Radical anti-whaling operation Sea Shepherd is promising dramatic attacks against Japanese whalers in coming months, with volunteers warning they're prepared to die for the cause.
The group has announced ‘Operation Divine Wind’ against the Japanese whalers, who plan to begin their annual hunt in the Southern Ocean in December.
Divine Wind is a translation of the Japanese word ‘kamikaze,’ the term given to the suicide pilots who led attacks on Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II.
Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said the Japanese will need to kill Sea Shepherd volunteers if they want to hunt whales uninterrupted.
“They will have to kill us to prevent us from intervening once again,” he said in a statement on the group’s website.
“Are the Japanese people ready to take human lives in defence of this horrifically cruel and illegal slaughter of endangered and protected species of whales?
“If so, my answer to the Japanese government is ‘hoka hey’ - it’s a good day to die.”
Mr Watson said Sea Shepherd plans to send around 100 volunteers to the coast of Antarctica to intercept whalers, and “the ships are ready and the crew are prepared”.
“I do think that we are in for a very dramatic and adventurous three months beginning in December and I am confident that we will be able to stop them once again,” he said on the group’s Facebook page.
The statement was ‘liked’ by more than 2000 Sea Shepherd Facebook fans.
Last year’s campaign prevented the killing of around 800 whales, Sea Shepherd says, prompting the Japanese government to inject around NZ$34 million for ‘enhanced security’.
The funding is “an insult to all the anti-whaling nations that so generously contributed to the relief of the tsunami and earthquake victims,” Mr Watson says.
He also accused Japan of continuing its whale program solely to save face against activist opposition.
“It now seems they are simply obsessed with killing whales not for need, and not for profit, but because they believe they have the right to do what they wish… it’s a disgrace and a smack in the face to everyone who stepped forward to help in their time of need.”
Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research has yet to comment on the claims.
Sea Shepherd was founded in 1977 and has campaigned aggressively against whaling for the last seven years; in 2010 the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil was sunk after a collision with a Japanese whaler.
In July an Associated Press-GfK poll found 52 percent of the Japanese public support whaling for commercial purposes.
3 News/NZN