Read the link above for Paul Watson's statement about why he left Germany rather than waiting to be jailed and extradited to Japan.
Rutger Hauer posted this on his site today. Interesting coincidence? Maybe great minds just think alike. :) Okay, maybe not. But I appreciate Rutger pointing it out. Also, check out his Starfish Association AIDS charity page. Back to Paul....
I've been watching Whale Wars for a couple of years now. Having become a SCUBA diver in 1970 and growing up around the Puget Sound, I've always been attached to our oceans. One of the guides in my life has oddly enough been to not live too far from salt water. I've lived inland and frankly, didn't care for it.
I love Japan and historical Japanese culture. Having started martial arts in 6th grade, I was much more aware of Japan than I was our oceans for many years before that. I've always had a fascination for Japanese martial arts (I'm still on the Board of Directors for our local Aikido Dojo), cinema, foods and so on. But this is something that bothers me about them. I understand the arguments for and against their whaling and I fall on the side of being against. Sometimes we have to change our orientation, it's painful. But that's all there is to it. Cultures evolve. If your culture has always lived in wood houses and all the trees die, you change. So how about changing before they all die?
The idea that any country should be allowed to kill a thousand whales for "scientific purposes" is ridiculous. Japan is now killing around 1200 whales each year for its "research programmes". If their actions are scientific, then their testing is done through tasting, and all over Japan, out of fish markets and restaurants. Considering the size of whales, how in the Hell could you need 1200 whales for science and what scientist is going to be party to killing 1200 whales a year for their what, experiments?
We already know about Japan's relationship to dolphins and sharks (shark fin soup). I find it sad that they need to be beaten down to do what is right about this.
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