[Newsbot]

<strong>Title: </strong> <a href="/link.php?id=21737" target="_blank">U.S. Coast Guard accused of shooting gun near whales</a> (click to view)

<strong>Category:</strong> <a href="/news/topic/12-uncle-sam" target="_blank">Uncle Sam</a>
<strong>Posted By: </strong> <a href="/modules.php?name=Your_Account&op=userinfo&username=Streaker" target="_blank">Streaker</a>
<strong>Date: </strong> 2007-05-27 03:48:15
<strong>Canadian</strong>

[icekarma2752]

wasnt this topic already posted??

[icekarma2752]

yes...baylee already posted this

[Streaker]

I posted a newslink, but you made it into a topic, icekarma.

[icekarma2752]

so i did...didnt realize what the results would be...i still have a lot to learn about this site

[Streaker]

icekarma2752 icekarma2752:

so i did...didnt realize what the results would be...i still have a lot to learn about this site

No worries. I just think it's an interesting story and hope this might turn into a decent thread, as opposed to the other one which ended up locked.

[Tricks]

They were doing an exercise, didn't know there was whales there, stopped when they found out. Don't really see the story here.

[Tricks]

lily lily:

Even if they didn't see the whales - shouldn't they have noticed the whale-watching boats in the area? A quarter of a mile isn't that far away.

They couldn't have known if they were sitting there waiting, if they were moving to a different spot, or if they had seen whales. Probably should have checked with them first, but as soon as they found out, the ceased fire, so I don't know what the deal is. Slow news day.

[Tricks]

lily lily:

Maybe I shouldn't have been so specific.

Even if they didn't see the whales - shouldn't they have noticed the boats in the area? A quarter of a mile isn't that far away.

Quarter of a mile is 440 yards....in one direction. They could have been firing in a different direction, or within a 100-200 yards radius. And as it said, they were patrolling in a 4 mile "Safety zone" and had "booked" that area. According to the Coast Guard, they should not have even been in that area. Methinks that the captain who is saying they were doing donuts and firing off his saving his own ass for being somewhere is not supposed to be.

[ziggy]

Tricks Tricks:

lily lily:

Maybe I shouldn't have been so specific.

Even if they didn't see the whales - shouldn't they have noticed the boats in the area? A quarter of a mile isn't that far away.

Quarter of a mile is 440 yards....in one direction. They could have been firing in a different direction, or within a 100-200 yards radius. And as it said, they were patrolling in a 4 mile "Safety zone" and had "booked" that area. According to the Coast Guard, they should not have even been in that area. Methinks that the captain who is saying they were doing donuts and firing off his saving his own ass for being somewhere is not supposed to be.

Whats that in meters?

[Tricks]

ziggy ziggy:

Tricks Tricks:

lily lily:

Maybe I shouldn't have been so specific.

Even if they didn't see the whales - shouldn't they have noticed the boats in the area? A quarter of a mile isn't that far away.

Quarter of a mile is 440 yards....in one direction. They could have been firing in a different direction, or within a 100-200 yards radius. And as it said, they were patrolling in a 4 mile "Safety zone" and had "booked" that area. According to the Coast Guard, they should not have even been in that area. Methinks that the captain who is saying they were doing donuts and firing off his saving his own ass for being somewhere is not supposed to be.

Whats that in meters?

440 yards = 402 metres.

[Tricks]

lily lily:

Tricks Tricks:

lily lily:

Maybe I shouldn't have been so specific.

Even if they didn't see the whales - shouldn't they have noticed the boats in the area? A quarter of a mile isn't that far away.

Quarter of a mile is 440 yards....in one direction. They could have been firing in a different direction, or within a 100-200 yards radius. And as it said, they were patrolling in a 4 mile "Safety zone" and had "booked" that area. According to the Coast Guard, they should not have even been in that area. Methinks that the captain who is saying they were doing donuts and firing off his saving his own ass for being somewhere is not supposed to be.

Methinks it's interesting that you're so quick to give them the benefit of the doubt, while eagerly dismissing what the witnesses had to say.

The coast guard isn't stupid. They are not going to go do something like that, with witnesses around, that will get their ass dismissed. Not only that, but what the Coast guard is saying can be checked, what the captains on the other boats are saying can't be.

[Tricks]

lily lily:

Yes, the coast guard can be stupid - it's made up of humans, which means human factors come into play. Anyone can make a mistake, even the coast guard.

Second - how do you figure what everyone else had to say can't be checked?

How are they going to check that the boats were doing "doughnuts" and shooting randomly? They can check the ammunition and gas, but that takes some serious math to figure out how much would have been used.The only way is if they had a video, which probably would have come forward by now if there is one.
The Coast guard's booking can be checked, and if they have sonar on board, that can probably be checked too. If that area of the ocean was bugged, that can also be checked.

[Tricks]

lily lily:

Shooting randomly and doing doughnuts comes down to one guy's word against another's.

I think the actual truth will fall somewhere between the 2 stories.

Not if the ocean is bugged there, It will pick it up. Sonar might be able to check that as well.

[Scape]

The coast guard would also have sonar and radar so they would know that there were vessels nearby and would know the identity of said vessels. The whale watching is a business; they disrupted commerce by firing weapons without regard. They should be reprimanded accordingly and/or sued for loss of business.