YEAH !! GO SEA SHEPHERD !!!!

Captain Paul Watson reports:-

I have good news to report. Tomorrow marks a full week that not a single whale has been killed in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Our goal now is to make it two weeks and then three weeks.

We escorted the majority of the whaling fleet out of the sanctuary on Tuesday (more on that in the first news story below), but just today they tried to come back into these internationally protected waters with the intent to kill more whales. Both of our ships were on scene trying to stop the four whaling ships from returning to the sanctuary. A heated 5-hour battle ensued. There were many near misses but no collisions and no injuries.

 We are steadily impacting their quota and intend to continue to hit them where it hurts - their wallets. We will not tolerate the death of a single whale. If they attempt to kill and transfer a whale to the Nisshin Maru, we will stand our ground.

Go to the Sea Shepherd site to get updates www.seashepherd.org

Sea Shepherd Has Shut Down Illegal Japanese Whaling

Steve Irwin Joins Pursuit of Nisshin Maru

Position:  63 Degrees 43 Minutes South   81 Degrees 26 Minutes East

The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin joined the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker this morning at 0700 Hours (Sydney time). Both Sea Shepherd ships are now on the tail of the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru.

The Japanese fleet was running fast to the Northeast not knowing that the Steve Irwin was on a course of Southwest coming directly for them. With the fleet doing 15 knots, and the Steve Irwin doing 15 knots, the Steve Irwin and the whaling fleet closed the gap at 30 knots cutting the rendezvous time in half.

The Steve Irwin sat motionless by an iceberg for two hours at a distance of thirty miles to allow the Nisshin Maru to continue towards it. At a distance of only three miles, the Steve Irwin got underway and intercepted the Nisshin Maru.

As the Steve Irwin passed by the Nisshin Maru, the factory ship turned on their water cannons and were surprised when the Steve Irwin responded with a more powerful water cannon that had a couple of the whalers diving for the bridge doors as the frigid water struck their bridge wing deck.

The Steve Irwin is presently tailing the Nisshin Maru a few cable lengths and slightly to the port side of the factory ship. Across from the Steve Irwin, the Bob Barker is tailing the Nisshin Maru slightly to the starboard side.

Following in the wake of the Nisshin Maru are the Japanese vessels Shonan Maru 2, Yushin Maru 1 and Yushin Maru 2. There is no sign of the Yushin Maru 3.

Six ships, two from Sea Shepherd and four vessels from the Japanese fleet, are heading at full speed northeastwardly.

“Not a single whale has died since the Bob Barker intercepted the fleet at 0100 Hours on February 6th. It is now the third day that the whaling fleet has been unable to kill a whale. We intend to turn these three whaling free days into three whaling free weeks,” said Captain Paul Watson. “I am confident that once again we will severely cut their kill quotas and we will once again negate their profits.”

The Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker have enough fuel to pursue the whaling fleet for another month.

“It does not matter where they go, east or west along the Antarctic Coast,” said Steve Irwin 1st Officer Locky MacLean. “We intend to stick to their rear like glue and we will not allow a single whale to be loaded onto the decks of that foul floating abattoir.”

There are 41 crew (29 men and 12 women) on board the Steve Irwin from Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, France, Japan, Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States (15 nationalities).

There are 30 (6 women and 24 men) crew on board the Bob Barker from Australia, New Zealand, United States, Sweden, United Kingdom, and South Africa (6 nationalities).

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Bob Barker Rammed by Illegal Whaler At 1209 PM Fremantle, Australia time, the Yushin Maru 3 intentionally rammed the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker, penetrating it’s hull and endangering the lives of it¹s crew. The collision occurred at 65 degrees 21 South, 67 degrees 58 East, about 180 miles off Cape Darnley in the Australian Antarctic Territory. The Bob Barker had been actively blocking the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, the Japanese whaling fleet’s factory ship when the collision occurred. Four harpoon ships, the Yushin Maru 1, 2, and 3 and Shonan Maru 2, were circling and making near passes to the stern and bow of the Sea Shepherd vessel. The Bob Barker did not move from its position. At which point, the Yushin Maru 3 intentionally rammed the Bob Barker, creating a 3-foot long 4-inch deep gash in the mid starboard side of the Sea Shepherd vessel above the waterline. No crew was injured during the collision. The Bob Barker continues to block the slipway of the Nisshin Maru, preventing the transfer of slaughtered whales and effectively shutting down illegal whaling operations. The incident demonstrates a continued escalation of violence by the illegal whalers in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Said Captain Paul Watson from the bridge of the Steve Irwin, currently en route to join the action, “Because the whalers got away basically scot-free with the outrageous sinking of the Ady Gil, they now apparently think they can do whatever they want and they appear to have no qualms about endangering Sea Shepherd crew. What we really need is for the governments of Australia and New Zealand to step up and start enforcing maritime laws in these waters, or who know what the whalers will do next. Australian and New Zealand lives are at risk every day in these waters.” The crew of the Bob Barker noticed that the Yushin Maru 3 stopped moving in the water shortly after the impact, and appeared to be falling behind as the Bob Barker maintained its position on the stern of the Nisshin Maru. It’s possible the Yushin Maru 3 damaged itself in the collision. The Japanese whalers are far more aggressive this year than in past campaigns.

Friday, February 05, 2010

Update: Bob Barker Shuts Down Illegal Whaling The Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker has shut down illegal whaling operations in Antarctica. The ship with its volunteer crew has caught up with the Nisshin Maru factory ship and is actively blocking its slipway.  The Nisshin Maru will be unable to process whales as a result of Sea Shepherd’s efforts. The Bob Barker intends to stay in this position off the stern of the Nisshin Maru until the whalers return home or until they run out of fuel. Sea Shepherd’s other ship, the Steve Irwin, is racing to the area to join the action. Four other whaling vessels are in the area surrounding the Nisshin Maru and Bob Barker. They include: the Yushin Maru 1, 2, and 3 as well as the notorious Shonan Maru 2, which one month ago today sank the Sea Shepherd Ady Gil in an act of blatant aggression. Says Captain Chuck Swift, “As we sit in the shadow of this cetacean death machine, I’m proud to captain this ship and fine crew on such a noble mission. We will end these illegal operations once and for all, thanks to support from our staff and supporters the world over.”

]]> http://aquaticbluecharters.com.au/all-the-latest-news-from-aquatic-blue-charters/1902/sea-shepherd-the-steve-irwin-news-updates/feed/ http://aquaticbluecharters.com.au/all-the-latest-news-from-aquatic-blue-charters/950/scuba-diving-and-whale-watching-gold-coast-queensland-australia/ http://aquaticbluecharters.com.au/all-the-latest-news-from-aquatic-blue-charters/950/scuba-diving-and-whale-watching-gold-coast-queensland-australia/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:51:43 +0000 Carol http://aquaticbluecharters.com.au/?p=950 Did you know that our boat “Whale Watcher” is available for Scuba Diving Charters right here on the Gold Coast.  Available for upto 30 divers, bare boat charter only, if you have the shop we have the boat, we’ll take your divers to the best dive sights on the Southern end of the Gold Coast.  Cook Island, off Coolangatta offers some fantastic diving with turtles everywhere. Dive Charters also available in other locations. Tony is a Padi Dive Instructor, First Aid Instructor

Schools, Tafe, Colleges - our boat is available for private charter for your dive courses or recreational diving.

Whale Watching is on it’s way - counting down now to the end of May when our Humpies will once again return to our Gold Coast Waters.  Board the boat from Tweed Heads where there’s plenty of parking or get the Courtesy Bus from the Coolangatta area.  Group discounts available, save big dollars by booking direct with your group.

Bus and Coach prices available

Everyone has thoroughly enjoyed themselves with us.  We have given them the best possible experience they could ever have imagined and we thank every one of you for joining us in our passion for these beautiful whales. 

It is now Friday 30th October and our season sadly comes to an end this coming Sunday 1st November - the ocean will not be the same again until next May when we start to see them return on their annual migration - I already miss them - the ocean seems dead without their playful activities and their blows dotting the surface - hurry up May 2010!!

As of next week we start our Deep Sea Fishing Expeditions and Tony is looking forward to getting amongst the fishing, he is all excited and has been getting the gear all fired up ready to go!  I will keep you all posted on his catches and adventures.  We hope to have some of you onboard for a great day out with us, we privately charter “Whale Watcher” or you can join a group, see our page for prices.

We also head into a season of scuba diving, of which the Tweed Coast has some of the prettiest dive sights in the area - that will keep us happy swimming with the fish and turtles around Cook Island and the local reefs.

Until next time this has been Carol the ‘whale women’

Humpback Whales everywhere - calves everywhere - what a show !!  Since my last post on the 28th September we have been inundated with calves playing off Coolangatta.  Some humpbacks are still travelling north and plenty now heading south, still not in any hurry and very happy to visit the boat for a closer look - now this is my favourite thing !!

Tuesday 29th - had 3 very friendly whales to the boat.  Had a cow teaching her calf how to tail lob - that was so cute !  Came across one large pod of three cows and three calves.  Had turtles - great day out today.

Wednesday 30th - very calm, all whales going south in the morning, the afternoon trip was a little choppy but we had heaps of whales breaching and playing, pectoral fin slapping - loads of activity - heaps fun !!

Thur 1st October - choppy conditions, found whales straight away, heaps and heaps of them today - fantastic!

Fri 2nd - choppy conditions again - breaching whales - turtles and dolphins today

Sat 3rd - choppy again - fantastic whales today, heaps of activity

Sun 4th - sloppy sea - found whales straight away - two huge humpbacks came straight over to the boat - what a fantastic sight, everyone was beside themselves with excitement - including me of course !!!.  Whales still going north and south - great day out

Mon 5th - choppy again - all whales going south - not active today

Tue 6th - nice conditions - hurray ! had whales straight away and  all morning playing - great day

Wed 7th - fantastic day had heaps and heaps of whales, plenty of juvenilles all going south

Thur 8th - fantastic whales and plenty of them !!  had a very active cow and calf and plenty of action from a pod that played chasings with the cow and calf - great action today

9th and 10th - too rough

Sun 11th - sloppy sea and whales a bit hard to find today and wanted to dive a lot, found two very happy whales straight up, had a double breaching and plenty of action from this pair, other pods were not at all interested in the boat or anything else other than going home !! can’t blame them really !!

The season is far from over with heaps of whales still on their way. 

If you have any thoughts on the shark nets that keep trapping our whales - drop me a line - I would like to hear from you.

Happy whale watching - this has been Carol the ‘whale women’ until next time

Sept 09Sept 09

 Sept 09

It’s Saturday 19th September, the sun is shining, the sea is calm and we have plenty of humpback whales playing just off Tweed Heads this morning.  Not overally interested in the boat, but very interested in each other, we had humpbacks chasing each other all over the ocean and around the boat today - fantastic stuff.

In the afternoon, heaps and heaps of humpbacks all just lazing around, they were breaching and having a whale of a time !!! sorry !!  Great afternoon.

Sunday 20th Sept another beautiful calm day off Coolangatta we possibly had around 30 humpback whales on the trip this morning, not overally active, all swiming in circles, happy just hanging around, had about 6 calves today, one pod of humpbacks stayed with us and followed us around for most of the trip.

This afternoon, choppy conditions, no swell - pretty good.  The whales were out wider this afternoon, plenty of humpbacks swam close to the boat, they rolled over and breached - lovely day - had large turtles, flying fish and dolphins.

Monday 21st Sept - humpback whales going north today - harder to find early on and then heaps around 11am.

Tuesday and Wednesday too windy stayed home.

Thursday 24th - really calm off the Gold Coast today, found a couple of single whales racing north, not very active. Found a cow and calf in closer to shore of Tugun, absolutely fantastic, the cow brought her 4 meter calf straight to the boat, she let the calf look at us from both sides of the boat, from the back and then just moved off, as if to say ‘there you go junior, that’s what humans look like!’  FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE.

Friday 25th - humpbacks still going north - amazing.  Great trips morning and afternoon.

Saturday 26th - a rough day - cancelled trips.  So many calves breaching madly off Coolangatta, must have been around 8 pods all having a great time in the rough conditions.

Sunday 27th - heaps of whales about - whales still not moving south in a hurry, just relaxed and happy. 

Monday 28th - choppy conditions with fantastic whales and heaps and heaps of calves and adults all moving steadily south.  Calves breached all trip, cow brought her calf to the boat and everyone was beside themselves with excitement.

The season is in full swing with plenty of humpback whales now heading south, not in a hurry yet and not too far out from shores,  upto 3.5 miles out to sea, so not far.

Migaloo has been spotted off Burnett Heads last Monday 21st and today he was spotted off Byron Bay, so he’s on his way home now to safe waters we hope - keep those Japanese whalers well away from our whales - go the Sea Shepherd and Green Peace.

Happy whale watching or whale encounters until next time this has been Carol the ‘whale women’.

So many whales about going past the Tweed, most of them are going south now, the odd one or two still making their way north, had a cow and calf today - Tuesday 8th September, the little one was playing on 9 mile reef, without his mother, who was watching from a distance, she called him back though!!

Wednesday 9th - nice calm conditions off Coolangatta and heaps and heaps of whales all reasonably close off shore, had 2 calves today.

Thursday - heaps and heaps of  humpback whales off Coolangatta- all really relaxed and hanging around, whales chasing each other around the boat, they were going that fast at each other they spun the boat around, no danger and very exciting !  Two big whales came to the boat and played with us for ages and ages - we had people crying - a highly emotional experience!

Friday another day in paradise - beautiful calm conditions off Coolangatta - pure magic - had whales straight off the bar - two whales once again mobbed the boat, they splashed us, rolled over, swam under the boat, around the boat, spy hopped, looked at us - I just love this life so much - these whales truly amaze me - they are so in tune with us - it’s amazing and I’m lovin’ it !! and so are my guests - they can’t believe what they are experiencing !!! sooooo sooooo good !!

Saturday 12th Sept - beautiful calm sea again heaps and heaps of whales off Coolangatta  all whales chasing each other again, humpback whales came under the boat in the morning trip - WELL YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE THE AFTERNOON TRIP - OH MY GOD !!!  so many whales we didn’t know which way to look, we had dolphins and turtles and even flying fish, we had pectoral fin slapping, tails, we would have seen around 65 humpack whales today - and yes that is an OH MY GOD !!!!!!!!!

Sunday 13th - those humpbacks are at it again - heaps and heaps all relaxed and steadily going south, around 15 pods today we put the HYDROPHONE in the water and we could hear them singing - that’s another OMG !!! I was so excited !

Plenty of breaching whales in the arvo trip

It’s all good, the southern migration is well and truly underway, haven’t had a lot of calves through, today (18th) had quite a young calf trying to breach and that was pretty cool, but not a lot yet, the season I believe is going to be late as the calves haven’t really been coming through yet.

We took the kids from Shearwater Primary School out to see the whales last Tuesday that had a fantastic day and the whales played up a real treat for them, here’s a pic of some of the kids:

Shearwater Primary School

Humpback Whale

Monday 31st August 09 - Whales still quiet and in no hurry at all.

Tuesday 1st August 09 - well today was a different story - oh my god !! how good is this - two big humpbacks came straight over to the boat, they rolled over, spy hopped and played games with us for around one hour - of course I was running all over the boat - again !! screams of joy were emenating from my soul at the pure delight of these magnificant mammals brought me and my very excited passengers much joy !!!  How cheeky they were and we loved it!!!

 Look at me - I am beautiful !!!

This very day we were alerted to an entangled whale off Kirra Beach, a concerned resident from one of the apartments called us to see if we could help the whale,. We left the two whales immediately to attend to this entangled whale, which was 20 minutes away from us, as we were about 6 miles off shore and the entangled whale was off Kirra Beach in the shark nets. We arrived approaching the whale carefully and confirmed that there was indeed a very entangled whale.  This 8-9 meter whale had wrapped himself so firmly in the shark nets that he was not going anywhere, luckily he was upright and still breathing.  He was not struggling, which was a good sign and patiently waited for help.  Authorities arrived and proceeded to free the whale - the whale had been there since around 9am and was eventually freed around 4pm - with the help of a very concerned whale friend who was slowly making it’s way across to the entangled whale as the rescue team worked tirelessly, this other whale was coming to the rescue himself, he became quite angry with the rescuers and thrashed around and possibly encouraging the entangled whale to get moving and then it was on the entangled whale took off and somehow this freed the whale after most of the nets had already been cut away, you should have seen the happiness at the whale being freed, he was one happy happy whale and he took off with his new found friend and I am sure very appreciative of his human friends that saved his life!!!  A fantastic end to a grim beginning - I totally disagree with shark nets, they not only trap these poor whales but turtles, dolphins and other marine life - I doubt whether they even catch any sharks !!!!

Wednesday 2nd August 09 - plenty of whales about, nice and quiet in the water - not active today but still great whales.

Thursday 3rd August 09 found hundreds of dolphins today all playing with a pod of humpbacks - this was the most magical thing I had seen in a long time, they swam around the boat, heaps and heaps of dolphins, playing and jumping everywhere, for as far as we could was dolphins.  Awesome.  We saw around 8 pods of whales too

Friday 4th August 09 seas a bit rougher today, whales about 4 miles off shore, had around 6 pods today, but not active today

Saturday 5th August 09 heaps and heaps and heaps of whales today, two whales came close the boat, one whale just hung upside down for ages, his tail straight up in the air we thought that this may have been a Cow feeding, but it was not, all whales going slow and not travelling just happy hanging around

The afternoon trip was fantastic, they came to the boat, swam under the boat, around the boat, everyone was excited.  We named a whale today ‘Milky’

 Milky so named by the Dawson Family

Sunday 6th August 09 - heaps and heaps of whales again today and they were diving a lot

The afternoon trip still heaps of whales but more activity with pectoral fin slapping, rolling over - great trip

Monday 7th August 09 heaps and heaps of whales again all in really close today, seas choppy.  Several pods all within a small area all going in circles and not really going anywhere.  We had our first Calf of the season today, fantastic stuff.  Great day.

With the southern migration well and truly underway, we can expect some fantastic stuff over the next couple of months with the babies now on their way back to the Antarctic.

Happy whale watching and hope to see you out on the boat real soon

This has been Carol ‘The whale women’ until next time.

WHAT A DAY !!  WHAT A WEEK !!!  HOW GOOD IS THIS !!  OUR AMAZING TRIPS MADE THE NATIONAL NINE NEWS ON TUESDAY NIGHT WITH THE KILLER WHALES AND CHANNEL 7 NEWS WITH THE HUMPBACKS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT - NOT TO MENTION NUMEROUS RADIO INTERVIEWS !!!

Today - well let me tell you !!! shall I ??  Yes we did it again - these humpback whales just love us !!! or is it me they love !!!!  only joking.

Today with a full boat of happy passengers about to encounter a  couple of marine mammals that will touch their hearts - we set out on an adventure.  We head North East off the Tweed Bar in search of our fond friends the Humpbacks, Tony climbs on the roof whilst I drive the boat and away we go.  It’s only about 10 minutes on the otherside of the bar and we hear ‘there she blows’  from Tony up on the roof, Michael downstairs yells ‘whales to the starboard’ Carol yells  ‘huge breach towards Burleigh’ and it’s on !!!  We’re off to the whales tail lobbing about one o’clock ahead - what we found were two very very friendly Humpbacks who fell in love with us !!  We just couldn’t believe it - this is too good to be true how lucky are we - everyone was totally amazed at these two whales that splashed us, rolled over and played games with us for 2 hours - they went from one side of the boat to the other, under to the front swam belly up, belly over, belly in - any which way - every way, I was on the back - again !! calling out, they were a gift from the whale gods !!! oh and whilst all this was happening there were several and mean several other pods all about 500 meters off, breaching, tail lobbing, fin slapping and doing what ever whales do !!! HOW GOOD IS THIS !!!  DAM GOOD LET ME TELL YOU !!!

                         

  

 

I think Javier  from France will remember his time in Australia with fond memories of Humpback Whales and the Gold Coast