The dolphin drive hunt in Taiji has finally come to an end for 2012-2013 season, however Japan is unfortunately still on their quest of killing whales. The war currently being played out in Antarctica has the Japanese attempting to harpoon and kill whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary under the guise of “research” and for commercial purpose.

Sea Shepherd volunteers are currently risking their lives for the whales, as can be seen in the following video.

It is alarming that the Japanese whalers will go to such lengths in their attempt to continue whaling in Antarctica. This is simply a display of no regard for the safety of other human beings. I have watched every season of Whale Wars and am still astonished at what is currently happening! It is highly reminiscent of when the Japanese whalers intentionally ran over and ending up sinking the Ady Gil. You can see in the following video how the Japanese vessel intentionally turns into the Ady Gil, thankfully no one was injured.

The Nisshin Maru repeatedly ramming all Sea Shepherd vessels is an immediate cause for concern especially for the many courageous volunteers aboard all Sea Shepherd vessels currently putting their live on the line to save whales! Thankfully everyone is currently safe and no injuries have been reported.

The following photos courtesy of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on Facebook, show just how close the Nisshin Maru comes to and then collides with the Bob Barker.

Via Sea Shepherd New Zealand Zero Tolerance Update. “All attempts by the Nisshin Maru to refuel yesterday failed. The Sea Shepherd ships held their ground. All attempts to kill whales yesterday failed thanks to our inflatable crews intervening. No refuelling or whaling today because it is extremely bad weather, freezing sleet, high winds, heavy seas. Good for us, bad for them. We love bad weather down here and thankfully there is a lot of it and it will become worse each day until the conditions force the poachers from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary by the Ides of March. The Japanese Defence Force ship Shirase is keeping their distance. The Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker continue to tail the Nisshin Maru and the Sam Simon continues to tail the tanker Sun Laurel. The Shonan Maru and the three killer boats are scattered about, everybody just wasting fuel and going nowhere which works for us. As intense and as tough as this campaign has become, it is also the most effective season we have ever undertaken. Last year they took 26% of their kill quota. The year before that they took only 17% of their kill quota and this year it will be much lower than 17%. These poachers are going to have a very light load to take back to Japan and their efforts will be once again – a financial disaster”

For the whales!