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Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

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Human Rights in Ireland
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Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Useless Covid Data Analysis Riddled With Basic Flaws Fri May 30, 2025 15:00 | Rebekah Barnett
If the vaccines were so effective, why do governments have so much difficulty producing the evidence? wonders Rebekah Barnett. If belief requires blind faith, that's not science ? that's a cult.
The post Useless Covid Data Analysis Riddled With Basic Flaws appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Miliband Attacks Blair Over Net Zero Criticism and Admits He Could Lose Seat to Reform Fri May 30, 2025 13:00 | Richard Eldred
Ed Miliband has torn into Tony Blair for being "defeatist" on Net Zero ? even while admitting he could lose his seat to Reform, who want to scrap the agenda altogether.
The post Miliband Attacks Blair Over Net Zero Criticism and Admits He Could Lose Seat to Reform appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Electric Cars Halve in Value After Just Two Years Fri May 30, 2025 11:00 | Richard Eldred
Second-hand electric car prices are plummeting ? losing more than half their value within two years ? thanks to heavy discounting and a flood of cheaper new models flooding the market.
The post Electric Cars Halve in Value After Just Two Years appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link BBC ?Damages Countryside? to Film Chris Packham?s Springwatch Fri May 30, 2025 09:00 | Richard Eldred
Locals have slammed the BBC for damaging protected habitats to film Springwatch, branding it "hypocritical" after wildflower meadows were plated over and lorry access routes carved into a National Trust estate.
The post BBC ?Damages Countryside? to Film Chris Packham?s Springwatch appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link The Sceptic EP.38: Chris Bayliss on the Commonwealth Voting Scandal, Sarah Phillimore on the Bar?s S... Fri May 30, 2025 07:00 | Richard Eldred
On the Sceptic this week: Chris Bayliss on the scandal of Commonwealth voting, Sarah Phillimore on the bar?s scrapped EDI plans and Eugyppius on Germany and South Africa.
The post The Sceptic EP.38: Chris Bayliss on the Commonwealth Voting Scandal, Sarah Phillimore on the Bar?s Scrapped EDI Plans and Eugyppius on ?White Genocide? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

How Sea Shepherd lost battle against Japan’s whale hunters in Antarctic

category international | animal rights | other press author Sunday December 24, 2017 22:39author by anon Report this post to the editors

The Guardian published an article yesterday on how the Japanese have evaded through military technology the Sea Shepherd patrols that previously prevented them whaling and that they are now killing whales inside the internationally recognized Southern Ocean whaling sanctuary, that surrounds Antarctica.

A fleet of Japanese ships is currently hunting minke whales in the Southern Ocean. It is a politically incendiary practice: the waters around Antarctica were long ago declared a whale sanctuary, but the designation has not halted Japan’s whalers, who are continuing a tradition of catching whales “for scientific research” in the region. In the past, conservation groups such as Sea Shepherd have mounted campaigns of harassment and successfully blocked Japan’s ships from killing whales. But not this year. Despite previous successes, Sea Shepherd says it can no longer frustrate Japan’s whalers because their boats now carry hardware supplied from military sources, making the fleet highly elusive and almost impossible to track. As a result the whalers are – for the first time – being given a free run to kill minke in the Southern Ocean.


“We have prevented thousands of whales from being killed in the past and we have helped ensure that the quota of minkes that Japan can take now is much lower than in the past,” said Peter Hammarstedt, a Sea Shepherd captain. “But they have put such resources into this year’s whaling that we cannot hope to find their fleet and stop them. It is simply a matter of us not wasting our own resources. We have other battles to fight.” Japan is not the only nation to hunt whales. Norway has a commercial operation in its own waters, for example. But what infuriates conservationists is that Japan is hunting and killing whales in a conservation zone, the Southern Ocean whaling sanctuary, that surrounds Antarctica. Japan claims that it does so only for scientific purposes.

“Essentially, they are exploiting a loophole in the rules – introduced in the 80s – that govern the banning of commercial whaling,” said Paul Watson, the founder of Sea Shepherd. Originally Japan set out to catch more than 900 minkes every year, as well as 50 humpbacks and 50 fin whales. However, its fleet was rarely able to reach these quotas because of actions by groups like Sea Shepherd. “We physically got in between the whalers and the whales and stopped the latter being killed,” said Hammarstedt. “One year we stopped Japan getting all but 10% of its quota. Their ships were nearly empty when they got back home.”

Related Link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/23/sea-shepherd-loses-antarctic-battle-japan-whale-hunters
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