# Ship-mounted Slingshot Defends Whales



## Darb (Sep 14, 2010)

One of the latest updates from the Sea Shepherd fleet opposing the whale poaching activities in the Antarctic area shows an interesting looking ship-mounted slingshot, which they're apparently using to fling rotten potatoes and other non-toxic stinky stuff.










I'd be curious to know what kind of draw-weight, ammo weight, and range they're getting, and whether or not we might be able to come up with some design improvements.

Feed: Article linkage


----------



## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

This is way too cool ,........ hope this guy is wearing a life vest(not visible in the picture), ...............he'd surely roll overboard , if the bands would snap !

But not sure , whether it would sink a battleship







!

Here is another one made by the local carp angler fraternity(a crazy bunch sometimes







)






greetz , Holzwurm


----------



## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

Darb said:


> One of the latest updates from the Sea Shepherd fleet opposing the whale poaching activities in the Antarctic area shows an interesting looking ship-mounted slingshot, which they're apparently using to fling rotten potatoes and other non-toxic stinky stuff.


I think they are trying to make a visual point: that they are using weak and primative kit that is not a real threat. If they used a butane or even compressed air canon, it would look like a firearm. It's about media attention as much as actual numbers. After their silly and ineffective antics aired on Discovery Channel, I was ready to write them off as a bunch of bumbling hippie activists, but they seem to be taken seriously at a high level of government. If their claims that the Japanese are failing to meet their quota are also true, then they are really doing a worthwhile job of protecting whales. I read that whale meat wholesales at about $17/lb which is close to bluefin and these guys weigh in at 14 tonnes, so I imagine the Japanese would catch them if they weren't harassed.


----------



## HOE (Nov 13, 2010)

Now what they need is Jorge's windlass slingshot cannon!


----------



## Darb (Sep 14, 2010)

ZDP-189 said:


> One of the latest updates from the Sea Shepherd fleet opposing the whale poaching activities in the Antarctic area shows an interesting looking ship-mounted slingshot, which they're apparently using to fling rotten potatoes and other non-toxic stinky stuff.


I think they are trying to make a visual point: that they are using weak and primative kit that is not a real threat. If they used a butane or even compressed air canon, it would look like a firearm. It's about media attention as much as actual numbers. After their silly and ineffective antics aired on Discovery Channel, I was ready to write them off as a bunch of bumbling hippie activists, but they seem to be taken seriously at a high level of government. If their claims that the Japanese are failing to meet their quota are also true, then they are really doing a worthwhile job of protecting whales. I read that whale meat wholesales at about $17/lb which is close to bluefin and these guys weigh in at 14 tonnes, so I imagine the Japanese would catch them if they weren't harassed.
[/quote]

I've actually been following their field reports, in quasi-realtime, for almost 3 seasons now (long before they air on TV), and I've occasionally forwarded a few ideas ... one of which got implemented last season.

Believe it or not, Capt. Watson is actually a fairly decent writer and tactician. He's passionate, dedicated, idealistic, insightful, and his non-violent tactics have been surprisingly effective at cutting the kill quotas by the poachers in roughly half. I may not be a vegan, but I admire the man.

p.s. I think their pirate-themed logo gives a lot of people the wrong impression ... the "Neptune's Navy" logo is a better fit.


----------



## roirizla (Dec 3, 2010)

They are using the wrong approach with the Japanese frankly. Even the guys who made the documentary The Cove. I'm appalled at what the Japanese are doing to whales and dolphins but the tactics & understanding from the likes of the Sea Shepherd of how to reach the Japanese (rest of the Japanese population, not the whalers) suck.

If the polite respectful approach fails, they should just follow the ideal set out in this clip:






RIP Adi Gil


----------



## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Darb said:


> One of the latest updates from the Sea Shepherd fleet opposing the whale poaching activities in the Antarctic area shows an interesting looking ship-mounted slingshot, which they're apparently using to fling rotten potatoes and other non-toxic stinky stuff.


I think they are trying to make a visual point: that they are using weak and primative kit that is not a real threat. If they used a butane or even compressed air canon, it would look like a firearm. It's about media attention as much as actual numbers. After their silly and ineffective antics aired on Discovery Channel, I was ready to write them off as a bunch of bumbling hippie activists, but they seem to be taken seriously at a high level of government. If their claims that the Japanese are failing to meet their quota are also true, then they are really doing a worthwhile job of protecting whales. I read that whale meat wholesales at about $17/lb which is close to bluefin and these guys weigh in at 14 tonnes, so I imagine the Japanese would catch them if they weren't harassed.
[/quote]

I've actually been following their field reports, in quasi-realtime, for almost 3 seasons now (long before they air on TV), and I've occasionally forwarded a few ideas ... one of which got implemented last season.

Believe it or not, Capt. Watson is actually a fairly decent writer and tactician. He's passionate, dedicated, idealistic, insightful, and his non-violent tactics have been surprisingly effective at cutting the kill quotas by the poachers in roughly half. I may not be a vegan, but I admire the man.

p.s. I think their pirate-themed logo gives a lot of people the wrong impression ... the "Neptune's Navy" logo is a better fit.

















[/quote]

I'm having a cognitive disconnect here. As I understand it, Japanese whalers are operating under an international agreement which permits them to take a certain number of whales each year. If that is correct, how can they be "poachers"?


----------



## frosty2 (Aug 23, 2010)

Those who are legally harvesting from the sea should be able to protect their activities with force of arms if need be. Greenpeace activists are just political pirates and should be rounded up and punished like any other pirate scum.
frosty2


----------



## Darb (Sep 14, 2010)

I started this thread because it involved slingshots ... I'm not really interested in spoonfeeding people who opine without first trying to become better informed on the issue.

However, I will respond to two specific items.



> As I understand it, Japanese whalers are operating under an international agreement which permits them to take a certain number of whales each year.


INCORRECT. The conflict is happening in an established whale sanctuary where commercial whaling (read: whales killed in order to be sold for profit as food stuffs) is expressly prohibited by the IWC. Despite the prohibition, the Japanese whalers are flouting international law by continuing to engage in commercial whaling within the whale sanctuary under the thin disguise of doing "research" ... as if simply painting "research" on the sides of their vessels provides all the justification they need. Their quotas are entirely self-awarded, and their actual "research" is non-existent. What's really sad is (a) how few nations are willing to stand up to Japan because they dont want to jeapordize their economic bottom line, and {b} how many people are willing to believe the false "research" signs stencilled on the sides of those ships because they cannot comprehend that there really are people and corporations out there that are willing to tell baldfaced lies in order to harpoon and steal protected and endangered whales. Even more gobsmacking is how some of the people who cannot comprehend this actually have hunting licenses themselves, and yet cannot understand conservation law protecting endangered species. In any case, this is a clearcut instance of commercial poaching that's being subsidized by the Japanese government.



> Those who are legally harvesting from the sea should be able to protect their activities with force of arms if need be. Greenpeace activists are just political pirates and should be rounded up and punished like any other pirate scum.


See the above explanation about how this is a commercial poaching operation, not a legal harvesting operation.

Also, Sea Shepherd, as clearly indicated on their own site, is not currently associated with Greenpeace. Capt Watson was a co-founder of Greenpeace, but parted ways with them years ago after the latter evolved into an empty fundraising org that takes in millions but no longer accomplishes very much for it. _EDIT: you might find this relevant opinion piece interesting._

Last, people seem to have an incorrect grasp of what naval "piracy" actually entails. It is essentially organized armed theft at sea, and in the irony of ironies, it is the Japanese whalers who are the actual pirates in this situ, because they are stealing whales with explosive harpoons and guns, and the only ones trying to stop them, are the Sea Shepherds. The Sea Shephards use the Jolly roger logo mostly because it's become something of a bad-boy go-it-alone kinda symbol that appeals to disaffected youth culture. If it helps, think of it as mostly a t-shirt symbol or tattoo logo, rather than an actual declaration of piracy. That was one of my past recommendations, BTW ... ditching the jolly roger, because it's only playing into the hands of the Japanese disinformation campaign.

Anyway, all this historical information is described in considerable depth on the Sea Shepherd site.

I'm done in here ... I just wanted to report on the slingshot, not engage in a soapbox debate.

If anyone has any lingering disagreements, let's just agree to disagree, while those who have not yet done so read further on the relevant issues.


----------



## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

I think this is an excellent illustration of why controversial and inflammatory subjects should be kept off this board. Let's all just stick to discussing slingshots, please.


----------



## Chugosh (Feb 9, 2010)

That's a big slingshot alright.


----------

