Sea Shepherds Paul Watson to Go to Trial in Japan

Friday, August 02, 2024

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson could face up to 15 years' prison in Japan if convicted

Posted by Corky at 11:31 PM | 22 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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"According to the Japan Coast Guard, Watson, who is also a co-founder of Greenpeace, is facing charges including accomplice to assault and ship trespass, after he was arrested on an international warrant in Greenland.

The charges stem from the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's alleged boarding of the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru 2 in the Southern Ocean in February 2010."

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#1 | Posted by Corky at 2024-08-02 05:28 AM | Reply

Environmental terrorism is still terrorism.

#2 | Posted by qcp at 2024-08-02 09:18 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

---------.

This was protecting endangered life against pirates operating against the laws.

#3 | Posted by Corky at 2024-08-02 12:35 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

Re 2.

I did not see it called "terrorism" anywhere in the article or in any of the charges.

#4 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-08-02 12:47 PM | Reply

"This was protecting endangered life against pirates operating against the laws."

Um, Paul Watson is the pirate in this case.

#5 | Posted by madbomber at 2024-08-03 07:10 AM | Reply

Uh, no, the Japanese ship was pirating whales for profit illegally in international waters; their license was for 'research'.

#6 | Posted by Corky at 2024-08-03 07:17 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

When I head to Norway in the next few months I'll likely have an opportunity to try whale meat.

Has anyone tasted whale before, is it like tuna or grouper?

#7 | Posted by GOnoles92 at 2024-08-03 07:33 AM | Reply

What a travesty.

#8 | Posted by LauraMohr at 2024-08-03 08:21 AM | Reply

He's in custody in Denmark until Aug 15, but there's no extradition treaty between Denmark and Japan, and no surety they'll send him up.

By the way, the 'crime' he is supposedly an accessory to from 2010; the person convicted of that crime in Japan was sentenced to probation for the much more serious charge, and released.

I was a big supporter of the Sea Shepherds, then and now.

#9 | Posted by Corky at 2024-08-03 08:57 AM | Reply

Has anyone tasted whale before, is it like tuna or grouper?

#7 | Posted by GOnoles92

More like bald eagle :-)

#10 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-08-03 11:27 AM | Reply

Sometimes I am of the absolute belief that mankind is a blight on this planet.

#11 | Posted by igashosparks at 2024-08-03 02:04 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

"When I head to Norway in the next few months I'll likely have an opportunity to try whale meat.

Has anyone tasted whale before, is it like tuna or grouper?

#7 | POSTED BY GONOLES92"

What are you like some goober moron? Whale meat in Japan mainly feeds dogs and cats. It is pretty nasty from what a Japanese professor told me when he tried it while in Japan doing research. There is no logical reason to kill whales. It is just Japanese corporate barbarianism pushing the abject stupidity off as either "culture" or "science research". And by the way, I use to live in Norway and was married to a Norwegian and the vast majority of Norwegians are embarrassed and disgusted by those whalers that still murder these intelligent animals. When you do try it, I hope you have a hard time swallowing.

#12 | Posted by Wildman62 at 2024-08-03 05:30 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Has anyone tasted whale before, is it like tuna or grouper?

#7 | Posted by GOnoles92

Find yourself a cuddly Norwegian bikini model instead ...

#13 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-08-03 05:46 PM | Reply

Norwegian bikini model

I Googled that. It's not bad advice.

#14 | Posted by REDIAL at 2024-08-03 05:48 PM | Reply | Funny: 2

12 | POSTED BY WILDMAN62

Appreciate the experienced opinion, perhaps I won't seek it out lol. I was surprised to read it was still legal to hunt/harvest minke whales in Norway at all!

#15 | Posted by GOnoles92 at 2024-08-03 06:04 PM | Reply

More like bald eagle :-) #10 | POSTED BY AMERICANUNITY

They're an Endangered Species Act success story! I bet they're gamey.

Back in FL I'd occasionally wonder what a pelican would taste like, probably a nasty fishy tasting bird haha.

#16 | Posted by GOnoles92 at 2024-08-03 06:09 PM | Reply

It's traditionally served fresh or smoked, and many Norwegians use the same word to describe it - "tran". There's no direct translation into English, but the closest you can get is "that cod liver oil taste". Combine that with a beef-like consistency, and an incredibly salty hit, and you've got whale.

This doesn't sound good at all LOL

#17 | Posted by GOnoles92 at 2024-08-03 06:11 PM | Reply

#16 | Posted by GOnoles92

I was riffing off of a joke about a guy who gets pulled over with a back seat full of dead trumpeter swans, an endangered species.

The guy pleads for leniency, lying that he has 5 hungry kids at home, so the cop lets him off.

Before he walks away, the cop asks the guy what they taste like ...

"Sort of like bald eagle."

#18 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-08-04 02:44 AM | Reply | Funny: 1

Japan is an interesting country.

They seem to have a different opinion of the ocean and its creatures than the US does.

Can you say, sushi?

I knew you could.

So, I guess what I am asking is, (all the angst aside), how does the US-based view apply to Japan?

#19 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-08-04 02:59 AM | Reply

Hi LAMPLIGHTER
During the post-war Occupation, US Army Japan had a saying: "There's the right way to do something, there's the wrong way to do it, then there's the Japanese way."

Resource-poor agricultural-based Japan relied heavily on their nearby waters for food, oils, whale bones etc. In contrast, look at the British Empire which supplied the UK with vast resources for centuries from Australia, South Africa, NZ, and Canada. Pre-Meiji Japan was not a naval power; the British Empire was ocean-spanning, and for the US before 1898, the ATL and PAC oceans were a natural defense against war.

#20 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2024-08-04 03:47 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Has anyone tasted whale before, is it like tuna or grouper?

#7 | Posted by GOnoles92

Not sure what whale tastes like (probably tastes like chicken) but whale poop tastes like Chanel #5.

#21 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-08-04 11:03 AM | Reply

So, I guess what I am asking is, (all the angst aside), how does the US-based view apply to Japan?

#19 | POSTED BY LAMPLIGHTER

It's not just America it's anyone who has signed onto the IWC

Japan originally agreed to IWC rules but then withdrew from the IWC. For reasons. (They really like eating whales)

#22 | Posted by donnerboy at 2024-08-04 11:10 AM | Reply