Don't mention the whales
Hello from Santiago, Chile, where the Greenpeace Whales team is gathering for this years International Whaling Commission meeting. There'll be more news in the coming days like an update on today's "Future of the IWC" discussion - but I I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pass up this little nugget appeared in various media. According to ABC's Shane McLeod, based in Tokyo, the Japanese Foreign Ministry has asked any Japanese people in Chile to avoid talking about whaling.
"The warning says Japanese people should not draw attention to themselves, they should avoid going to the five-star hotel [Sheraton] where the IWC meeting is being held, and to steer clear of anti-whaling rallies... The guidelines also warn against going out at night, and to refrain from talking carelessly about whaling in front of other people."
This is a curious warning indeed... and a little over the top. Why shouldn't there be open, intelligent dialog on whaling, or any other environmental or biodiversity issue. Or any issue at all? One suspects that the large Japanese delegation attending the IWC are exempt from not talking about whales. Two Greenpeace Japan colleagues are also here for the meeting, Kyoko and Wakao. I think they most certainly will be talking about whaling!
Stay tuned for more from Santiago... where there's going to be a lot of talking about whales in the next week or so.
Other news: US House or Representatives passes resolution to stop whaling »
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Comments
You should dress up as Basil Fawlty and go around furtively whispering "Psst, Don't mention the whales."
Posted by: jen | June 21, 2008 9:00 PM
it's sad because i thought you protected things on this precious earth, but you don't not even the whales you wouldnt even give up the japenese ships that are killing the whales you just take pictures get invoved greenpeace instead of just watching on the sidelines.
Posted by: heather | November 8, 2008 5:54 AM
Hi Heather, I'm not sure what you mean by 'watching on the sidelines' - Greenpeace has been actively working to stop whaling for 30 years. The last two whaling seasons, I myself have been on board our ship, the Esperanza, in the Southern Ocean, working to stop whaling. As you can see above, we were at the International Whaling Commission again this year too.
If you are referring to the fact that we're not sending a ship to the Southern Ocean, it's because we're concentrating on chipping away at Japan's whaling industry from within Japan. At the moment, we've got two Japanese activists denied their freedrom for daring to face the authorities in Japan. Check out today's news: whaling industry in disarray
Posted by: Dave | November 12, 2008 9:35 AM
Hello Heather, Kerri, Dave and GP Tam,
In my place Tahiti, a law protects cetaceans from fishing since 2004, it is still not enough, I think.
Japanese loves to see whales.
So maybbe whalers and others are different.
Whalers are less in number.
My japanese friends would'nt give whale meat to their dogs, or use whale grease lipstick.
We would need a fresh list of products containing whale .
Let's post the information everywhere, in short lists, with fresh updates, but for years, untill nobody buys a dirty product anymore.
Let's send open petitions to the concerned brands.
The brands we use everyday, they will have to listen to their customers.
Mikis Theodorakis said to me when I was 16 :"We have the same port, but not the same path to get there"...
best regards
Posted by: Mata | November 12, 2008 7:34 PM