14 DAY TRIAL // Daryl Hannah, a renowned environmentalist, joined forces with hard-line environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, in an attempt to stop the Japanese whaling fleet from completing its cull of long-finned and minke whales in the Southern Ocean this year. Hannah criticized environmental organization Greenpeace for withdrawing from this year's chase and said that an alliance between the two groups could end Japan's little "scientific experiment."
"If Greenpeace would join forces with Sea Shepherd they would shutdown the whaling industry right away. If they were really serious and held their convictions they could accomplish this," she told Australian AP, in an interview. The actress has been a spoken friend of the environment for a long time, driving a biofuel-powered car and owning a house fueled by solar energy and built entirely out of green materials.
As a sign of her support to Sea Shepherd, she will travel for a period of time on the flagship of the organization, Steve Irwin. The group will chase Japanese whaling ships from the Southern Ocean, in its own style, which involves ramming opposing ships, sabotage and other types of direct actions. Representatives of the organization say they are defending the United Nations World Charter for Nature (1982), which states that the marine wildlife must be protected.
The label of "eco-terrorist" was attached to the group by the Japanese government, which suffers most because of the actions Sea Shepard organizes in the Southern hemisphere. Last year, Australia also had a patrol boat in the vicinity of the areas Japan's whaling ships roamed in search for the whales, keeping an eye out on how operations went on. Australian high officials harshly criticized Tokyo for not giving up its fake scientific experiment cover, and for continuing to hunt whales even if that's prohibited worldwide.
In response to Hannah's statement, Reece Turner, Greenpeace Whales campaigner, said that "We'd like her to know that (...) we think the best place to win this campaign in is Japan," referring to the fact that GP moved out of this year's chase in the oceans to focus its efforts on changing public perception on the matter in Japan, where whaling is considered to be a highly-valued tradition.