The Japanese forever lost the right to protest their innocence at the treatment of prisoners after their unspeakably cruel and barbaric treatment of POWS and conquered civilian populations during World War 2.

J Roberts, Manchester, UK

I think ecological warfare is here to stay. With 7 billion humans on the planet it is inevitable that there will be ecological disasters on an unpresidented scale as more and more people become disillusioned with our own selfish behavior. I have often pondered the moral question
"Is it a moral obligation to protect all human life even if it puts in peril the planet's entire ecosystem?"
For me there is only one answer: "no"
I support the actions of Sea Shepherd; an ecological group with enough balls to confront the total hypocracy of Japanese whaling fleets providing whalemeat to restaurants with the full backing of the IWC in the name of "so-called" scientific research.
Adrian Kenyon
Sarlat, France

adrian kenyon, Sarlat, France

You mention that Greenpeace will not co-operate with Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd organization.
There is a lot of bad feeling between the two groups, Paul Watson was one of the founders of Greenpeace years ago, but when it became obvious that Greenpeace was developing into a Corporate type of outfit that siphons off huge amounts of the money it collects for it's own overheads like salaries and buildings etc. he resigned and started Sea Shepherd. I think Sea Shepherd (I am not a member) is much more effective than Greenpeace ever was and deserves much more public support than it gets. Note that it is Sea Shepherd that is being effective right now, they have really brought the illegal whale hunt to the worlds attention by their fairly brave actions, lets bear in mind the Japanes are the criminals here, not Sea Shepherd, so how far do you go against powerful Government backed criminals? Obvoiusly there is a limit which Sea Shepherd has not exceeded, and never has in the pto my knowledge.

Tom O'Farrell, Sarnia., Canada

A bit of info for the discussion, the territorial waters referred to in the article are not internationally recognised. There is domestic legislation in Australia (Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act) which states the waters referred to are Australian, but there has been no ratification of this internationally. This is different from the example given by Cate where the Northern Territorial waters are internationally recognised.

Personally, I abhore whaling and think it should stop. I also absolutely disagree with the activities of Sea Sheppard whom I regard as extremists who put lives at risk.

Murray, Sydney, Australia

The only quibble I have with this article is the statement that
most of the 900 whales will end up on Japanese dining tables.
If only this were true. The Japanese, especially young Japanese are eating less and less whalemeat now. I rarely
see it in supermarkets these days and specialist whalemeat
restaurants are becoming fewer and fewer. A lot of the kill will
end up in a deep freeze somewhere. A least some will end up
in tins of petfood. This was genetically fingerprinted a few years ago. That`s what is tragic about this senseless slaughter.

Denver Watt, Osaka, Japan

The Australian Navy has a mandate to pursue and seize Indonesian fishing boats who fish illegally in our northern territorial waters. Why then does the new "pro-environment" Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, not order the Navy to take the same action against Japanese whaling ships in our southern waters? As a nation, Australia cannot reasonably expect to stop the whole Japanese whaling program, but we damn well can prevent the killing in our own territorial waters - supposedly a sanctuary for whales. I proudly voted for Kevin & quite frankly….. I expected more.

Cate, Melbourne, Australia

The Japanese skipper would have been well within his rights to make these two idiots "walk the plank." Tossing them overboard while all trussed up would have quite been justified.

What is the punishment for attempted piracy in today's world? Swinging from a yard-arm?

While I agree with the need to protect cetaceans as well as the World's pelagic fisheries, I disagree with the methods these two chose. Morons like these give Greenpeace a well-deserved reputation for being a bunch of hooligans whose actions border on domestic terrorisism.

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

The fact is, "Bess," that the people dying in the Congo are being murdered by their own "brothers and sisters" and short of another invasion, there is little that the "hypocritical westerners" can do on that front, so do your homework before lashing out unjustly.

In the event that the whales are extinguished, the rest of the ocean ecosystems will suffer massive imbalances and fluctuations before eventually collapsing. Think about that for a moment.

Also, given that they are in an international sanctuary illegally killing two (at least, two that we know of) endangered species of whales despite international condemnation of the "research" they are doing, don't you think that maybe, just maybe, we should be concerned with their rather brazen display of total disregard for international law. It may just be in our best interests to look at this not only from an ecological standpoint, but from a political one as well: what laws will they disregard next? What will happen after this is over?

Bergie, Calgary, Canada

Most definitely the biggest con ever! right?

It's only 900 each year, what's the big deal? These people willing to kill other people to save whales are crazy.

Focus your attention on the people dying of hunger or not having clean water or AIDS.

Why is it that whale-lovers hate their own kind?

Blake B, LA,

The 2 anti-whaling protesters should be taken to Japan for trial. Trespassing, throwing acid bombs and ropes, sounds like the behaviour of pirates and hooligans. At least the protesters will get a fair trial in Japan. This I imagine, is a lot better than what the Sea Shepherd would have handed to Japanese sailors had the reverse happened.

Rick Walter, Wellington, New Zealand

Larry, Whale hunting may be 100's of years old and it may be claimed as a tradition, but I don't think that harpoon cannons are particularly traditional. Maybe if they hunted in the traditional way then less people would mind. Also the tradition arguement did not stand up against fox hunting which is far more necessary and a great British tradition.

Bob, Singapore,

I am an Australian and a proud member of Sea Shepherd.

I support the activities of the Steve Irwin and am amazed how it takes an act such as this to focus attention on one of the biggest cons ever perpetrated on civilized society.

This "research" farce must be stopped. As stated endlessly commercial whaling has been outlawed for the best part of 50 years. Japan - which bit don't you understand?

Bill Bigun, Melbourne, Australia

Whaling has been a tradition in Japan for hundreds of years as evidenced by many historical reports and illustrations. The number of whales and their sustainability is as much in the interest to the whalers as it is to the people who try to prevent it. If being "humane" is the issue, then every country has its own unresolved matters. When crude oil runs out, and when the African continent turns into desert, and AIDS threatens the developed world, people will realise that their emphasis has been wrong all the way.

Larry, London, UK

Animal rights are very important in our democratic nation and as the Japanese were conducting their commercial whaling/'research' illegally the protestors were fully justified in their actions. Bess from Sweden, there are many causes which the media should focus its attention on but the plight of animal is far from unimportant as you suggest and the human rights of the activists involved are to be considered important.

Matthew Smith, Poole, Dorset, UK

If the australians are serious about stopping this, why not have the navy escort these ships out of their territorial waters. I'm sure they wouldn't have to torpedo more than one or two before the rest got the message!

Graeme Wilson, London,

It's amazing to me that with Japan's international criminal record after their despicable efforts during WWII that they are not more wary of inspiring international condemnation for their almost universally despised whaling activities. As a people they take pride in being inscrutable to other nationalities but this kind of indifference to their ever worsening reputation beggars belief.

David, Melbourne, Australia

It's a complex issue. But the argument to refrain from eating whales because 'they are intelligent' is flimsy. We firstly have to answer these conundrums:

How do we judge 'intelligence'?
Is there an 'IQ' above which an animal comes off the menu?
Would pigs (bright sparks on the farm) stay on our plates??

And even then... the case for intelligence in baleen whales is little-known and a good deal more complex than Michael of CA suggests (eg: brain to body ratio? A mouse wins!)

As I say, it's complex. Yet the whaling debate has struggled to mature. But it MUST if the issue is to be fully resolved! I urge all to think a little past the emotive bombast. Maybe have a look at www.highnorth.no ...if only to sharpen up your anti-whaling argument!!

In the meantime - check your ethics of what you eat yourself! ;)

H Moll, Hamburg,

"What if the Japanese are killing Gandhis and Einsteins?"

What!?!

I think research has probably shown that whales built the great wall of China.

Just because they have big brains don't make them intelligent. Just look at some humans! :-)

Skeptik, London,

It is interesting how hypocrisy of the West will never stop to exist.
Four millions Africans were killed in Congo, thousands of Africans and their children are dying because of huger and malnutrition and here we have people from the rich nations protesting and fighting for animal rights. Who cares if whales are killed or extinguished when our brothers and sisters are dying because West politicians are treating them as unpeople and are not interesting in their fate?
However, politicians love people who fight for animal rights; for ants, frogs and butterflies because they project their fears and anger into completely unimportant things and the media gets their intention instead of reporting of real problems and manipulations of millions of citizens.

Bess, Uppsala, Sweden

We really need to stop this activity by Japan We need to do this at the very highest levels of Governments, We must read Japan the Riot act otherwise the Japanese will not take us seriously and will carry on this nonsense of so called Research hunting,
The Japanese have hunted whales long enough now to know every nuance about them they have nothing left to research.
Humans must stop Slaughtering this tremendously intelligent Animal

peter kennedy, Vancouver BC., Canada

Rhetorical disingenuousness such as "traditional" by Japanese whaling corporations and others around the world, has been inanely repeated by reporters, who should remember that their profession is a quest for truth.
Increasing numbers of studies of whale species, including Japanese-targeted Minke and Fin Whales, has shown extremely high levels of intelligence, responsiveness, and what appears to be ethical behavior toward humans.
Continued slaughter and endangerment of these species is immoral.
The great whales have larger brains than our own; studies suggest language communication among some targeted species.
Certain areas of whale brains, such as the cingulate cortex of Fin Whales, are for instance, paralleled in humans, and in us, related to ethical decision-making. While the Fin Whale brain is 5x the size of our own, their cingulate cortex is larger in relation to their brain size than is ours.
What if the Japanese are killing Gandhis and Einsteins?

Michael McLaughlin, Eureka, CA

Japan won't back down over whaling unless and until domestic opposition to it becomes an important politcal factor.
What influence the shift towards direct action by environmentalists and conservationists has on Japanese public opinion remains to be seen, but a defensive reaction is not uncommonly triggered when a nation feels its culture and values are under attack.
On economic grounds, it would seem to be sensible for those who oppose whaling to render it unviable by making a costly nuisance of themselves. However, if Japanese public opinion falls solidly behind the whalers, the whalers may get extra funding, in which case what we now see happening will merely be the precursor of a long and increasingly bitter dispute.

Stephen Tyndale-Biscoe, Leeds,