Help Stop Whaling!

[Min]

Defend the Southern Ocean Sanctuary!

In 1994, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary was established, but it is under siege like never before. The feeding ground for 80 percent of the world's great whales, the Sanctuary is also the 'killing field' of Kyodo Senpaku, a Japanese company which conducts an annual hunt under a licence misleadingly labelled 'scientific whaling'.

Ask representatives of the governments who voted for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to defend it, before more whale species are endangered or extinct.

Your message will go to representatives of the Australian, US, South African, British and New Zealand governments.

Click here for more

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[Madame Kat]

Ah, 'tis truly sad...

Yes. I did my part and sent a email to them. I hope something gets done before it's too late...


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We're whalers on the moon...

[Min]

Thank you Katiska. I always wonder if these petitions / letters ever DO anything, but I guess it can't hurt to try.

And thank you for supporting Futurama! Huzzuh! We carry a harpoon. There aint
no whales so we tell a tall tale and sing a whaling tune!

[grunty]

i emailed them!!

[Dark One]

so did i! Lets hope something happens!

[Arctic Firefox]

I am glad that you all sent e-mails about this, but the sad fact is that neither the Australian, nor the New Zealand governments (and let's not talk about the Americans here) will do anything about this. NZ sending an air force plane to monitor the situation was a big surprise, though it won't help much.

The bitter fact is that their trade relations with Japan are far more important than the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. As you may have heard, Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd have three vessels between them, and they have been doing everything they can to stop the whaling. The Greenpeace rubber boats have almost been harpooned twice as they tried to protect the whales; yesterday an activist was thrown overboard and fell into the blood-stained sea as a harpooned missed his boat by less than a few metres. Sea Shepherd, the more militant group, have tried to sabotage the Japanese vessels by throwing ropes into their propellers, but no luck at this stage.

It just shows the complacency of our governments when they leave it to activists to defend international law. The problem is that the Japanese do not recognise the Sanctuary, neither do they recognise Australia's claim to the Antarctic Territory, and so as far as they are concerned, they are fishing in international waters.

I am going to send an e-mail to the Japanese ambassador in Australia about this, even though I know it won't change anything.

P.S. Hi everyone!

[Min]

I hear you. But all we can do is try.

[gothicgal]

i think that whaling is sick. they are beautiful creatures and ppl underestimate them. they are quite harmless and only attack as a warning if they think your a threat to them. i love whales and dolphins.

[wolfgang]

Peter Garret has taken this up as his cause, so it does get heard in parliament, even the opposition is not going to argue with such an australian icon.

[Arctic Firefox]

Actually, the parliament doesn't return until February (by which time the Japanese whaling season will have ended, I think), so unless Howard recalls (which he won't), nothing will be done about this, regardless of the calls by Bob Brown and others to send a navy surveillance vessel to the area. Sea Shepherd have had to pull out due to low fuel, and I don't think Greenpeace will be able to stay in the Southern Ocean for more than a couple of weeks. At least they've made it much harder for the Japanese to kill whales; at the moment they're way behind schedule on their self-imposed quota.

[Dark One]

I've just found this reply in my inbox:

Helpline, Library (BCMS) [[e-mail]]


Good afternoon

Firstly, I can advise that the UK Government's position on whaling is clear. We strongly support the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium (temporary ban) on commercial whaling and oppose all forms of whaling, other than limited whaling operations by indigenous people for subsistence purposes, to meet a defined and substantiated need. We believe that whaling involves unacceptable cruelty, and that regulated whale watching is the only truly sustainable use of whales and other cetaceans. All cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are fully protected in UK and European Union (EU) waters. The Prime Minister has previously emphasised the UK's strong commitment to whale conservation when he said in a speech on "Environment - The Next Steps" that "we will continue to be in the forefront in the campaign to save whales".

It may be helpful to provide you with some background about current whaling operations. In 1985/86 the IWC introduced a moratorium on the commercial hunting of whales because of concerns over the depleted state of many whale populations. Norway lodged an objection to the moratorium at that time (which she was entitled to do under IWC rules) but did not resume commercial
whaling until 1993. In 2004, Norway killed 544 minke whales. Unlike
Norway, Japan is bound by the IWC moratorium but carries out large-scale "scientific" whaling in both the Pacific and the Antarctic. Such scientific permit or research whaling is allowed under IWC rules although we believe that the Convention never anticipated research on this large scale. Japan kills over 700 whales each year, including minke, Bryde's, sperm, and sei, which are classed as endangered. The whale meat and other products from this so-called "scientific" whaling are sold domestically in Japanese markets and restaurants. We believe that their activities undermine the moratorium and weaken the credibility of the IWC as an effective organisation for the conservation of whale stocks worldwide.

The UK, together with a majority of IWC members, has consistently criticised Japan (and more recently Iceland) for her lethal whaling operations authorised under special permits (so called "scientific"
whaling). The UK was therefore alarmed at her plans in the recently announced JARPA II programme to include humpback and fin whales, which remain classified as "vulnerable" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Such action would severely hamper international efforts to conserve and protect whales, and clearly demonstrates that these programmes are driven by financial gain, rather than by science. We consider special permit whaling programmes to be unnecessary, deeply flawed and of questionable scientific value, and in recent diplomatic demarches we have urged both Japan and Iceland to abandon them.

Like most IWC members the UK does not believe that lethal scientific research can be justified - there are perfectly adequate non-lethal alternatives which could secure the information required by the IWC for stock assessment and management purposes. We will continue to oppose lethal scientific whaling, as we believe it undermines not only the moratorium on commercial whaling, but also the current delicate negotiations on the Revised Management Scheme (RMS).

We urge these countries to cease their whaling operations at every appropriate opportunity. Unfortunately, they have continued to ignore strong international opinion that whaling should be stopped despite the very real conservation arguments.

The UK is also concerned about the welfare issues involved in whaling, and do not believe that it is possible to kill whales humanely in whaling operations. These issues are very important in the UK's whaling policy and we play an active role in the IWC in discussions on humane killing methods. The UK believes that existing methods used to kill whales involve an unacceptable degree of pain and we will continue to urge the whaling countries to take action to reduce the suffering involved in all whaling activities.

Defra helpline
08459 335577

[Min]

I got the same reply today, DO, from the UK government. Good on yas, UK, but I think it'll take something more drastic (like a refusal to trade with Japan/Iceland) that'll prompt the governments responsible for the people doing this to act.

I wonder if "The Pen of Johnny" will even bother responding...

[Cat-Eyes]

arcticfirefox said:

Actually, the parliament doesn't return until February (by which time the Japanese whaling season will have ended, I think)

japanese whaling seasons goes until March

[Min]

Got this email today from NZ:

Thank you for your email about Japan's scientific whaling programme in the Southern Ocean.

New Zealand is deeply alarmed about Japan's intentions. Hunting whales is like hunting tigers, gorillas or kiwi. New Zealanders regard it as unjustifiable, and unfortunately it is about to happen on an even larger scale.

As you are no doubt aware, this year marks the start of a new scientific whaling programme by Japan which will see more than double the number of whales killed than under Japan's previous programmes. For the first time, the magnificent humpback and fin whales are to be included on Japan's menu of scientific study from 2007.

New Zealand has made it explicitly clear to Japan that it can see no good scientific reason for its programme. It is entirely possible to study whale populations without killing them. Many scientists are doing that all over the world right now!

Unfortunately, scientific whaling is legal because the provisions in the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (IWC) are out of step with modern conservation approaches.

New Zealand is actively working to remedy this, and I will make public a number of proposals we have been considering shortly.

Thank you for your commitment to marine mammal conservation.

Yours sincerely,


Hon Chris Carter
Minister of Conservation

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Good good...
where's australia's reply!?

[Dark One]

Ah, i was just about to post that. Saves me a job

At least we're getting a response!

[Arctic Firefox]

Good, good - now can someone send a navy vessel into the area as well, please? Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd have had to withdraw because of low fuel. This will give the Japanese over a month of no-holds-barred whaling.

[Netty]

Typical for Australia to be the only one that hasn't replied... if Bush doesn't do it, then Little Johnny won't either!

[Vespertine]

Done it may a time before, and I shall do it again. I will be active in my Greenpeace membership. *nods*

[Arctic Firefox]

This morning on Radio National there was an enlightening discussion of the legality of the Japanese whalers and the militant tactics employed by Sea Shepherd. The maritime law expert basically said that the Japanese were at fault for the damaging of the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise, but Paul Watson (Sea Shepherd captain) was dangerously close to breaking the law with his tactics.

[Min]

Good grief. Should we be surprised that Australia didn't responsd? Dagnamit, if the Kiwis and Brits governments have the balls to respond to us on the issue, why doesn't Aus?? Typical.

*signs letter again*

[Arctic Firefox]

Because Howard's too busy shuffling his cabinet around ... before you know it, we'll have a new enviro minister who will probably claim that the former minister didn't tell him about the whaling, and so doesn't know the situation. You know, the excuses they usually come up with ...

[Dark One]

We had a whale in the Thames a little while ago. Unfortunatley the rescuers were unable to save it. You can read more about it here:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4645726.stm

[Arctic Firefox]

I haven't been this angry in a long time. Greenpeace, you are absolutely useless.

www.seashepherd.org/news/media_060608_1.html

[Domick]

Whaling makes me sick. I think it's disgusting. How can people do that to an animal? It makes me so angry, especially when the Government doesn't seem to be doing anything about it!

*Takes a few deep breaths before she hits something* [/color]

[Dark One]

We should boycott Japan somehow. If enough people speak out we could maybe get our countries to enforce some sort of trade embargo till they stop