Thank you Animal Planet! Finally a show about saving the Earth instead using it only for profit. Whale Wars is an antidote to the awful message of Deadliest Catch: "Take everything you can, care about nothing, to hell with the future."
Animal Planet will soon be known as one of the few, if not the only, channel to promote conservation instead of endless harvest. Thank you Animal Planet for investing in the future. I am sending notes of appreciation to your advertisers.
There are very strict quotas on how many crab can be taken in a season. That's why it's a race to get as much as you can as quickly as possible. Cause once the quotas are reached that's it nobody can take any more crab for the season.
These quotas are painstakingly developed after REAL researchers and conservationists survey the populations each season. Save us your pathetic taglines. You aren't supporting conservation...you are just against killing animals. There's nothing wrong with that but when it gets to the point where these idots are. When you are putting other peoples lives in danger to further your cause...you deserve to be put behind bars. And so should the people that decided to air the trash.
The research that went into creating that crab season obviously was done very well because what you call a race to get all one can is actually a very sustainable harvest. They never seem to be short on crab in the long run do they?
(Better sit down for this......and you too whalelover, cause it's gonna rock your naive world.)
By supporting the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Animal Planet and "Whale Wars" is finally doing a show about saving the Earth...right? How you gonna act when you learn that Paul Watson and his eco-army burns their trash - plastics, metal, cardboard, EVERYTHING in open containers on their ship while out "saving the whales?" How you gonna act when you learn about the massive carbon foot print of their non-eco friendly ships (which burn tons, and tons, and TONS of diesel fuel) make while out "saving the whales?" And how are you gonna act when you learn that it's not uncommon for raw fuel to be pumped overboard when the ship's tired plumbing gets stopped up?
When you send out your notes of appreciation don't forget to send one to the Sea Shepherds for helping to make the hole in the ozone layer bigger and for contaminating the ocean...where those saved whales live!
Oh yeah...send one to Animal Planet too because they chose to NOT to show any of the gripping footage of these things in their epic "saving the whales" series.
Originally posted by LineInTheSand: Pumping raw fuel overboard is....illegal.
It happens regularly on large vessels as the fuel leaks into the bilge and then the bilge is pumped out. Price of progress it would seem. And since the SS is not nearly as nicely maintained as a company vessel, I bet it leaks rather nicely. Dakar's Blog on Current Events
That proves since Whales eat up to 4 tons of fish & feedstock (combination of krill & fish) that their numbers should be reduced & managed worldwide to increase the feedstock available for other fish to populate the world’s oceans. Whales are predators of the seas and have few natural predators. That’s why it’s important to manage wild life and why scientific research is needed to ensure that no creature goes extinct in the world.
Originally posted by LineInTheSand: Pumping raw fuel overboard is....illegal.
So is using the ocean as a toxic chemical dump by throwing flammable corrosive Butyric acid into the ocean that will be absorbed into the fish and seas creatures and aquatic organism bodies. Butyric acid has a high toxicity to aquatic organisms. Butric acid is an Herbicide which is a chemical substance for killing plants.
butyric acid - Identification, toxicity, use, water pollution potential, ecological toxicity and regulatory information link;
How you gonna act when you learn that Paul Watson and his eco-army burns their trash - plastics, metal, cardboard, EVERYTHING in open containers on their ship while out "saving the whales?" How you gonna act when you learn about the massive carbon foot print of their non-eco friendly ships (which burn tons, and tons, and TONS of diesel fuel) make while out "saving the whales?" And how are you gonna act when you learn that it's not uncommon for raw fuel to be pumped overboard when the ship's tired plumbing gets stopped up?
A few notes from a lifelong mariner... While fule leaks are possible, a well maintained ship will have little or no fuel leakage to its bilges. All ships are required by international law to have operable oil/water seperators or oil treatment facilities to capture waste oil that does escape to the bilges. That waste oil is then pumped to facilities ashore. Only clean waste is legally pumped overboard. Todays marine diesel engines are among the most efficient and eco friendy of all propulsion systems available to the Naval Architect. Yes they do burn tons of fuel, but do so in a manner that is as clean as possible.
Note that there is no comment on how the crew of the Sea Shepard operate their ship. I can only hope that the engineering officers have more sense then the Capt.
Your experience is noted and your points serve as a foundation for all reader's understanding.
The Steve Irwin is far from a "well maintained" ship. From what I understand, the fire protection system is in many places inoperable and what's more, since every campaign crew is put together from newbie volunteers, no one knows how to use it let alone where it is.
All trash is indeed burned in open containers and the pollution from that is already well documented.
Eyewitnesses say the engine spaces are covered with exposed asbestos as are many other internal compartments. The ship's water tanks are horribly fouled so the water everyone drinks comes from bottled water brought on board.
The oil pumped overboard was not an intended action. Evidently, there was a plumbing issue and in the effort to clear the problem, fuel oil got pumped into the sea. It is understood that normally, "Only clean waste is legally pumped overboard," but this was not "clean waste" and it didn't come from a "normal" vessel.
Information on the engineering officer (singular) says he is indeed a man of great experience. It can be surmised that he has saved the Sea Shepherd's vegan bacon many, many times in the past.
As for the efficiency of the diesel engines - the ship was laid down in 1974 and served till 2003. From 2003 to 2005 she was laid up for scrapping, at which time she came into the hands of the Sea Shepherd.
From that information you would be a better man to presume how efficient and well maintained her diesels are.
These issues were offered as a contrast to the singular position that the Sea Shepherd is "world conscious" because they campaign to save the whales. On such high moral ground, one's position must be irreproachable, especially when the people on that "high ground" demand that the world follow THEIR orders and wishes. It is then a problem to come to know that while engaged in nobly saving the whales, Sea Shepherd is knowingly doing their part to destroy the environment through the burning of plastics oily/dirty rags, etc....and wasting tons of fuel searching for music video icebergs (instead of the Japanese Whaling Fleet) not to mention allowing fuel oil to enter the sea.
Perhaps one will find it strange that the Sea Shepherd/Paul Watson friendly legions have not reacted to these inescapable conclusions.....
