon. Then I’ll give your memory my respect. It won’t stop the whaling though.

        These SS lot are a total bunch of idiots. They’re not stopping anything, and this Bob Barker person is only showing what an ignoramus he is. It would be great to stop whaling totally, and I’d be willing to help if it was possible. But why only Japan? What about the other countries that still whale? You’re not still sore about WWII are you? Some people never forget, even though they’re not old enough to remember.

        Incidentally, it’s clear from both videos that the ady gill was moving. It was not idle. Even if it was, I’ll bet it doesn’t take more than a few seconds to start the engine of such a boat. So why didn’t they even try to move? Oh that’s right, they WANTED to be in the way. Silly little kids.

    • Hurray for Bob Barker

      Really, Jennifer? Please let us all know what YOU have accomplished in your lifetime that would come even close to rivaling what Paul Watson has done on behalf of defenseless animals. Don’t forget to include examples of all the times you have altruistically risked your life for others. I suspect we’ll learn that it is in fact YOU who is the joke. You’ve already outed yourself as being a jerk.

    • Defiant

      Jennifer, there were NO Americans on board the Ady Gil. And Peter Bethune is the Captain and skipper of the Ady Gil. Please have your facts in order when you wag your finger at others.

      • Brent

        Again, Dammit has fallen for the Japanese crappo version of things. Their own original video clearly shows them turning into the Ady Gil. Even the cameraman sways due to the sudden course change of the ship.

        This version that is now on youtube is selectively edited. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEmzp054cOA
        Look carefully and you can see. At about the 5 second mark, the camera zooms towards the Ady Gil and becomes suspiciously still. Anyone that has used a camera knows that when you zoom in when you are moving, the view becomes MORE jerky, not less. Then around the 18 second mark, the video suspiciously zooms back. Then suddenly it becomes all bumpy. This is obviously to hide the sudden course change they performed to ram the Ady Gil.

        Again, think before posting.

      • Brent

        Look at the video from a boat in front of where the collision took place to see what really happened:

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbuq0YEIPNU

  • Mike

    Yoshi and Nintendo? Wow, are all whale-humpers this racist? Let them sink if so.

    As for getting between the whales and the whalers, just a tip for not getting rammed: don’t get between a large boat and where its going.

    • Hide Yoshi ToyotaMe

      Mike = Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

  • Hideyoshi Toyotomi

    Reading Mr Barker’s responses to those questions, they seem to be parroted straight out of a Sea Shepherd propaganda leaflet.

    Could it be that Sea Shepherd has inappropriately taken advantage of a wealthy old man who is no longer fully in command of his mental faculties? The $5m “donation” is generous in the extreme.

    Given the ruthless misanthropy of Watson and his band of criminals, you cannot rule out plain old fraud here. Perhaps an investigation is required?

    • From MN, with hope…

      Bob Barker is a great man, who many Americans love. He is a great man who is very passionate and isnt some “hemp-smoking hippy” as you may think. If that is what you think Mr. Barker than go somewhere else to rant. Stop making things up.

    • Karie

      You are an idiot

    • http://www.tigersangels.com.a Tigers angels

      We are into saving tigers…and the world needs all the help it can get …bob is one of them, outs his money where his mouth is…..you are clearly not a very educated human…or you think we are racist…and your still not even close with that way of thinking….you sound like you have never seen a real whale or maybe even a real ocean…its big and its blue and it covers 70 percent of the Earth….get out from behind the four walls…as its a beautiful world we are all trying to save ….what have you done to help our planet?? whats that??? nothing …thought so…..

  • Adri

    Bob Barker is absolutely right. It is too bad that some Japanese people feel insecure about themselves and bully, or let their government bully, defenseless whales to feel tougher. I feel sorry for you, Hideyoshi, and hope some day you can feel confident enough to extend compassion to animals, especially animals as majestic and intelligent as these whales.

  • Bob Barker, Whale Pal

    He (the Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson) said he thought he could put the Japanese whaling fleet out of business if he had $5 million,” Mr. Barker told The A.P. “I said, ‘I think you do have the skills to do that, and I have $5 million, so let’s get it on.’ ”

    That’s the sprit!!

    • http://www.ecorazzi.com Michael d'Estries

      Barker FTW!

  • Steve Watkins

    Sea Shepherd news sure brings out the haters and whaler shills, Paul and Co. are obviously doing something right.

    • steph

      I second that!

      As Gandhi once said “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”

      We are getting so close to winning for the whales, thanks to the Sea Shepherds and Bob Barker <3

      They are my heroes!

  • Hakamoki Uarmynuggis

    Japanese Whalers=1 Sea Skankherd=0 Gooooo Japs!

    • long memory

      uk & usa 2
      hiroshima & nagasaki 0

      its a pity all you “japanese ” in the world didnt go back there.you should be ashamed of your race,
      SAVE THE WHALES

  • http://vegan--japan.blogspot.com/ herwin

    Bob Barker what a true hero !

  • Filthy Assistant

    Firstly let me say that I do not condone illegal whaling. That being said, this is a colossal failure of the captain of the Ady Gil. He took a speed boat that has the world record for fastest circumnavigation of the globe and STOPPED it in front of a large whaling ship. What did he think was going to happen? If his goal was to string a rope under the whaling ship, why did he not pass the path of the whaling ship (at least from a safe distance)? Stopping the boat and then frantically trying to reverse at the last minute was a catastrophic mistake. His actions have endangered his crew and destroyed his boat. Although what the Japanese are doing is illegal, they are not at fault for this collision. The very design of water cannons and sirens is to keep people away from their boat. Of course the Japanese were shadowing the Sea Sheppards, but the reckless tactics of the Ady Gil were obviously counter-productive to the goal of loosing their shadow and attacking the main fleet of whalers. I see these recent reports as obvious spin tactics to try and salvage what is a ridiculous screw up by the Captain of the Ady Gil. They only had the boat, what? two months? Perhaps it is time to shift these anti whaling efforts from scant civilian forces to Australian Navy. If they got involved it would be a much stronger impact, although possibly an international relations faux pas, which is why I suspect they have not been utilized thus far.

    • danon

      The captain of the Ady Gil did not stop in front of the Jap vessel, it tried a last minute attemp to get away from the Jap vessel’s path but was too late! i’ve been in “earthrace” (now “ady gil”) when it berthed in australia. this boat is design to go forward fast but is too slow reversing. who would have tought a big vessel would go against a smaller vessel? unless the bigger vessel have other intentions..

  • Pingback: Boat Rammed in Anti-whaling Clash in Antarctica has Woodland Hills Connection

  • Anti-Piracy

    The actions taken by the Ady Gil and her crew were illegal. They violated the International Rule of the Road, and they were attempting to damage/disable another vessel (by fouling its props and rudder).

    In short, they are no different than the Somali pirates which attacked the Maersk Alabama. Their irresponsible actions endangered the lives of both crews (and since the vessel which that attacked wasn’t even a whaling vessel) did nothing to help protect the whales.

    I am saddened to see that Mr Barker, whom I’ve respected for his other animal protection activities, lend his fortune and name to this group of terrorists.

    -Spike

  • Paul

    For those who has watched the video from Bob Parker’s view, I strongly recommend watching this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEmzp054cOA) as well, which was shot from the Shona Maru.

    7 seconds into the video, look at the area behind AG, zilch. Nothing.
    16 seconds in, you can see the AG is starting up.
    18 seconds in, you can see that it has in fact started moving into the path of the Shona Maru, rather quickly too I might add.

    As for AG claiming Shona Maru not responding to their SOS signal, is this for real? The pirate flag may be cute and all, but it’s still a pirate flag. Shooting things at other boats for whatever reason is considered an attack, just because it’s “Nontoxic, biodegradable, organic chemical warfare” doesn’t mean it’s legal. I don’t see people crying when the Somalian pirates got owned, and didn’t see them crying foul either.

    Just to be clear, I don’t like whaling, but I also dislike stupid bullshit like this. People will also take one side then turn a blind eye to whatever the other side can produce, it’s just one stubborn kid vs. another stubborn kid.

    • Brent

      Paul:

      7 seconds into the video, look at the area behind AG, zilch. Nothing.
      16 seconds in, you can see the AG is starting up.
      18 seconds in, you can see that it has in fact started moving into the path of the Shona Maru, rather quickly too I might add.

      Very clever Paul. You have fallen for the Japanese propaganda video which they selectively edited before releasing (I saw the original which was removed from youtube, with this reposted). Try the view from the boat in front: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbuq0YEIPNU

      So you fail to mention the Shona Maru DELIBERATELY turns towards the Ady Gil. The reason AG is starting it’s engines is because they are trying to get out of the way of being rammed. Think about what you would do in the same situation.

      You are sitting dead in the water.
      A much larger boat appears to be moving past you, but at the last minute turns towards you.
      You realise, if you start the engines, you might be able to get out of the way.
      You start the engines, but realise they are closing fast.
      It’s too late, there is going to be a collision. Bang.

      Surprisingly, the guy driving the boat isn’t an idiot. He didn’t want to kill himself or his crew. Why on earth would he ram a much larger and stronger ship? Think and research before posting.

    • Gavin MacQueen

      I agree with Brent. It had been mentioned by one of the crew members of the AG that it had appeared as if the SM2 was actually going to clear their stern, but at the last second the SM2 turned hard port, insuring the collision.

  • Brent

    Tim:

    The boat was not stopped it was under motor. it was off the starboard bow and it moved right in front of the whaler, there was no way the whaler could stop and I doubt anyone on the boat thought it was.

    What a load of bull. The boats engines were IDLING. Anyone that views the full video (not the selectively edited version released by the Japanese, the full video that was up on youtube, then removed, then reposted selectively edited) can clearly see its the whalers who purposefully rammed the boat. This is obvious even viewing the whalers own video! The whalers came out initially saying “the Ady Gil hit us” and now are backtracking claiming a “navigational error” caused them to turn into them (in light of all the evidence that is appearing). It’s obvious what happened. The boat clearly turns into and rams the Ady Gil.

    While fouling of a ships prop is going a bit too far, ramming of a smaller ship is an extreme overreaction. Fouling a prop puts the lives on board the boat at a small risk (boat cannot turn into waves, icebergs etc). But ramming a smaller boat… they could have easily killed people. I think this was the intention.

    • Gavin MacQueen

      Paul, It’s interesting how you don’t mention the fact that the SM2 changed course at the last second. If the AG had in fact accelerated forward, it was to get out of the way of the SM2. I think you need to take another look at the video.

      Also, it’s quite interesting that you don’t mention the fact that SM2 was originally on a course that would have allowed them to pass the AG at a safe distance.

      There was only one vessel that had made dramatic change in course, increasing the risk of a collision, and that vessel was the SM2. When you look at the footage taken from the SM2, you can clearly see the AG positioned stationary off to their starboard. The fact that the captain of the SM2 made a hard starboard turn when he did shows much negligence…the fact that he made that hard port at the last second implies that he may have been aiming.

  • colin

    Throwing apples onto a ship is one thing, cutting a small craft in two in the Southern Ocean has got to be regarded as a terrorist act, surely!

Sea Shepherd Ady Gil damaged after collision with Japanese Whaling vessel
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