The Death of a Whaler.

Commentary by Captain Paul Watson

I never met Hajime Shirasaki. I'm sure that if I had met him, we would not have agreed on much. He was a whaler and I detest whalers and I'm sure he detested us for our efforts to protect his victims.

But Hajime Shirasaki was also a human being with a family and friends who will miss him. And for that we sympathize with his family for their loss.

Meet the Save the Whale 'Terrorists'.

The Japanese whalers are a cowardly bunch.

When it comes to shooting defenseless whales in the back, they thump their chests like big brave men. They strut around with their lethal lances and pose in front of their big harpoon cannons like preening peacocks bragging about their macho credentials.

Will Peter Garrett Ban the Steve Irwin from Oz?

After chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for over 2,000 miles the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin must return to port for fuel.

Although the ship is as close to Puntarenas, Chile as it is to Hobart, Tasmania and even closer to Dunedin, New Zealand, Captain Paul Watson has decided that the ship will return to Australia.

Sea Shepherd Responds to Japanese Whaling Industry Propaganda.

The following media release has been issued by the Japan Whaling Association. Captain Watson has inserted his responses:

Press Release from Japan Whaling Association
HEADLINE: WHALERS' GROUP CALLS FOR PORT CLOSURES

Orcas frolic on Manuakau. New Zealand

A pod of around ten Orca whales is entertaining beach-goers at Glenbrook, south-west of Auckland.

Sean McConney says the whales have been basking in the water for the last few hours - and are now swimming back towards the open sea.

Dolphin park, aquarium likely at Mahalaxmi racecourse. India

The Mumbai civic body is contemplating to set up a dolphin park and an aquarium on the 226-acre Mahalaxmi racecourse in central Mumbai .

"We have suggestions to set up a dolphin park and an aquarium in the central part of the racecourse. The remaining place would then be utilised by BMC," Mayor Shubha Raul said.

Close ports to terror ship: whaling body.

The Australian and New Zealand governments should close their ports to an anti-whaling vessel committing "criminal acts" in the Southern Ocean, says the Japan Whaling Association (JWA).

JWA president Keiichi Nakajima said the Dutch-registered vessel Steve Irwin, which was committing "terror" on the Antarctic high seas, was running low on fuel and apparently heading to either New Zealand or Australia to refuel.

Dolphin moves to new facility. TX, USA

Toby the bottlenose dolphin weighed in at 188 pounds Saturday at SeaLab.

The young male mammal has gained more than 20 pounds since stranding on Padre Island in November with shark and other dolphin bites on his underbelly. On Saturday volunteers carried him in a terry cloth stretcher to a fiberglass trough in a closed panel truck bound for Galveston.

Sea Shepherd to Return to Land to Refuel.

After chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for 2,000 miles from the extreme Western end of their hunting territory near Commonwealth Bay in the Australian Antarctic Territory, to the Eastern side of the Ross Sea, the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin has been forced to cut off the pursuit to return to land for refueling.

"We have engaged them, we have stopped their whaling activities for two weeks and we have successfully chased them out of the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters," said Captain Paul Watson. "We now have to return to land to refuel. We don't have the luxury of refueling at sea like the Japanese fleet has. We don't have the resources to operate two ships down here and we don't have the support of Greenpeace to relieve us. We are doing the best we can with the resources available to us and we are having a significant impact on their kills."

Winter whale watch season under way. OR, USA

The annual winter whale watch season begins today and runs to Jan. 1

Morris Grover, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's whale watching volunteer coordinator, said marine mammal experts estimate that 18,000 gray whales and about 1,100 humpback whales pass the Oregon coast at the peak of their migration south to the waters off the Baja Peninsula.

Beached whale dies. Spain

Despite the valiant efforts of firefighters, volunteers and members of CREMA (Centre for the Recuperation of Threatened Species) group in Malaga, who continually threw buckets of water over a beached fin whale on San Pedro beach in Las Petunias, the creature has died.

The whale weighed three tonnes and was 15 metres long; it was reportedly the largest of the species ever seen along the Malaga coast.

'Whale’s death in Manila Bay indicates grim problem'. Philippines

The death of a whale in Manila Bay earlier this week may not be an isolated case but a sign of serious environmental problems, according to a leader of an ecological group.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Philippines vice chairman Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan said the death shows the urgency to address climate change that was blamed for the whale's death.

Ocean Users Must Protect Whales in Hawaiian Waters. USA

The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) is asking all recreational and commercial boaters to be extra cautious during whale season, especially during the height of the season, January through March, to help ensure the continued restoration of the thriving population of these treasured mammals.

Global Whale 'Hot Spot' Discovered Off East Timor.

One of the world's highest concentrations of dolphins and whales, many of them protected species, has been discovered off the coast of East Timor researchers said on Wednesday. 'It's among the world's hot spots for cetaceans' said principal scientist Karen Edyvane.

Update: Moko brings in a Mahia crowd. New Zealand

Visitors to Mahia to see Moko the dolphin have local business soaring . . . but some of the attention is unwanted, locals say.

And some have concerns for the safety of the popular dolphin. Mahia Beach Store owner Elaine Westwood said it was the busiest it had been in the 20 years she owned the store.