Shepherds Intends to Ram, Disable Pirate Whalers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 9, 2006

Sea Shepherd Intends to Ram and Disable Pirate Whalers

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society believes it is time to escalate the confrontation with the Japanese whaling fleet and bring an end to the illegal and ruthless slaughter of defenceless whales in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary.

'What part of the word 'sanctuary' do the whalers not understand?' said Captain Paul Watson from onboard the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat. 'The whalers have assaulted whale defenders with water cannons and wooden poles. The whalers have rammed two Greenpeace ships and attempted to ram the Farley Mowat. With every attack the whalers plead innocence. The whalers are far from innocent. They are criminals involved in a criminal operation and they must be stopped.'

'I am tired of politicians being apologists for these criminals,' said Captain Watson. 'We sideswiped the whaling supply ship Oriental Bluebird yesterday and we intend to disable any pirate whaling vessel we find. We intend to uphold the laws protecting whales. This nonsense must be ended.'

At 0030 Hours GMT on Jan. 9, 2006, Captain Paul Watson ordered the Japanese-owned Panamanian ship Oriental Bluebird to leave the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. The Japanese supply ship was waiting to rendezvous with the Nisshin Maru to continue the off-loading of whale meat for transport back to Japan. When they refused, Sea Shepherd backed up the message by slamming the starboard hull of their conservation ship, Farley Mowat, against the starboard hull of the Oriental Bluebird.

Three times the Sea Shepherd crew has caught up with the whalers and each time the whalers have stopped whaling and have fled to avoid a confrontation with the Sea Shepherd crew. 'They are afraid of us and we want them to be afraid of us.' said Farley Mowat 1st Officer Alex Cornelissen. 'We want them to keep running. Once again we have stopped their whaling activities.'

Japan has threatened to send the airborne police to defend its whaling fleet. 'What do they intend to do?' asked Captain Watson. 'Take pictures or strafe us, parachute onto our decks and arrest us? I hate to quote George W. Bush but hey, 'bring 'em on.''

New Zealand is threatening to send Orion aircraft to observe the situation. Australia is being asked to intervene militarily. 'We've got quite a situation down here.' said Laura Dakin, 23, chief cook on the Farley Mowat and a resident of Canberra, Australia. 'Some politicians are expressing concern that things are getting seriously dangerous down here. The fact is that, for the whales, the situation is beyond dangerous – it's deadly.'

ENDS

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