14 DAY TRIAL // Activist Pete Bethune, from New Zealand, boarded a Japanese whaling ship on Monday, to make a citizen's arrest on the captain. The reason for this action was that Bethune's powerboat, named Ady Gil, was sunken by a whaling ship last month, as it was carrying Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) activists to protest against the culling of the marine animals. The two ships collided with each other, and video evidence shows that the Japanese vessel basically cut the front side of the all-composite Ady Gil, Reuters reports.
The man approached the Shonan Maru 2 vessel in the wee hours of the morning, and managed to get past the anti-boarding nets and other measures that the Japanese had set in place. The announcement was made by the SSCS. “Captain Bethune boarded a Japanese whaling fleet security ship at high speed in total darkness, breached the spikes and anti-boarding nets and is presently onboard,” Captain Paul Watson, who is the leader of the Society, said.
If past incidents of this sort are any indication, then the activist will most likely be detained aboard the Japanese ship until an Australian patrol boat will pick him up. The same happened in 2008, when two other activists managed to board a Japanese whaler. Such clashes between activists and Japan's whaling fleet are not at all uncommon. In fact, they take place every year during the season. At the time, ships set out from the Asian nation to cull whales, under an alleged research program.
This is in fact just a shield used by the Japanese government, which hails whaling as a long-term cultural tradition, and simply doesn't want to give it up. Under a UN agreement, commercial whaling was prohibited in 1986, but some countries continue to practice it regardless. As such, activist groups including the SSCS are taking matters into their own hands, patrolling Antarctic waters, and chasing the Japanese fleet away every time they meet.
The SSCS flagship Steve Irwin is currently in the region, and it has been chasing the whaling fleet for the past few weeks. Over the past few years, Australia has increased its involvement in the region, but it fears damaging its relationships with Japan, so the two countries have decided not to let this disagreement harm ties between them.