Hello, Forum Members.
I have been reading here on and off since Capt_Anonymous visited the Animal Planet forums awhile back to give us the professionals’ viewpoint. I came to that forum after watching Whale Wars for a season and a half and wondered how the heck the SSCS gets away with what they do. I have no particular interest in whales, and see them as a resource to be used in a sustainable manner like any other fish/game animal with seasons, limits, etc. I am not a mariner; if I use wrong wording or terminology, nudge me in the right direction.
This afternoon, the Animal Planet WW forum was completely suspended and shut down. I don’t know how long some of the links from there will work, so I wanted to take a shot at posting here. A video of the collision taken by the AP crew on the Ady Gil was posted this am. Here it is:
It probably does not show the Japanese Captain in the best light. It cuts off before the actual collision and does not show the acceleration of the Ady Gil at the last moment seen in the vid from the whale ship POV. It does show, however, that Watson’s claim that the ship was dead in the water and out of fuel is a false claim.
Unrelated: for those looking for the Bob Barker ship info, here it is before the black paint job:
http://www.smsab.com/admin/demosite_mod15/information.asp?pagenr=2008
and here is some of the historical info:
http://www.marineserv.org/shipsellbuycharter.htm
See ya later.