KAMIKAZE WINDS SAVAGE JAPANESE WHALING FLEET
It appears that the spirit of the Divine Wind has turned on the Japanese fleet. With only eight days left in the whaling season, the Sea Shepherd tracking device on the Yushin Maru puts the Japanese fleet right smack in the middle of a savage storm off Porpoise Bay on the coast of Antarctica.
“What we could not finish because of lack of fuel is being taken care of by mother nature. There is no way that the whalers are going to kill whales in the seas and winds that the fleet is in at the present time” said Steve Irwin 1st Officer Peter Brown.
The Yushin Maru No. 2 is at 65 degrees South and 130 Degrees East and that area is experiencing a full out raging storm.
“The winds (kaze) of the Gods (Kami) has ended any hope of the whalers getting even half their kill quota.” Said Captain Paul Watson. “I love storms. I love to ride them out and I love the humbling power of the sea, but most of all I love it when storms scatter the ambitions of poachers like this storm is doing now. The whaling season is for all intents and purposes - finished.”
The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin will be arriving in Melbourne on Saturday, March 15th. Preparations will begin immediately to organize a return to the Southern Oceans in December 2008 to once again pursue and intervene against the continuing illegal operations of the Japanese whaling fleet.
As the Steve Irwin moves northward in the relatively calm waters a few hundred miles south of Tasmania, the crew will drink a toast to the Divine Winds with appreciation for the whales the Kamikaze will save this week.
“I think it’s appropriate,” said Captain Watson. “The Kamikaze came to the rescue of the Samurai to save them from the Mongol hordes under Kublai Khan. To the whales, Sea Shepherd are modern day Samurai. Samurai means to serve and we serve the whales.
Our duty is clear and the average Japanese citizen will understand our resolve even if they disagree with our objectives.”
Captain Paul Watson