The annual Japanese whaling season is in full swing, with them maintaining their excuse for it as 'scientific experimentation. But there is currently a resistance in action too. Boats from Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are down there in Antarctica too each taking the Japanese on in their own way.

What's everyone's feelings on this behaviour by the Japanese? Personally, in case you can't guess, I find it deplorable and applaud those who are down there resisting it with action rather than words.

An interesting link:
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Diary: Jonah and the whale-chasers

So that you don't get the wrong impression- I'm against whaling of all forms

I don' think I've heard of a less effective, more depressing method of protest. The provided link lead to a long list of articles that seemed as laborious to write as they were to read. There must be more effective means to keep the whaling from happening that this.

"Greenpeace's strategy, when and if they find the whalers, is to deploy inflatable boats between the Japanese harpoons and the whales....... the short delay was more symbolic than practical .....But there is still a sense of anti-climax......"

Wouldn't it be easier and more efficient to use fuel-conservative (Greenpeace, hello?) light-weight boats that use sonar to repel the whales from whatever area the whaling boats are in? Yes, it would drastically affect the feeding habits of the whales but it could save millions of dollars in equipment, manpower, preparation and I'm sure less whales would die than by harpooning. (If anyone can find studies to the contrary please link them, I wasn't able to find any)

Moreover, the protesters themselves seem determined to continue these fruitless efforts, not for the help of the whales but, for the sheer, bloody pig-headedness of the action itself.

"Footage of whales being harpooned by the Japanese fleet brought gasps but it was pictures of the activists bouncing around the ocean in inflatables, being hosed down and thrown into the ice cold water, that really focused the minds."

As a side note- I'd like applaud the patience the crews of the whaling vessels are showing in the face of Greenpeaces' arrogance.
While i disapprove of their(both whalers and greenpeace) actions, and that they seem to have a legal sanction to do this, I approve of their ability to be allowed to do things they have been legally approved of to do.