Yesterday, the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s boat, the Adi Gil, was struck by a Japanese whaling ship and sank. Both sides claim that it was the other parties fault, but if you check out the video it looks pretty clear to me that the Japanese ship deliberately struck the boat intentionally. The Adi Gil was a speedboat worth $1.5 million dollars. Luckily, and surprisingly, only one crew member was injured. Acting Australian Prime Minister Gillard said, "having watched the video, it deeply concerns me, it seems miraculous that lives were not lost." The crew was rescued by another of the Sea Shepard's boats, the Bob Barker, named after the game show host who donated $5 million dollars to buy the boat.Japan kills about 600 whales a year in Antarctica through a loophole which allows countries to kill whales for scientific research purposes and sell the surplus meat to the public. Critics say that this 'research' program is a front for illegal commercial whaling. The Sea Shepard Conservation Society send its ships to interfere with the Japanese harvest each season, and is quite successful. According to Wikipedia, Sea Shepherd's activities reduced Japan's catches in 2007 and 2008 to 60–75% of expected figures. The Animal Planet's television series, "Whale Wars", places a camera crew on board the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling activist ship to document the annual interference with Japan's whaling program and has brought a lot of attention to the cause.
Only a few countries still allow whaling. Japan and Norway lead the pack, killing the most each year, mostly Minke whales.
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