Sea Shepherd Activists Launch Operation Zero Tolerance

Sea Shepherd launches their ninth anti-whaling campaign, "Operation Zero Tolerance."

The marine activist group Sea Shepherd launched their ninth Antarctic anti-Japanese whaling campaign on Tuesday (January 8).

"Operation Zero Tolerance" will start out of Hobart, Australia and head to the atlantic for the whaling season.

The group is set on protecting the population of whales in the southern ocean's wild sanctuary from Japanese whalers.

[Ian Campbell, Advisory Board Member, Sea Shepherd International]:
"And I say to the Japanese: We won't go anywhere near you, if you don't go anywhere near our whales. There is the challenge. You stay 450 yards from the whales, we'll stay 450 yards away from you. But if you go closer than 450 yards to the whales, then it's 'game on'."

In recent years Japanese whalers and Sea Shepherd vessels have had violent confrontations in the icy waters of the Antarctic.

In December 2012, a U.S. appeals court issued an injunction against founder and president Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd. It warns against attacking Japanese whalers or coming within 450 yards of their ships in the Antarctic.

Campbell said Watson, who is wanted by Japan under Interpol, has left the organization.

Sea Shepherd captain Luis Pinho was positive about this year's mission.

[Luis Pinho, Sea Shepherd Captain]:
"The vessel is ready to go, a very experienced crew, many veterans from past campaigns and we are happy to go out there and make this campaign a success."

Anti-whaling activists regularly harass Japanese vessels in their annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean off Australia and Antarctica. At least one activist boat has sunk in recent years.

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