In an article written by Sir Ronald Sanders in todays Trinidad express talks about the economic benefit of watching live whales. When whale watching is so lucrative you have to wonder why some Caribbean countries support Japan's pro-whaling agenda at the International Whaling Commission. By protecting whales nations safeguard economic growth through responsible whale watching. Read the entire article here.
The following post is from Patrick Ramage, IFAW's Global Whale Program Director.
Erica Martin and I have been co-workers and friends for years, and like most all of my IFAW colleagues I look up to her in both the literal and figurative sense. For Erica is a long, tall drink of water -- a striking and savvy lobbyist and seasoned advocate who after several years as IFAW Communications Manager for the Asia Pacific Region, took on the challenge of directing our regional presence based in Sydney, overseeing all our South Pacific work. Since I am on a rare visit to her region, "E." has flown in to Auckland for an afternoon and evening of catch-up and planning discussions. For the next six hours, we try out ideas on each other for next steps in our whale campaigns and outreach work. We share the latest political "goss" from government circles, compare gleanings of Australian, New Zealand and US moves in the effort to reduce and finally end whaling for commercial purposes by Japan, Iceland and Norway and kibitz about budget priorities in IFAW's new fiscal year. Erica urges me to increase emphasis on IFAW's whale watching work, long a priority for her office. With Erica's help, I earlier this year joined Australian Minister for the Environment Peter Garrett in releasing a major new IFAW report on the global economic value of this new ecotourism industry highlighting the massive contribution living whales are making to coastal economies worldwide -- including in Japan, Iceland and Norway! (See the picture below)
We brainstorm ideas into the evening and finally arrive at the notion of organizing a major international whale watching conference next year -- in Tokyo, Japan!
After joining Erica to conclude our discussions over a very early breakfast, I am off to the airport for my 12 hour flight to Tokyo. By now I have become expert in switching off and zoning out for a few hours, impervious to the discomforts of the cramped quarters as the minutes and miles pass by. My trancelike state is only interrupted by the interested queries of a retired New Zealand Air pilot I encounter while standing and stretching in the galley. Elliot Dowdie is taking his two young sons on their first trip to Tokyo. "That's so great," I tell him, "what a fantastic experience for them." Like me, Elliot seems to revel in the foreignness one can still experience in modern-day Japan. Before we finish speaking, I have offered to meet Elliot and the boys at their hotel Friday morning for a trip to Tokyo's famous Tsukijii fish market, a "must-do" for anyone visiting the city.
On arrival Tokyo, I take the train to Shibuya and walk to the Tokyu Inn, a small, apartment style hotel where I have stayed before. The old man at the desk welcomes me back warmly and reminds me of the peculiarities of the door key, the small breakfast area, and other procedures unique to this little-known and inexpensive lodging.
For the next two days, I am in non-stop meetings with IFAW's Japan representative Naoko Funahashi and our team of contractors working to make progress on the difficult issue of Japanese whaling and raise political and media awareness of IFAW in the challenging Japanese non-profit sector. While I don't "look up" to Naoko or most of my Japanese colleagues, I cannot help but come away moved and impressed with her level of commitment, professionalism and expertise. It is one thing to campaign on behalf of whales and dolphins in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France or Australia. It is quite another in Japan, China or Russia. Naoko and her colleagues are sometimes swimming upstream against their own society and culture. The political undercurrents are changing rapidly though. With the recent election of the DPJ, or Democratic Party of Japan after 50 years of dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party or LDP, a political tsunami has taken place in Japan. The implications of this change are just beginning to become clear. But given that the DPJ campaigned on a platform of increasing transparency in policymaking, eliminating stupid taxpayer subsidies, clipping the wings of senior government bureaucrats, and providing international leadership on environmental issues, our team sees new opportunities for headway, even on issues as controversial as whaling and the killing of dolphins on Japan's coast. On Thursday, I meet with Japanese officials to discuss these issues, am assured that a process of reassessment and change is already underway. The results will have to be assessed as they become visible, but the process of political change itself is encouraging.
On Friday morning before I head to Narita Airport, I shepherd Elliot and his sons to Tsukijii, where I have taken so many friends and colleagues over the years. The boys are amazed at the size and number of tuna at the 5:30 a.m. auction, and also at the whale meat for sale at the small stall in the center of the market.
I return to the hotel blurry-eyed and tired to pack, confident I will find time to sleep on the 21-hour trek home. The trip takes longer thanks to a delayed flight from Chicago. When I finally stumble in the door on Cape Cod, it is past mid-night and Georgann is already dozing on the couch in front of the TV. "How was it?" she asks as I hug her. "It was incredible," I tell her. "Really, really, great."
"I'm so glad your home," she says. "Me too," I say, meaning it. "Me too."
The following post is from Patrick Ramage, IFAW's Global Whale Program Director.
"Hey, here's a tip for whomever just took a shower!" Mike bellowed as he came ascended to join us on the upper deck Saturday morning "Put the toilet paper in the dry cabinet before you turn the water on!" He shot me a mildly irritated look as he held up the soggy, half roll of toilet paper -- the last we had left on the boat. He was right, of course, the rookie American non-scientist tagalong was the culprit.
Before this infraction, the morning had gone reasonably well. I had been up at 5:30 a.m., ventured a good distance from the boat during our morning swim, and to the delight of my New Zealand-based colleagues, tried my first helping of "Weet Bix" for breakfast. Weet Bix is a proud sponsor of NZ's outrageously good rugby team the All Blacks, which throughout the 90s featured the amazing Jonah Lomu -- a superhuman player of Tongan heritage who is still a legend of the game. I don't understand the rules of rugby and rarely get to watch, but still marvel at the speed, agility and power of Lomu. Following his retirement, Lomu joined IFAW and other organizations giving his time and talent to draw attention to the plight of humpback whales targeted by the Government of Japan.
While romantic in concept, life on a boat means hard work and long days. Each person on board has a role and responsibility. As we begin our third day of the research voyage together, each member of our team assumes theirs. Mike is at the helm, animatedly yelling helpful instructions, Trish and Greg stand on the bow, at the ready with their cameras as we move slowly out to find the whales, Ellen is poised to plop her hydrophone in the water to pick up new song, and Patrick -- stands at the sink, scrubbing the plates, cups, saucers and cutlery from breakfast. "From each according to his ability!"
Dishes done and TP drying, we move out from the coast and encounter 15 whales over the course of the day. The animals are stingy about showing us their flukes. "Fluking right, fluking right," Mike yells. And then "Tease!" as the animal on the right dives without raising its distinctive tail. But the effort is worthwhile. The fluke catalog of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium (SPRWC) now contains images from across Oceana, from researchers in Morea, New Caledonia, Roratonga, Tonga, Niue, Fijii and Samoa. These are painstakingly reviewed, analyzed and consolidated annually, offering world-class researchers and national, regional and international policymakers rare insights into the status of Oceanic humpbacks. Despite the welcome initial recovery in other humpback populations around the world, Oceana's humpbacks, the very whales the Government of Japan has announced it intends to target as part of its expanding "scientific" whaling program in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica, continue to lag well under historic levels. The reason? Illegal whaling conducted by the Soviet Union well after the ban on commercial hunting of humpback whales was imposed in the 1960s. In addition to generous annual support to the SPWRC, IFAW has also been pleased to assist researchers documenting the incredible scale of illegal Soviet whaling -- including the involvement of Japanese vessels and trade -- and the lasting impact it has had on Oceania's humpbacks. The stark twin lessons of this bloody history -- that bold whale conservation measures actually work, but only when they are meaningfully implemented and enforced by all parties -- are indispensable for anyone genuinely concerned with whale conservation in 2009.
As we photograph the mother and calf pairs we encounter for the rest of the afternoon, I am struck by the fact that half a world away, in Santiago, Chile this month and over the course of the months that follow, government bureaucrats from the 90-plus countries of the IWC will sit in well-insulated conference rooms struggling with these fundamental truths. Hopefully, their decisions will improve the chances that the baby humpbacks playfully splashing off the bow of our boat, will survive another season. I am pulled from my thoughts by the sound and spray of a massive male humpback leaping into the air a short distance in front of our boat. The power of the splash and concussion impact when it lands are astonishing. To our surprise and her delight, Trish has managed to capture a perfect shot of the humpback in mid-flight. No small feat!
Using hand signals and pantomime to communicate buying some fish from local fishermen we meet on the water and enjoy them with a delightful pineapple salsa Mike whips up for dinner that evening. I lay down on the floor of the upper deck that night with visions of leaping humpbacks still dancing in my head.
The next morning we head well offshore for a final series of survey runs before heading back to the Moorings to prepare for a public presentation that evening at The Aquarium, an outdoor restaurant just down the beach. Word has spread and we are greeted by more than 120 people -- yacht owners, whale watchers, tour operators and local business owners eager to learn about the team's work and what they can do to help protect Vavau's main tourist attraction -- the humpback whales!
As Mike introduces each of us and gives an excellent Power Point presentation about our work, I am once again struck by the passion each member of the audience has for protecting whales, their good questions, their receptiveness to our message, and their desire to get involved. "The whales swimming here off Vava'u and in oceans around the world face more threats today than at any time in history," I tell them. "And decisions our generation makes over the next five years will have a critical impact on their chances for survival." The children sitting on the ground up front, and the adults behind them, listen raptly for almost two hours before we finally adjourn for informal discussions. Person after person approaches to thank us for our work, and I am hopeful some of the connections made this evening will ultimately translate into meaningful support for IFAW's whale protection efforts in Vava'u and well beyond.
On board the Chatham Air Service flight back to Tongatapu the next morning I stare out the window at the fragile islands floating in the blue green sea below. I am tired but tan and happy, certain that the inspiration I have drawn from the whales themselves and the intrepid team of researchers onboard Sylvester will be like fresh fuel to the embers of my own passion and commitment as I travel to dry and distant conference rooms and political capitols over the months ahead. Onto Auckland, and then to Tokyo, the seat of political power in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Our colleagues in the Netherlands recently led a protest outside the Icelandic embassy. They made some terrific model banners that said "the world is pointing at Iceland" Indeed the world is watching Iceland as they look to join the EU but must adopt a common fisheries policy first. A common policy on marine life means no whaling, let's hope they don't find a way around that!
The following post is from Marcel Bertsch, Director of our Netherlands office.
This morning we held our Icelandic whaling protest in Amsterdam, in front of their consulate. Unfortunately the Icelanders refused to accept our protest letter in public, only behind closed doors with no cameras present, but we still managed to deliver information of the great ad the campaign used. No photo's were allowed, but we did manage face the government that allows whaling in person.
Outside, following our German and UK collegues, we had prepared a great photo opportunity, using the 'finger pointing' creative element of our campaign. It did attract attention from the public and certainly from those in the building. Check out the picture!
It was a great campaign moment that demonstrated no one can sweep the killing of whales under the rug, IFAW will point you out to everyone!
This week we’re attending the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission to keep a watchful eye on any negotiations that might lead to legitimizing commercial whaling. We’ve been quite busy working around the clock for the whales and to prove to everyone that whales are meant to be seen, not hurt. Sadly, as the clock ticks on the conference room wall Iceland continues to kill endangered fin whales. Just this morning the whalers killed two more of these rare giants. The same whales my friends in Iceland’s whale watching industry depends on.
On Tuesday we released Whale Watching Worldwide and Australian minister Peter Garrett introduced the IFAW report to the IWC Commission meeting with an excellent speech, crediting IFAW for its production on the floor of the meeting. There was a great deal of support among the countries in attendance for the report.
Japan’s ‘scientific whaling’ in the North Pacific was discussed and as usual the pro-whaling countries praised the critical importance of lethal research. I’m sure if Japan’s supermarkets were in attendance they’d praise the program for affording government subsidized meat to sell on its shelves. It was nice to hear the US representative strongly oppose scientific whaling - a product of IFAW’s diligent efforts to put pressure on the US government.
Stay tuned for the latest on our hard work to protect these great animals.
Governments from more than 80 countries opened the 61st annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Madeira today (Mon), following a year of closed-door discussions which have failed to secure agreement from Japan, Iceland and Norway to respect the body’s scientific procedures and commercial whaling ban.
Conservation-minded delegates to the week-long meeting said much is at stake for whales and decades of international efforts to protect them.
Patrick Ramage, whale programme director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said: "Our planet's great whales face more threats today than at any time in history. It's time to get rid of commercial whaling, not the whaling ban."
An IWC moratorium on commercial whaling came into effect in 1986. Since that time, the government of Japan has killed some 12,000 whales, abusing a provision in the convention which permits whaling for scientific research purposes.
A major focus of this week's meeting is a proposed deal to sanction unsustainable coastal whaling by Japan in exchange for a reduction in its ongoing "scientific" whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Such a deal would violate the moratorium and established scientific procedures, legitimise Japan’s ongoing "scientific" whaling and ignore decades of work by the IWC Scientific Committee.
"Countries that support sound science and whale conservation should reject this deal and instead take action inside and outside the IWC to make the commercial whaling moratorium effective," Ramage added. "The future of the IWC is conservation science, not commercial slaughter."
A new IFAW report to be released during the Madeira meeting documents the continuing dramatic growth and expanding economic contribution of whale watching worldwide.
I just arrived back from Hvalfjörður filming the whaling boat bringing two fin whales to the whaling station. I went with a cameraman and a photographer from Morgunblaðið and a journalist.
Fin whaling has just started again in Iceland after a pause since 2006. The first of the endangered fins to be killed this summer are expected to be brought to Hvalfjordur whaling station tomorrow (Friday June 19). As a human being I feel very sorry that this brutal killing is happening. As an Icelander I feel ashamed for my governement. A few days ago I did a whale watching tour with the Elding company just outside Reykjavík. For half an hour we watched a calm minke whale swimming peacefully near us. On board were guests from different countries, many from Finland, the UK and the US. As we were all enjoying the company of the minke whale the captain came to me and pointed north at a small dot in the distance. "There´s a minke whaling boat," he said angrily. A few moments later we all watched the minke disappear gracefully, swimming north in the direction of the whalers some four miles away. This is our grim reality in Iceland.
As the first of Iceland’s whaling ships reportedly heads to sea today to train its harpoons on 150 endangered fin whales, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is urging the Icelandic government to call off this cruel and needless slaughter now. IFAW opposes whaling because it is unacceptably cruel – there is no humane way to kill a whale and research has shown that whales shot with explosive harpoons can take more than half an hour to die. Targeting an endangered species also raises serious conservation concerns as it pushes the threatened fin whales closer to extinction.
Opinion polling and independent economic research in Iceland has revealed little or no appetite for whale meat, while responsible whale watching, by contrast, is financially lucrative and one of Iceland’s biggest tourist draws.
Robbie Marsland, UK Director of IFAW, said: “At a time when Iceland is struggling to rebuild its economy, it is in the country’s own interests more than ever before not to embark on activities which could damage Iceland’s international reputation and its business interests.
“There is simply no valid argument in favour of whaling – it is cruel, unnecessary and unsustainable. In Iceland’s case it is also illogical to pursue a policy for which there is little market. The most positive step which would benefit Icelanders and whales would be for the Icelandic government to end whaling now and work instead to protect its valuable whale watching industry.
“Whale watching generates almost £5m a year for coastal communities in Iceland - it offers a humane, sustainable and profitable alternative to whaling.”
The current whaling quotas were set earlier this year by the outgoing Fisheries and Agriculture Minister, Einar K Gudfinnsson. He granted commercial whaling quotas of up to 150 endangered fin whales and 100 minke whales a year for the next five years. Iceland’s new Fisheries Minister, Steingrimur J Sigfusson, later announced these catch allowances would remain for one year, despite only a limited domestic market for minke whales and no domestic market for fin whales. In recent days the catch limit for minke whales has been increased to 200.
The slaughter of minke whales began last month, at which time representatives from IFAW and other animal welfare organisations held a protest outside the Icelandic Embassy in London and met with the Icelandic Ambassador to express their concerns.
Post written by Patrick Ramage, IFAW's Global Whale Program Director
Many people think commercial hunting of whales ended in the 1980s. Sadly, this is not the case! More than 30,000 whales have been killed since the 1986 commercial whaling ban and Japan, Iceland and Norway continue to slaughter whales for products that nobody needs. The Government of Japan leads this effort and its factory ship and fleet are killing whales right now in the waters of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica!
Whales face more threats today than at any time in history -- from marine pollution and habitat destruction, to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with high-speed vessels. New and emerging threats such as global warming and ocean noise pollution are also threatening the ways whales breed, feed and migrate across our oceans
For more than two decades, IFAW has been giving hands-on-help to whales around the world. Not just on the water or on the beach but also in the halls of government. IFAW is a leader in the fight to protect our planet's great whales at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) the global body charged with protecting whales and managing whale stocks. On Sunday, January 25th, the Washington Post broke the news of a secret Bush administration plan to allow the Government of Japan to kill more whales.
Read the Post story and join our campaign to encourage governments worldwide, including the Governments of Japan, Iceland and Norway to put down the harpoon, pick up the camera and join the emerging global consensus for whale conservation in the 21st century!
Join our fight to protect whales - take action today at www.stopwhaling.org
