Whaling

Well, we have been discussing whales all weekend long. Friday, my daughter decided she would like to fill our time between now and the next unit in history studying 19th century whaling. That was really what I had in mind when I asked her. (NOT!)So anyway, in preparation, we have been writing down lists of things we need to know and ideas for resources to look for. We determined week one would be about whales, since...well, since I figured I could come up with a week's worth of material about whales over a weekend. As opposed to 19th century whaling. What on earth do I know about 19th century whaling? What on earth prompted this interest?I am raising a strange daughter, but I digress.Last night, while I was tucking my two year old Bug in to bed, she looked at me with excitement in h

LOL this is fucking awesome, these asshats want sympathy after being flash banged and possibly shot after they kept throwing stink bombs on the ship! I’m pretty sure there are other ways to voice your anti-whaling stuff that don’t end up with you getting shot lol What a bunch of fucking morons, I wish a flash bang [...]

The Japanese whaling fleet continues its activities in the Antartic in a supposed effort to round up whales for “scientific purposes.” Anti-whaling activists continue to shadow the fleet and engage in activities in order to try halting further slaughter of whales. In the latest episode, anti-whaling activists threw rotten butter and bottles containing an unidentified [...]

These are some articles and videos of whales taken in their natural habitat. I don’t see why our friends from the land of the rising sun prefer to have them for dinner. Some aspects of culture are better kept as memoirs in history books. I’m glad most of my fellow tribal brothers do not [...]

Japan’s whaling industry is in trouble again -- this time it’s financial.Whale meat prices fell in Japan while the cost of whaling operations in the Antarctic rose.The Institute of Cetacean Research, the body behind Japan’s whaling operations, is struggling to repay interest-free loans from the Japanese Government, according to a newspaper report.Apparently, Japan has been catching so many whales that this has increased supplies of whale meat to the market by thirty per cent. This caused a twenty per cent fall in price.At the same time the cost of whaling increased by ten per cent as the whaling fleet was expanded from five ships to six.And last year there was a fire onboard one of the ships. More cost.The Ashahi Shimbun reports: “Japan's research whaling has long been criticized f

Thirty years ago, Australian philosopher Peter Singer argued that whaling should stop in Australia because it was cruel. His submission to Australia's Inquiry into Whales and Whaling carried weight and the judicial commissioner, Sir Sydney Frost, agreed with Singer.Australians harpooned their last whale, a sperm whale, on November 20, 1978.Singer says: "Whales cannot be humanely killed — they are too large, and even with an explosive harpoon, it is difficult to hit the whale in the right spot. Moreover, whalers do not want to use a large amount of explosive, because that would blow the whale to pieces, while the whole point is to recover valuable oil or flesh. So harpooned whales typically die slowly and painfully."Peter Singer, now a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, hasn'

We at Matava recommend these sites for their information and support of the cause to end whaling.GreenpeaceBoycott Japan International Fund For Animal WelfareSea ShepherdWorld Wildlife Fund Natural Resources Defence CouncilSave the Whales Whale NationMany of the sites listed above also have anti-whaling petitions and projects to support and protect whales.I urge you to help these organisations with all their endeavours. While we may not directly agree with the tactics used by some groups we understand and respect the resolve they show in the campign to save the whales. One thing we all have in common is a love of these amazing marine mammals.

We recommend these sites for their information and support of the cause to end whaling.GreenpeaceBoycott Japan International Fund For Animal WelfareSea ShepherdWorld Wildlife Fund Natural Resources Defence CouncilSave the Whales Whale NationMany of the sites listed above also have anti-whaling petitions and projects to support and protect whales. I would strongly urge you to help these organisations with all their endeavours. While we may not directly agree with the tactics used by some groups we understand and respect the resolve they show in the campign to save the whales. One thing we all have in common is a love of these amazing marine mammals.

IFAW PHOTOSNovember, 18, 2007Japan’s whaling fleet today left Shimonoseki, a western port town, to start a new season of whaling in Antarctica. The whalers intend to take more than 1000 whales over the next four months.Japan has added 50 humpback whales to the kill list this year, a species protected from commercial hunting for more than 40 years. The fleet is led by the Nisshin Maru which has been repaired since a fire that forced Japan to cut short its last Antarctic hunt.Both the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Greenpeace have said they will have ships in the Antarctic this season. Greenpeace's Esperanza ship will track the whalers in Antarctic waters, shooting video footage to show the public.The mass killing of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary has been deemed to be unlawful according to three separate panels of international, independent legal experts, commissioned by IFAW.“The Australian Government has claimed they would ‘continue to fight for the protect

Fight for Fifty day organised by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) at Middleton Beach, Albany, Western Australia, on November 3, 2007. Whale defenders hold placards representing 50 whales to be hunted by the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic this season. Writer Tim Winton, 1977 anti-whaling activisit Jonny Lewis and former whaling ship captain Kase Van Der Gaag at Albany, the site of Australia's last whaling station.Former foes unite to speak for humpbacks. (l-r) Kase Van Der Gaag, former whaling captain; Jonny Lewis, anti-whaling activisit from 1977; Paddy Hart, former whaling ship captain; Chris Pash. November 3, 2007By Chris Pash Thirty years ago Jonny Lewis and Kase Van Der Gaag were locked in a duel in the Southern Ocean off Western Australia. Jonny was hell-bent on saving sperm whales from explosive head harpoons. Kase, the master and harpoon gunner of the Cheynes II, wanted to lead Jonny’s five metre rubber Zodiac boat away from the other two 47 metre steel

August 28, 1977, protest at the gates of Australia's last whaling station in Albany, Western AustraliaPat Rose Farrington, who played a leading role at the whaling station protest, and Kase Van Der Gaag, former master and harpoon gunner of the Cheynes II, meeting for the first time in September 2007 in Albany.American Pat Rose and Canadian Bobbi Hunter returned to Albany thirty ears after they took direct action against the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company. A reception was held for them at the City of Albany.The last whale was taken on November 20, 1978.The orginal direct action crew were honoured at a Greenpeace function in Sydney in September 2007, thirty years since Greenpeace's first campaign in Australia.Jonny Lewis, a key figure in the campaign who formed the Whale and Dolphin Coalition which morphed into Greenpeace Australia, will return to ALbany in November.-Chris Pash

Whaling in Japan as a means of research is being challenged by several activist organizations, as they state that it is not necessary to kill the whales in order to research them. With the new satellite tagging technology in place, research can be done without the hunt. Watch the video below created by Australian Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, aimed at Japanese girls to understand what whaling is and how it hurts the future of whales. This is the one being shown to the girls. (not the one below) Australia VIDEO LINK WHAT IS WHALING? See Video Below Sources: [MSNBC] [You Tube] activist organizations, animals, conservation, Eco Friendly, environment minister, japan, japanese girls, malcolm turnbull, msnbc, satellite, whales, whaling, you tube

Pro-whale activists Jim Cairns, former deputy prime minister (l), Jean-Paul Fortom-Gouin (centre), and Bob Macmillan, outside the whaling station in Albany, Western Australia, on August 28, 1977.When the whaling station closed in 1978, the Albany Advertiser wrote in an editorial that it was a black day, the "triumph of emotive actions and a disinterested Federal Government over the planned and responsible harvesting of a natural resource benefitting the town it operates in".On August 28, 2007, the 30th anniversary of the protests, the Albany Advertiser wrote: "happily the local attitude to whales has turned right around in the 30 years since the Greenpeace protest. "Whale watching is now and industry. The former whaling station, the last in the English speaking world, a tourist attraction. The sperm whales haven't been hunted for 30 years.--chris pashgreenpeacewhalingWhales chris pash

Conservationists are celebrating a small victory this week after Iceland announced that it will not issue further commercial whaling quotas after existing permits expire on August 31st. Citing poor... Earth-centred news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming

14 February 2007: On Valentine's Day, Greenpeace protests during the second day of the "International Whaling Commission Normalisation Meeting." The meeting was called by Japan and supported by pro-whaling nations. Outside the venue, Greenpeace Japan tries to present Valentine's Day whale-shaped chocolates to the pro-whaling delegates attending the meeting. Tokyo, Japan — Greenpeace activists took to the streets across the globe on Valentine’s Day to send a message of love to Japan from twenty-eight different countries, while at the same time demanding the government end high seas whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. In Tokyo, Greenpeace volunteers carried a giant Valentine’s card, addressed to pro-whaling members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), currently meeting to discuss "normalising" the Commission, which read: "Normalization Means Protection, Not Whaling

14 February 2007: On Valentine's Day, Greenpeace protests during the second day of the "International Whaling Commission Normalisation Meeting." The meeting was called by Japan and supported by pro-whaling nations. Outside the venue, Greenpeace Japan tries to present Valentine's Day whale-shaped chocolates to the pro-whaling delegates attending the meeting. Tokyo, Japan — Greenpeace activists took to the streets across the globe on Valentine’s Day to send a message of love to Japan from twenty-eight different countries, while at the same time demanding the government end high seas whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. In Tokyo, Greenpeace volunteers carried a giant Valentine’s card, addressed to pro-whaling members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), currently meeting to discuss "normalising" the Commission, which read: "Normalization Means Protection, Not Whaling

By Chris PashAndrew Gordon CruickshankBorn: October 8, 1925Died: May 5, 2006Gordon Cruickshank liked to sneak up on a sperm whale. He’d come in behind the pod, drift into position and line up his target, the one whale he wanted.The master and harpoon gunner of the chaser Cheynes III bagged one of the last whales caught in Australia. He was there at the end when Australia’s last whaling station, and the last in the English-speaking world, closed at Albany on November 21, 1978.The Cheynes III could drift without power for several miles and still have some steerage. Gordon liked to be as quiet as he could.“I’d shut everything off about 50 yards out, come right up behind them and get a shot just under the little flipper they have on their side.”A head shot was no good. It was an easy target, almost one-third of a sperm whale’s body length, but it was tough. A harpoon could bounce off.Recounting the technique in the pub, he would emphasis the point of the story with a sudden jab

14 February 2007: On Valentine's Day, Greenpeace protests during the second day of the "International Whaling Commission Normalisation Meeting." The meeting was called by Japan and supported by pro-whaling nations. Outside the venue, Greenpeace Japan tries to present Valentine's Day whale-shaped chocolates to the pro-whaling delegates attending the meeting. Tokyo, Japan — Greenpeace activists took to the streets across the globe on Valentine’s Day to send a message of love to Japan from twenty-eight different countries, while at the same time demanding the government end high seas whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. In Tokyo, Greenpeace volunteers carried a giant Valentine’s card, addressed to pro-whaling members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), currently meeting to discuss "normalising" the Commission, which read: "Normalization Means Protection, Not Whaling

14 February 2007: On Valentine's Day, Greenpeace protests during the second day of the "International Whaling Commission Normalisation Meeting." The meeting was called by Japan and supported by pro-whaling nations. Outside the venue, Greenpeace Japan tries to present Valentine's Day whale-shaped chocolates to the pro-whaling delegates attending the meeting. Tokyo, Japan — Greenpeace activists took to the streets across the globe on Valentine’s Day to send a message of love to Japan from twenty-eight different countries, while at the same time demanding the government end high seas whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. In Tokyo, Greenpeace volunteers carried a giant Valentine’s card, addressed to pro-whaling members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), currently meeting to discuss "normalising" the Commission, which read: "Normalization Means Protection, Not Whaling

The UK is attempting to turn the tide against pro whaling nations with an all out recruitment drive to bring new countries into the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and reaffirm the international ban on commercial whaling. Since 1946, the IWC has been charged with the conservation of the world's whale populations after rampant slaughter nearly annihilated many species. However, after implementing a complete ban on commercial fishing in 1986, there has been growing pressure from Japan, Iceland and Norway to resume the practice. To bolster their cause, Japan has been working behind the scenes to bring "sympathetic" countries into the IWC by exchanging foreign aid for pro-whaling votes.This past June they tipped the scales and two decades after the ban went into effect, the IWC voted 33-32 in favour of the eventual return to commercial whaling. Shortly after that, Iceland announced annual quotas of 30 minke whales and 9 endangered fin whales and harvested their first catch -

{mosgoogle right}Japanese whaling ship owner Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha is set to take legal steps with the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) over alleged trespassing and forcible obstruction of business by the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, company officials said.The company is considering which of three attacks by activists this year to make the subject of its complaint.In January, butyric acid, which produces a foul smell, was hurled at the No. 2 Yushinmaru whaling research vessel, [...]