Sea Shepherd should say to the Japanese, fill 'er up please!

Sea Shepherd's garbage scow the Steve Irwin had to suspend their harassment of the Japanese whaling ships Nisshin Maru and Kaiko Maru to refuel. The president of the Japanese Whaling Association, Mr. Keiichi Nakajima has asked the governments of Australia and New Zealand to refuse port entry for the Sea Shepherd's garbage scow otherwise these countries would be complicit in any further eco-terrorist attacks.

Mr. Nakajima said, "We know there are different views on whaling around the world. But the actions of the Sea Shepherd crew committing violence under the Dutch flag are no longer a whaling issue, but an issue of human life and safety at sea."

Sea Shepherd as given up harassing the whaling fleets of other nations because they have been met with justifiable hostility. Thus Sea Shepherd now harasses the Japanese to exploit the politeness of their culture. In keeping with Sea Shepherd's exploitation, they may want to ask the Japanese fleet for fuel to further their harassment.

The Japanese government is considering sending the Japanese Navy to protect shipping. But not the Japanese whaling ships. They are thinking of sending their navy to the Horn of Africa to deter Somali pirates. So while Japanese ships are being harassed by the garbage scow belonging to Sea Shepherd, the Japanese Navy may be deployed to deter pirates who are not bothering the Japanese whaling fleet. Huh?

Sea Shepherd is headquartered in the American (United States of America USA) state of Washington. Their ship the Steve Irwin is a Dutch (Netherlands) registered ship. In 2006 Sea Shepherd brought in 2.5 million dollars in donations, while paying Paul Watson $80,000 for that year. The Japanese conduct whaling research for the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) (Japanese Fisheries Agency).