# About the legalities of Sea Shepherds and the whaling industry. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 26, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031 "2009-06-26T02:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/121 "2009-08-13T23:18:39Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Why is whale extinction bad? Maybe the world would be better off without them Whale farts are a huge contributor to global warming. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/122 "2009-08-14T07:42:22Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Really? I mean, that’s pretty much news to me. Humans are not animals? What definitions are you using? For the most part human societies appear to make a distinction both legally and morally between animals and human beings. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/123 "2009-08-14T10:20:02Z")
Well, yes, but that doesn’t make humans any less animals. Between humans and _other_ animals, perhaps. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. Squares have distinctions, but that doesn’t make them any less rectangles in the long run. “You and me baby ain’t nothing but mammals.” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/124 "2009-08-17T19:35:48Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > For the most part human societies appear to make a distinction both legally and morally between animals and human beings. Historically, that’s a line that has constantly moved. So what you’re saying is “the current narrow definition is somehow universal, despite t5he historical record.” ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/125 "2009-08-22T19:20:16Z")
Did anyone watch the season finale? I had to leave when they were showing some court proceedings, which would be the part pertinent to this thread. What happened? Did the law come on either side in a meaningful way? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/126 "2009-08-22T19:27:32Z")
They pulled into port, happy that they’d at last had some effect and vowing to be back the following season, and got their buzz-kill when they saw the Australian Federal Police waiting for them. The crew were held in the mess for five hours and evidence was collected. The master tapes were taken and copied, and the tapes were returned to the producers and the show was made. The case against Watson is still being investigated, and no charges have as yet been filed. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/127 "2009-08-22T19:28:02Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Did anyone watch the season finale? I had to leave when they were showing some court proceedings, which would be the part pertinent to this thread. What happened? Did the law come on either side in a meaningful way? No the law didn’t come on either side in any meaningful way. The Australian authorities raided the ship, there is an ongoing investigation, no charges have been filed and they were very courteous throughout. It seemed to me like the Australians were following the law to the letter and not any further. Despite their dumbassery the Sea Shepherds managed to cost the whaling fleet 30m dollars at least, because the small whales are worth 100k and they fell 300+ short of their quota. If you throw some of the larger million dollar whales in there the loss raises quickly. That on top of the outfitting of their ships with the expensive defenses. Those LRADs can’t be cheap. My wife has also been hearing that a new maritime standard for ships has come in that makes the Nisshin Maru an illegal ship because of the biological waste it dumps in the sea, though I haven’t looked into it myself. It looks as though at least for this year, the terrorists have won. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031/128 "2009-08-23T02:19:38Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Historically, that’s a line that has constantly moved. So what you’re saying is “the current narrow definition is somehow universal, despite t5he historical record.” I don’t see how you could have gotten that impression from what I wrote and I will thank you to refrain from putting words into my mouth in the future. The point was that people have always put human beings and animals into separate categories and it’s disingenuous to act flabbergasted that most people in our society do the same thing. Odesio [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-legalities-of-sea-shepherds-and-the-whaling-industry/501031.md?page=6)