Tag Archives: Sea Shepherd

Ocean Lover Takes A Stand for Whales at IWC

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While the delegates of the International Whaling Commission fought over the fate of whales ocean advocates stood tall in Panama as their voice. Today science has proven that cetaceans are sentient self-aware beings with intelligence equal to mans. Sadly, many members of the IWC use whaling as a bargaining chip to further their own agenda. The United States bundled their vote with Japan and the Soviet Union to protect the Bow head whale hunt, even going so far as to support the whaling in Greenland where whale meat is sold commercially to tourists while whaling under the guise of subsistence. IWC aboriginal whaling quotas were renewed for the U.S., Russia and the notorious St. Vincent and Grenadines known for their slaughter of humpback whale mothers and their babies. Greenland on the other hand was exposed for its blatant commercial use of whale meat losing any quota for whaling. Korea shocked the world as they made a bid to create a “scientific whaling program” which for Japan has been no more than a cover up for commercial whaling activities. Disappointingly the Southern Atlantic Whale Sanctuary proposed by Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, and Uruguay lost the vote not reaching the 3/4 majority.

Maria Cristina Cely and Lori Neumann Whale Sanctuary fails to pass.

Ocean activist Maria Christina Cely spoke moving words upon finding out the whales of the Southern Atlantic Whale Sanctuary would not be safe from the deadly harpoons of the whalers, “Tough times for those who were present outside the Panama Hotel in the very moment which made known the result of vote for the creation of the Whale Sanctuary South Atlantic. Disappointment, anger and helplessness …. everything in tears”. For a brief moment my spirit faltered once again I was ashamed of the species to which I belong (Maria Christina Cely July 2, 2012).

Maria Cristina Cely taking a moment.

In an interview Maria Christina Cely ocean activist and Sea Shepherd  volunteer/supporter gave us some insight in what it was like to be at the IWC a voice for whales.

Champions: What inspired you to go to the IWC Meeting in Panama?

Maria Cristina Cely: Well, the beginning of the whale’s ordeal takes place at the IWC and I think that is the place to start showing your support to them and condemning the whaler’s decisions. I also believe that they (whalers) need to know the world is watching and that we won’t let them walk away without giving them a piece of our mind. But the most important reason was the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, the Latin-american countries known as “Grupo de Buenos Aires” were going to fight again for the whales, they stood up and spoke up for the whales and did not sell their votes so I wanted to show them support and respect and let them know that WE were/are proud of them.

Maria Cristina Cely THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS!

Champions: What was the atmosphere like at the meeting?

Maria Cristina Cely: Intense, very intense. You had us out there cheering and calling for the Sanctuary, then you had the delegates from the “Japan group” and the delegates from the pro-whales group and on top of that you had the NGOs. You can cut the tension in the air with a knife, that is for sure. The atmosphere changed after the first day when the Sanctuary proposal lost by a vote, then you could feel the disappointment and the anger but also frustration from the pro-whales parties. The things fired up a little when we rallied Panamanian students and gathered outside the Panama Hotel, the “Honk for the Whales” was a success and we even had some delegates and NGOs come out and cheer with us.

Ocean Activists at IWC Meeting Panama Raise your hands for whales!

Champions: What was it like to be present at this meeting?

Maria Cristina Cely: The IWC brings out every emotion in you. It is a roller coaster, you go from having all this energy and positive thoughts to frustration and disappointment. You want to break into the meeting and tell them how wrong they are and how stupid their killing proposals are, and you look at the delegates and feel rage because you realize this few people decide on the lives of thousands of whales, they profit from them and from their dead and that hits you so hard! It was quite an experience that I will do it again as many times as possible. You have to fight for the whales, the dolphins and the porpoises whether it is in Taiji, in the Antarctic waters, in the Faroes or at the IWC, every fight counts for the final battle, everything counts.

Howie Cooke, Natalie Fox, Nori Neumann, and Maria Cristina Cely Just say no to whaling!

Champions: What did you come away with?

Maria Cristina Cely: We as society need to be more present at the IWC even if it means not being present at the meetings. We need to push more pro-whale countries to take part, because every vote counts. But also we need to push the pro-whale countries to become more involved in working to recuperate the votes of the countries that today voted for Japan.
So I hope I will see you guys there the next time.

Whale Words by Maria Cristina Cely

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Japanese end Antarctica whaling for 2011

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By Kirsten Johnson
Japans whaling efforts, at least for this year in the Antarctica, have ended. In this case, as has been reported throughout the internet, many factors are at play. Certainly, the efforts of the Sea Shepherds and Capt. Paul Watson, are responsible for pushing the entire issue to the public forefront. I find it most interesting that, “Whale Wars” hero, Captain Watson, lists his home port as Friday Harbor, Washington  which in my mind is one of the worlds hot-spots for whaling issues and in particular killer whale research and watching. If you have not already found the Whale Museum and their web site, http://www.whale-museum.org/ it really keeps one current on the what is happening on cetaceans. I need a history lesson on how all this ties together, but Ken Balcomb the international recognized marine mammal expert, should also be mentioned for his significant contributions. Based on his efforts, Navy Sonar has come under close scrutiny which has resulted in a huge shift in public understanding of the dangers associated with the damaging effects it has on whales.  Further his efforts to expose an equally devastating practice on marine species is the use of  LIMPETS, also known as double hooked barbed darts used in tagging.  We at Champions for Cetaceans have posted several blogs on these issues.

While reading an excellent article that criticized  whaling on “The Diplomat” called, “Why did Japan Suspend Whaling?” written by Andy Sharp,  I came upon a great comment by the author Animux. What he said really sums up the issue on whaling and why the Japanese must stop now.

  1. AnimuX

    February 17, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    “The world’s whaling industries drove nearly every large species of whale to the brink of extinction. As the public grew to learn more about whales in the 1960s and 70s, opposition to whaling took shape. What some people fail to mention, or understand, is that Japan has a long history of whaling regulatory violations dating back to the 1930s.

    Japan has historically violated size limits, species protections, seasonal limits, sanctuary boundaries, all manner of quotas, and has even facilitated “pirate whaling” (that’s front companies with foreign labor illegally killing whales and smuggling the unreported meat to Japan). The current whaling operation is merely the latest incident in an established pattern of criminal behavior. Japan kills more whales than any other nation and acts as the world market for whale meat by importing endangered Fin whale from Iceland.

    The International Whaling Commission established a moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986 and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in 1994. the IWC has also passed multiple resolutions calling on Japan to stop killing whales. However, Japan continues to abuse the “science loophole” of the ICRW (International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling) as justification for subverting the democratic decisions of the IWC.

    Japan annually kills endangered Sei and Fin whales, vulnerable Sperm whales, Bryde’s whales (listed as data deficient), common Minke whales (many from the vulnerable J-stock), and Antarctic Minke whales (listed as data deficient by the IUCN but some research implies this species may have suffered a significant decline). Also, coastal fishermen annually slaughter tens of thousands of dolphins for human consumption despite mercury contamination.

    Jun Morikawa, author of “Whaling in Japan”, has written that whale meat was only ever a “substitute meat” during the post WWII recovery. When the economy recovered, Japanese families purchased other meats (even when whale was significantly cheaper) and consumer demand for whale has consistently declined since the 1960s. Today, only a tiny fraction of the Japanese population actually consumes whale meat.

    The historical tradition of killing and eating whales is limited to a small number of isolated coastal villages. In fact, in some regions of Japan whales were once worshiped and never eaten (an aspect of Japanese culture that is somehow overlooked in this conflict). Since the start of the 20th century, Japanese whalers have used Norwegian (not traditional) industrial whaling techniques and technology in order to maximize profits like any other modern industry.

    According to Morikawa, the whaling programs only continue in order to support entrenched bureaucrats (amakudari) who often leave their government jobs to take high paid positions in the commercial whaling industry they once oversaw, and secured tax-subsidized funding for, as public officials.

    Due to the cost prohibitive effort to acquire this commodity, whale meat is a luxury food item. Large stockpiles of whale meat remain in cold storage as a result of poor demand. However, the government of Japan continues to prop up the failing industry in many ways. For example, the government has purchased large quantities of whale meat back from Kyodo Senpaku (the commercial arm of the industry) at a reduced price and included the meat in school lunch programs. Otherwise, Japanese children might never taste whale in their lives. (So much for tradition.)

    Fisheries officials have publicly admitted the interference from Sea Shepherd has forcibly reduced the total catch for several years. In private (Wiki-leaked) discussions more officials have admitted Sea Shepherd interference has also increased domestic pressure on the government regarding whaling. However, other organizations have contributed to this effort.

    Greenpeace’s exposure of a whale meat embezzlement scandal certainly raised eyebrows and tempers within a Japanese public already fed up with government corruption.

    “The Cove” became a free speech issue within Japan when nationalist extremists used intimidation tactics to have the award winning documentary banned.

    The UK’s Sunday Times recently uncovered evidence of Japanese representatives bribing Caribbean officials for IWC votes in an undercover investigation.

    Australia has filed against Japan’s “research whaling” with the International Court of Justice.”Global opposition to whaling, including protests and petitions, is growing. Japan is the focus of this opposition because of the scale of its whaling industry and its blatant defiance of international conventions.” http://the-diplomat.com/tokyo-notes/2011/02/17/why-did-japan-suspend-whaling/