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."
At our International Headquarters on Cape Cod and around the planet, IFAW staff are saddened by news of the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). Ted Kennedy was a longtime supporter and friend of IFAW and a consistent leader of U.S. and international efforts to protect our planet's great whales and their ocean habitat.
Senator Kennedy was a proud recipient of the IFAW Song of the Whale Award for Marine Conservation Leadership. A decade ago, with IFAW President Fred O'Regan and other Federal and State officials, he joined IFAW to launch the Mandatory Ship Reporting System, providing mariners real time information on the location of endangered right whales in shipping lanes.
More recently he was a vigorous supporter of IFAW's successful collaborations with Massachusetts commercial fishermen in replacing 2,000 miles of floating lobster line with safer sinking lines, better protecting whales at their feeding grounds off the Massachusetts shore.
A native of Cape Cod, Senator Kennedy was also an enthusiastic whale watcher, introducing generations of Kennedy children and their children to the wonders of the sea he loved and the majestic great whales that summer off Cape Cod.
In addition to coverage honoring Senator Kennedy, an op/ed column featuring IFAW's whale watching work also appears in the pages today's Cape Cod Times. The ripple effect of Ted Kennedy's leadership in the US Senate extended to whales and the success of the whale watching industry in his home state and well beyond. IFAW, the whales and all those who care about them have lost a good friend.
--Patrick Ramage
Director, IFAW Global Whale Program
Seeing a whale up close and personal inspires people to conserve our oceans and in turn protect the worlds whales like nothing else can. The simple act of seeing a whale leaping from the water or a dolphin surfing in a boats wake arises a feeling in people for which there are no words to accurately describe.
I’m writing this as I head to the small Island nation of Dominica where I plan to work with teachers incorporating the floating classrooms program into their curriculum. If there is one thing I enjoy doing, it’s talking to kids about whales. This is certainly going to be a hectic trip but I’m hoping to leave behind a terrific resource that affords an opportunity to inspire the next generation of ocean stewards to protect whales.
(PROVINCETOWN, CAPE COD, MA) – The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, in partnership with the Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, will host a 3-day marine education conference at the Hiebert Marine Laboratory in Provincetown, beginning at 9a.m., April 24 through April 26, 2009.
“Today’s naturalists understand that the most valuable aspect of whale watching is its potential to educate people of all ages and from all backgrounds to appreciate, value and understand marine mammals,” said Dr. Carole Carlson, of the Dolphin Fleet and adjunct scientist at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. “The goal of our workshop is to help naturalists, through dedicated seminars and discussion, to translate the whale watch experience to a wider audience and to inspire greater involvement and follow-up activity from those who participated.”
The purpose of the conference is to educate naturalist/science educators, interns, volunteers, and those directly involved with whale watch tours or research in the Gulf of Maine region. The conference will include morning lectures that address the status of great whales and seals in the region, physical oceanography and current conservation concerns. Afternoon workshops include; “Plankton and the Ecosystem,” which includes lectures and hands-on identification of multiple species; and “Photo-Identification Catalogues,” how to best use them as both a research and education tool.
Primary funding for the conference is made possible with support from the Wendy Joan Shadwell Fund for Whale Watch Naturalist Training and Education, created from a generous bequest from Wendy Joan Shadwell, a long time supporter of PCCS and devotee of whale watching aboard the Dolphin Fleet. The fund was established by PCCS to support ongoing education programs for whale watch naturalists.
“Responsible whale watching literally saves whales,” according to WDCS Senior Biologist, Regina Asmutis-Silvia. “It is an economically viable alternative to whaling, a platform for research, and a means to educate millions of people about whales and the importance of the marine ecosystem.”
The conference culminates on Sunday with a whale watch tour hosted by Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown, weather permitting. For more information, or to register for the conference, please contact Regina Asmutis-Silvia at regina.asmutis-silvia@wdcs.org.
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
I just wanted to update you on an historic moment in Pacific whale protection last week.
On Friday 3rd October, HRH Princess Salote Mafile'o Pilolevu Tuita was declared the Royal Patron for Whales in the Kingdom of Tonga in an event hosted by IFAW, the Tongan Visitors Bureau, the Vava'u Tourism Association and the Tonga Whale Watching Operators Association.
This heralds a new era for whale conservation in Tonga and, more broadly, the Pacific Islands region. As a little background, the previous King of Tonga (King Tupou IV) was a strong supporter of whale conservation and banned whaling in 1978 – as a result of his foresight the whale population is slowly recovering. Now the torch has been passed from father to daughter.
During her speech Princess Pilolevu made some very important announcements; that a fund is being established to support whale research and conservation in Tonga and that she would request the Government of Tonga declare Tonga a whale sanctuary, join the Convention on Migratory Species and ensure that whale watching guidelines are legislated and monitored.
Given the role and status of the Royal Family in Tonga, we hope these commitments will become a reality.
Regards
Erica Martin
Director IFAW Asia-Pacific
On Friday 3rd October Her Royal Highness Princess Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu Tuita will be officially declared the Royal Patron of Whales in the Kingdom of Tonga.
In an event hosted by IFAW, the Tonga Visitors Bureau, Vava’u Tourism Association and the Tonga Whale Watching Operators Association, HRH Princess Pilolevu will accept the title in honour of her father, the late King Tupou IV, who banned all hunting of whales in Tonga in 1978.
Tonga has one of the fastest growing whale watch industries in the world and injects more than 2 million USD into the Tongan economy each year.
Yesterday afternoon the Scientific Committee reported the conclusions of its discussions on whale watching, including that this activity may have population level impacts in certain circumstances. A Steering Group has been established to finalize methodology for a ‘large scale’ study of whale watching impacts.
Many countries spoke to iterate the socio-economic importance of whale watching (eg Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, who were launching an IFAW/WDCS report on the value of whale watching in South America). Apart from emphasizing the rate of increase, the economic returns and the job creation potential, interestingly several interventions emphasized that these benefits were not just occurring in developed countries, but the benefits were now also been seen in developing countries. Whaling countries made the usual observation that, in their experience, whale watching and whale hunting can coexist nicely together.
According to a new International Fund for Animal Welfare report announced today, whale watching plays a major role in attracting tourists to the Kingdom of Tonga. The report shows that whales continue to contribute strongly to the country’s economy, with whale watching tourism generating almost US$2 million annually and increasing at a rate of 20 percent a year.
The research commissioned by IFAW and Opération Cétacés found humpback whales bring significant economic benefits to Tonga, where 15 percent of GDP is earned through tourism and recommends that whales need to be protected and conserved.
Continue reading "Study Urges Protection For Whales In Tonga" »
