Guest guest Posted December 31, 2005 Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 The article and photo: http://theage.com.au/news/world/whale-rider-makes-defiant-stand-on-killing/2005/\ 12/31/1135915725364.html .... Whale rider makes defiant stand on killing The Age January 1, 2006 Greenpeace rides high in its anti-whaling campaign, writes Matthew Benns. Among the crew of the Greenpeace ships in the harsh waters of the Southern Ocean, he is known as the whale rider. Australian activist Mikey Rosato's defiant action of standing on the back of a harpooned whale has inspired the protesters to continue their defiance of the Japanese whalers. " I jumped onto the whale because I wanted to show the Japanese crew that, just because the whale was dead, the protest at what they were doing was not over, " Mr Rosato said. The drama in the ocean unfolded a fortnight ago as two Greenpeace ships dogged the Japanese scientific whaling fleet in Australia's territorial Antarctic waters. " We were out in an inflatable boat and for 31/2 hours we put ourselves between the whalers and three whales, one of which was just a baby, " said Mr Rosato, 33, via a satellite phone on the Arctic Sunrise icebreaker last week. " They finally got a clear shot and hit the larger of the whales. Once they harpooned the whale it dived for 10 minutes and when it came up it was dead. " I managed to jump on to it. I didn't see what I did as brave or courageous or even risky, " said the Adelaide-born activist. As Mr Rosato held up his " stop whaling " banner, the Japanese crew on board the whaling ship turned their water cannons on him. " They aim for your ears and face, which means you have to protect yourself and cannot hold on. They are quite aggressive, " Mr Rosato said. As the cannons sprayed him he neatly stepped off the back of the dead minke whale and onto a small iceberg. " The intimacy of being with the whale as it died left me feeling quite traumatised and absolutely helpless, " he said. Expedition leader Shane Rattenbury watched the act of defiance from the ship's bridge. " Mikey is a very passionate person and everyone was very inspired by his protest, " he said. It was a small victory in what Greenpeace is billing as its most successful foray into the Southern Ocean. The new Greenpeace vessel Esperanza is faster than the older Arctic Sunrise and the Japanese fleet has been unable to outrun the protesters. " We are here to show the world what is going on and to try and stop them killing the whales, " said Mr Rattenbury, who is based at Greenpeace's Australian office. The protest appears to have been successful; for several days the Japanese fleet has tried to flee its dogged pursuers rather than hunt whales. Mr Rattenbury and his 57-strong international crew, including six Australians, believe the Japanese do not want more embarrassing pictures of slaughtered whales appearing in the world's newspapers. For Mr Rosato, the protest is about the future. He said he and his Irish wife, Lally, (who is also travelling on the Greenpeace boat) plan to have children one day. " We would like there to be some whales left in the ocean for them to see. " THE MINKE VITAL STATISTICS SIZE Minke whales can grow to 9 metres long and weigh up to 7 tonnes. DIET They are seasonal feeders and carnivores. They sieve through the ocean water and filter out small polar plankton, krill and small fish, even chasing schools of sardines, anchovies, cod and herring, the same diet as blue whales. SOCIAL GROUPS Minke whales either travel singly or congregate in small pods of about two or three. DIVING They can can dive for up to 20-25 minutes, but usually make shorter dives, lasting about 10-12 minutes. Just before diving, the minke whale arches its back to a great degree, but its fluke does not rise out of the water. SPEED Minke whales normally swim from 5-25 km/h, but can go up to 30 to 35 km/h in bursts when in danger. Feeding speeds are slower, typically about 2-10 km/h. SOUNDS The large mammals make very loud sounds, up to 152 decibels (as loud as a jet taking off). They make series (called trains) of grunts, thuds and rasping sounds. HABITAT AND RANGE They live at the surface of the ocean in all but polar seas. Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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