Sea Shepherd to Pay Millions to Whale Killers

Source: Yahoo! News / takepart.com

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society agreed to pay $2.55 million to Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research on Monday as part of a settlement to resolve a long-standing legal battle over the anti-whaling group’s tactics against Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic.

The settlement came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Sea Shepherd’s appeal of a federal court’s finding that the group was in contempt of a court order to stay clear of Japanese whaling ships.

The activist group’s tactics at sea include throwing smoke bombs at Japanese whaling ships and using metal-reinforced ropes to damage propellers and rudders. The question is whether those tactics—which typically take place in international waters—amount to piracy, and whether a U.S. court can order those activities to be stopped if they take place outside its jurisdiction.

Sea Shepherd believes it can’t, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court upheld that it can. Now, thanks to the settlement, Sea Shepherd will be giving millions of dollars to an organization it has tirelessly battled against in a fight to save the whales.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/sea-shepherd-pays-millions-damages-japanese-whaling-group-231929124.html