Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace

take on Norwegian whalers

Japan ignores sanctuary; Russia may follow

NORTH SEA, TOKYO---As a summer of intense whaling and anti-whaling activity off Norway closed, Japan announced on August 12 that it too would flout the International Whaling Commission by taking an "exception" to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, created in May. A similar announcement was expected from Russia.

While Norway for the second year unilaterally set a commercial whaling quota, breaking the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling in effect since 1986, Japan formally objected to the inclusion of minke whales as a protected species within the newly created sanctuary, which includes 80% of the known minke whale habitat: all waters south of the 40th parallel except for a dip around South America. The objection means Japan will proceed with plans for a so-called scientific hunt of 300 minke whales within the sanctuary, whose meat will be sold after cursory study. Japan also intends to kill 100 minke whales in the northern hemisphere for reasons of "science," who will be the first whales known to be killed in the north Pacific since Japan joined the IWC moratorium in 1988.

Though not at evident risk of extinction, unlike the larger whales, minkes were included within the sanctuary definitions to keep whaling ships out of the area altogether, as a safeguard against poaching, which has mainly occurred to serve the Japanese market.

According to an August 16 alert issued by the Washington D.C.-based Antarctica Project, the Russian government also "recently indicated it may file a formal objection to the agreement. Because Russia already holds an objection to the global moratorium on commercial whaling, an objection to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary would open up the possibility of a resumption of commercial whaling. This could include direct competition with Japanese poachers whose fishing near the disputed Kurile Islands drew gunfire on August 16 from a Russian patrol boat.

Falsified records

Continued the Antarctica Project warning, "Russia was one of 23 nations that voted for the sanctuary; Japan was the only nation opposed. Now it appears that the Russian government is succumbing to pressure both from Japan and its own fisheries and foreign ministries. Most of the pressure for this policy reversal has come from the former Soviet Fisheries Minister, Mr. V. Kamentsev, who was largely responsible in the past for the near extermination of endangered populations by Soviet whalers, and the forging of whale kill statistics given to the IWC. Mr. Kamentsev now heads the All-Russian Association of Fish Enterprises (Owners and Exporters), which wrote to Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomirdin urging him to reverse Russia's support for the sanctuary. The Russian foreign ministry, reportedly under strong pressure from the Japanese, also appealed to the government to reverse its position."

Earlier this year, Soviet officials disclosed that throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Soviet factory ships killed as many as 100 times as many whales as they reported, including protected right whales and blue whales. Much of the meat was sold to Japan--which now provides significant economic aid to Russia, and reportedly threatened to cancel funding for an urgently needed nuclear waste storage site if Russia backed the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Even without a Russian decision to resume whaling, the Japanese refusal to honor the sanctuary all but negated the argument of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Greenpace, and the World Wildlife Fund in public debate last spring that the sanctuary designation would stop Japanese whaling in the Antarctic, and would make any commercial whaling unprofitable. To get the sanctuary, IFAW, Greenpeace, and WWF urged other groups to join them in conceding passage of a Revised Management Plan supported by U.S. president Bill Clinton and vice president Albert Gore that could lead to resumed commercial whaling by 1996 even if Japan and Russia don't exploit the IWC "exceptions" clause.

Making plain that the U.S. government will not firmly oppose whaling, Clinton and Gore in effect told the world that commercial whaling could resume with impunity--as Norway demonstrated. Further weakening the U.S. stance, Clinton stated on October 3, 1993, that trade sanctions against Norway were in order because of the illegal resumption of commercial whaling; but with a politically potent $625 million missile sale to Norway pending--as ANIMAL PEOPLE reported in June and July/August--he said nothing this year.

No whale cops

Australia registered diplomatic protests against both Norway and Japan. Other leading nations were silent.

That left international law enforcement up to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Greenpeace, eager to re-establish an anti-whaling profile after an internal document stating that "Greenpeace, in principle, does not oppose whaling" got wide circulation during the RMP debate. Together, their high seas harassment of the Norwegian fleet throughout July most probably cost Norway far more than the economic value of the whale meat. The shaky Norwegian government of Gro Harlem Brundtland won political points at home for defending a national tradition, but made few friends abroad as Greenpeace aired videotape of a struggling harpooned whale, while the damaged Sea Shepherd flagship Whales Forever made a dramatic run to the Shetland Islands after a high-speed collision with the Norwegian coast guard vessel Andennes.

The month of confrontation began on a sour note when IFAW took out a full-page ad in the June 28 edition of The Washington Post to thank Gore for purportedly saving the whales by brokering the creation of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. This is the same Al Gore who last October 5 virtually assured Brundtland that the U.S. would find a way for Norway to continue whaling, according to a White House meeting transcript obtained and distributed by the Animal Welfare Institute in May--and the same Al Gore who was target of an anti-whaling protest led by Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund on the eve of the IWC meeting, to make sure their strategy of silence about the RMP to obtain the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary didn't backfire.

As the IFAW ad went to press, Norway announced the slaughter of the first 50 of 301 whales to be killed--189 for "science," 112 openly for meat.

Getting the heave

The toll rose to 70 before Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson, delayed by a June 6 explosion and fire while refueling, was even able to get the Whales Forever out of harbor at Ijmuiden, The Netherlands, on July 1. Norway nonetheless focused surveillance on Watson, while five Greenpeace demonstrators used rubber dinghies to sneak aboard the Senet--a symbol of Norwegian determination to whale, having been scuttled at dockside by Sea Shepherd members on January 24, but refloated a few days later.

"Five people climbed on board and sat down close to the harpoon," Greenpeace spokesperson Geir Wang-Andersen recounted. "After a short while, the crew came out and threw one of our members into the sea." The other four jumped into the sea voluntarily, Wang-Andersen added, and made their getaway as a Norwegian patrol boat tried unsuccessfully to ram one of the dinghies.

The ramming

By July 4, the 187-footWhales Forever and the mini-submarine it carries, The Mirage, were halfway to the Lofoten Islands, scene of the whaling, with a crew of 20 plus 13 reporters. The Norwegians, after laughing off the first Greenpeace action, were getting nervous. They knew the capabilities of both Sea Shepherd vessels: both were acquired from Norway through a bogus corporation Watson set up in Belize. "They even painted the submarine yellow for us," Watson laughed. "It was designed for harbor penetration," he added, with a range of about 100 miles, the ability to dive to 1,000 feet, and able to remain submerged with a two-member crew for up to three days. Norway responded by declaring the whaling ships to be in Norwegian territory, giving its coast guard authority to intercept any vessels that might interfere with whaling. If the Whales Forever could be stopped, Norway could arrest both Watson and colleague Lisa DiStefano as fugitives, both having been convicted in absentia and sentenced to four months in jail--long enough to keep them iced through the whaling season--for their roles in scuttling the whaler Nybraena in December 1992.

At about 8:00 a.m. Norwegian time on July 6, the Whales Forever purportedly entered Norwegian waters near Vestfjorden while en route to pick up and debate spokesperson George Blichtfield of the pro-whaling High North Alliance. Blichtfield was to be delivered to the Whales Forever along with a reporter from the Australian edition of the television program 60 Minutes. The Andennes moved to intercept.

Four times the Andennes cut in front of the Whales Forever, dumping hawsers (thick ropes) into the sea in an attempt to foul the Sea Shepherd propellers. Four times Watson cut his main props, using his gill-jet bow-thruster to turn sharply to starboard. "Captain Watson is very much aware that a move to starboard is contrary to the rules of the road," Watson wrote in his log afterward, referring to himself in the third person. "However, Captain Watson believed the immediate threat to the security of his ship from an aggressive attack negated adherance." The faster Andennes, under full power, three times avoided contact--and then the fourth time varied the maneuver, swinging hard to port.

Continued Watson's log, "The Norwegian vessel is moving at over 20 knots. The Whales Forever is moving at .4 knots sideways with the bowthruster...The Andennes strikes the Whales Forever at full speed, ripping away the bow and crushing our petrol compartment. Deckhand Frederik Shelver was standing on the bow and managed to jump clear. Lisa DiStefano and Marc Gaede," whose photos appear on this page, "were on the deck in front of the wheelhouse. Forty litres of gasoline ruptured and spilled on the deck. Fortunately the intense heat of the impact did not ignite the gasoline. Our bow net cutter severed the hawser. Captain Watson immediately ordered a fire team to the bow to wash away the gasoline. Another damage control team began work to free the props from the hawser," which the Whales Forever this time struck.

Andennes captain Lars-Petter Berg-Hansen claimed the Whales Forever rammed his ship--but Gaede's photographs, photos by others who were aboard, and film taken from the bridge of the Whales Forever by Australian Broadcasting Corporation cameraman Derek McCurdy all confirm that the Andennes did the ramming, hitting the Whales Forever near the point of the bow.

"Initially," German media reported, "the Whales Forever appeared to be disabled and sitting dead in the water, but subsequently she was seen heading undaunted on her original course toward international waters and the Shetland Islands."

The Andennes stood off for an hour, apparently expecting a surrender, while the Whales Forever disentangled itself. According to an emergency Sea Shepherd bulletin, "Crew of the Andennes announced over the radio to Captain Watson that they would employ, 'whatever force is necessary' to stop the Sea Shepherd vessel. Captain Watson asked if that included killing environmentalists in international waters, and the Andennes commander Lars Saunes responded, 'Norway is willing to use whatever means we need to take your ship under arrest.'"

Shots, mines

At 1:25 p.m. the Andennes fired a warning shot, which landed about 60 feet to the starboard of the Whales Forever. "One cold grenade was fired a safe distance from the ship," said Berg-Hansen. The Whales Forever ignored it. Again according to Watson's log, "The Andennes radios that they will fire upon the ship. The Norwegian commander orders Captain Watson to order his crew to the stern so that he can fire a shell into the bow. Captain Watson relays the message to the crew. The crew voluntarily move to the bow, waist, and stern to take a stand against the Norwegian gun...the second shot passes over the wheelhouse and lands 30 meters to the port side midship...The Norwegian commander orders Captain Watson to evacuate his engine room so that he can fire a shot into the engine compartment. Captain Watson refuses."

Apparently intending to board the Whales Forever at first opportunity, the Andennes maintained pursuit. Sea Shepherd meanwhile tried to ask the U.S. government to request that Norway cease the attack.

"When a Sea Shepherd office volunteer called the American Embassy in Norway and stated who she was and what organization she was calling for, the line was disconnected," Sea Shepherd staffer Carla Robinson said. "When she called again, the woman who answered--with a thick accent--said 'well why don't you go home?', put us on hold for a long time, and then the line was again disconnected. On her third call, the volunteer asked, 'I have the American Embassy, don't I? And you are supposed to help Americans, right?' The woman said, 'Yes. Well, what do you want us to do? According to the Norwegian authorities, you are in Norwegian waters, so leave our waters.' The volunteer asked if it mattered what waters an American citizen in distress is in, and again was disconnected."

The volunteer was Nancy DiStefano, mother of Lisa DiStefano, who was talking to Lisa via ship-to-shore telephone when the shots were fired, and admited that she'd gotten the scare of her life.

Eventually Sea Shepherd did reach the U.S. State Department--which told Nancy DiStefano that the U.S. supported Norway and that the Whales Forever was in Norwegian waters. Upon receipt of that message, at 2:54 p.m., Watson ordered a flare fired to establish the ship's actual position. The flare was photographed by an Icelandic weather satelite. The action was pro forma; challenging the Norwegian claims would have put the U.S. on thin ice, since the U.S. has likewise stretched maritime law to intercept suspected drug smugglers and Haitian refugees in international waters.

At 4:30 p.m., continued Watson's log, "A small inflatable boat is dispatched from the Andennes with three crew members. The small boat approached the Whales Forever and proceeded to drop four depth charges in front of the bow. On the first pass, the crew fumbled a depth charge and dropped it into their own boat. If the depth charge had exploded in the boat and injured or killed the Norwegians, the blame would most certainly have fallen on us and the Andennes might have sunk us. The depth charges were felt by all crew on board the Whales Forever." Built as a seismic research vessel, the double-hulled Whales Forever withstood all four blasts, but took on water.

The Whales Forever limped to the Shetland port of Lerwick for repairs, as the Andennes fell back. Out of action but points made, Watson spent the next month giving interviews--variously promising to either disrupt the annual pilot whale slaughter in the Faroe Islands, or to again confront dragnetters off eastern Canada as he did last year.

One whale saved

Greenpeace was still in the North Sea. On July 10, the Greenpeace ship Sirius sent crew members in two rubber dinghies to again harass the Senet--their third such mission in nine days. This time, however, the Senet harpooned a minke whale as the Greenpeace video cameras were rolling. The whale was hit in the dorsal fin, far from any vital organs, said Greenpeace campaigner Stefan Flothmann, and seemed to have a good chance of surviving. The Greenpeacers cut the harpoon wire. The wounded whale dived and vanished.

Late that evening the Norwegian coast guard boarded the Sirius, arrested nine crew members, and towed the vessel to the port of Egersund. Crew member Paul Horsman said the Sirius surrendered because, "The situation was becoming very dangerous. The coast guard's behavior was violent and aggressive." Horsman, fellow British citizen Paul McGee, and Dutch captain Ron van der Horst were charged with depriving the Senet of a whale whose estimated cash value was 150,000 crowns ($22,189). The Senet reportedly also filed a civil suit against Greenpeace.

"The wire was cut in international waters," responded Flothmann. "They would first have to prove that the whale was being legally hunted before they could claim that the whale belonged to the Senet."

The Greenpeace members were released on July 12, but one dinghy was held as evidence. Norwegian whaling tycoon Steinar Bastesen was irate that Greenpeace faced no more serious retaliation. "The only penalty I know for piracy is death," he asserted, suggesting the Greenpeacers should be made to walk the plank.

The Senet finally killed its first whale of the year that evening. Three Norwegian coast guard vessels stood guard as a Greenpeace helicopter hovered overhead, shooting video. At dawn on the 13th, a second Greenpeace ship, the Solo, closed in on the Senet, dispatching five crew members in two inflatable dinghies. All five were soon arrested, but by then the Sirius was back.

Greenpeace actions continued. Fourteen protesters were fined on July 20 for blockading government offices in Oslo, and the Solo was forced into port at Egersund to face charges on July 23.

At least one influential Norwegian maritime family denounced the whaling--the Klosters, owners of Kloster Cruise Limited, whose three divisions include the Norwegian Cruise Line, the Royal Viking Line, and the Royal Cruise Line. "In no way do we support commercial whaling," chairman and chief executive officer Knut Kloster Jr. stated. "Kloster Cruise Limited is committed to preserving the integrity of the marine world."

But Clinton and Gore still said nothing.

Five months after the California cities of Cupertino, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and Monte Sereno contracted with a Campbell animal hospital for pound service, instead of the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley, about one resident in five who finds a stray still takes it to the wrong place. The errors may erode the savings the cities hoped to gain by the switch.

The Harbor Animal Shelter in San Pedro, California, estimates that 75% of the animals it has received this year--three or four a day--were left by Navy families being transferred due to the closure of the Long Beach Naval Air Station. A parallel situation has developed at the Wuensdorf barracks in Germany, closed in August. Russian troops going home left circa 150 cats behind, now fed by volunteer Wilhelm Schrader, whose funding comes mainly out of his own pocket.

Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey executive director Lee Bernstein made national headlines on August 2 after citing Frank Balun, 69, of Hillside for cruelty when Balun bludgeoned a rat he'd trapped in his garden, then called Associated Humane to take the rat away. Union County prosecutor Andrew Ruotolo Jr. asked that the charges be dropped, but Balun demanded the chance to fight them in court, arguing that rodents should be exempted from the cruelty laws. Demonstrating why they should not be, unknown persons littered Bernstein's lawn the next week with rodent remains and a crucified baby opossum.

Nominations for the Collective Humane Action and Information Network Golden Link Award, honoring an outstanding humane officer or animal control officer, are due Sept. 9. Get details from Cindy Machado, 415-883-4621.

Dog bite records kept by Palm Beach County, Florida, throughout 1993 show that Dalmatians caused 24.3% of the bites rated "severe," while Rottweilers caused 21.4%. More than 40% of the bites by both Dalmatians and cocker spaniels were to children under age 10. "Nearly a quarter of Dalmatian bites required professional medical attention," according to the Florida Animal Control Association. Overall frequency of bites by breed showed German shepherds first at 224, consistent with the findings of other studies and with the popularity of German shepherds, who make up about 16% of the U.S. canine population. Labrador retrievers, the most popular breed, were third with 164 bites. However, chows--a rare breed--were second, at 166, while pit bulls (148) and Rottweilers (144) rounded out the top five. Chows, pit bulls, and Rottweilers together don't make up 5% of the canine population.

Of 241 dog bites investigated by police and health officials in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1993, 130 involved pit bull terriers, according to chief animal control officer Ralph Corson. Feral pit bulls abandoned by gang members--often after being trained to attack--are becoming an inner city menace, Corson says.

The Humane Society of Greater Akron on July 15 "graduated" the first 12 human participants in a pioneering program called Humans and Animals Learning Together. The 12 adolescents were matched with six shelter dogs and taught to teach the dogs basic obedience.

Victoria Wellens, formerly executive director of the Christophe Memorial YMCA in Waukesha, Wisconsin, is new executive director of the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Humane Society. Wisconsin Humane, seeking to reverse a falling adoption rate, is trying to raise $6 million to build a new shelter.

The Fulton County Humane Society, in Swanton, Ohio, has closed its cat shelter, opened in 1988, due to low funds and lack of volunteers. The society continues to offer discount neutering, do humane education, and invesigate cruelty.

The Morgan County Humane Society in Priceville, Alabama, found itself with 600 rabbits in July when a trucker taking them to slaughter abandoned them in a trailer with a flat tire. Thirty rabbits died of heat exhaustion in the trailer--which firefighters hosed down to save the rest--before a judge allowed the rabbits to be confiscated.

At least eight infants died after being left in hot cars during July, along with countless animals. But a good-news hot car story came from the Lackawanna Humane Society in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which on July 7 saved nine puppies who had spent three hours in a car trunk

Euthanasias at the San Francisco city shelter were down 35% (to 1,038) during the first three months of an agreement whereby the San Francisco SPCA accepts and places any adoptable or rehabilitatable animals that the city can't place. Get details from the SFSPCA, 2500 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103-6589.

Ralston Purina is ending its "Pets for People" program on September 30, which pays participating shelters $100 per pet placed with a senior, and replacing it on October 1 with a subsidy of $10 to be paid to any shelter that accepts Ralston Purina coupons good for $10 off the adoption price of any animal by any person.

The Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, celebrated 25 years of sheltering in July. Founded in 1965, HAWS outgrew three expansions by1990. Two founding members, Kathleen Merkel and Mike Schallock, are still on the board.

Humane legislation

New York governor Mario Cuomo on July 21 vetoed a bill that would have enabled judges to order a person convicted of cruelty to surrender custody of the animal(s) in question, and to forbid such persons from owning animals for a specified period. Pets could then be adopted out or euthanized; farm animals could be sold, with reimbursement to the farmers after covering fines and holding costs. Drafted several years ago by then-American SPCA attorney Eleanor Molbegott, the bill was pushed by both the ASPCA and the New York State Humane Association, but was opposed by Molbegott after amendments because it included "an overly broad definition of farm animals" in her view, which could have covered dogs and cats raised for profit as well as livestock. Further, said Molbegott, "I don't think the perpetrators of cruelty should be compensated." Long Island activist Barbara Schultz also fought the bill, arguing that it could have allowed shelters to sell animals to laboratories-- which would violate other state laws. Cuomo urged that the bill be rewritten and reintroduced next year. Cuomo also vetoed a bill that would have set up a state pet population control fund, providing subsidy of $30 toward neutering pets of the indigent and animals adopted from shelters. Since most major shelters in New York already neuter adopted animals for $30 or less, Molbegott said, "it may have only subsidized what's already being done."

Copies of Michigan's new felony anti-cruelty law, adopted in May, are available from 1-810-852-7420.

The Peninsula Humane Society, in San Mateo, California, says the anti-breeding ordinance covering unincorporated areas that the county passed in 1992 is so effective it should be extended to incorporated cities. The largest city, San Mateo itself, could save $80,000 a year in animal control costs with an anti-breeding ordinance, Peninsula Humane says. The numbers are challenged by the National Pet Alliance, founded to fight the original San Mateo County breeding ban proposed in 1990, which last year sponsored a landmark survey of pet ownership in the nearby Santa Clara Valley. NPA figures indicate that euthanasias of stray animals from unincorporated areas are up; only shelter surrenders are down.

A Connecticut neutering subsidy program scheduled to start on July 1 was indefinitely delayed because it had raised just $260,000 of the $400,000 in requisite funding. The program will increase the cost of adopting shelter animals to $50, from the present $5, $35 of which will be refunded to people who present proof of neutering. The higher adoption fee isn't popular with shelter wardens, some of whom argue it will hurt adoptions.

British Columbia agriculture minister Dave Zirnhelt has introduced a bill, expected to pass this fall, to empower SPCAs to inspect all facilities where animals are offered for sale, hire, or show.

Missouri's Animal Care Facilities Act, passed in 1992 to clean up puppy mills, takes effect on September 11, after two years of work on enforcement regulations. "The law covers all breeders who have more than four intact females, pet stores, kennels, city pounds, and private humane societies," explains Laura Barnekow Swain of the Alliance for the Welfare of Animals. "Unless these facilities are already licensed by the USDA, they must be inspected and licensed by the state. Holding periods for strays will be five business days, not including the day they arrive, and must include a Saturday. Records of all animals must be accurately kept and will be inspected at least one a year.." Even before the regulations were completed, Swain says, some puppy millers in the Springfield area were getting out of the business.

Los Angeles has exempted potbellied pigs from regulations that bar keeping livestock within city limits.

Top: the Andennes (right) and the Whales Forever, an instant before impact. Note how the wake of the Andennes runs almost parallel to the ship, indicating the high rate of speed.

Middle: moments after impact, the Andennes scrapes by the Whales Forever, which--

previously moving to starboard under limited power--has been knocked to port by the impact. The gash in the hull clearly shows where the prow of the Andennes struck the Whales Forever. Bottom: the Andennes moves away. The Whales Forever has now been pushed so far to port as to be parallel to the Andennes. (Photos by Marc Gaede, courtesy of Sea Shepherd.)