.Common Sense
The Above Linkblogs Might Contain "Borrowed" links.
Linkblogs do not substantially contribute traffic to my blog that I can discover. They all go offsite, and are often accessed from my blog. It's possible to access them from the RSS according to my settings. Still, even if I were to get ads clicking on a linkblog from the RSS won't drive more people to my blog than otherwise because they leave my resources. (Note to self, do more posts, less LBs with sources I find). I explain because I sometimes borrow links from people at Twitter, and often forget who put them up. (To fellow Twitterers: If you have a link to your blog, I will point it there, but Twitter, being impermanent, cannot hold your link for people to discover from there. I only 'borrow' them to get news out to as many people as I can who might not have seen the reports and videos found by the smart people I follow at Twitter or find in search rooms.RSS Add-Me
Latest on Greenpeace and the Whalers
posted 02-19-07
The latest I've been able to find about Greenpeace and the crippled whaler.
Though rejecting towing help from the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza (a former Russian naval firefighter), the Nissin Maru did ask the environmental activist crew to stay by as it drifts near an important penguin hatchery. (NZ reports that they are 60 miles off shore of the birds' refuge)
The Esperanza was also asked by the Japanese to map the area and apparently found pack ice, which could cause a break up of the drifting ship within 10 miles. The Nissin Maru carries many tons of fuel and heating oil that could be released upon rupture. (The Esperanza has helicopters -- used to hunt down whalers usually -- on board.)
Such dangers have prompted New Zealand to demand the Japanese whaler which is currently lashed to two other boats from the Japanese fleet to submit to being towed to New Zealand immediately, a proposal that the Japanese have rejected.
Towing the ship to New Zealand would entail whale meat, a politically explosive substance, to enter an NZ harbor, from which it would never be allowed to exit, causing loss to the Japanese businesses involved, and consternation to the peace, animal rights, and environment loving citizenry of the two Island nation. The fireworks could be spectacular.
Stuff NZ reports that the whaler's insurance company demands it accept towing from the Esperanza to New Zealand immediately, but the Japanese fleet says it will used two of the smaller whalers to tow the Maru away from the ecologically sensitive coast. A New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter says that stategy will only work as long as the weather remains calm.
It is summer in the region, but still this is Antarctica. And once a storm comes up, all bets could be off.
An AP article at the Washington Post on the subject mentions a US Coast Guard Ice Breaker offering help now too, but doesn't say the USCG vessel is near by and no other report mentions the US boat.
WP also notes that currently the whaler is drifting north away from the Antarctic coast and the pack ice according to a spokesperson for Maritime New Zealand which handles sea rescues in the area.
A storm could change that happy scenario though.
The AP also says that the New Zealand Prime Minister has added her voice to the warning to get the whaler out of danger through allowing towing to a close port, but the whaling crew maintains it's intent to attempt to revive the vessel and get it under it's own power with a hope to continue the whaling season.
Articles on which this post is based (read all for full details and confirmation)
Stuff NZ: Whaler skipper asks Greenpeace to stay close
Stuff NZ: Whale meat cargo must come to NZ
AP at WP: New Zealand Warns Over Crippled Whaler
And here are some pictures from the area,
Though rejecting towing help from the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza (a former Russian naval firefighter), the Nissin Maru did ask the environmental activist crew to stay by as it drifts near an important penguin hatchery. (NZ reports that they are 60 miles off shore of the birds' refuge)
The Esperanza was also asked by the Japanese to map the area and apparently found pack ice, which could cause a break up of the drifting ship within 10 miles. The Nissin Maru carries many tons of fuel and heating oil that could be released upon rupture. (The Esperanza has helicopters -- used to hunt down whalers usually -- on board.)
Such dangers have prompted New Zealand to demand the Japanese whaler which is currently lashed to two other boats from the Japanese fleet to submit to being towed to New Zealand immediately, a proposal that the Japanese have rejected.
Towing the ship to New Zealand would entail whale meat, a politically explosive substance, to enter an NZ harbor, from which it would never be allowed to exit, causing loss to the Japanese businesses involved, and consternation to the peace, animal rights, and environment loving citizenry of the two Island nation. The fireworks could be spectacular.
Stuff NZ reports that the whaler's insurance company demands it accept towing from the Esperanza to New Zealand immediately, but the Japanese fleet says it will used two of the smaller whalers to tow the Maru away from the ecologically sensitive coast. A New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter says that stategy will only work as long as the weather remains calm.
It is summer in the region, but still this is Antarctica. And once a storm comes up, all bets could be off.
An AP article at the Washington Post on the subject mentions a US Coast Guard Ice Breaker offering help now too, but doesn't say the USCG vessel is near by and no other report mentions the US boat.
WP also notes that currently the whaler is drifting north away from the Antarctic coast and the pack ice according to a spokesperson for Maritime New Zealand which handles sea rescues in the area.
A storm could change that happy scenario though.
The AP also says that the New Zealand Prime Minister has added her voice to the warning to get the whaler out of danger through allowing towing to a close port, but the whaling crew maintains it's intent to attempt to revive the vessel and get it under it's own power with a hope to continue the whaling season.
Articles on which this post is based (read all for full details and confirmation)
Stuff NZ: Whaler skipper asks Greenpeace to stay close
Stuff NZ: Whale meat cargo must come to NZ
AP at WP: New Zealand Warns Over Crippled Whaler
And here are some pictures from the area,
Comments
Notice: All links below go off site, to other Blog-City denizens of my neighborhood. Selection is based by Blog-City widget on tags matching those selected for post above. Unfortunately, the widget's will only put oldest related post posts first, scroll down for most current.
Tag Related Neighborhood Posts
Iraq Shenanigans
06-23-06
What if there were no Iraq War?
01-23-07
Revising World War II History
04-01-07
"Lust For Oil Or Love For The Bear?"
01-17-08
Earth Day 2009
04-21-09
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