The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin collides with the stern of the Japanese whaling vessel the Yushin Maru No. 2 on Jan. 5. The collision was one of two in the past two days involving the Steve Irwin and a Japanese whaling vessel. Nobody was injured in either collision. Photo courtesy of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

By Shawn Gaynor

Feb. 6 (GNT) — Japanese whaling vessels and a conservation group ship have collided for the second time in two days as diplomatic efforts to end Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters leave all sides unhappy.

At 6:00 p.m. local time Feb. 6, the Steve Irwin, a Dutch registered ship operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the Yushin Maru No. 3, a Japanese harpoon boat, collided in the rough waters of the Rose Sea.

The Yushin Maru No. 3 and another Japanese harpoon boat, the Yushin Maru No.1, were attempting to pass by the Steve Irwin to transfer their cargo of whales to the Japanese factory ship the Nisshin Maru when the collision took place.

The Steve Irwin had been blocking access to the Nisshin Maru and attempting to prevent the transfer of whales between harpoon boats and the factory ship in an effort to frustrate Japanese whaling operations.

The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees Japanese whaling, characterized the collision as an attack by the Sea Shepherds. But the Sea Shepherds claimed it was the Japanese ships that instigated the collision, and said they were unable to avoid the Yushin Maru No. 3.

The Steve Irwin’s Captain, Paul Watson, said that disorientation caused by the LRAD acoustic weapons that the whalers were using on the conservationists contributed to the collision.

“I was dazed by the sonic blasts being used on us at close range,” said Captain Watson. “I have to admit it was difficult to concentrate with that device being focused on us.”

The Sea Shepherds first claimed the Japanese use of the military-grade sound weapon several days ago, and Japanese officials have admitted to the use of a sound device.

“I’ve never felt anything quite like it,” said Emily Hunter from Toronto, Canada. “It penetrates the body and you can feel your muscles vibrating. It made me dizzy and left me somewhat dazed.”

The Japanese fleet reported the stern of the Yushin Maru No. 3 was lightly damaged in the collision, while the Sea Shepherds reported the Steve Irwin suffered no noticeable damage. There were no injuries on either ship.

The collision was the second in as many days. On Jan. 5, the Steve Irwin collided with the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No. 2.

“We were in the process of blocking the transfer from the Yushin Maru No.2 when the Yushin Maru No. 1 moved directly in front of the bow to block us,” said Captain Watson. “I could not turn to starboard without hitting the Yushin Maru No. 1. I tried to back down but the movement of the Yushin Maru No. 2 made the collision unavoidable.”

Hunting whales was banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission after evidence that the world’s largest mammals were being driven towards extinction.

Japan continues to hunt whales every year under the guise of scientific research, but the nearly 1,000 whales that Japan hopes to harvest this year are destined to be sold as meat to Japanese consumers.

Conservationists insist the Japanese hunt is illegal both due to the commercial result of the “scientific whaling program” and because the annual hunt takes place in an internationally designated whale sanctuary.

IWC Chairman William Hogarth proposed a compromise agreement on Feb. 2 that would either phase out Japan’s annual Southern Ocean whale hunt over the next five years in exchange for opening whaling in Japanese waters, or would allow the “scientific whaling” program in the Southern Ocean to continue under IWC, not Japanese, annual limitations.

Conservation groups have stood together in saying the deal is too lenient on Japanese whalers.

Perhaps the most polite response from conservationist came from Dr. Susan Lieberman, director of WWF International’s Species Program who stated, “World Wildlife Fund is glad to see the IWC taking steps toward ending the deadlock on commercial whaling, and to ending commercial whaling under the guise of science once and for all, but these compromise packages give too much to the whalers and not enough to whale conservation.”

“What is needed is a plan to put an immediate halt to all scientific whaling, which simply has no place in the 21st Century,” added Lieberman.

Most conservation groups commenting on the issue have been afraid that the plan would open the door to renewed commercial whaling by allowing the Japanese to whale commercially in their own waters.

The Japanese have also been cold on the plan. On Feb. 3 Japan’s Fisheries Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, ruled out any compromise that terminated what he called Japan’s scientific whaling in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

“We cannot accept a proposal that would end our research whaling program,” he said.

In the meantime, the Sea Shepherds and the Japanese whaling fleet play out their tense chase across the Rose Sea.

“I wish we did not have to be down here in this dangerous situation,” said Watson. “Because international law is not being enforced, we have no choice but to do what we can with the resources available to us to defend these endangered whales.”