Aid STRICTLY PERSONAL THE GREAT Whale Wars aren't over yet, but the Battle of Norway has just been fought, and the Norwegians shot themselves in the foot, big Ume. Apart from a couple of items in the Vancouver dailies, most Canadians wouldn't know anything had happened, but in Eurose, it's a different story, Paul Watson, for instance. had a dozen reporters and cameramen on board his M.V. Whales Forever when it was rammed and depth- charged by the Norweginns. Not too far away, the Greenpeace ship AL V. Sirius was hauled into port and several crew members arrested fer chopping a line to let a wounded minke whale escape, probably to its doom. But at least the whalers were denied another prize, and what will the Norwegians charge the Greenpeacers with, anyway? Trying to free a whale? Exactly, Although Norway was let off the hook by the international communi- ty in order to allow the Winter Olympics to proceed, that honey- moun, | suspect, is over. As a result of last week's activi- ties by Watson and (quite separate- ly) by Greenpeace, Norway is going to be under a lot of pressure, at least in Europe, where the viciousness and stupidity of its nuvy’s response to protesters any- where near its shores is about to be revealed in full video splendor. Jtalked to Watson by radio- phone while he was still engaged by the Norwegians, and here's the summary of what he described. As I was talking to Watson, somebody with a Norwegian accent isiires In broke in over die call and warned: “We will make trouble for you yet.” As Watson left a small Dutch port in his new ship, bound for Norway, he was shadowed by a U.S. Navy ship, which escorted him right up to the edge of Norway's 200-mile fishing limit. where the Norwegian naval vessel Andeties ~- the country’s largest — was wait- ing, obviously ipped off by the Americans, The Norwegians shadowed him fora while, then ordered him to surrender, even though he was sti outside their (2-mile limit. He has been sentenced in absen- tia for scuttling a docked Norwegian whaler last year, an act of sabotage he freely admits, Norway's government took the unusual step of placing police on board the aavy vessel to make the arrest, Well, it didn’t quite work out When Watson refused to give himself up, che commander of the Andenes had his sien dump hawsers into the water to foul Watsaa’s pro- pellers, and, indeed, it almost worked. The hawsers were five inches thick, and cuught a prop, but Watson himself grabbed an axe and cut the hawser in half The Andenes charged at esti- mates that cinge from 17 to 27 knots, There's an old naval term, “bone inthe teeth,” referring toa warship threwing up a huge baw- wave as it atticks, Watson managed to manoeuvre hard to the port so that instead of slicing him in half the warship merely tore three to four feet of metal off the bow of the Whales Forever, just missing chopping the smaller ship right down to the water line. This is all on videotape. I'm advised. So, sooner or later, we'll get to see it, dad in some ways more damagingly for the Norwegians, we Tl get to hear what the navy conunander had to say over the radio to Watson, He told Watson to order his crew to the stem because the Norwegians were going to fire on the wheelhouse. The crew, of course, refused to do any such thing, and instead formed a human shield ground Watson as he remained at the helm. That having failed. the Norwegian officer told Watson to order his people out of the engine room, since the warship was going to shoot for the engine room. There was only one man down there, who refused to leave his post. Yatson told the Norwegians there were three people below. To their credit, the Norwegians did not fire. What they did do, though, was send Zodiaes out with depth charges, Pulling up just ahead of the Whales Forever, sailors hurled the big blue canisters down in Watson's path: One by one, his hull cruached into them, and they exploded. To everyone's astonish- wien, while every dial and half the pipes in the engine room burst and a couple of reporters were slightly injured being thrown to the deck, the ship's hull did not collapse. Watson had planned well. ‘The bout he'd bought this time was a former seismic research vessel with a double hull, designed to withstand underwater blasts. The Norwegian commander was relieved of his command after- wards, for failing to stop Watson “at all costs.” [have since heard that he was reinstated, which means mass confusion at the top of the Norwegian command. Watson had defiantly saiied right into their grasp, took a beating but stared them down, ind escaped. great whale war And while Watson's was, by far, the most dramatic encounter off the coast of Norway this summer, the Greenpeacers didn't do too badly either. | saw the footage of them swarming on board a Norwegian whaler, being threatened with flens- ing knives, and then being hurled back into the sea, only to be arrest- ed later, If you want to help push while the timing is excellent, send a note to Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister, Oslo, Norway, asking her {o stop the whaling before Norway finds itself killing people to kill whales. g on the Nerth Shere) | ® Co-ed and Women’s Only exercide facilities. All programs include ; unlimited perscnal instruction. ® Latest in cardio equipment - stairmaster, treadmill, lifecycle, etc. * Aerobics {all kinds), step and funk. © Squash and Racquetball Courts and much, much more. Some clubs charge three times this amount. 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