"[Prime Minister] Kevin Rudd has selected Labor mate Sandy Hollway to be Australia's first whaling envoy, ending a desperate five-month search for someone willing to confront Japan over its whale slaughter. An experienced diplomat and chief of staff to former prime minister Bob Hawke, Mr Hollway is known to most Australians as the face of the 2000 Sydney Olympics where he was head of the organising committee. He is also on good terms with Mr Rudd, appointed by the Prime Minister in March as chief mediator between Canberra and Port Moresby over the future of the Kokoda Trail."
The Age: Diplomat lands task of stopping whale hunt »
If these reports of Mr. Hollway's appointment as Australia's Whales Envoy to Japan are true, then the Australian government should confirm it as soon as possible - rather than leave it open to further speculation. Support for whaling is on the wane in Japan, but Hollway - or whoever gets the envoy role - will still have his work cut out for him, what with the International Whaling Commission Meeting coming up in June, and the Japanese whaling fleet gearing up for a return to the Southern Ocean at the end of the year.
]]>"... 22 years after an international whale-hunting moratorium went into effect, some whales appear to be making a comeback off Chile's coast, where a proliferation of islands, fiords, peninsulas and straits creates tens of thousands of miles of shoreline. In recent years, researchers combing remote crannies of this elongated coast have confirmed the presence of two seasonally resident populations of whales, including 100 to 150 humpbacks here in the glacier-rimmed Strait of Magellan."
"Farther to the north, closer to the seas once frequented by Mocha Dick, they've tracked several hundred blue whales, believed to be Earth's largest animal, at 100 feet long and more than 100 tons -- bigger than any dinosaur. A separate population of blue whales feeds off the central California coast between June and October."
It's worth reading the whole article, which is quite in-depth, in the LA Times:
Whale sightings off Chile raise hope for the endangered animals »
Norwegian whalers shot the first whale of the season on Wednesday of a quota of 1,052, a group opposed to the hunts said. Norway, with Japan the main whaling nation despite an international moratorium, resumed commercial hunts in 1993 and says that the minke whales it harpoons are plentiful in the north Atlantic.]]> "This morning, Norwegian whalers made the first kill of the season -- a calf," the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) said in a statement. It said the whale was shot by the Jan Bjoern vessel. The WSPA said that a survey it carried out indicated that only one in four Norwegians under the age of 30 strongly supported the continuation of whaling.
Reuters: Norwegian whalers make first catch of season »
More about Norwegian whaling »
Update 5/5/2008:
Norwegian whalers have caught five minke off north- western Norway »
Remember the excitement about Mr Splashy pants a few months ago? As part of the Great Whale trail, we launched a competition for our supporters to name humpback whales being tagged off the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. The project was part of our non-lethal research work into whale migrations and behaviour. Well, there was unprecedented response with votes being rigged - Mr Splashy Pants overwhelmingly won the vote and went viral!
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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.
Nisshin Maru Arrives in Tokyo after failed "research" in the Southern Ocean »
Santiago will be hosting the International Whaling Commission meeting in June of this year.
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©Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac
The icebergs outside our portholes have been replaced by the buildings of Hobart.
We could smell the trees from far away. For some reason many looked surprised at the sight of land, as if we had expected it not to be there anymore. When sailing into Hobart, we were moved by the big welcoming crowd cheering and waving on the quayside. It took some time to clear customs, but about an hour later we set foot on land for the first time in a month and a half. It was lovely to see all these smiling faces, and as much as I like my crewmates, it is good to see some others than the 36 onboard!
Tomorrow we will hold the ship open for visitors – if you happen to be in the area please come pay us a visit between 12 and 19pm!
A thank you as well to david@tokyo and Isanatori: we will never agree on much.
Thank you to all who have participated in the online actions.
A couple of days ago Dwarven posted a comment on my crew profile asking if we were coming to Hobart, and if we had any requests. The thought of eating avocados had grown into an obsession, so I asked him to bring a couple. It was perhaps the best avocado I’ve ever had, so many thanks for that!
For all you webcam addicts out there: we’ve taken them down for now, only the mast camera is still running. I hope that absence will no be too difficult for you!
Somehow it is suitable that we came to Hobart, a town that used to be at the heart of shore-based whaling in Tasmania. What is left of the old whaling stations in Tasmania are historic sites, the way it should be.
We will continue our work to end whaling in the Southern Ocean for good, on the political arena and in Japan.
From South Korea to Tasmania, with all that zigzagging when chasing the Nisshin Maru in all directions, we’ve sailed 17 000 nautical miles since I got onboard the Esperanza 3,5 months ago. Now we will all go in different directions, some will stay onboard for a while longer and others are heading home. Saying goodbye to the crew and the ship is never any fun, but I look forward to a long walk in the forest.
See you!
- Iréne
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We chased the factory ship the Nisshin Maru over a distance of 4,300 nautical miles. During that time no whales were killed. When we had to leave the Australian surveillance vessel Oceanic Viking had arrived. If the whaling fleet have "only" killed five whales so far, it means that the whaling fleet didn't resume whaling immediately, but I guess they got desperate to try and fill their quota. It is very difficult to find anything positive to say today.
Media coverage and public discussion on the whaling issue has reached unprecedented levels in Japan, and Prime Minister Fukuda has been forced to discuss the whaling issue in Parliament.
Japanese taxpayers must be wondering why they are funding this scandalous fake research operation which produces no real science, whale meat that very few wants to eat, and brings their country into international disrepute.
The Japanese government wants to "normalise" the International Whaling Commission, and overthrow the moratorium on commercial whaling. Bloody pictures of whales being killed in the Southern Ocean do not serve this purpose.
Therefore I post one from 2006 - this is what the Japanese government's science looks like.
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In 2003 members of the Okinawan community joined with an international coalition of conservation groups to file suit in U.S. district court on behalf of the dugong.
Yesterday we got the good news: a final ruling requires the US Department of Defense to consider impacts of a new airbase on the endangered Okinawa dugong. The airbase construction will not automatically be stopped because of this court case, but it is the first step towards achieving that goal.
Read the decision
Read the full press release from the Center for Biological Diversity
Disagreement is fine. We do not expect everyone to be in tune with what we do, but no one should have to tolerate some of the gratuitous abuse that has been levelled on this blog and lies that have been told.
]]> When I am not on the Esperanza I am responsible for our whale campaign. So firstly – if you would like to continue to hurl insults about what we do, then you can direct them towards me. The first rule of successful campaigning is to make sure you have the right target – well here I am and in fact here is my email address sara.holden@greenpeace.org.Then, if you check on the crew profile there is also a picture of me – so those of you who think it is okay to simply send offensive comments about people’s appearance, just because you don’t like what we do, will probably have a great time. Feel free.
If you think that the best way to save whales is insult people, write thinly veiled threats and personal attacks on their appearance you can vent your bile at me - the person who ultimately makes the decisions - instead of those who are simply giving you the information about our campaign.
But back to the issue in hand and I shall try again to answer some of the questions that have been raised. I am sure that some of you will still not agree and not be satisfied, but this is the honest truth and I can write no more than that.
We do not come to the Southern Ocean every year. This is our ninth expedition in maybe 20 years. So there are many years that have been spent saving whales without putting ourselves in front of harpoons, but through different strategies. The expedition is only one part of the campaign and it is a campaign that needs to be won in Japan, not in the Southern Ocean. Most of the people who read this blog are well aware of the issue of whaling. Most of the people in Japan are not. Greenpeace activities in the Southern Ocean rarely get reported in Japan, unless they are done so in a negative way. But we are starting to see changes in the last year and more attention is being given to the issue in Japan.
If we are to stop ALL the whales being killed ALL the time, then we need to make sure that we keep up that pressure in Japan - now. We are at a critical point politically – maybe even what they call a tipping point. We believe that by focusing our attention on the political arena now especially in Japan, but elsewhere too – that we will save all whales.
So, that is why we need to use the limited resources we have – both human and financial - in a way that we believe will be most effective in ending whaling.
And even if we did not think that focusing now on Japan was the right thing to do – which I stress, we do strongly believe - our resources ARE limited. We are not a single- issue organisation, with a single tactic for a single campaign to save whales. I have seen one comment that says “$500,000 is a small amount to an organisation such as yours”. Well actually it is not. It is a significant percentage of our budget. So, which of all the other issues we work on do you suggest we stop doing in order to fill up the fuel tanks? Shall we stop saving the climate, shall we let the forests fall and our oceans be fished out, shall we let genetically modified crops be planted across the globe and toxic pollution poison our children?
Because that is the choice that we would have to make – what don’t we do instead?
Perhaps you would like to make the call on that, because I think all of those issues are vital for us to work on.
If we had not been going at high speed on main engines then of course we could have stayed longer. But if the Nisshin Maru was not running away at high speed then she would have been whaling – as she has done in previous years - we would have saved fewer whales.
We must focus on that if we are to see it happen. As we have said before – we do not work with Sea Shepherd because we have a fundamental difference on what non-violence is and for Greenpeace non-violence is non-negotiable in everything we do. That is as far as I am prepared to go in discussing this, because it takes time away from the real debate on how we end whaling for good and not just for one season.
If you do not agree with our principles then that is fine – you should find a different organisation to support and use your energy to do that positively instead of using it destructively against an organisation you clearly don’t agree with, but I would not want to support an organisation that gives up a core principle for the sake of convenience or because others think we should. That is who we are. That is who I am, I will not change that and I will not work with anyone who I do not believe holds that same principle – that, to me, would be shameful.
If you don’t like what you see, don’t believe what we say or are not prepared to debate it without resorting to insult and untruth, then I can only advise that you go elsewhere and support a different organisation.
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All over the world committed individuals of all ages and nationalities find their own ways to help save the whales. We've already told you about young activist Sophie, who will soon go to court together with her father for her protest outside the Japanese embassy in London.
Tomorrow the Japanese stand-up comedian Hiroshi Nakatsuji will do what he knows best and use the stage as an anti-whaling platform, in his show "Lucky Golden Whales".
"Scientific research can be done without the killing and whaling has also caused unnecessary conflict between Japan and the rest of the world - and it is important that I, as a Japanese living in New Zealand, take that message to them"]]> Jenni has raised funds and drawn attention to the whaling issue, making numerous efforts to contribute to the campaign. Around Christmas Jenni and her friend Kara went for a swim on Greystones beach in Ireland to raise money for ending whaling in the Southern Ocean. I hope there was a hot sauna ready for you guys when you got out of the water!
Thousands and thousands have already sent a message to Canon. Canon is the world's number one digital camera company, and the CEO of Canona, Mister Fujio Mitarai, is also the head of the Nippon Keidanren (Japanese Business Federation). This is the highest position for a CEO in the Japanese business world and it means having the ear of the Prime Minister. A company that attracts support to its brand by associating itself with environmental issues ought to speak out for the whales.
I have received questions about the possibility for us to refuel and get back to the fleet. The Southern Ocean is bigger than a puddle; distances are vast and finding the fleet is an achievement in itself. We chose to stay with the Nisshin Maru as long as we possibly could. When we disengaged it also meant losing the fleet. To refuel and get back is not like popping by the petrol station, and the whalers don't kindly wait at the same spot for us to come back. It would take us a month to get back to the area, with no guarantees of finding the fleet back.
To give you an idea of the costs involved: a full tank of fuel is close to half a million US dollars. A refill at sea costs nearly triple that amount of money.
The campaign to end whaling in the Southern Ocean will not be won in the waters of the Southern Ocean, it will be won on the streets and in the political departments in Japan.
The expedition is one element of the work, which includes increasing that political pressure, engaging more people through elements such as the Canon plan - all of these need to be combined to end whaling for good. The pressure that we have generated by being here now needs to be transferred from sea to land and into Japan.
- Iréne
If you don't find your comments posted in this weblog, you might find it here:
http://forum.greenpeace.org/ which is also where you can continue the discussion on Greenpeace tactics.
We have spent more than two weeks successfully preventing the Japanese whaling fleet from hunting, ever since we found the whaling factory ship. We have pursued the vessel for 4300 nautical miles, at high speed, and we are now running low on fuel and have to return to port.
The Australian government ship Oceanic Viking is still here. Maybe the presence of the Australian surveillance vessel makes a difference, since the Japanese government seems to want to avoid exposure of their "scientific whaling" at all cost.
]]> Sakyo radioed the Nisshin Maru to tell her crew that we believe that they are under orders from Tokyo not to allow anyone to witness their fake science programme. He also added that each of the crewmembers must ask themselves why, if there is nothing wrong with this science programme, they need to hide from public scrutiny and run away from legitimate peaceful protest. We also called on the fleet to abandon the hunt and return to Japan.Many of us have been onboard for more than three months, and we are getting a bit tired to be honest, but we would still have wanted to stay until the end of the whaling season. I have gotten many questions about refuelling, and the kindest offers to help raise funds for this purpose. We have no possibility to refuel unfortunately.
We leave the Nisshin Maru, but we do not abandon the campaign to end whaling in the Southern Ocean for good. And the whaling fleet will return to Japan with a lot less dead whales than planned for.
We will continue our work on the political arena and in Japan. Hopefully next year there will be no need to send a ship to these waters.
In the last 48 hours more than 20 000 people have emailed Fujio Mitarai, the CEO of Canon, demanding that he use his unique position as head of the Japanese Business Federation, contributing to the growing demands on the government to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean.
This said it is still hard to let go and head homewards.
- Iréne
If you don’t find your comments posted on this weblog, you might find it here:
http://forum.greenpeace.org/ which is also where you can continue the discussion on Greenpeace tactics.
Efforts are made also on land to put an end to whaling, and you need neither ship nor crew to take action. The headline Girl, 14, arrested in whaling protest caught our attention here on the Esperanza.
]]> Sophie got herself as well as her father arrested, when the two tied themselves to a railing outside the Japanese embassy in London."I honestly think that me having a criminal record is not a big price to pay when what the whales are going through is so much worse" Read the full article
Sophie says she was inspired by our efforts in the Southern Ocean, well you inspired us right back Sophie; reading about you was like getting a vitamin injection after three months onboard!
Sophie and her father Martin will appear in court on the 6th of February.
Almost 6 700 people have already written to Canon to ask the company to speak out against whaling!