sea shepherd finds some friends at sherbrooke

Last night I attended a fundraiser organised by Sherbrooke Community School student, Jordan Crooka to raise money for the Sea Shepherd. Jordan did a great job organising the food, entertainment and a myriad of auction items and raised over $3,000 for his efforts.

Pictured left to right: Campbell Holland (Ships Engineer), Kate Henderwood, Jordan Crooka, Samantha Dunn and Sara Keltie (Marine Biologist).

The event was well supported by the local community and the crowd were treated to entertainment by Sherbrooke student Kate Henderwood accompanied by Jordan Crooka, Athula Mamaborupodakqua, The Ineligible and Anna Paddick (a very talented ex Sherbrooke student).

People were captivated by the presentation by Campbell Holland, Ships Engineer on the Sea Shepherd's ship the Bob Barker. Campbell gave a great insight to being a crew member on board a Sea Shepherd ship and the sorts of tactics the Japanese Whalers resort to in the Southern Ocean. This year's whaling season saw the Japanese whaler Shonan Maru 2 destroy the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil. It was an atrocious act which endangered the lives of the six crew on board and highlighted the lack of scrutiny our government gives to what is happening out on the Southern Ocean.

Sara Keltie, Sea Shepherd Crew member and marine biologist gave an insight into the shocking trade in shark fin and the plight of critically endangered species such as Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and various species of Sharks (18 species are listed as endangered which is alarming given their status as alpha predators).

Sold! Enthusiastic auctioneers, Denise Dempsey, Robert Pergl and Jordan Crooka ran a pacey and energetic auction. It was terrific to see Greens Senator Bob Brown support the event by donating a signed photo taken by him of Recherche Bay in far South Tasmania (now happily hanging on my wall).

Well done Jordan, you are a credit to your school, motivated and passionate, our future looks bright with emerging leaders like you.

ban aid to japanese whalers - sign petition now

As a result of the news that the Japanese whaling fleet hired Australian planes to track the Sea Shepherd ship, the Greens intend to introduce a bill banning activities associated with whaling in Australia when the Senate resumes in February.

You can help.

Senator Bob Brown is calling on Australians to support the Bill by signing an online petition. Bob will refer to the full list of supporters when he introduces the bill in February and a copy of the list will be delivered to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.


















From left to right: Samantha Dunn - Greens candidate for Eastern Victoria, Sea Shepherd Crew Member and Greens Senator Christine Milne aboard the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin in Hobart before it set sail for Fremantle and operation Waltzing Matilda.

If you’d like to sign the petition click here, but remember to do it before parliament resumes in February.

In supporting the petition I said “It is disgraceful that successive federal governments have allowed the Japanese to whale in Australia's Antarctic Territory waters year after year. Under no circumstance should any support be forthcoming from Australia to Japanese whalers to assist them in their operations. Mr Rudd, what happened to your election promise to take the Japanese whalers to court?

I’d like to know that my 8 year old son could enjoy the splendour of these magnificent creatures in the future, whilst this slaughter continues their future is looking bleak. It is possible to undertake research programs without killing whales, this slaughter needs to stop.

I urge the government to show leadership on this issue. Australia must commence continued surveillance operations to ensure that our waters are protected from this hideous activity. I urge the government and coalition to support the Greens Bill banning activities associated with whaling in Australia. This legislation must pass to ensure no more Australian aid or assistance goes towards Japanese whaling.”

I urge you to sign this petition and it would be great if you could forward this information to your networks too.

It is time for Australians to make a stand and say enough is enough. Make your voice heard here.