Andrew Bartlett accepts the word of a known media manipulator

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson firmly believes that lying in pursuit of his goals is no big deal:

The nature of the mass media today is such that the truth is irrelevant. What is true and what is right to the general public is what is defined as true and right by the mass media. Ronald Reagan understood that the facts are not relevant. The media reported what he said as fact. Follow-up investigation was “old news.” A headline comment on Monday’s newspaper far outweighs the revelation of inaccuracy revealed in a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or Wednesday.

And despite his unbelievable claim that Japanese whalers shot him in the chest in 2008, Andrew Bartlett accepts Watson's latest accusation as fact:

The news that a vessel of the Japanese whaling fleet has deliberately rammed and sunk a small boat of the Sea Shepherd fleet in the open ocean will lift the whale wars to a whole new level.   It could well lead to serious harm to diplomatic and other relations between Australia and Japan.

Yes, diplomatic relations could definitely be harmed if the Australian government is stupid enough to take sides in the whale war.

At this point in time there's no telling what actually happened but Bartlett is convinced that something needs to be done to stop Asian whale killers:

The news that Australians businesses have been involved in directly assisting the Japanese whaling efforts  has already led the Australian Greens party to announce that they will  introduce legislation making it illegal for any Australian assistance to be provided to whaling, including air or sea surveillance or communication facilities.  The fact that in previous years the Japanese whaling fleet had been able to use Australian ports had caused controversy, but no formal legal action.

In fact, whatever the Japanese get up to off Antarctica is none of Australia's business.

Update: Contrary to Captain Paul Wilson's report on the collision, the Ady Gil was underway, not dead in the water, and makes no effort to maneuver, whereas the Japanese vessel appears to by turning to port in order to avoid a collision, ultimately hitting the smaller vessel a glancing blow. Take note of prop wash at the aft of the Ady Gil, which indicates that the vessel accelerated in order to ram the Japanese vessel. Captain Paul Watson is incorrect in claiming that the Ady Gil attempted to avoid a collision.