Whale Wars: Returning To The Fray

Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin has quickly resupplied in Hobart, Tasmania and headed out to sea again. The return to Australian waters meant its "shadow", the Japanese spy ship Shonan Maru 2, had to end its pursuit when Steve Irwin re-entered the 200-mile economic zone (Japanese whaling ships are banned from Australian territorial waters and denied use of Australian ports).
When SI left Fremantle to begin this season's campaign, the Japanese hired an aircraft to relay its position to SM2. That they went to such expense to guard their fleet this season indicates Sea Shepherd's actions have had the whalers sobbing into their sushi. This time when leaving Hobart, bad weather helped them slip past the waiting Japanese unseen. SI will be deep into the Southern Ocean within the week, while Sea Shepherd's Ady Gil searches the Antarctica coast for the main body of the whaling fleet.
It's a shame that animosity exists between Greenpeace and one of its founding members, Capt.Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd. How much more successful this mission could've been, if the two organisations had joined forces. GP feels SS's actions are too confrontational, but perhaps GP could have taken more of a support role and left SS to go "head-on". This counter-productive rift between two organisations seemingly dedicated to the same end must be serious indeed if a compromise could not have been reached for the sake of the Antarctic whales.
PS: also see my post of 23 Dec.2009.