Australians Geared Up For Years to Fight Japanese Whaling; Sunken Vessel Just Ticked Them Off to Do It

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The Australian Government collects photos for a potential court case.

When the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru 2 mowed down Sea Shepherd's Ady Gil they ticked off an already anti-whaling Australia. The incident seems to have pushed Australia to threaten Japan with legal action this week, but Australia has been grinding its teeth and preparing for battle for years after watching Japan flout international whaling rules off its shores. The outcome will turn on Australia's claim over its nearby waters and which international body has jurisdiction.

This week prime minister Kevin Rudd gave Japan a November deadline to cut its whaling quota to nothing. New Zealand may join the fight, too, it announced Feb. 22. Australia is holding some undoubtedly awkward talks with Japanese diplomats this weekend. Some Australians fear a court case could solidify a lack of Australian control over nearby waters.

Australians says they can head to the International Court of Justice at The Hague or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Germany to get an injunction against whaling. Japan, meanwhile, plays down the fight as "unfortunate" and threatens to appeal to the International Commission on Whaling. They banned whaling in 1986 but let Japan continue under the fig leaf of "research," even in an area Australia considers a whale sanctuary.

The first signs Australia had reached its limit were just after the Sea Shepherd's skirmishes when Bob Brown, head of the Green Party, started pushing for international court action. He called Rudd's government slumbering and wanted to haul the whalers to Australian court and give them a $3 million bill for the sunken batmobile-like craft. "Mr. Okada does not want to be confronted by the ugly reality of Japanese whaling which is opposed by 94% of Australians," Senator Brown said. "He is squibbing on whaling." (Meanwhile, Japan is holding a protester who boarded a whaling ship to present them with a bill.)

But Australia has been gearing up for this fight for years. Donald R Rothwell, a professor at Australia National University, who specializes in maritime law, did a report laying out the government's legal options. According to an Australian 7:30 news report, the four main areas of law Japan could be sued for breaking are pollution standards for the southern Ocean; safety standards; failure to tell Australia and New Zealand rescue authorities where they are in case of emergency; and refueling without an environmental impact assessment.

A couple years ago Australia sent out boats to get photographs for a potential international court case. Legitimate scientists have surveyed the area, demonstrating how real research doesn't demand slaughter. The whole world knows these research trips are really whaling ventures. More than New Zealand should be joining in; the United States should, too.

Moko, the Lonely New Zealand Dolphin Who Loved Too Much

Photo of Moko earlier this year courtesy of Chris & Lara Pawluk
Moko, a bottlenose dolphin who lives off Mahia Beach, New Zealand, is famous for being friendly to people in the water. But Sunday, she nearly loved a visitor to death. "We were playing around for a while but then when I wanted to go back in, he just wanted to keep playing. I became exhausted and started to panic," the woman told the BBC. When she screamed, a local bar owner came out in a dinghy to rescue her.

Moko is what's known as a "lone dolphin," a rare but well-documented kind of dolphin that seems to want to hang out with people. Since it's winter in New Zealand now, speculation is that she just got lonely because there aren't as many people in the water.

The standard criticism of people swimming with wild dolphins is that dolphins get annoyed or injured. But, even Project Jonah chief executive Kimberly Muncaster, who has warned people to keep their distance from the chummy 3-year-old dolphin, acknowledged that Moko actively seeks out people's attention. "Moko has undoubtedly captured the hearts of Kiwis, but she is in danger of getting hurt if she isn't treated with respect, and those seeking to get close to her are also putting themselves at risk," Muncaster warned last year.

The woman, who was too embarrassed to give her name, says Moko wasn't trying to hurt her. "I've spent quite a bit of time swimming with Moko and I'm a strong swimmer so I wasn't worried at first," she said.

Moko has been hanging around Mahia Beach for about a year and half, dragging in tourists--whiles sometimes dragging buoys out to sea for sport. "She follows boats in and out of the bay and plays havoc with my cray pots. She bunts the buoys and drags the pots together, tangling them," says Mahia local Bill Shortt. Moko also gives people presents of fish. She gained worldwide fame for saving two pygmy sperm whales.

Marine Biologist Ingrid Visser says Moko has scars from a boat propeller and fish hook and that has been the demise of many other "lone dolphins." “In some areas of the world these ‘lone’ dolphins have inhabited the area for many years," he told the Gisborne Herald. "However, it is sad to note that of the nearly 30 individual ‘lone’ dolphins which have been well documented from around the world, at least 14 have been injured or even killed as a result of interacting closely with humans."

Seems like Moko would stand a better chance against boats and fishing lines in the harbor she knows so well. I hope this incident gets more people to spend some time with her so she doesn't get lonely. It seems like a wonderful animal tourism opportunity: come see Moko, the friendly dolphin, in the low season, when she really, really wants your company.

Want to see a dolphin yourself? Here's a map I'm putting together of some (mostly US) places?
Got a suggestion for another one? Send it here.