Sea Shepherd resumes the search for the Japanese whaling fleet

04/01/2010 10:52:24 Whale Wars chess game continues - Courtesy of The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
January 2010. The Japanese whalers are continuing their search for the Sea Shepherd vessel, The Steve Irwin, but now, according to Sea Shepherd, they are far behind and unable to relay the position to the main body of whale poachers with the Japanese whaling fleet.

The Japanese whaling fleet security ship no longer knows where the Steve Irwin is, but thanks to a group of dedicated whale defenders from Tasmania calling themselves the "Taz Patrol," Sea Shepherd know where the Japanese ship is.

The Shonan Maru No. 2 has been replaced with one of the harpoon vessels from the Yushin class. Sea Shepherd suspect that the Shonan Maru No. 2 may have had to return to the main fleet to refuel. SS knew they were running low on fuel from the distance they travelled and how high they were riding out of the water when last seen.
According to sources in Tasmania, two planes were chartered to search for the Steve Irwin but returned after an unsuccessful mission.

Heavy seas
Sea Shepherd planned to ride out a storm while slipping through the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and this seems to have worked perfectly. Unable to be spotted from the air and shielded by high winds and heavy seas, SS cruised just out of radar range of the waiting Japanese vessel(s), slipped past them, and headed south.
If one of the harpoon vessels is two hundred miles south of Tasmania, it means they are definitely not harpooning whales. In their efforts to intercept our approach the whaling fleet is being forced to direct their harpoon vessels into acting as bodyguards and scout vessels.

The Ady Gil continues their patrol in search of the Japanese whaling fleet.

Ady Gil
The Ady Gil, Sea Shepherds second vessel, ran short of fresh water two days ago but the resourceful crew simply captured a large growler (Small iceberg) and melted it. Fresh clear and clean water is in plentiful supply in the Southern Ocean. The Ady Gil continues their patrol in search of the Japanese whaling fleet.

The pieces in this strategic board game are coming together. The Steve Irwin and the Ady Gil are trying to find the whaling fleet and the harpoon vessels are trying to find the Sea Shepherd ships. All of this is being played out in a vast expanse of ocean larger than Europe or the United States.

"The name of the game is profit and loss," said Captain Paul Watson. "To win this war for the whales we need to make sure to keep their losses high and their profits low. For three years they have failed to turn a profit because we have prevented them from taking their full kill quota. I am pleased that this year that not only will we impact the quota, we will see a large increase in their costs for deploying two ships dedicated to thwarting our plans."