Whaling spy ship yet to leave port

[Barrett808]

Source: Sydney Mmorning Herald

Whaling spy ship yet to leave port
Andrew Darby in Hobart
January 4, 2008

THE Rudd Government's claim to be stepping up pressure on the Japanese whaling fleet was under challenge last night, with its Antarctic surveillance mission yet to begin.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said more than a fortnight ago that the Government would use a patrol ship and a long-range jet to track the fleet as part of its drive to stop the slaughter of whales in the Antarctic.

But the ship, Oceanic Viking, has not left port in Western Australia, and the aerial surveillance mission is yet to obtain regulatory approval.

...

Oceanic Viking was still docked in Fremantle's busy inner harbour last night, the port authority confirmed.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/news/whale-watch/whaling-spy-ship-yet-to-leave-port/2008/01/03/1198949986467.html

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Whale spying mission a case of big talk, little action
Andrew Darby, Hobart
January 4, 2008

AUSTRALIA'S spying mission on the Japanese whaling fleet is faltering, with a patrol ship yet to leave port and a long-range surveillance aircraft yet to gain approval to fly.

The Japanese fleet is well into its Southern Ocean hunt, in which it will kill up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales, without the Rudd Government's trumpeted surveillance mission getting off the ground.

The whaling fleet has also avoided detection by anti-whaling groups. The Greenpeace ship Esperanza has not located the fleet, while Sea Shepherd's boat Steve Irwin has just left Melbourne after repairs.

...

Mr Smith also said Australia would use an Airbus A-319 to collect video evidence of the fleet as part of its bid to step up pressure on Japan to abandon the hunt and to collect material for international court action.

But the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it was yet to receive an application for surveillance flights by the chartered civilian aircraft, which would require its approval.

(more)

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/whale-spying-mission-a-case-of-big-talk-little-action/2008/01/03/1198949988079.html

Government silent on monitoring Japanese whaling ship
January 03, 2008 08:11pm

...But during a news conference today, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard was asked why the ship was still sitting in Fremantle Port 15 days after the announcement.

"The precise movements of the craft involved are movements that are being kept, as I understand it, confidential," she said. Mr Smith later said the detail of all monitoring activity was an "operational matter".

"Consistent with this, the Australian Government has not commented on the proposed utilisation of either the Oceanic Viking or the Australian Antarctic Division's A319 plane or information relating to the location of the Japanese whaling fleet," he said.

"The movements of the Oceanic Viking are operational matters and have been and will be determined on operational criteria to maximise the prospects of a successful surveillance activity."

(more)

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23003442-1702,00.html

[flvegan]

1. The Ocean Viking allegedly won't share info

on the whalers' location, either.

[wtmusic]

2. Could their location not be picked up by satellite in a heartbeat?

It's a freaking ship, ferchrissake.

[hack89]

6. No

first off, Australia does not have surveillance satellites.

secondly, if the they did, they are not very useful to find un-located objects at sea. Their field of view is so small it is like looking through a soda straw - it is very inefficient and would take a long time (and that assumes that the satellite's orbit covers that part of the globe - not many countries are looking for things in the antarctic). I think they need the exact geo- coordinates of the target in order to point the satellite camera at the right place

[judaspriestess]

3. all the more reason to support the sea shepard conservation society

[flvegan]

4. Pledge to monitor whalers 'a sham'

THE Rudd Government's commitment to stop whaling has been condemned as a sham, following the revelation that the company that will conduct aerial surveillance of the Japanese fleet sought approval to do so only yesterday.

As the time required to win clearance from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is uncertain, the spy operation may not be approved until after the summer whaling season has finished.

"The process has started but it's only just started and there will be a lot of issues that have got to be identified, discussed and addressed," CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said.

The Weekend Australian has also established that the company that runs the A-319 aircraft, Skytraders, does not plan to conduct independent missions to find and track the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.

Rather, Skytraders chief executive Norman Mackay said yesterday, the company's plane would run "diversions" while on once-a-week scheduled flights between Hobart and Casey Station in Antarctica.

This approach would limit the surveillance to a brief fly-over, and only if the position of the Japanese fleet were known and close enough to the Hobart-Antarctica route.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23008809-30417,00.html

Disgusting.

[NorthernSpy]

5. maybe alienating Japan would be too harmful for Australian interests...

And so the Australians have decided to use other tactics.


Fin whales are listed as endangered, whereas Minke are plentiful. I hope that any closed-door bargaining that might be taking place will be directed toward an agreement sparing the Fins.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Rudd misleads Australia over whale watching program

By Scopical News/Data Published: 5 January 2008 10:24am
Rudd misleads Australia over whale watching program

The Rudd Government is today under attack over its apparent misleading of the Australian public, with the new Government appearing to have broken its first pledge.

A commitment to 'watch over' the operations of Japanese whalers using aircraft and ocean vessels has been called into question, with revelations the P&O owned Oceanic Viking is still docked in Freemantle, and the Airbus A319 that was meant to be conducting air surveillance, not yet receiving clearance from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Environment Minister Peter Garrett had in December pledged to dispatch within 'a few days' of the announcement, an ocean vessel accompanied by an aircraft, in order to collect surveillance against the Japanese whaling operations.

However it was revealed yesterday that the ship, the Oceanic Viking, remained docked in a West Australian port, and the aircraft allocated to conduct surveillance had not yet lodged an application to fly south.

More:
http://www.scopical.com.au/articles/Politics/1908/Rudd-misleads-Australia-over-whale-watching-program

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/03/05/knRUDD_narrowweb__300x370,0.jpg

Rudd

[Judi Lynn]

8. Humpback spared by a fluke

Humpback spared by a fluke
By Lauren Williams

January 05, 2008 12:00am

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5828565,00.jpg

THIS humpback doesn't know how lucky it is.

Blissfully unaware of the Japanese announcement that humpbacks will be spared from this year's cull, two humpbacks were spotted feeding just 50m from the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza yesterday.

But for the two giant fin whales - a mother and her calf - sighted on Sunday, the future is bleak.

Fears for 50 fin and 935 minke whales are growing amid reports the Japanese whaling operation is already "midway through".

The Federal Government yesterday came under attack for failing to deliver on its promise to send vessels to monitor the cull.

More:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23007644-5001021,00.html