Free Republic

A massive war of the words has just erupted online between Pete Bethune and members of the Sea Shepherd. The former captain of the Ady Gil, who was arrested (and later set free on a suspended sentence) after boarding a Japanese whaling vessel, has lashed out at the group — calling them “dishonest” and “morally bankrupt”. “I am asking that from now on, SSCS determine to act in an honest way with its volunteers, supporters and media,” he writes on his Facebook page. “SSCS does not need to lie. Saving whales, dolphins, tuna and sharks are noble causes, and the...

Two anti-whaling activists, one an Australian, were feared missing in Antarctic waters after a clash with a Japanese whaling fleet. A search for the two men was under way after the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd confronted Japanese whaling vessels in the Ross Sea. International director of Sea Shepherd, Jonny Vasic, said anti-whaling activists from two ships had used high speed inflatables to try to disrupt the operations of the whaling fleet. But a mayday message was issued after radio contact was lost with two activists in an inflatable. One of the men was an Australian from Perth and the other...

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) -- An American conservation group is calling for an international boycott of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver-Whistler because of an annual seal hunt that takes place on Canada's East Coast. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society based in Malibu, Calif., said the games, scheduled for February and March, will coincide with the time the seal hunt begins. "These dates fall at the exact time that the notoriously cruel, largest marine mammal slaughter in the world takes place on the East Coast of Canada," the society said in a statement found on their Web site. "The Olympics...