Greenpeace - whale appreciation society(Dual Language)

Japanese government accused Greenpeace activities as "dangerous". Although Greenpeace protests as Nisshin Maru drove them between two ships, British BBC reporter, who was with Greenpeace at that time, write on his blog "The Greenpeace boat managed to hold a position in between the two ships for a few minutes - before, under pressure from water hoses and blaring horns, it was edged out and the two ships came together. After lunch the inflatables returned to take some pictures of themselves holding banners in front of the two ships." "This seemed to upset the Japanese catcher boats and they raced after the inflatables in ever tighter circles. For a mad half-hour, everyone seemed to lose their senses. Then a shape appeared on the horizon and - like naughty children caught messing around - everyone started behaving themselves. The Japanese captain issued a warning to the Esperanza to keep its distance and the inflatables came to a halt. When it arrived the Oceanic Viking deployed its own small boats into the water - and without a word to the passing activists proceeded towards the Japanese fleet. In fact no-one seems keen to want to talk to the Greenpeace ship. A long policy statement read out to the Oceanic Viking over the radio was met with a rather tired "can you put it in an email"." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7171409.stm 【WHALE】 The cows of the sea Though they possess social skills that humans associate with intelligence, whales are no smarter than your average pet, according to many experts. Tony Martin, head of the marine mammal section of the British Antarctic Survey, describes blue whales as "the cows of the sea". He said: "They graze as they go along so they don't have to outwit their prey, just like a cow doesn't outwit the grass." What's more, although whales communicate, they do not speak: "They have contact calls, but that's not language," said Martin. "We've never been able to observe anything like Mum saying to Dad, 'Have you seen Johnny recently?' " Predatory toothed whales, which include killer whales and dolphins, are certainly considered more intelligent than plankton-grazing species such as the blue whale, but no more so than other animals. "Humans are in awe of whales and they are incredible in so many ways, but in terms of intelligence, it is hard to say they are special," said Martin. "I wouldn't rate them any higher than a pet cat." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3216874.ece