Captain Paul Watson today wrote to Prime Minister Howard and all 149 Representatives to the Parliament of Australia with a request for an endorsement for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society campaign to protect the whales in the Australian Territory of Antarctica.

Japan has targeted humpback and fin whales in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Unfortunately, on May 27, 2005, Justice James Allsop ruled that the Humane Society International could not bring legal action against a Japanese company that is whaling and plans to escalate whaling in the Australian Whale Sanctuary.

Justice Allsop cited concerns raised by Federal Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock that if Australian law was enforced against the Japanese whalers, it would cause an international trade war with Japan.

In other words, the law should remain unenforced in the interest of trade.

Sea Shepherd has found that the citizens of Australia are very much concerned about the Japanese plans to slaughter whales in Australian Territorial waters and especially concerned that the much-beloved humpback whales are now being targeted.

Sea Shepherd wishes to work cooperatively with any Australian non-governmental organization and Australian citizen who wishes to oppose this whale slaughter.

Copy of Letter to Prime Minister Howard and Australian Parliamentary Members:

June 2nd, 2005

 

Dear Mr. Howard,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Paul Watson and I am the founder (1977) and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I was also one of the co-founders of the Greenpeace Foundation in 1972 and I am currently a national director of the Sierra Club of the United States.

I am writing to you with a request for an endorsement of our planned campaign to confront the Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctica this year.

We plan to take our ship the Farley Mowat to Australia later this year where we will launch a campaign to confront the Japanese whaling fleet. Our objective will be to non-violently obstruct their whaling operations.

My crew will be international and will include citizens of Australia and New Zealand.
Your moral support would be very encouraging. And if possible, if we could receive positions from you of the location of the Japanese fleet, that would be very helpful.

I look forward to hearing from you. The whale dreaming people of Australia wish to send us off southward and we plan to depart from Australia in mid-December.

Currently, our ship is in Bermuda and will soon be making her way towards Australia and on to Antarctica.

Most Sincerely,

Captain Paul Watson
President
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society