There seems to be some controversey over the ramming incident in the Southern Ocean.

Here are two videos of the same incident.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e4e_1250377389
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXQq78lvKrU

Please Watch and Vote

Question:
Did the Sea Shepherds intentionally ram the Yushin Maru?

Choices:
Yes
No
Not Sure

 

I don't really know but I think they planned to go between the ships and cut through the line that was attached to the whale.

Anyway, their ship is smaller....they'd probably damage their ship more than the Japanese ship by ramming it....so I don't really feel like they would have done it on purpose.

That was the original intent (to cut the line) but when it didn't work out. Anger and frustration took over and intentionally rammed them.
Here's a video from 2007:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Xyn8&feature=related

It is a habit they have.

quote:

Originally posted by Ophidian:
That was the original intent (to cut the line) but when it didn't work out. Anger and frustration took over and intentionally rammed them.
Here's a video from 2007:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Xyn8&feature=related

It is a habit they have.

Well I guess that might be what happened then but anyway, if they get a faster ship the ramming will probably happen less then because they'd be able to catch up in time to slash the line attached to that whale.

In this video from Steve Irwin,

view from SI

A woman with a strong Australian(?) accent talks about "helmet" 5 seconds before the impact. At the moment of the impact, she says "ok here we go." There is also a guy saying "hung on."

Now, English is not my native language, but I do speak decent English. And the way they phrase these expressions surely leads me to believe that this ramming was intentional. I think they needed a shot like this for the TV show.

This is a post from Paul Watson himself, I am on another forum and he's on it...

quote:

I would like to respectfully contest what you have said here. I'm not bragging but stating as fact that I am the world's most experienced ship rammer. I have been ramming ships since I first knocked the pirate whaler Sierra out of business in July 1979.
I fully understand the physics and the mechanics of ramming a ship. I know where to hit it and how to hit it to avoid causing injuries. When 1,000 tons of steel collides with 1000 tons of steel at a correct angle, the mass or volume of the metal being struck and the metal striking absorbs the shock of the impact and never in any of the many number of ship rammings have we ever knocked a person off their feet. I never strike a ship where there is an accommodation or fuel compartment and I never strike where crew are standing. I once aborted a deliberate ramming on a Japanese driftnetter because a crewmember was not moving from the position where he was standing. As for sinking whalers, we only sink whaling ships without anyone onboard.
Is ramming a pirate whaling ship moral or legal. It is legal unless charges are laid and I've never been charged with a crime in relationship to a ship ramming. As for moral, it depends on your point of view. An anthropocentric would argue that it is immoral but a biocentric would maintain that it is moral. I personally don't care what the anthropcentrics think of what we do.
So we stand by to ram if need be if that is what it takes to save the lives of these gentle, intelligent, socially complex, self aware wonderful sentient beings we call whales. -Paul Watson
_____________________________________________
Can you believe it now?

quote:

So we stand by to ram if need be if that is what it takes to save the lives of these gentle, intelligent, socially complex, self aware wonderful sentient beings we call whales. -Paul Watson
_____________________________________________
Can you believe it now?

wow, just wow.

Well I guess he intentionally rams then but it seems like he knows how to ram without hurting people. After all, apparently he's rammed a lot.

I guess the ramming isn't that dangerous.

quote:

he intentionally rams then but it seems like he knows how to ram without hurting people.

more like

he intentionally rams then but it seems like he claims to know how to ram without hurting people.

I just notice that in this video clip:

confession

Ramming is described as SS's tactic #3, and SS crews actually confess that they ram on purpose.

I don't think it is a good idea to confess a crime on a national TV, but hey, that is SS. They have never made sense, they never will.

It's just amazing how they
aern't in prison...wow

And if they didn't intend to ram the ship why is there a net placed out of sight on the fo'c'sle ready to throw ahead of the props of the whaler? Towards the end of the video you can see two crew members of the Steve Irwin clearly throwing it.

Also there have been claims that the other ship to the SI's port side was closing..... if you watch the wake of all three ships, the SI is the only one with deviated wake!!