Animal Planet Statement Regarding Sea Shepherd and Whaling Ship's Engagement at Sea

NEW YORK, Jan. 6 -- On Wednesday, January 6, 2010 in the Southern Ocean, an ancillary vessel from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the Ady Gil, and the Japanese security ship, the Shonan Maru No. 2, physically collided, leaving the much smaller Ady Gil sinking and unsalvageable. According to the Sea Shepherds, the Japanese vessel rammed the Ady Gil while the Ady Gil was motionless. However, Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research reports that the Ady Gil collided with the Shonan Maru No. 2.

Sea Shepherd has reported that all on the Ady Gil have been safely transported to their newest ship, the Bob Barker. Of the six crew on the Ady Gil, one cameraman, Simeon Houtman of New Zealand, was part of the production crew hired by Animal Planet to document the activities of the Sea Shepherd in the series WHALE WARS. He sustained minor injuries during the collision. In total, the production crew has 16 members currently embedded on the Bob Barker and the Sea Shepherd's primary vessel, the Steve Irwin.

Said Animal Planet president and general manager Marjorie Kaplan, of the engagement at sea, "We're very concerned that all of the players -- on both sides of the 'war' -- should come out of this conflict unharmed. It's indicative of how critical this conservation story is that these individuals are willing to risk their lives for what they believe."