The encounter occured while Sea Shepherd attempted to block the harpoon vessel from offloading a minke whale to the Nisshin Maru factory ship. Photo: Steve Roest /
Sea Shepherd
February 6th, 2009 - On board the Steve Irwin in the Ross Sea, The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin collided with the Yushin Maru No.2 this morning in the Ross Sea as the harpoon vessel moved in to block the Steve Irwin's attempt to prevent the transfer of a dead whale up the slipway of the Nisshin Maru.
"We were in the process of blocking the transfer from the Yushin Maru No.2 when the Yushin Maru No.1 moved directly in front of the bow to block us," said Captain Watson. "I could not turn to starboard without hitting the Yushin Maru No.1. I tried to back down but the movement of the Yushin Maru No.2 made the collision unavoidable."
The Yushin Maru No.2 was transferring a 2nd whale killed this morning. To the Sea Shepherd crew the murder of these defenceless whales is as tragic as if they had lost one of their own. The three harpoon boats had spread out over the night in an arc of fifteen miles. Earlier in the day, one of them returned to the Nisshin Maru with a whale in tow and quickly transferred it to the flensing deck. Within minutes, thick red blood could be seen pouring from the scupper holes on both sides of the ship into the sea.
"The whalers have decided to test our resolve," said 1st Officer Peter Hammarstedt. "They have escalated this battle to see just how determined we are to protect these whales. We're shepherds and we will do what we can to protect our flock from these murderous poachers."
The Yushin Maru No.3 has also killed a whale but is unable to approach the factory ship because the Steve Irwin is now guarding the slipway.
The Sea Shepherd crew intend to hold this position to prevent the transfer.
Website: www.seashepherd.org
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