No ANZAC Help

In the lead-up to Operation Divine Wind ("Kamikaze"), Sea Shepherd has again asked New Zealand and Australia to send a navy presence into the Southern Ocean. But despite the vast majority of NZ voters supporting a ceasation of whaling (under any guise), our government will once again sidestep the issue...claiming no doubt that with the general election this weekend, it can't possibly consider such a request. Yea...riiiiight.
Last year SS offered an olive branch to Greenpeace, inviting it to enter the fray. Just one more vessel would've ended the nasty Nippon commercial whaling much earlier. GP did not respond.
So SS will be there again without any outside help, and a long way from assistance, should Japan escalate its response - as it did with the deliberate ramming of Ady Gil (Jan.2010). Bob Barker will be ready to depart from Hobart in Tasmania, while Steve Irwin and the hi-tech vessel Brigitte Bardot will leave from Freemantle, WA. Rumours of an Oz naval vessel heading south have been refuted by Oz Environment Minister Tony Burke. The whalers usually depart between Nov.6-19 (except for last season, when they sailed early Dec., so again this year they're running late).
SS claims over the past seven campaigns to have saved over 2,700 whales and last season was able to save more whales than the whalers were able to kill! The nasty Nippons, calling it "research", have killed about 10,000 minke whales since 1986, with no scientific breakthroughs to show for it. The international process for granting it legitimacy has been exposed as wildly corrupt.
It will be interesting to see what the extra $40m security beef-up this year has bought the whaling fleet...and what it's game plan will be. Hmmm, let's start with:
Day One -
(1) accidentally ram and destroy Brigitte Bardot.
(2) sail factory ship Nisshin Maru below 60°S latitude line.
(3) armed snipers practise head-shots on environmentalists.
(4) time for morning tea.
Needless to say, this year's campaign will be no picnic.