Second Mate Peter Brown launches the drone from the Steve Irwin - Photo: Sea Shepherd
An international non-profit society dedicated to protecting marine mammals says it is using unmanned aircraft to monitor a Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said that it deployed one of the aircraft on Christmas Day, to intercept the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru about 800 kilometers off Western Australia’s southwest coast, just north of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
The Sea Shepherd ship, Steve Irwin, deployed a UAS to successfully locate and photograph the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru on December 24th. Once the pursuit began, three Japanese harpoon/security ships moved in on the Steve Irwin to shield the Nisshin Maru to allow it to escape.
This time however the Japanese tactic of tailing the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker will not work because the UAS, one on the Steve Irwin and the other on the Bob Barker, can track and follow the Nisshin Maru and can relay the positions back to the Sea Shepherd ships. “We can cover hundreds of miles with these aircraft and they have proven to be valuable assets for this campaign,” said Captain Paul Watson on board the Steve Irwin.
Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd pilot Chris Aultman and Sea Shepherd Security Officer Jeffrey Milstein with the drone. Photo: Barbara Veiga/Sea Shepherd
The aircraft named Nicole Montecalvo was donated to the Steve Irwin by Bayshore Recycling of New Jersey, and Moran Office of Maritime and Port Security, also of New Jersey.Captain Watson having received reports from fishermen when the Japanese ship passed through the Lombok Strait waited south of the strait at a distance of 500 miles off the southwest coast of Western Australia. Sea Shepherd caught the whalers at 37 degrees South, far above the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
“The chase is on for the next 1,000 miles,” said Quartermaster Eleanor Lister of Jersey (U.K.). With the Steve Irwin taking up the resources of three of the Japanese ships the Bob Barker remains clear of a tail and the Brigitte Bardot is clear to scout out the factory ship, having superior speed to the harpoon vessels. The Sea Shepherd crew has found the Japanese whaling fleet before a single whale has been killed.
“This is going to be a long hard pursuit from here to the coast of Antarctica,” said Captain Watson. “But thanks to these drones, we now have an advantage we have never had before – eyes in the sky.”
Bayshore Recycling Corp (BRC) owners recently donated a long‐range drone fitted with cameras and detection equipment The drone was created and developed by the team at the Moran Office of Maritime and Port Security (MOMPS)
The drone named Nicole Montecalvo has assisted in locating Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean previously has assisted in operations against blue fin tuna poaching operations off the coast of Libya. The drone Nicole Montecalvo was delivered on board the vessel Steve Irwin by the Vessel Security Officer during transit to Antarctica while in search of the Japanese flagship, Nisshin Maru.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non‐profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct‐action tactics to investigate, document and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas.
Source: Press Release