Why Pete Bethune's Not Laughing

What hope do the critically endangered Hector's dolphins have, when illegal fishing occurs in their supposed protected sanctuaries at night?
Pete Bethune and Earthrace NZ recently received info about vessels fishing in a manner very likely to lead to already critically endangered Hector’s dolphins (endemic to the South Island) being killed in fishing nets in the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary. So they undertook covert surveillance by plane, motor boat and kayak, by day and night from 3-13 Jan.2013. They saw and noted numerous vessels fishing, not only in areas like to put the dolphins at grave risk, but also well inside sanctuary boundaries.
The local Hector's population ranges from close inshore including within harbours, to 20 nautical miles (nm) offshore. They are found regularly in waters up to 100m in depth. By comparison, the Sanctuary (which includes both Lyttleton and Akaroa Harbours) only extends out to 12nm, whilst Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) regulations for fisheries currently allows gillnetting to within 4nm of the coast, and to within 2nm for trawlers, taking no account of the depth factor.
Current estimates are that only around 1,000 Hector's remain in this area - between 7-10% of the total population remaining.
Bethune: "Although not in as dire straits as North Island's endemic Maui's dolphin population (a sub-species of Hector's with only an estimated 50 remaining), this population of Hector's is rapidly heading in the same direction towards extinction, due to unsustainable by-catch in fishing nets and a lack of any effective response by the NZ Govt. Our surveillance clearly proves the sanctuary needs to be extended much further offshore, to take into account the depth as well as the distance that Hector's travel, and only fishing methods that don't kill dolphins should be used inside it."
Earthrace has demanded the Dept of Conservation (DOC) and MPI implement a new Hector's and Maui's Threat Management Plan to include:-
+Exclusion areas for gill netters and trawlers immediately introduced in all areas where these species exist in waters up to 100m deep, and up to 20nm from coastline.
+The number of inspectors and fisheries inspections within all marine mammal sanctuaries in NZ, where both species of critically endangered dolphin exist, must be increased.
+Fisheries inspections must also be carried out at night.
It is rarely if ever that observers are placed on board fishing vessels at night, despite previous evidence showing it is highly likely trawling at night does catch dolphins.
Scientists from NIWA and Otago University estimate gillnets kill 23 Hector's dolphins each year off the east coast of the South Island, with a similar number caught in trawl nets.
Earthrace Conservation has passed the surveillance info and names of vessels to MPI, asking them to seize their GPS tracking data, to verify observations of the gill-net vessel and the trawlers fishing illegally within the 4nm exclusion zone with a view to prosecution.
But will anything happen? For the sake of these tiny rare dolphins, something MUST and SOON!
These marine sanctuaries are a joke...but no-one's laughing.

The Hobbit: Sooo Preccccioussssss!

Nyah-nyah, nasssty movie criticsssess!
Those same orcs who bitched that Sir PJ was just milking The Hobbit for all it was worth by turning it into a trilogy, who said it wouldn't fly, who didn't throw any awards at it...bite me!
As of last weekend, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has made more money worldwide than either Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring or Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in their entire time in theatres.
The international box office total for The Hobbit is currently $940 million, continuing the upwards trend of Jackson’s Middle-earth movies (Fellowship made $870m and Towers $923m).
The only Tolkien movie to make more money worldwide than The Hobbit is 2005's Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which grossed

We hates thems movie criticsss!

$1.1billion.
Only in the US are things are a little different. Currently, The Hobbit is lagging behind all three of PJ's earlier Tolkien movies, at a mere sniffling trivial 294m... although it's still in the middle of its run, and has only been out for seven weeks versus the 243, 250 and 170 days that Fellowship, Towers and Return enjoyed, respectively. At its current rate, it's highly likely The Hobbit will eclipse Fellowship at least before leaving theatres, if not also Towers. Return of the King, however, can relax on its throne made of the $377m it scored from US audiences.
So, lessons learnt? Maybe chalk it up to the power of a recognisable brand...or note that each successive Rings movie was more financially successful than the one before...or that critics don't always know what they're Tolkien about...or that Sir PJ is pure preccccioussssss!
Some things may simply be critic-proof, which is a relief given there're two more Hobbitssss waiting in the wings for this and next year. If the box office returns hold up, maybe talk of a final trilogy based on material in The Silmarillion won't seem so crazy after all!

Is It 'Game On' - Or 'Game Over'?!!!

At midnight last Tuesday, Sea Shepherd's ship Bob Barker found the Japanese whalers' factory ship Nisshin Maru and began pursuit.The nasty Nippons' security ship Shonan Maru II responded, and is following BB at a distance of 2 miles.
The day before, SS's Brigitte Bardot found the harpoon vessel Yushin Maru III. It headed off on a line designed to throw Bardot off the track of NM. However, Bardot decided to pursue YM3, forcing it to put as much distance between it and the mother ship as possible. Result? YM3 has now been pushed 400 miles from NM!
The Japanese whaling fleet has not yet killed a single whale. All four SS ships are guarding the approaches to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and interception was made before the fleet could enter the killing area.
Co-Campaign Leader and SS Oz Director, Jeff Hansen: "We have visual confirmation from the crew of the Bardot that the harpoon mount on YM3 is tarped up and has not been loaded, meaning that the fleet hasn't begun firing their harpoons."
This means January has been free of whales killed, marking the first time ever that no whales have been killed in this peak month of whaling.
Update: The security ship Shonan Maru II, with armed Japanese Coast Guard aboard, chased SS's Bob Barker into the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone around Macquarie Island. The Oz govt officially notified the Japanese govt to order SM2 out of its territorial waters. Meanwhile, Steve Irwin is being tailed by Yushin Maru I. With Bardot pushing YM3 well south, only Yushin Maru II remains with the factory ship far north of the whaling area, and running from the SS vessels. Sam Simon continues to pursue NM, free of a tail and assisted by aerial drones performing search grids. Once BB loses the tail of SM2 it will return to the pursuit of the factory ship.
All SS ships have enough fuel to remain in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary until the end of the whaling season...