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November 11, 2009Tiny feasts on dead whale bones
From Wired:
The worms, found in a gray whale skeleton off the coast of California, prompted scientists to designate them as representatives of an entirely new genus, dubbed Osedax. They belonged to a taxonomic family of marine worms that lack mouths and anuses, and rely entirely on bacteria to absorb and excrete nutrients. But Osedax was unique: Adult males were extremely small, and lived in colonies inside the females. Even more strikingly, they occupied an evolutionary niche comprised entirely of fallen whales.“Picture the bottom of the ocean. Anything below 1000 meters is fed entirely by ‘marine snow’ — the things that are supported by photosynthesis at the top of the ocean, and the things that eat them, and eventually fall to the ocean floor,” said Robert Vrijenhoek, a senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. “When a whale drops into your neighborhood, it’s roughly equivalent to 2000 years of marine snow falling in a millisecond.”
Ah, the diversity of life on our freaky planet.
Cranes for Whales
Here's a post from Jules, who is working in our Japan office:
At the end of September, Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama received a parcel filled with 1000 Origami cranes, better known as Origami Tsuru.
The cranes started their journey approximately 10,000 km from Tokyo, in the picturesque town of Waging am See near Munich, Germany. Here “Greenteam Löwenzahn” (Greenteam Dandelion) member Evangeline (14) read about the trial of the “Tokyo Two”, and how our activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki are on trial for trying to save whales by exposing the corrupt Japanese whaling programme for what it is. Evangeline knew immediately that she and her friends needed to take action, to protect whales and ensure Junichi and Toru receive a fair trial in a country where being charged for an alleged crime will see you convicted of it 99% of the time.
In the past, “Greenteam Löwenzahn” has actively worked to protect whales by setting up information boards in their schools, collecting signatures against whaling in the streets of their hometowns, and organising events where children in Germany can give their vote (in form of a self-painted whale picture) for the life of the Whales.
However, this time the pupils felt that they needed to drive the message home to Japan. Some of the members of “Greenteam Löwenzahn” have lived in Japan before, and know about the Japanese custom of making making a wish to the Gods in exchange for folding 1000 paper cranes. A custom that is particularly poignant when pleading for the life of a loved one.
Muzzling the whistle blowers
Democratic societies around the world depend on brave people who don't hesitate to put their careers, freedom or lives on the line to blow the whistle when they see something illegal. It's not an easy role to be in. You'll be called a snitch. If no one listens, in certain cases, you'll see your career crumble before your eyes. The most frustrating case must be when someone does hear - and then makes a point of not listening and prosecutes you.
This is what is happening to Junichi and Toru in Japan. The evidence they brought forward regarding a whale meat embezzlement scandal is being ignored, while they are prosecuted for theft - an attempt at covering up the actual scandal.
A lower court refused to look at the evidence. This is now brought to the Supreme Court of Japan. Write to the judge, and ask them to open their eyes to the real scandal - take your turn at being a whistle blower.
How many whales once roamed the sea?
In the late 1700s, when Captain James Cook sailed into Sydney harbour, he claimed "there were whale spouts as far as the eye could see." Callum Roberts, in his book "The Unnatural History of the Sea" gathers similar tales of teeming cetaceans from the accounts of explorers ranging from the 11th to the 16th century. Surely, one thinks, these were the exaggerations of seamen suffering from long-voyage boredom and the possibly hallucinatory effects of rancid food supplies -- or maybe a little too much yo-ho-ho.
Well, unless somebody's been spiking the drinks of geneticists who have contributed to a decade-long study called the "Census of Marine Life," it's time to reassess those tales -- they may have been true.
Japanese whales activists in court again
Staff and volunteers from Greenpeace Japan were in the streets of Aomori yesterday to spread the word about the whale meat scandal trial and Greenpeace's campaign to stop whaling.
Two of our activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, are facing up to 10 years in prison for their part in exposing a whale meat racket run by Japanese whalers with apparent official consent.
Lawyers for the Tokyo Two meanwhile were in court wrangling over the disclosure of important evidence -- stuff that the prosecution would prefer to keep secret.
We're confident that when the judges read all of the prosecution's evidence they will not only see that Junichi and Toru are innocent of any crime, but that their actions were in the greater public interest as they sought to expose criminal embezzlement within the taxpayer-funded whaling industry.
IWC 2009 - whale conservation bloc not playing its hand
Guest blog from Sara Holden, our International whales campaign coordinator
Just a few minutes before the opening of the 61st International Whaling Commission meeting, a large rat was seen scuttling through the hotel and out the door. As metaphors go, it was a good one. The IWC meeting venue is another. Hosted at a casino hotel in Madeira, Portugal, it is fast becoming apparent that anyone betting on a good outcome for the whales is unlikely to win.
Wearing the Spirit
A friend in Aomori, Japan, writes:
Photo:Greenpeace/Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert
May I present the legendary Greenpeace T-Shirt collector, a writer with Greenpeace International - Steve Erwood.When Greenpeace’s Aomori Communications Centre in Japan put out a call for campaign T-Shirts for an exhibition, everyone told us to speak to Steve. A prolific collector, Steve and his partner, Greenpeace activist Eric Heijselaar sent us a care package of historical Greenpeace shirts so large, it could constitute an entire exhibition by itself.
“It probably wasn't a conscious decision to start a t-shirt collection,” said Steve. But once you’ve volunteered for Greenpeace and joined a few actions, it’s easy to end up with a few in the closet. T-shirts help get the message across and help to get people on board with Greenpeace's campaigns”
There are so many personal and special moments behind each T-shirt. The favourite for Eric came from the famous Brent Spar action in 1995, when activists occupied the giant Brent Spar oil storage facility in the North Sea. At the time, Shell Oil and the UK Government had wanted to simply dump the obsolete platform into the sea, along with all of the toxic chemicals, oil and rubbish it contained.
Icelandic whaling, watching
You can't have your whale watching and eat them too. That's what Iceland is finding out. Whale watching boats have been having a hard time finding whales lately - so they've ventured further out, putting them close to the whaling area.
Here's a (roughly translated) snippet from Icelandic Whale Watching Association...
The truth is that [whale hunting boat] Jóhanna was very close to the whale watching area. On a whale watching trip that started at 5pm from Reykjavík harbor and that lasted till 9pm, the Jóhanna was seen while whaling at a distance of about 16 miles from Reykjavík. This cannot be called “on the far edge of the bay”, and is in very close proximity to the normal whale watching area.
In the past week, whale watching vessels from Reykjavík have had difficulties in finding minke whales in the usual whale watching area and needed to look for whales on the outer edges of the bay, where Jóhanna has been whaling. The Icelandic Whale Watching Association reaffirms that whaling and whale watching cannot coexist. To allow whaling so close to whale watching areas as has happened here is complete madness, except if the aim would be to crack down the whale watching business in Iceland. It’s the same animals swimming in the sea between whale watching areas and whaling areas.
Looks like Iceland is going to have to choose between hunting and watching. Guess which makes vastly more money. (Hint, the only shooting involves cameras.)
I've went whale watching in Iceland years ago. It was super cool, and the whole country is amazing. That said, I'm not going back until they stop whaling. Help the whale watching industry in Iceland. Join me by signing the Iceland pledge.
Origami Whales Win Webby!
A few weeks back, we reported that Greenpeace Australia Pacific's Origami Whales campaign was top of its category in the 2009 Webby Awards.
Well, Origami Whales won the People's Voice Award in the 'Rich Media Advertising: Non-Profit/Educational' category so thanks to everyone who voted - you've helped bring more pressure on the Japanese Prime Minister to explain why Japan is spending taxpayer's money on fake science, and a supply of what meat that no one wants .
Toru is back at work
Toru Suzuki is one of our activists in Japan, now facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for exposing a crime at the heart of Japan's whaling industry.
The so-called “scientific” whaling fleet has now returned to port from the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary for what we hope will be the last time, and it is almost one year since Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki exposed the embezzlement of whale meat by the fleet’s crew.
Junichi and Toru are still on trial for their efforts to expose this crime, however, recently their bail conditions were relaxed slightly, enabling them to come back to work – just not with each other.
Here’s Toru’s reflections on his first few weeks back at work… Junichi posted a few days ago, on his return...
I'm so glad to finally be able to come back home to the office.Well, I did feel little strange for the first five minutes, as it was my first time here in nine months. But it wasn’t long until it felt like the home it used to be.
Since I was released under bail restrictions, the most disappointing thing for me was that I was unable to see my Greenpeace colleagues.
Vote for Origami Whales in the Webby Awards!
Greenpeace Australia Pacific's gorgeous Origami Whales campaign is currently top of its category in the 2009 Webby Awards. The Webbies, in case you don't know, are like the Oscars of the Internet. There's the judges awards - but also the People's Awards, which means YOU get to vote!
Vote for the Origami Whales (Under rich Media: Non profit/educational)
As of today, some 53,000 Origami whales have swum their way to Japan, to tell the Prime Minister to stop whaling, and stop wasting taxpayer's money on fake science and unwanted whale meat. It's part of our to campaign to end whaling in the Southern Ocean for good, along with our work inside Japan, which includes the exposure of the whale meat scandal, and the subsequent trial of the Tokyo Two, Junichi and Toru.
To register vote in the Webbies, you've got to go to: http://pv.webbyawards.com, then click "Register now to vote" and then confirm your registration [you have to wait a few minutes for the activation email to hit your inbox, then just click on the 'Please visit this url to activate your account'].
Then, if you can't find your way back to the voting page for the Origami whales, then click here... and vote for the Origami Whales
(Under rich Media: Non profit/educational)
Japan's Whaling Fleet returns- now it's time for the lies and cover-ups to stop
The Japanese whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, is back in Japan, with its cargo of whale meat from the 2008-2009 season, by-product of the so-called scientific hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. It's now a year since Greenpeace activists documented boxes of embezzled whale meat, some falsely labelled "cardboard", being offloaded and couriered to the homes of the ship's crew.
At the time, whistleblowers within the whaling industry said that was standard practice, yet the three organisations involved - the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ), the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) and Kyodo Senpaku (KS) immediately started contradicting each other. It was only later that the three managed to get their stories straight and claimed that the boxes of prime whale meat were approved as "souvenirs".
The photograph above was taken earlier today, in the Japanese port of Shimonoseiki. Now, we don't know what's in these boxes pictured above, but we're wondering, is the whaling industry so daft as to try and pull the same stunt again? Can they be trusted to have cleaned up their act? We don't know - the whaling industry has so far avoided our calls for documentation of the offloading of whale meat.
The 680
Reports in the media today indicated that the whaling fleet returned with the meat of 680 whales - that's 679 minke whales, and one lone, endangered, fin whale, to add to the already massive stockpiles of whalemeat. The whaling fleet set out to kill up to 935 minkes and and 50 fin whales. The previous season, they came back with no fin whales, saying that they "couldn't find any". As for their lack of minke whales, the whalers blamed anti-whaling protestors and bad weather for their lack of success.
But it's with the 680 whales that things get very interesting. The 935 whales I quoted comes from a desired figure from the whaling industry - 850 ± 10%. In November 2008, we reported that the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, had been told, unofficially, that Japan's whaling industry was slashing the quota for the Southern Ocean hunt by 20%, due to a drop in demand for whale meat. The authorities vociferously denied it, of course.
Now, if I may do a little mathematics, 850 less 20% is.... 680 - precisely the amount of dead whales that came back to Japan. Coincidence? Perhaps, notwithstanding their various logistical issues, they still felt the need to keep hunting until they caught the expected 850 - 20%?
Junichi is back at work
Junichi Sato is one of our oceans campaigners in Japan, now facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for exposing a crime at the heart of Japan's whaling industry.
After nine months of disconnection from their colleagues and workplace, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki walked back into the Greenpeace Japan office last week like long-missed adventurers finally home.
Of course they did not come in on the same day, as while the bail conditions binding them have been relaxed enough for them to speak to their colleagues and come back to work, there are still a lot of kilometres left on their road, and they still cannot communicate directly with one another or be in the same place at the same time.
But they’re back, morale is up and we can all throw more energy into getting them justice, and ensuring there is justice for whales too.
Junichi would like to share some of his reflections on his first week back in the office.
“The Greenpeace Japan office is in a very busy part of Tokyo, called Shinjuku. I walked down to the office from one of the biggest stations, passing through the streets that I thought I would be very familiar with, but I was not. There are new buildings, stores and restaurants that all made me realise how long I have been away.The last time I was here I left the office knowing that I was going to get arrested the next day. 10 months can change somebody’s life, but it can also change quite a bit of landscape.
There is a small Shinto Shrine next to the office called Naruko Tennjin where I came by before coming to the office hoping nothing changed there. Indeed, the only change I could find was that the cherry blossom was about to bloom. It was the perfect moment to come back to this place. The colour and shape of the cherry blossom has a power to make people smile and motivate.
Coming into the office, I realised there are so many pictures blooming on the walls of the office, showing people around the world taking action for us. They are my flowers that never fall from my memory. I am grateful to have a chance to say thank you to all the people who participated in these activities.
Now, being back to the office is not the victory of the campaign. It is surely a great step forward to achieve the end of Japanese "scientific" whaling, and also to realise true civil society where citizens can enjoy the rights of "freedom of expression." Today is the day I reboot the campaign in Japan with my great colleagues who stay strong for the great cause. I sincerely ask you all for your continued support, and I will keep you updated!”
We have now posted a blog from Toru.
Check out the video about the scandal exposed by the Tokyo Two...
... and this great piece "Human rights make whale meat hard to swallow" written by the BBC's Richard Black.
And if you haven't already taken action against this injustice - tell Japan they should arrest you too - for standing against the killing of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and opposing the scandal and corruption of their whaling industry.
Proposed law could give new Icelandic minister ability to stop whaling
A proposed change to Iceland's whaling law could give the Minster of Fisheries the unilateral right to end whaling if he deems it contrary to the nation's interests. This would be a fine thing indeed, if, of course, the next minister should choose to use this power to actually end whaling. But we don't know who he or she will be yet. Iceland's parliamentary election is scheduled for April 25th.
We've actually made this a very simple question. By signing up more than 115,000 people who have pledged to visit Iceland if whaling stops, we've put $US 117 million in potential tourist income on the table, as against a whaling industry that raked in only $US 4 million a year in its heyday.
Ocean Fertilization ain't gonna save blue whales
Several articles have appeared this week concerning a recent failed "ocean fertilization" experiment in the Southern Ocean - something which Greenpeace has opposed. Ocean fertilization, in case you were wondering, involves the addition of iron to the ocean oceans, where it is claimed to stimulate the marine food web, and to sequester carbon dioxide - in order to fight climate change.
Nature reported that "a controversial experiment which poured iron into the Southern Ocean has also poured cold water on the idea that such 'ocean fertilization' can mitigate against climate change.", while the BBC's Richard Black quoted Dr. Victor Smetacek as saying that "The Southern Ocean cannot sequester the amount of carbon dioxide that one had hoped".
But it got weird when Bloomberg published an article titled "Blue Whales May Get Boost From Fertilization Program" which made some bizarre statements along with quotes from Dr. Smetacek:
The Tokyo Two: Watchdogs of Democracy
For all the Tokyo Two fans - this is a recent picture of Junichi of the Tokyo Two holding up a censored whaling document released by the Japanese government. As you can see, he's looking well, and is in this photograph showing off the extent of the censorship by by Japan's government in its desperation to cover up the whale meat scandal. The document is apparently a sales report of minke whale from the Japanese government's whaling programme in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. You'd wonder what they've got to hide, eh?
It's fast heading for a year now since I sat in a press briefing in Tokyo, Japan, while fellow Greenpeace activist Junichi Sato stood at the top of the room, showing a box of whale meat to the media that proved that a government-funded whaling operation was being embezzled by the crew of the whaling ships. It's been an intense 10 months since then - Junichi and fellow activist Toru Suzuki were arrested and held for 26 days without charge, the Greenpeace Japan office was raided by police, and the long wait for justice began.
WTF=What The Finance Minister of Japan really said
Warning. Foul language, drunkenness, and bad taste. Whoever came up with this is a very, very sad person. And, today, my favorite goofball in the whole world. They even linked to the action to free the Tokyo Two!!!!
Edamame anyone? Greenpeace at the Sapporo Snow Festival
Above is a funky video shot by Michael Nagasaka at the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan last weekend. Check it out!
And here's a report from Sachiyo, campaigner at Greenpeace Japan, who spent all last week standing outside in the chilly Sapporo air, talking to everyone who stopped for a look at the Greenpeace ice sculpture:
Hello - I'm just back from talking with the Japanese public about our Oceans campaign at the Susukino Ice Festival, which is part of the Sapporo Snow Festival, a famous winter-time event in Japan.
Last year, at the Susukino Ice Festival alone, 1.2 million people attended – both from Japan and around the world. As we recently opened our new Greenpeace Communications Center in Aomori, where is pretty close to Sapporo, we decided to travel there and talk to people about environmental issues and about Greenpeace’s work in Japan.
To highlight our Ocean Conservation message, we designed a beautiful ice sculpture, which featured a humpback whale, a dolphin, a dugong, a sea turtle, and two tuna, swimming around the blue-lighted globe. The sculpture spanned 4 meters-wide, 1.5 meters-deep, and 2 meters-high. It was an exciting experience to see a two-dimensional drawing developing into a three-dimensional ice sculpture that could be appreciated by the public.
Whaling and Dealing: Can Obama Save the Whales?
Sara, our wonderful boss-of-all-things-whales here at Greenpeace International, went onto the brand new White House website of the Obama Administration this week, and searched for "whaling" (she’s very fond of whales).
This wasn't some random behaviour – she was following up on a story that's been doing the rounds, like this example in the Washington Post: "U.S., Japan Negotiate Over Whaling Limits".
Sara's search came up with no mention of whaling - not a major surprise, as we do understand that President Obama probably didn't anticipate whaling to be a priority at this early stage of his term. Ironically though, the website came back with the answer (see screenshot) :
"Did you mean dealing?"
Meeting Paddy Hart, ex-whaler and Greenpeace activist
Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful Paddy Hart, a Dublin-born, Australian ex-whaler. "What is going on?”, you may well ask. "Is Greenpeace now consorting with whalers?". Note that I said "ex-whaler" - Paddy was in Tokyo, Japan to support Junichi and Toru - the Tokyo Two, to ask Prime Minister Aso to quite whaling, and to reassure Japan's whalers that there is life after whaling. Naturally, if you put two Irishmen together, you'll never get us to shut up, so I spent a few days hearing of Paddy's adventures over the years (and I told a few shaggy dog yarns myself). As well as being a great storyteller, Paddy was the skipper and harpoonist of a whaling vessel in Albany, Western Australia, in the 1970s until public opinion and economic rationale closed down the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company - the last whaling operation in the English-speaking world.
Timelapse beached sand whale video
Whale Of A Day from Greenpeace_AustraliaPac on Vimeo.
Mesmerizing timelapse video showing the making of a 17 metre fin whale sand sculpture on Bondi Beach, Sydney. Sculpture by Greenpeace activists and sand sculptures, video by Keith Loutit, music by Headstrong and Shelley Harland.
The sculpture was done as a protest against whaling, and in support of two Japanese activists who are facing up to 10 years in jail for exposing a whale meat smuggling scandal. If you don't have tons of sand handy, you can still support them as well.
Here's how:
1) Sign the Tokyo Two petition telling the Japanese government, "If defending whales is a crime, arrest me."
2) Change your Facebook/Skype/whatever status to, "Wanted in Japan ;-)". (Winky smiley face optional, depending if you're a winky smiley face kind of person.)
Whaling: in a world turned upside down...
Set things right: click here if you're guilty of opposing whaling.
Today's Guardian picks up an interview with Junichi Sato about his arrest in Japan for exposing corruption in the whaling industry. About the extreme crackdown on Greenpeace when 40 police raided the office to arrest him and seized membership lists and computer disks. About his experience of being strapped to a chair and interrogated. About being accused of being no better than Aum Supreme Truth, the doomsday cult that carried out a deadly gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.
The Japan Times is finally running the story as well -- the first time the truth about this political persecution is coming out in the Japanese press.
Amnesty has condemned the arrest as politically motivated.
Tomorrow, December 10th, is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We're running a full-page ad in the IHT/Asahi Shimbun Asian edition, the English language version of one of Japan's leading papers. We're running it inverted, so the reader has to turn it over to read the text (and anyone there in Tokyo, if you can capture video of someone turning their paper over to read the ad on the subway or in a cafe, do send it along!)
Whaling called "pointless" by Japan government spokesperson
Japan's whaling has never made much sense to me. But then I'm a Greenpeace activist. It's pretty interesting to hear the same sentiment from someone who defended whaling in his role as an official spokesperson.
From today's Sydney Morning Herald:
Tomohiko Taniguchi was the official voice of Japan for the last three years. The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo fronted the international media every day to answer, avoid and argue questions. Of the hundreds of matters he dealt with, the one he dreaded most was defending Japan's whaling program. It was part of his job to defend official policy."I was being summoned by CNN, BBC and ABC on this issue far more than any other issue," Taniguchi says. "I hated this issue because there's no point in Japan sticking to its position," he tells the Herald in flawless English.
Later in the article, Taniguchi gives some advice:
Taniguchi hopes the whaling industry will fade away. Whale meat is not a big seller, an uneconomic activity. About 80 Japanese parliamentarians support whaling, but it is a core issue for only six to eight. With the Government's deficit worsening, the annual subsidy becomes harder to defend. But Taniguchi advises Australia, and others, not to press too hard, lest this only entrench Japanese political support for whaling.
This fits with Greenpeace's own strategy for ending whaling. The front line in our work to end whaling is no longer in Southern Ocean, it's in Japan itself.
Two courageous activists, Junichi and Toru were arrested in Tokyo earlier this year for exposing corruption in Japan's whaling industry. They're both facing potentially years in prison. We're asking whale (and freedom) lovers everywhere to keep the heat on the whaling industry by standing in solidarity with Junichi and Toru. To help, sign our petition saying, "If defending whales is a crime, arrest me."
Despite crisis, Japan's whaling fleet tries to sneak out of port
News just in.... Japan's whaling fleet has just slinked out of port under a cloud of financial crisis and scandal, without the elaborate parades and marching bands of previous years. This time the Nisshin Maru left the port of Innoshima with no fanfare, after the cancellation of the usual traditional departure ceremony in its home port of Shimonoseki. Word has it that this time, a small group of only thirty or so saw the whalers off - along with a hardy bunch of activists who protested with banner saying "whaling on trial" and one highlighting the the whaling operation’s multi-million dollar drain on Japan’s taxpayers
The whaling industry seems desperate to avoid attention about this year's Southern Ocean Whaling Sanctuary hunt, even to the point of not officially announcing it to the media. Are they ashamed of something, by any chance?
The funny thing is, in the last week or so, they've only been too ready to make announcements - about their own problems and internal chaos. And that's left with me with an even greater impression of how the entire whaling programme is a shambles, driven by bad business and terrible science.
Whalers give into reality and slash this year's quota
It's like waiting for a bus - you wait for ages, and three come along at once. First we had the deflagging of the Oriental Bluebird. Then we had the announced closure of the flagship whale meat shop, Yushin, in Tokyo. Now today, according to the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's whaling industry it slashing the quota for this year's Southern Ocean hunt by 20% - the first reduction since 1987.
The Asahi said that lack of demand for whale meat, pressure from protests at sea by environmental organisations, and continued pressure from the likes of Europe and Australia were all contributing to the dropping of the quota from 945 minke whales to 750. However, the planned quota of 50 endangered fin whales stays the same.
Japan's whaling programme in tatters: Closures, resignations and cancelled celebrations
Japan's whaling industry is descending into deep crisis; this week, Japanese media outlet Nikkei reported that the flagship 'Yushin' whale meat shop and restaurant in Asakusa will close down by 2010. The announcement came via the Institute for Cetacean Research, the agency that conducts Japan's so called "research" whaling programme, and Kyodo Senpaku, which operates the whaling fleet, who cited financial problems as behind the cause, and bizarrely, a shortage of whale meat.
The news of Yushin's closure comes at a portentous time - the whaling fleet is due to depart in the coming days, for its annual hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, amidst stories of financial woes and crewing problems. We've learned that, for the first time, the whaling fleet will not be 100% Japanese-crewed, due to many crew members resigning over the whale meat embezzlement scandal, exposed by a Greenpeace undercover investigation in May of this year. Reports have also reached us of the possible cancellation of the traditional high-profile departure ceremony in the fleet's home port of Shimonoseki. Instead, the whaling fleet is expected to depart later this week, from another port, and seen off only by families of crew members, and whaling officials. This may be part of the same "rationalisation plan", as the Yushin closure, which also mentioned the future cancellation of open-boat departure ceremonies.
Noted Norwegian whaler hangs up his harpoon
From a statement we just issued:
The Norwegian fisheries newspaper, Fiskaren, reported today that Olav Olavsen, the captain of the well known whaling vessel Nybræna, said that he and his crew have decided to end whaling operations. Greenpeace has previously confronted the Nybræna at sea and disrupted its whaling operations for days.The retirement of the Nybræna from whaling is part of a general trend in Norwegian whaling. Over 10 percent of the fleet dropped out of whaling between 2003 and 2007 and the value of whaling dropped from USD 2.9 million last year to USD 2.5 million this year, a decrease of 13 percent. The value of whaling in Norway is now less than 0.5 percent of the USD 800 million value of fishing.
Norway's whaling had to be ended early this year, as in previous years, because there is virtually no market for whale meat in Norway or anywhere else. The whalers managed to catch only half their quota.
We are pleased that Mr. Olavsen and his crew have decided to end whaling. We wish them good luck and sustainable fishing. Mr Olavsen has for decades been a well-known figure in the whaling community in Norway; we call on the remaining whalers to follow his lead now and end whaling for good.
Whaling vessel Oriental Bluebird de-flagged!
A Greenpeace inflatable boat tries to prevent Japanese whaling fleet's factory ship Nisshin Maru from refueling from the supply vessel Oriental Bluebird in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. © Greenpeace/Rezac
Some great news for the whales - and it was worth waiting for - the Oriental Bluebird - the Japanese-owned cargo and refuelling for the whaling fleet, has lost its Panamanian flag! You may recall that back on January 22nd, activists from the Esperanza blocked the whaling vessels Nisshin Maru and Oriental Bluebird from coming alongside in Southern Ocean waters. The ships planned to exchange fuel and whale meat - but activists Jetske and Heath put their tiny inflatable in between, to the frustration of the whalers.
It seems a long time ago since watched this from the bridge of the Esperanza, but now their blockade has come to fruition; following pressure from Greenpeace, and Panamanian organisations ASVEPA (Panama Green Association) and FSOCIAM (Environmental and Civil Society Forum, NGOs Coalition), the Oriental Bluebird de-flagged and fined, thanks to a legal ruling by Panamanian authorities.
Institute for Delicious Whale Research
Whaling wonks the world over have been chuckling for years at the Institute for Cetacean Research's wacky, wonderful website, where they spin the Japanese Fisheries Agency's latest propoganda in an (I thought) inimitable combination of fractured English and the kind of cutting-edge web design that was waaaaaaaaaaay cool in 1994 among graphically challenged nerds who thought <blink> was the awesomest html tag
Well, somebody had to do it, and I sooooooo wish it had been me: introducing the parody version, "The Institute for Delicious Whale Research."
Greenpeace and the end of whaling in Australia
From the history files, here's an audio account by journalist Chris Pash with ABN Newswire Australia about his book, The Last Whale: the story of how whaling was ended in Australia, and Greenpeace's role in making it happen.
Pash was there in early days of Greenpeace in Australia, which were also the closing years for whaling as Greenpeace took direct, non-violent action to protect the sperm whales that were being hunted near Albany, the last whaling station in the English speaking world.
Australia stopped whaling in 1978.
I was particularly struck by the passage below, which makes me think of so many people I've met, sailed with, and had the privilege to work with in Greenpeace -- some of them within earshot of my desk here in the Amsterdam secret mountain headquarters, so I'm whispering -- this sort of stuff just goes straight to their heads.
Chris Pash: The action was actually quite spectacular. In my view, the activists were completely crazy... but magical if you like. They took these open boats, Zodiacs, inflatable rubber boats that the whalers liked to call "Rubber Duckies" -- a nice little put-down -- and they attached outboard engines to them and they didn't have a mother ship or anything, they followed the chasers, the three last whaling ships, out to the continental shelf, about thirty nautical miles. That's over the horizon, so you can't see land.And I watched this and couldn't believe it. I mean, I can still give you thirty good reasons in about ten seconds why I shouldn't go into an open boat in the Southern Ocean over the horizon and throw myself in front of an explosive head harpoon.
Interviewer: they weren't literally doing that, were they?
Chris Pash: They WERE doing it!
[...]
I was struck by the absolute pure belief of the activists that what they were doing was right. And they did something dangerous and crazy, but it was magical as well.
I think within us all we want to tilt at windmills. We see something, we know it's wrong, and we know all the risks involved, but we still go ahead and do something about it. And personally, as I say, it makes me look inward and realise there are a lot of reasons I wouldn't do that, but I admired these people who did.
New Japanese Whaling Commissioner
So, Japan has a new government. For all of us who have been single-mindedly pursuing a complete end to whaling for decades now, there's only one question that matters: what does this mean for the country's whaling policy?
I suspect the bureaucrats responsible for whaling have gotten a little fed up of questions in the press about the cost of the programme to taxpayers (about 60 million US a year), the continuing decline in sales, the continuing increase in unsold whale meat, and the mounting foreign relations disasters the "scientific research programme" trails in its wake. The whaling industry in Japan right now is a wounded beast, and like any wounded beast it's lashing back with abandon -- as evidenced by the arrest of our activists, Junichi and Toru, for daring to expose corruption in the whaling industry.
Today a new bit of evidence of a bunkering down by the industry comes in.
The Japanese Cabinet decided on September 12 to remove Minoru Morimoto from the position of International Whaling Commission Commissioner, and to replace him with Akira Nakamae, the chief director of the Fisheries Research Agency.
Mr. Nakamae has been alternate commissioner since 2003. To get some idea of what he thinks about whaling and the debate in the Whaling Commission, he is the guy who said at the 2005 meeting in Ulsan, Korea:
'As has been revealed this year, our side’s supporters are about to reach a majority soon. Some of you are so glad that some poor sustainable-use countries could not attend this meeting. However, next year they will all participate, the reversal of history, the turning point, is soon to come.'
Those "poor sustainable-use countries" would be the ones that Japan buys into the commission to vote against whale conservation.
Full text of Mister Nakamae's interesting speech is below.
New Japanese Minister of Fisheries: You need to deal with that embezzlement thing.
Here's a translation of a letter that Jun, Executive Director of Greenpeace Japan, sent along to the new Minister of Fisheries in Japan, requesting that he take up an investigation into the whale meat embezzlement scandal exposed by our activists. If you're new to the story of how investigators Junichi and Toru ended up under arrest instead of the criminals who were ripping off the Japanese taxpayers and the fat-cat bureaucrats who probably knew it was happening, welcome to the Looking Glass world of the whale meat scandal in Japan.
I'm still hoping this one spins out like the scandal over the sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior by French agents, back in 1985. I was in France when the "Tricot Report" came out, your basic political whitewash which couldn't find any evidence of French government involvement in the sinking whatsoever. As the evidence mounted and the police and press looked into it further, however, it became pretty clear that -- shock, horror -- a lot of people had lied to Mssr Tricot. One journalist reviewing the evidence declared that the fact that the French were behind the sinking probably could only have been clearer if the Clousseau-like agents had left a baguette, a beret, and a bottle of Beaujolais behind. In the end, the truth came out, the French agents who sent the ship to the bottom with two limpett mines did so on orders from the "highest level" to stop Greenpeace from interfering with the French nuclear weapons testing programme in Moruroa, and the Defense Minister resigned in disgrace.
So, who is going to take up the scandal of embezzlement and the fleecing of the Japanese Taxpayer and figure out how high the corruption goes? No harm in asking the new boss.
Disclosure of evidence regarding “souvenir” whale meat and request for a public explanation from the Nisshin Maru after its return to port following its scientific whaling mission in the North-West Pacific.
Congratulations on taking up office. I believe you are aware that the “scientific whaling” taking place under the control of the Fisheries Agency is being seriously questioned by Greenpeace. In particular, on the 5th of May this year, with the help of a crew member from the “scientific whaling” fleet, Greenpeace revealed to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office a wide-spread case of embezzlement involving whale meat. As a result, the former Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Mr. Wakabayashi, launched a rigorous internal investigation regarding the handling of whale meat.Following this however, the only matter that has been put into question is the method by which Greenpeace activists came to possess the 23.5 kg box of salted Unesu which was presented to the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s office as undeniable evidence, and the Prosecutor’s office, on the other hand, has dropped the embezzlement case as a matter of “no suspicion”.
"Whaling as a business hardly justifies the environmental costs" - former Japanese whaling official
Remember my blog from a couple of weeks ago, Killing whales to reduce climate change? I don't think so...?
It was about an article in the English-language newspaper, The Japan Times, which quoted Kunio Yonezawa, "a former IWC commissioner and now head of the Japan Overseas Fishing Association", who claimed that whaling is "a green alternative to modern farming".
He also claimed that "'it is a much better way ecologically in terms of climate change instead of (eating) land animals, particularly (when you consider) animal husbandry,'... To produce 1 kg of beef, it takes 18.4 kg of COe greenhouse gas emissions, whereas to produce one kilogram of whale meat it takes 2.9 kg of COe''.
Now a Shigeko Misaki has written a rather terse letter to the Japan Times, countering Kunio Yonezawa claims. Ms Misaki is the author of "The History and Science of Whales," is former advisor to the Japan Whaling Association and former counselor at the infamous Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR). The ICR, you might recall, are the pseudo-scientific agency that carry out Japan's Research Whaling expeditions.
Ms Misaki writes:
"...I now find myself retired and severed from much of the controversy over whaling. However, Internet reports of whaling "progress" thus far persuade me that this season is the most opportune time for Japan's government to decide to withdraw all whaling operations from the Southern Ocean."
Bryan Adams supports Junichi and Toru!
Well, well. Heres something that just turned up - Canadian rockstar Bryan Adams was on BBC 1 Breakfast TV last month (23rd June), wearing a "Release Junichi and Toru" T-shirt - calling for the release of the two Japanese Greenpeace activists who were held for 23 days without charge for uncovering a whale meat smuggling scandal in Japan. Who would have expected that? Having watched the YouTube video below, Bryan has a sharp sense of humour too.
Read more about Junichi and Toru and the whale meat scandal »
Watch the video...
Take action: Contact the Prosecutor about the real whaling scandal
First, a thanks for all your help from the team at the Tokyo office:But now we need your help again! When appealing against the release of our scandal-busting activists, Junichi and Toru, the public prosecutor argued that the more than 250,000 people who sent emails to the Japanese government was "questionable" - this despite the fact that every single email was double-checked by you. In other words, the Japanese Government doesn't believe all of you exist! We need you to give them unquestionable proof of support for Junichi and Toru. The quarter of million emails you sent to get them released worked like a dream - after 26 days in custody, they were released - Junichi and Toru have now been reunited with their families and are now awaiting trial.
So, what would happen now if Japan's Supreme Public Prosecutor's office was inundated by actual, physical letters calling for the whale meat investigation to be re-opened? On this page we've prepared a card you can print, stick and post yourself, and a list of talking points you could use if you prefer to write a personal letter instead. Be creative!
Download the letter here »
Killing whales to reduce climate change? I don't think so...
I've just been reading an interesting article in Tuesday's English-language Japan Times. Journalist Bharti Legros eats some whale meat at a restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, but then explores the different aspects of the whaling issue - including quotes from our own Junichi (one of the Tokyo 2, recently detained for uncovering a whale meat scandal) and Wakao, both from the Greenpeace Japan office.
I'd like to have seen the print version; Frode, our Nordic campaigner currently visiting Tokyo, says
"Sadly, the online version [of the Japan Times article] does not cover the views from the street, where six people are asked if they eat whale and how often. One has it a few times a year but is not particularly excited about it. Four are definitely not whale meat lovers. The only pro-whaling voice is the only non-Japanese asked, a grad student from the US..."
Canon Can Save Whales - Competition Winners
A while back we launched a competition on Flickr, asking folks to create images that would urge the CEO of Canon Japan to voice his opposition against whaling. After receiving many inspirational entries including lots of whale watching photographs - we finally chose the winners!
1st
-- from Commerciante Di Maiali - (?)
Thanks to everyone who entered. The 3 winners will soon receive their prizes. So far Mr. Matarai has not taken a stand for the whales yet so we're maintaining the pressure on him while working on other aspects of the campaign - exposing the scandalous embezzlement of whale meat and misuse of tax payers' money along with getting our activists out of jail in Japan.
Junichi and Toru out on bail!!!
After 26 days in custody, Junichi and Toru are out on bail.I'm relieved they finally get to go home to be with their families.
Still, justice will not be done until a proper investigation of the whale meat scandal happens. The unanswered question remains, "Why did the Japanese prosecutor suddenly drop his investigation into the stolen whale meat allegations, despite Greenpeace directly handing him the solid and compelling evidence?"
More info in our press release.
Amnesty support for Junichi and Toru (the Tokyo Two)
Amnesty International has sent a letter to the prime minister of Japan expressing "deep concern" about the detention of Junichi and Toru. From the Amnesty press release:
“We are also concerned that their detention, the charges against them, and the police raids on Greenpeace’s office and the homes of five of its staff are aimed at intimidating both activists and non-governmental organizations.“We ask the Japanese prime minister to make a clear statement assuring human rights defenders, including environmental activists such as Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki and organizations such as Greenpeace, that their right to engage in peaceful activities without intimidation or harassment will be respected by the state, including the justice system.”
Korean whale conservation activists say "Free Junichi and Toru"
Members of Busan KFEM (a Korean enviro group) held a press conference and protest at the Japanese embassy in support of the Tokyo Two. Nice one!
More protests around the world. | Send your own letter of protest.
New Scientist on the Tokyo Two
The New Scientist also ran a story last Friday about the Tokyo Two. Headline and first paragraphs:
Whalers found innocent, Greenpeace activists are charged with theftIn May we ran a story entitled "The beginning of the end for Japanese whaling?". We spoke too soon.
At the time, a public prosecutor in Japan had announced he was investigating claims that workers on whaling ships were embezzling whale meat and selling it to restaurant owners. The investigation was prompted by an undercover investigation carried out by Greenpeace, which said the activities were a misuse of public funds as the meat was a by-product of publicly funded research.
On 20 June, two Greenpeace activists involved in the undercover investigation were arrested and held without charge. Today, they were charged with theft and trespass.
The story goes on to ask a very good question: "Why?"
Huffington Post on the Tokyo Two
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Brendan DeMelle do a regular feature called "Unearthed: News of the Week the Mainstream Media Forgot to Report". The Tokyo Two made it into last week's edition. They noted:
Instead of investigating the crew or bureaucrats in charge of the program, Tokyo police raided Greenpeace Japan's office, seizing computers, documents and cell phones, and arrested the two activists. The pair were held for three weeks without charge before learning they are accused of theft and trespass, and face likely convictions under Japan's strict laws.
Junichi and Toru charged for exposing the whale meat scandal
Junichi and Toru, our two activists who exposed the Japanese whale meat scandal and have been held in detention for the last three weeks, have been charged with theft and trespass. This is despite pressure from more than 30 international organisations, including Amnesty International, the Lawyers Network for Human Rights Observation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, InArticle 19, Transparency International, Oceana, Ubuntu, and Oxfam, and almost a quarter of a million emails to Prime Minister Fukuda.
For now, they're still in custody - stay tuned for updates on this.
Iceland whale watching boat blocks whalers
Whale watching brings in far more money than whaling. Not surprisingly, a lot of Icelanders have begun to question why their government keeps giving permits to kill 40 or so whales each year - when it's obviously going to hurt their tourism industry. There's also been incidents of whalers hunting in designated whale watching areas.
Lately, the crew of one whale watching boat has been foiling the hunters. From the Iceland Review:
The crew of whale watching boat Elding 2 disturbed the crew of whale hunting boat Njördur KO7 while they were hunting for minkes yesterday morning. This is the second time that the whale watchers have prevented hunters from whaling.According to ruv.is, the crew of Elding 2 follows whale hunting boats and position their boat in such a way that the whale hunters cannot possibly complete their work. The whale watchers have not caused any danger, though.
You can support whale conservation minded Icelanders by signing the Iceland pledge. And if you want to do more, follow this guy's example, and tell Icelander's why you won't be visiting till their country stops whaling for good.
Japan office saying thanks for your support
Our activist friends Junichi and Toru are still behind bars. It's been 13 days since they were arrested after exposing a whale meat smuggling scandal. Yeah, feel free to read that sentence again if you need to. It's as crazy as it sounded the first time.
The Greenpeace Japan staff are hugely thankful to everyone who's supported Junichi and Toru. Over 200,000 of you have already written to Japan's prime minister calling for the release of their co-workers. On the walls you can see photos of protests at Japan embassies around the world supporting.
Help us get to our goal of a quarter million emails. Write to free Junichi and Toru. Help bring justice in Japan!
IWC wrap-up - everyone's "talking" but whales are no better off
At last... IWC60, also known as the 60th International Whaling Commission meeting, is now over.
I started writing blog in the press room yesterday, while listening to the incredible (and often entertaining) rhetoric emanating from the pro-whaling nations, especially those whose votes have been "purchased" by Japan. The matter at stake today was a proposed expansion of Greenland's quota, to add 10 humpback whales to the quota of 200 minke, 19 fin and 2 bowhead whales already hunted annually. Alas, while Greenland's hunt supposedly falls under the definition of aboriginal subsistence whaling, it's becoming clear to Greenpeace - as well as other organisations like WSPA - that it's anything but; Greenland clearly doesn't need the whale meat it demands for local, subsistence use - much of it ends up in Greenland's supermarkets, for commercial sale, which means it's not fulfilling the IWC definition of "subsistence".
Live from the IWC - Something happening anytime soon now
IWC Chairman William Hogarth opens the Whale Kingdom for the Greenpeace Ocean Defenders
© Greenpeace/Christian Varas Kallens.
This is my first blog from the International Whaling Commission - as I write, we're into the third day of the five-day meeting, at the Sheraton Hotel, in Santiago, Chile. Without trying to justify why it's taken me so long to write something, I would like to explain - despite the fact that not much has happened here so far, it's still been a pretty busy few days.
Most of the Greenpeace team arrived last week - our IWC stalwart John Frizell, Thilo on politics, Karen, the head of Oceans at Greenpeace, Leandra, our scientist, Milko, Latin American coordinator, Rob from Greenpeace Australia. Already here, of course, were the fantastic team from Greenpeace Chile, especially Sam, Melissa, Rodrigo, Luis and Sergio.
This was always going to be a weird IWC - after years of deadlock between the pro-whaling and pro-conservation counties, IWC60 (this one) was supposed have an atmosphere of respect, peacemaking and reconciliation. This boils down to a kind of polite standoff, where everyone more or less agrees not to attack one another. Until, of course, someone else attacks first...
Junichi Sato: Last blog before his arrest for exposing whaling corruption in Japan
This is a rough translation of the final blog that Junichi Sato wrote before he was arrested in Tokyo for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat, itself stolen from the Japanese taxpayers, that he presented to police as evidence of widescale fraud in the whaling industry:
20 June 2008/06/23Whale Meat Embezzlement News No.11: toward IWC and G8
It is sad but it seems like this is the last update of this blog for a while. Last night TV news reported that Aomori police would arrest us.
As I have been continuously saying publicly, I will keep supporting and helping the investigation of what we have done and of the embezzlement of whale meat by the Nisshin Maru’s crew.
Blogger arrested - blog him out of jail!!
Junichi Sato is not only a whale activist in Japan (and there ain't many people who can put THAT on their business card), he's also a blogger. And he's been arrested for the crime of exposing the truth.
AFP reported
"Sato, writing on his blog shortly before his arrest, appealed for a continued probe into the alleged whale meat embezzlement."I just want to appeal to the hearts of people involved in the whale embezzlement case: 'Do you think it's alright to remain silent?'" Sato wrote.
"If Japan wants to take the lead as an environmentally advanced country, please, conduct diplomacy that can turn international friction into cooperation."
Greenpeace activists arrested for exposing Japan's whale meat scandal
Update: Take Action now to release our activists »
Breaking news - two Japanese Greenpeace activists, Junichi and Toru, have been arrested for exposing the stolen whale meat scandal which led to the ongoing investigation by the Tokyo Public Prosecutor of the government's Southern Ocean whale hunt.
They're being investigated for allegedly stealing a box of whale meat - yet they delivered the meat to the public prosecutor a month ago, as evidence of a systematic whale meat smuggling operation. The activists had tracked the box, along with many others like it, after it had been smuggled off the Nisshin Maru, following its return from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. They then followed the shipment to a depot in Tokyo, where they intercepted one of four boxes destined for the same private address, in order to verify the contents, and establish the fraud being carried out against the taxpayer.
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."
Whales? More money in watching them than eating them
Two bits of good news for whales in mail bag today:
A report in Asahi Shinbum, Japan's second largest newspaper, prompts the question whether the Japanese Fisheries Agency's drive to revive commercial whaling is a nationalist political agenda or pork for a few bureaucrats -- as it certainly isn't profit. The companies that were involved in running whaling as a business say there just isn't enough demand to make it worthwhile, and even if the ban on commercial whaling were to be lifted, they wouldn't be interested.
For those of you who have been regularly checking in here at Making Waves, things are really moving in Japan -- we've never seen this kind of mainstream questioning of whaling in the press, and our exposure of the whale meat scandal which is still under investigation certainly hasn't hurt.
How much whale meat can you fit inside your house?
Why is so much whale meat ending up in people's houses? Last month, we cracked open the stolen whale meat scandal in Japan - we discovered that boxes of whale meat were smuggled off the Nisshin Maru and couriered to people's homes.
Now it's happening again - according to the export license for fin and minke whale meat shipped from Iceland and Norway, the final address was a private house in Tokyo. Now, we don't think that tonnes of meat have really been squeezed inside a small house. Instead, it seems to be sitting in limbo somewhere. We know that no import license has yet been granted, despite Icelandic claims that there's a market for the meat.
The would-be importer of the meat, Asian Trading Co. Ltd. uses the house's address, but the company has apparently dormant for the last four years, and only reactivated two weeks ago. According to the company register, the company's director and senior management staff resigned in June 2004, leaving the company inactive. The director re-registered the company on May 20th this year, as a "favour for a friend in Iceland", according to a spokesperson. This friend is evidently Iceland's Kristjan Loftsson, the exporter of the meat, and the only whaler left with capacity for large scale industrial whaling and the processing of large whales, such as fin whales.
Whaling fleet crew told to "stay at home"
The dodgy whale meat. © Greenpeace
According to some juicy information we've received, the crew members of the Nisshin Maru and the rest of the whaling fleet, who would by now have already left port for the annual North Pacific whale hunt, have been ordered to stay at home. Bummer for them - but it gives the whales a reprieve, for now.
The information came to us just two weeks after we revealed a major scandal of stolen whale meat from the Southern Ocean hunt - allegations which are now being fully investigated by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor.
Normally the North Pacific whale hunt begins in May, however we reckon that it's now on hold due to a combination of the stolen whale meat investigation, and the government of Japan fearing any more international scrutiny taking place during the series G8 meetings. At one of the meetings, Japan's foreign minister will be sitting down to talk his opposite numbers in the US and Australia - both countries who support the protection of whales.
Stolen whale meat: Lets shut down Japan's whaling programme!
Berlin, Germany. © Schoelzel/Greenpeace
Over the last couple of days, activists have been visiting Japanese embassies in capitals around the world, demanding an end to Japan's whaling programme in the Southern Ocean, as well as for an open and transparent investigation of the scandal around stolen whale meat from the whale ship Nisshin Maru.
More than 40,000 of you wrote to the Japanese government to demand an investigation, and today the Tokyo district Public Prosecutor has confirmed that there will one. We will be cooperating in every way possible to ensure that it is a full investigation, to the highest levels and not simply the scapegoating of a few individual crew members. While the investigation is underway, we're demanding that the government immediately suspend any whaling permits, as well as stop the tax-payers' subsidy to the programme.
Now we all need to push the Japanese government to make good on our second and third demands: shut down whaling and cut off its tax subsidies. We also want to ensure that they investigate this scandal at the highest level – not just by scapegoating crew members.
Please send a message to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan! - then check out the rest of the photographs...
Good news from Tokyo - Public Prosecutor Takes Whale Meat Case
A few days, one weekend, and and more than 40,000 emails later to the Japanese government, demanding an investigation - and it's working! Today the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor anounced that there will a full inquiry into Japan's whale meat scandal. We will, of course, be cooperating in every way possible to ensure that it is a full investigation of the companies involved and not simply just a way of scapegoating of a few individual crew members. In the meantime, Japan's government needs to suspend any further whaling permits to the Institute of Cetacean Research and and the whaling ship owners Kyodo Senpaku, and also end the the tax-payers' subsidy to the programme.
It was great news to hear this today - after a hectic week in Tokyo, I found myself back at home in Ireland. I'd not even poured my first coffee in the day when I had Brian on the phone to me, letting me know that that the investigation was going ahead. Kudos to the Tokyo team!
More news as we have it...
Earlier: Update on the whale meat scandal »
Blog: Stolen whale meat scandal rocks Japan
Live from Tokyo: Update on the whale meat scandal
Greenpeace Japan's Junichi Sato displaying the stolen whale meat to the media. ©Greenpeace/Naomi Toyoda
Brian's already blogged the full story on the emerging whale meat scandal, so I thought I'd fill you in on the latest happenings here in Tokyo. Most of us at the Greenpeace Japan office were up late on Wednesday night and very early Thursday morning, working hard on the preparation for today's announcement - that the crew of the Nisshin Maru have been siphoning off tonnes of whale meat and thousands of dollars of public funds for personal gain.
We met for breakfast at 6:30am; the sun was shining for the first time in days, and the scandal had been splashed all over the front page of the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading newspaper with 8 million copies circulated daily. A good start to the day. By the time our press conference kicked off at 10am, news had spread, and the room was packed with domestic and international media, including all the top Japanese TV stations, and international agencies like Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse. Cross conferences can be notoriously dull affairs - but this was a little different. Our whale campaigner, Junichi, while presenting the conference with Jun (Greenpeace Japan executive director) pulled on a pair of surgical gloves, and held up a piece of the stolen whale meat for the cameras. Mind, seeing wasn't enough to convince one journalist who was forced to ask "is it real?" To which Junichi replied that it certainly was, and invited the journalist to have a sniff - the whale meat doesn't smell so good, and by the time the conference was over, the entire room smell of dead whale - an Antarctic minke that found an ignominious, pointless end, stuffed into a cardboard box.
Nisshin Maru Arrives in Tokyo after failed "research" in the Southern Ocean
© Greenpeace/Naomi Toyoda
Japan's factory whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru was "welcomed" into Tokyo earlier today, by Junichi and our team from Greenpeace Japan, along with the word "failed" to accompany the ubiquitous and Orwellian "RESEARCH" painted on its hull.
During its five months at sea, the Nisshin Maruwas responsible for taking 551 minke whales from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary - far less than the 1035 whales planned, but more than a hundred than were killed three years ago. Our ship, the Esperanza, shutdown Japan's entire whaling operation for 15 days, during a 4300-mile chase of the Nisshin Maru across the Southern Ocean. The whalers are blaming the protestors (that'd be us then) for missing their target.
The whalers had also planned to hunt 50 endangered fin whales, and 50 vulnerable humpbacks; but they'd barely reached the Southern Ocean when international outrage forced Japan's government to back down on the iconic humpbacks. And as for the endangered fin whales - none were killed at all, which is extremely good news. Before the hunt, Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research (the agency that runs the "scientific" whaling programme) were mouthing off about a 'rapid increase' in fin whales (no whales reproduce "rapidly"... they're not like rabbits). Yesterday, however, fisheries agency officials reported that it wasn't possible to kill any fin whales - because they couldn't find any! So much for the rapid increase - just another sign of their failed research programme.
Hans Monker
You would never pick out Hans in a bar as a hero. He just didn't have the look. But he went places most people wouldn't dare go, to do work beyond most of us - for Greenpeace, Médecins Sans Frontières and other groups.
He was born in the Netherlands, traveled most of the world (from the Amazon to Antarctica) and died in Vietnam - where he lived with his wife.
Recently, Hans checked into the hospital with pneumonia. He responded well to treatment, and checked out several days later - eager to get back to work on a Greenpeace project. Today, he collapsed and passed away at a hotel breakfast table.
Hans was a behind the scenes person. Not one for the spotlight. He had strong convictions though, and when pressed would talk about them. Here's his crew profile from our first ship tour together - a voyage to defend whales in the Southern Ocean:
It is important for me to participate in this campaign - for a long time millions of people all over the world have been united in voicing that whaling is just not on - we have a responsibility to make sure that we preserve whales, not kill them.One of mankind's greatest gifts is the one of creation - we have the ability to create both beautiful as well as destructive things.
Another gift given to mankind is freedom. We are capable of choosing to destroy or protect the earth.
Creativity and freedom are not for free - we also have the responsibility to use our gifts in a good way, that is: to make things beautiful, then we can enjoy them together, in freedom.
My personal goal to be with Greenpeace is to be part of a group of people that gives others food for thought.
-- Hans
I was lucky to know Hans, but I know a lot of you knew him better than I did. Please leave messages in the comments. We'll pass them on to his family.
Save the planet -- eat a whale?????
It's hard to know whether to pity or admire an opponent when they're up against a wall and start throwing out the desperation arguments.
In 2006, when the Competitive Enterprise Institute was finding it increasingly hard to buy climate science that challenged global warming, they dumped a lot of Exxon dollars into an excruciatingly bad TV ad with the belly-laugh tag line: "CO2: they call it pollution, we call it life."
(That may be why they got dropped from the sponsorship of what our Man on the Exxon Funding Watch, Kert Davies, calls the "Denial-a-palooza" Conference currently underway in the US)
But our old Viking Whaler pals at the High North Alliance have just thrown the best kitchen sink argument in a long time: "Whale Meat -- it's a climate-friendly alternative to beef."
Now this, kids, is desperation. Iceland couldn't sell enough whale meat last year to justify sending a single whaling ship out this year. Norway doesn't even bother to kill as many whales as their quota allows because they can't move the stuff. Even in Japan, demand continues its decline despite government-funded marketing pushes and subsidised price-cuts.
You can see why they need a new sales pitch.
But let's just accept that the High North Alliance's long-documented concern for the environment and alarm at global warming are genuine, and that they're not just looking for a way to push old wine in a new bottle, and run the numbers:
World production of beef in 2005 was about 50 million tons.
Let's assume we want to make a 1% decrease in beef consumption. And even though it is not true, we will assume that whale meat production has zero CO2 cost. So to replace 1% of the world's beef production we need 0.5 million tons of whale meat - ie 500,000 tons. The Norwegians get about 1.5 tons of meat from a minke whale, so to generate 500,000 tons they will need to kill about 330,000 minke whales.
Unfortunately this is more than double the population estimate - they would wipe out the minke in under 6 months.
Whoops.
And so, once again our friends the folks who drove species after species of whale to the brink of extinction demonstrate precisely how far you can trust the whaling industry to regulate themselves -- which is about as far as you can throw a kitchen sink.
Shukan Toyo Keizai on whaling
Here's an extremely interesting special report on whaling, from a Japanese business magazine. The translation is a bit patchy, but it's a fascinating glimpse -- and confirmation that, unlike the picture you get if you read the propoganda at the Institute for Cetacean Research website, there is in fact a domestic debate about whaling in Japan, and a growing tension between the Foreign Affairs department, which is constantly having to patch up relations with allies over a distraction, and the Fisheries Agency, which keeps a few bureaucrats fat and happy by shrilly pushing Japan's whaling programme down the throats of all opposition -- whether its us oceanic hippies or their own government colleagues.
If you don't make it to the end, here's the most important part:
" Some connected with whaling say that huge enterprises that are far outside the framework of realistic choices could be interested. Being one of the few issues on which Japan has made a stand against the United States and European countries, the stance of whaling hardliners could also be a vent for narrow-minded nationalism. In the end, that could easily be detrimental to national interests. Perhaps the Japanese people need to take this opportunity to reexamine the whaling issue for themselves."
Whalers stuck in the red
A recent article in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun has reported that the financial status of the Japanese whaling industry is looking pretty bleak right now. The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which is responsible for "research" whaling, has failed to pay back 1 billion yen ($9.4 million US) out of a 3.6 billion yen national loan in 2006. The ICR borrowed the money from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and was supposed to pay it back at the end of the fiscal year but reported financial difficulties and requested to pay the interest-free loan back over 4 years instead.
The cost of whaling has been rising because the ICR has increased their quota despite the fact that the value of whale meat continues to drop due to decreasing demand. In 2006 he whale meat supply increasing by 30% and the price being cut by an average of 20%, there was a 6% decrease in the sale of whale meat (in 2006) compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the cost of whaling rose by 10% because the number of vessels in the fleet increased from 5 to 6 and the hunting season was extended.
The Japanese public must be wondering how long their government will continue to throw public money at this failing attempt to revive commercial whaling. Surely it is clear that the only way out of this mess is to stop sending a fleet of ships to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary!
It's frustrating that in spite of heavy international opposition to whaling in these waters, the Government of Japan continues their annual hunt. But we're glad that scandals like this are being exposed in the mainstream Japanese news and the folks at Greenpeace Japan are hopeful that continuing domestic pressure will force the Government to retire the whaling fleet.
Help us increase the pressure in Japan to end whaling in the Southern Ocean Write to Mr. Mitarai, the CEO of Canon and head of the Japanese Business Federation and ask him to defend the whales.
Canon Can Save Whales
In less than 24 hours, since we launched the "Canon Can Save Whales" Appeal, over 15,000 people have sent letters to the CEO of Canon Japan asking him to speak out against whaling. While the sheer number of letters is encouraging, what's even better is the time that some folks are taking to write personally to Canon.
Here's a tiny sample:
"My family and I love canon cameras- they are all we've ever owned, and we will love them even more if you prove to the world that Canon is committed to building a better world for future generations, and does not support the hunting of endangered or threatened species with anything other than a camera.The earth would be incredibly less beautiful without whales."
--
"I recently purchased a new Canon Rebel XTi DSLR camera and will return it since I have learned of your unwillingness to denounce the irresponsible killing of whales with harpoons. I may not be able to control your obvious immoral stance on this subject, but I can control what products my friends and I purchase and from whom. I am very disappointed with Canon!"--
"As a happy and dedicated owner of two Canon cameras I was disappointed to see the less than stellar position you have taken with regards to the whale hunt. While I agree, in general, that there are many positions to take on a subject, in the current case it is obvious to all but the most willfully blind that the whale hunt is an economic and political concession to a small and out of touch minority from an era best left to the history books. I would have hoped that as a respected member of the business community you would have been happy to state as much.Over the last number of years I have encouraged many friends and members of my firm to purchase Canon cameras; however, given your recent position I certainly will not be buying anymore of your products and most definitely will not be recommending them either."
--
Japanese people encouraged to re-examine whaling
A Special Report has appeared in the Japanese buisiness magazine Shukan Toyo Keizai and we thought we'd share some of the translated version here. The folks at Greenpeace Japan have been very pleased that there is a discussion going on in the Japanese media lately since it's been such a long time coming.
"In the past few years, Japan has rapidly expanded its research whaling and has been trying to win support with numbers at international meetings. (...) Tensions in the Antarctic Ocean over Japan’s research whaling have reached an unprecedented high."
The article boldly sates:
"For companies, whale-related businesses are an “operational risk”. "(...)
and goes on to conclude:
"Being one of the few issues on which Japan has made a stand against the United States and European countries, the stance of whaling hardliners could also be a vent for narrow-minded nationalism. In the end, that could easily be detrimental to national interests. Perhaps the Japanese people need to take this opportunity to re-examine the whaling issue for themselves."
Blue Monday - let's give it a new meaning!
Today is known as "Blue Monday" in the UK because it is apparently the most depressing day of the year. It's likely to be raining (and as I look at the window of the Greenpeace International office in Amsterdam - it is!) and more people commit suicide today in the UK than any other day of the year! Yesterday there were calls for the day to be banned as it only encourages depressing thoughts but I have an idea! Why don't we take this opportunity to give Blue Monday a new meaning altogether? What else does the colour blue make you think of without feeling sad? What could we use "Blue Monday" to celebrate? My suggestion would be to make today about celebrating whales and the oceans that they live in. I've been meaning to post this amazing footage of humpback whales on here for sometime now and what better day is there to seize for this? After watching this video there is absolutely no way you could still be feeling depressed!
It's made by Andrew Stevenson who is a friend of mine in Bermuda. He has spent hundreds of hours in the water with these majestic creatures and is now passionate about raising awareness about the plight of all whales, especially the ones being killed in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Thankfully, at least humpback whales are safe from Japanese harpoons for now...
Greenpeace webcam: you, too, can spot the Nisshin Maru
Late last night, the word went out that we had found the fleet. On board the Espy, the Bridge bristled with binoculars as the crew sought to catch a glimpse through the fog and snow. And judging from the webstats, an awful lot of us Virtual Crewmembers and Cyber Salty Dogs went barrelling toward our own version of the bridge -- the live Esperanza Webcam, where a tiny smudge on the horizon said that once again, against all odds, we had found the Japanese whaling fleet in the vast expanse of the Southern Ocean.
For me, sitting warm and dry in my home in Amsterdam, I was able to experience some of the vicarious excitement of the hunt. I loaded up the webcam page. There. Up on the horizon off the starboard bow. There was our quarry, the Nisshin Maru.
Konichiwa, boys.
Virtual Whale Watching
Last night at 1 o'clock in the morning I was just about to go to sleep in Amsterdam when Karli, the expedition leader on the Esperanza, messaged me saying "check out the web cam now, we have 30 or more humpbacks all around us eating their breakfast". Sure enough, after a few minutes of waiting patiently gazing at my laptop I saw a humpback surface in front of the ship with a spout! Like many whale watchers, I've been lucky enough to see humpbacks up close but how many people can say they have watched them in the Southern Ocean, in real time, from their bed in a completely different hemisphere?
You can view live web cam images here and check out some of the images captured from last night here. Irene, the lovely web editor on board the Esperanza has also written about "sailing through whale breakfast" on the blog and she is setting up more web cams around the ship now so us land lubbers should have an even better virtual whale watching experience soon!
Aye, very like a whale...
Mister Splashy Pants' characteristic dorsal fin is clearly visible in this snap of visitor statistics to this weblog.
Get yer Mister Splashy Pants gear here: http://www.cafepress.com/greenpeace
And if you haven't voted for your favourite whale name yet, the contest ends tomorrow: Vote!
Then make sure that whatever name you choose, you take action to make sure that humpback doesn't get harpooned.
Mister Splashy Pants Fan
Thanks to our friends over at BoingBoing and Reddit, Mr Splashy Pants is in the lead for the Greenpeace name-a-whale competition. What isn't so well known is the identity of the unsung hero that made it all possible. We don't know all the details but from what we have managed to piece together, it appears that someone found a way around our 'one vote per person' rule and began a clicking frenzy that was to change the face of the competition.
Dear Ms. Yamaguchi, about your whale curry...
A Japanese company said Tuesday it would start offering whale curry in its takeaway business lunches, as the country pursues its controversial whale hunt in the Antarctic.Asian Lunch, which says it sells 1,000-1,500 lunch boxes daily in Tokyo's business districts, will offer the meat once a week, starting Thursday with a South Asian-style keema curry.
[...]
As for protests against Japan's whaling, [Asian Lunch spokeswoman] Yamaguchi said the company just "does not want to waste meat once their lives were deprived of for research."
"We would feel uncomfortable if we hunted whales by ourselves for the purpose of eating them," she said.
Dear Ms. Yamaguchi,
You should feel uncomfortable selling whale curry. The whales that you are eating were "deprived of their lives" not for the purpose of research: there are non-lethal means of learning virtually everything which research with a harpoon can tell us. And while it would make you uncomfortable if the whales were killed for the purposes of eating them, this isn't the case either: 4,000 tonnes of whale meat sit unsold in cold storage while the Japanese Fisheries Agency attempts to launch desperate programmes to get rid of it through school lunchs and other subsidized programmes.
The reason you should feel uncomfortable, Mr. Yamaguchi, is that the whales that were killed to make your curry were killed to line the pockets of a very few bureaucrats who spend 945,550,000 yen per year, about US$ 8.6 million, subsidizing a whaling programme that generates no useful science and a lot of unsellable whalemeat.
Rather than feel uncomfortable, you should cancel your contract and demand an explanation of the Japanese Fisheries Agency and the parliamentarians who approve these scandalous subsidies every year.
There is no honour in eating a lunch made possible by a criminal waste of taxpayer's money.
Rumours from Tokyo: Humpbacks to be spared the harpoon?
Greenpeace and the Japanese Fisheries Agency have been locked in conflict over whaling for a long time, and sometimes the game of figuring out your opponent's moves can look an awful lot like the old Mad Magazine comic, Spy vs. Spy.
We know from server logs that the whalers read every word here at Making Waves and at our main website. (Which means I'm taking a bit of mischevious joy in the thought that somewhere in Japan right now, some researcher is trying to get a hold of a Mad Magazine to figure out what Spy vs. Spy is...)
But the whalers know, too, that we have a few sources who tell us inside stories from time to time.
Here's an interesting one: a rumour from a well-placed source that the Japanese Fisheries Agency has decided to quietly abandon plans to hunt 50 threatened humpbacks as part of their psuedo-research whaling efforts this year.
Now at this stage all we have is an unconfirmed rumour. And we don't know whether this was a decision taken over fears that selling the whalemeat from the "scientific" hunt might be a violation of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, or if there were concerns about public outrage over the killing of the sea's most charismatic of whales, or -- who knows -- they've been convinced by the case we're making for non-lethal research via the Great Whale Trail.
But since Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda is meeting with George Bush today, maybe we could ask George to drop into that friendly, charming drawl and ask "Fukuda-san, is it true what I hear about you not harpooning them humpies?"
Iceland to stop whaling!
Result! One country down, two to go. Norway and Japan are the only two countries left flying in the face of world opinion, after Iceland's fisheries minister, Einar K. Guofinnsson was quoted by Reuters as saying
"The whaling industry, like any other industry, has to obey the market. If there is no profitability there is no foundation for resuming with the killing of whales".
Guofinnsson said he won't issue a new quota until the "market conditions for whale meat improve" and permission to export whale products to Japan is secured. Presumably, the 5,000 tonnes of whalemeat currently sitting in Japan's coldrooms will need to get sold first.
I had a sense this might happen - while I was at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Anchorage this year, the newly elected Icelandic foreign minister, Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, practically disowned her country's pro-whaling commissioner, saying "we are sacrificing greater interests for lesser ones in this issue". She was referring, of course, to Iceland losing tourism revenue for the sake of a ridiculous whale hunt.
Japanese animation: Our turn to save the whales
Academy-award nominated Japanese animator Koji Yamamura has created this tiny, beautiful story about a Japanese headmaster who saves a whale, returning a debt for having been saved from starvation after the second world war. The 2-minute film took him 5 months to make and comprises 1700 drawings.
You can read more about Yamamura here.
Food for thought on whaling and Japan
This morning Keiko (press officer for Greenpeace Japan) sent me an article from the Asahi Shimbun (a major Japanese newspaper). It makes me wish I understood Japanese culture better. If this was in a UK or US newspaper I'd suspect the writer was being cleverly sarcastic, but I'm not sure they really do sarcasm in the Japan. Here's the start of the English version:
When Japan bowed out of commercial whaling operations 20 years ago, it opted to conduct "scientific whaling" instead.The controversial strategy seemed to offer an opportunity to learn more about whales at a time of worldwide concern about declining stocks of these gracious mammals.
So what has Japan learned?
Well, it has caught and slaughtered more than 10,000 whales in pursuit of mostly sketchy and hotly disputed data about whale populations. But that seems a meager result for two decades of research.
Meantime, whale meat has ended up in the marketplace just as before. This has coincided with moves in some parts of Japan to reintroduce children to the joys of whale meat in their school lunches.
At any rate, it is good to see the issue being more seriously addressed in Japanese media. In the year's past it's been mostly ignored or portrayed from a strictly nationalistic point of view. I can think of lots of reasons this has happened, but think the whale love wagon did its small part to open up the debate.
Migrating Human Whale
One thousand schoolchildren send an SOS for whale protection and launch the Migrating Human Whale Project from the shores of Loreto Bay National Marine Park in Baja, Mexico.
This is the first of eight Human Whale aerial images involving nearly ten thousand schoolchildren from Mexico to Alaska leading up to the International Whaling Commission
meeting in Anchorage on May 28.
If you want to add to the chorus of whale defenders worldwide, join the Big Blue March May 27th. Wear something blue!
17 whale deaths every 30 minutes
While politicians and bureaucrats talk, activists in Germany presented evidence of environmental crime at the Brandenburg Gate.
They set out 17 dead whales and dolphins, which were collected in the last weeks along European coasts. Why 17? It's the number of dolphins and whales that die every 30 minutes all year round in our oceans, mainly due to bycatch.
This grisly fact underscores the need for four things:
-New thinking in fishery policy in order to minimize bycatch
-A network of protected areas for our oceans
-The International Whaling Commission meeting next week in Alaska needs to deal with all threats to all species of whales and dolphins. In some cases, even governments which support whale conservation at the IWC turn a blind eye to whale deaths being caused by their own policies.
--Maintenance of the moratorium on commercial whaling to counter the wider environmental pressure on these animals and our seas.
Want to make a statement with people all over the world? Wear a blue t-shirt and join the Big Blue March this Sunday, May 27th!!!
Party for the Whales
Last year I decided to raise money for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) by having a party with my friends and getting them to give me money for all kinds of things. I put on a showing of the movie "Deep Blue" by the makers of the Blue Planet series, provided food and drinks, offered tarot card readings and games with prizes and in return my friends gave me their hard earned cash. I ended up raising over $200 and for an evening filled with fun and friends I felt it was an incredibly easy way to raise money for saving whales.
I'm going to do it again this year and have just sent off for my free Save The Whale Week party pack. If you're interested in partying for whales, check out the WDCS "Save The Whale Week" website for more details.
Iceland weighing whaling
The decision to formally resume commercial whaling is being seriously re-thought in Iceland - as can be seen from an interview with its Prime Minister Geir Haarde. From Reuters:
Haarde, facing elections on May 12, said the government must factor global criticism into its decision-making."It's an equation with several elements in there -- one is the market, one is world public opinion, one is tourism and so on -- and we have to weigh all these together, and the different interests, before we come up with a new decision," Haarde said.
The global outcry is obviously having an effect. Add your voice by signing the Iceland Pledge (to consider visiting if they end ALL Iceland whaling).
Esperanza "banned" from Japan
Apparently under some pressure, our agent there has decided she can't represent us. And without an agent it is all but impossible for us to take the ship into port. So we're not being officially blocked by the government, but are being kept out none the less.
Background - Our ship, the Esperanza, was more than 500 miles from the whaling fleet when a fire broke out on board their factory ship. But we responded at full speed to their location and rendered what aid we could. After 10 days without engines, they managed to get underway again.
Life-sized Blue Whale banner
Want a glimpse of just how big a Blue Whale is? Check out this "life-sized" Blue Whale banner from The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
This is an extremely cool concept: it's really, really hard to visualize how big these creatures are.
In a lifetime of whale watching, I have seen one blue, off the coast of Iceland. I called my son that night, who was five at the time, to tell him I'd seen an animal bigger than a dinosaur.
"Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww."
"His tongue is as big as a car"
"Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
He wanted to know when he could go to Iceland. The answer, of course, is "Just as soon as Iceland stops whaling."
And that brings us to today's news about Icelandic whaling: Back in 2003 when we brought the Rainbow Warrior over to Iceland to talk with people about the issue, 90% of the public supported Iceland's "scientific" whaling program. Earlier this week, a Gallup survey asked the question "Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the Minister s decision to start commercial whaling again?" the result was a 50-50 split. So the numbers are moving in the right direction, and our challenge now is to keep them moving the right way until the government does the right thing, and ends both commercial and scientific whaling in Iceland forever.
If you too, want to see a blue whale in the wild, and you want to protect the endangered finn and minke whales which Iceland hunts, join the Iceland Whales Pledge, which has ammassed millions of dollars in potential tourist income, against a whaling industry which currently loses money. All you do is promise to visit Iceland if the government stops whaling.
And believe me, you'd be hard pressed to find a more beautiful spot from which to watch the whales. In the spring on the North side of the island, the sun shines past midnight and you can sit in a hot spring high on a hill, and watch the humpbacks breaching in the bay below. Pledge today, and join us there for the very big party we're planning to throw when the whales of Iceland are saved forever.
Warhol and whales
So today is the 20th anniversary of the death of pop culture artist Andy Warhol. The celebrated artist died unexpectedly on this day in 1987 after undergoing a gall bladder operation. As a tribute to the artist and in keeping with our campaign in the Southern Ocean to end whaling for good, i present you with, '100 cans of whale'.
Endangered?
This week saw some news that under normal circumstances would be greeted with celebration and be seen as a showcase for the possibilities of conservation efforts. In the US, the wolf has been removed from the endangered species list in three states with another three states likely to follow. After three decades, conservation efforts have brought the iconic species back from the edge of extinction after being taken to the brink by hunting.
But in the same breath in which the news of the wolf's return was announced, it was also announced that the removal of the endangered species tag from the wolf's name means that they can now be legally hunted again. The very thing that placed the species on the endangered species list in the first place was to be allowed once more.
Whether the spokesperson for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, who announced the good news for hunters, understood the irony wasn't recorded. The imminent resumption of wolf hunting raises the question of whether conservation efforts around the world are there for the sake of the species and the ecosystems in which they live or simply for the sake of future exploitation.
UK whale conservation recruitment drive
Greenpeace UK oceans campaigner Willie Mackenzie responding to reports that the UK government is recruiting pro-conservation governments to the International Whaling Commission:
Last year UK NGO's asked Blair to write personally to key countries explaining that a resumption of commercial whaling was a very real threat. So far he has refused to do this, but today has announced that he will write the foreword for a brochure. While Greenpeace welcomes a brochure against whaling it is hardly a move which will have the same impact as a personalised letter or a direct meeting.The Japanese Government has been building a voting majority at the IWC for the last 10 years, with Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers actively lobbying for a resumption of commercial whaling.
If the UK Government want to claim they are fighting a resumption of commercial whaling then they must urgently up their game, and Tony Blair must raise this issue within Cabinet and directly with other Heads of State.
Willie sounds fairly unimpressed. With the Japanese government running a very aggressive pro-whaling recruitment drive (often backed by development aid), the UK government will need to try a bit harder.
But why wait for our governments? Start your own campaign, or connect with others, at whales.greenpeace.org.
Bad press day for Icelandic whalers
Oh dear. It's being reported in the Icelandic newspaper Frettabladid that 179 tons worth of the 7 endangered fin whales that where caught last fall have been buried in a land fill.
The whaling industry is claiming this is "entrails and bones," but Gisli Vikingsson at the Icelandic Marine Institute notes that the average weight of the fin whales caught was about 50 tons, so that's more than half the entire animal being wasted.
But wait, it gets worse.
When asked about the 100 tons of unsold whale meat that sits in freezers in Iceland unsold, Kristjan Loftsson, manager of whaling firm Hvalur, (who rather refreshingly appears to have skipped the PR spin training that most whaling industry spokespersons get) said "the delay was because firms must first test the meat for dangerous chemicals to see if it meets food industry standards."
Well that's reassuring, isn't it?
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