Whales, Dodging Those Deadly Harpoons!
Whales, Dodging Those Deadly Harpoons! The title for this month’s conservation article was inspired by a line from a Jimmy Buffett tune, Treat Her Like A Lady, about respecting the ocean.
Whales worldwide will head for the deep, like this diving Tonga humpback, as they attempt to evade Japanese, Icelandic, and Norwegian harpoons over the coming months.
Paul J. Mila Photo © Tonga, South Pacific
Whales, already endangered from years of ruthless hunting, are facing new threats to their very existence on our planet. Japan, Norway and Iceland currently lead efforts to subvert, and ultimately overturn, the International Whaling Commission’s commercial whaling ban.
All species, including humpback, fin, and minke, are slated for attack by Japan, Iceland, Norway, and several other whaling countries. Strangely, even blue whale meat, identified by DNA analysis, appears in Japanese meat markets, despite Japanese denials that their “scientific” whaling program targets severely threatened blue whales.
Attempting to overturn the IWC ban on commercial whaling, Japan has even resorted to bribing small island nations, through “economic development grants,” to gain their votes on the IWC. In the case of Tonga, the attempted bribery has a more overt purpose: to gain permission to slaughter humpbacks in the Tongan whale sanctuary, where humpbacks give birth and mate. To its credit, Tonga has resisted.
Japan resorts to political and diplomatic, as well as economic, pressure to influence more economically developed nations. Japan’s most recent success in this area has been cowing the Australian Government into inhibiting Sea Shepherd’s ability to fight Japanese whaling in Australia’s own backyard, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
When all else fails, Japan simply exploits a loophole in the IWC ban, permitting limited whaling for “scientific purposes.” However, this is nothing more than an obscene ruse to cover up Japan’s commercial whaling activities. Legitimate scientists know how to conduct non-lethal research on whales.
Noted commercial photographer Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, on assignment with Greenpeace International in the Southern Ocean, risked his life in front of the Japanese whaler Yushin Maru’s deadly harpoons, taking the photos for his dramatic story, Death Of A Whale. It shows Japanese “scientists” aboard the Yushin Maru, preparing a Minke whale for their brand of “scientific research”.
Click on the title or link below, to read Jeremy’s gut-wrenching first-hand account of witnessing this bloody carnage, up close and personal:
Death of a Whale http://www.epuk.org/First-Person/15/death-of-a-whale
For additional information about Jeremy and his work, please visit his website:
http://www.jeremysuttonhibbert.com/
Many people, myself included, thought killing a whale was a quick proposition with an explosive harpoon. Jeremy shows through dramatic photos and moving words, this is not always the case.
As you read Jeremy’s account of whaling’s brutal reality, consider that the suffering creature on the end of the harpoon is an intelligent, sentient being, possessing a brain more complex than a human brain, which lives in social groups with family bonds. Setting aside arguments over the debatable validity of “sustainable whaling” (estimating a theoretical number of whales that can be killed annually without extincting the species), ask yourself whether it is morally and ethically permissible to kill such an advanced being.
WHAT WE CAN DO:
1. First, the obvious: don’t purchase whale products, or support organizations that traffic in whale products.
2. Contact your local Congressional Representative and let him/her know your feelings on this issue, and that you want the U.S. to vote in favor of extending the IWC commercial whaling ban.
3. Let the whaling nations know your thoughts about their actions. Google a country name (Japan, Norway, or Iceland), along with the word “Consulate” or “Embassy”. You’ll get a list of cities having consulates or embassies, with contact information. Select one near you and send a message.
4. Support anti-whaling conservationist organizations, such as Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org
and Sea Shepherd, www.seashepherd.org
Sea Shepherd Conservation Organization, headed by Captain Paul Watson, is more confrontational than many conservationist organizations. Japan has proclaimed the Sea Shepherds are international outlaws, pirates, and terrorists, even as it slaughters endangered whales in the designated Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Sea Shepherds interfere with Japan’s illegal whaling activities using various aggressive tactics, such as ramming Japanese harpoon vessels conducting whaling operations.
In Conclusion, some good news, and reason for hope:
A November 11, 2009 Online New York Times article by Jonathan Leake reports that blue whales might be coming back! These 100-foot giants of the sea numbered between 350,000 and 400,000 in 1900, but human whaling reduced their population to approximately 5,000 by 1960, with almost no recovery during the past 50 years. Recent blue whale sightings in areas where they had not been seen for many years have given scientists reason for optimism. However, the story indicates it is still premature to draw a final conclusion regarding the blue whales’ prospects. But one point is certain: for the species to recover, the commercial whaling ban must continue.
Click the title to read the full article: Blue Whale Comeback
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