Sea Shepherd Ship Departs for Southern Ocean

Environmental organization Sea Shepherd’s flagship vessel, the Steve Irwin, has departed Fremantle, Western Australia, for the Southern Ocean. The ship’s departure marks the official commencement of the organization’s 12th Southern Ocean Defense Campaign, Operation Icefish 2015-16.

Led by returning Captain, Siddharth Chakravarty, Sea Shepherd says it will once again defend the pristine waters of Antarctica from poachers, with the aim to shut down illegal activities in what is the world’s last great wilderness.

Sea Shepherd says it will employ direct-action techniques to fill a law enforcement void that continues to be exploited by the Japanese whale poaching fleet and the two remaining illegal toothfish vessels, Viking and Kunlun (Taishan).

“The Steve Irwin will be the only proactive enforcement presence in Antarctica once again this year,” says Chakravarty. “The shadowlands of Antarctica are under threat and we are the only form of protection to the marine wildlife in these unregulated regions. Other than offering direct and immediate protection to the oceans, we intend to investigate and document the illegalities and work with law-enforcement agencies, once again, to aid and close out existing investigations worldwide.”

Sea Shepherd has called on the governments who are responsible for upholding the laws that protect the Southern Ocean to intervene against these poaching operations.

“Sea Shepherd should not be left to defend Antarctica alone,” said Captain Alex Cornelissen, CEO of Sea Shepherd Global. “For the last 13 years our ships and crews have shone an international spotlight on both the illegal whaling and more recently on the illegal toothfish operations. Now it’s time for governments to step up and take serious action to address the issue of poaching in the Southern Ocean.”

Managing Director of Sea Shepherd Australia, Jeff Hansen, said, “Sea Shepherd needs reinforcements. 76.9 percent of Australians want the Australian government to send a vessel to oppose the Japanese whale poaching fleet. Australia has been commended for taking Japan to the International Court of Justice, but now the government needs to take responsibility for enforcement by sending a ship to oppose the whale poachers.”

Toothfish

Top predators in the waters of the Southern Ocean, toothfish are a unique, long-lived species that are particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation due to their slowness to reach sexual maturity and high market value.

More commonly known by their market name “Chilean Sea Bass,” toothfish live in Antarctic waters in depths of 300 to 2,500 meters; the coldest waters on Earth. Though only limited scientific information exists on the fish, illegal fishing is shown to have had a devastating impact on populations, leading to collapse and closure of some fishing areas, says Sea Shepherd.

Last year’s Operation Icefish has been one of Sea Shepherd’s most successful conservation campaigns to date. At the conclusion of the five-month long campaign, five of the six known illegal toothfish poaching vessels had been detained. The sixth, Thunder, was scuttled in waters surrounding São Tomé and Príncipe following a record-breaking 110-day pursuit by the Sea Shepherd ship, Bob Barker. Sea Shepherd believes that the ship was scuttled in an attempt to destroy evidence of the Thunder’s illegal fishing operations.

Cooperation between local and international authorities, including Sea Shepherd and international policing agency Interpol, resulted in unprecedented fines and jail sentences for some of the companies and individuals behind the poaching operations.

Whales

In March 2014, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Japan’s whaling program to be commercial and illegal, and ordered that it stop immediately. Japan said at the time that it would respect the decision. However, within months Japan had unveiled its plans for a new whaling program titled NEWREP-A, under which a further 4,000 protected Minke whales would be slaughtered over a 12 year period. 

Japan announced in October last year that it will ignore the International Court of Justice decision and will resume whaling in the Southern Ocean. The move sparked calls for the Australian government to make good an election promise and send a vessel to the area.

In November 2015, the Australian Federal Court found the Japanese government-funded whaling company, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd, guilty of breaching a 2008 order to stop killing whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary, and fined if A$1 million for the breach.

New Vessel

In October, the keel was laid for Sea Shepherd’s new Antarctic patrol vessel under construction at Damen Shipyards Antalya in Turkey. In January this year, the Dutch Postcode Lottery granted 8.3 million euros ($9.4 million) to Sea Shepherd for the construction of the vessel.