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Riding a Storm in Pursuit of a Black-Hearted Sun
Sunday, 16 Jan, 2011
Riding a Storm in Pursuit of a Black-Hearted Sun
A bird’s eye view of the Steve Irwin during a stormIt is Day Seventeen since finding the Japanese whaling fleet, and it is a wee bit uncomfortable today after the whaling fleet supply vessel Sun Laurel decided to lead us into a storm to try and shake the Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin off its tail.
We are now over 300 miles north of the Antarctic Treaty Zone Boundary and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary as the Sun Laurel wanders northward and eastward hoping to unload her cargo of heavy fuel for the Nisshin Maru and diesel fuel for the harpoon vessels.
It is mystifying why the Korean captain thinks he can lose us in a storm. The Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin are far superior sea vessels than this tanker and the rolling of the supply ship has to be uncomfortable for her crew, far more uncomfortable than for the Sea Shepherd crews.
Behind the two Sea Shepherd ships in plain sight are the Yushin Maru # 1 and Yushin Maru #2. Both of them are more than a day's steaming from the whaling grounds, and if they are not on the whaling grounds, they are not killing whales.
The Bob Barker tracking the Sun LaurelThe Gojira continues to hunt for the Nisshin Maru and the Yushin Maru #3. Captain Paul Watson has decided that the most effective tactic that can be implemented is to cut the Nisshin Maru off from her supplies. The Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin will be able to pursue the Sun Laurel for longer than the Nisshin Maru can survive without fuel.
The Nisshin Maru has four choices now: (1) quit whaling and return to Japan, (2) attempt to refuel with the Sun Laurel, (3) go to a distant port to refuel, or (4) find another tanker somewhere to refuel them and hope they are not discovered before they do so.
Option two will put them into a direct confrontation with the Sea Shepherd ships. Options three and four will cost them weeks of time.
Yesterday, the crew of the Steve Irwin were accompanied by a large pod of pilot whales.
The crews of both the Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin are in high spirits as this pursuit continues.
A pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales
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