Courts Can Stop Japan!

Experts: Courts can stop Japan whale cull || The Australian:

"LAW experts today urged anti-whaling nations to end years of fruitless diplomatic pressure on Japan to stop scientific culling and use international courts to halt Tokyo.

As the International Whaling Commission annual conference began in Alaska, a group of law experts commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) urged Australia and other like-minded countries to get tougher with Japan.

'Japan's whaling programme is illegal and will remain so until a government takes steps to challenge this unlawful activity,' law professor and group chairman Don Rothwell said.

The IWC's 72 members are bitterly divided over a 25-year-old global moratorium on whaling which Japan and other nations such as Norway oppose.

Japan has long resisted pressure to stop scientific whaling and this year plans to hunt 935 minke and for the first time 50 humpbacks. Humpbacks were hunted nearly to extinction until protected by the IWC in 1966."

Is there really a simple way?

Can you really force them just to stop...
And actually believe that they will when told not to?

Will this really work any better?

So far Japan has taken international law into it's own hands to do as it pleases - continuing to conduct its (scientific) whaling activities.

Japan can't argue the fact that it is against international laws, of which are agreed and signed upon, that whaling is prohibited. Japan is breaking the law! Why not use the courts?

It won't be until Japan can find a way to change the laws to be otherwise, in their favor, that Japan's activities will actually be legal. But that hasn't happened yet. (Though, unfortunately may be soon at hand!)

However, the fact still remains... whaling is ILLEGAL, and Japan is in violation!

It would be fascinating to see if any of these things are taken seriously and what the outcome would be.

Alaska Whalers to Cancel Beluga Hunt - Examiner.com

Alaska Whalers to Cancel Beluga Hunt - Examiner.com:

"The population [of Beluga whales] is now so low that Alaska Native whalers, who have chased belugas for generations, agreed Monday to cancel their annual hunt for the third time in nine years at the request of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The agency is expected to decide this week whether to declare the animals endangered."

Will another species of whales make it onto the Who's Who Of Endangered Species?

It seems that it is most likely that the Beluga's will soon join some of their cousins on the endangered list.

Though the Alaskan whalers have the legal right, given the right genealogy and decent, to hunt these whales... perhaps it is best for them to rely on other traditions of their people, granted the ill-fate of the Beluga's in the current age.

Japan Replies

Minke Whales Safe, Japan Replies:

"In reply to criticism that its slaughter of pregnant minke whales in the Southern Ocean is endangering the species, Japan says the high pregnancy rates show the species is safe."

Did this discovery have to require the killing of the Minke Whales in the first place?

Whatever happened to good old-fashioned observation and simply counting the whales?

This is good news.... but the ends don't justify the means!

- Gary

Forget Ear Wax, Whale Dandruff's The Answer

Forget ear wax, whale dandruff's the answer

Apparently Australian scientists have found a reason for Japan's "scientific whaling" program to cease.

The main purpose that Japan's so-called "scientists" are killing the whales is to determine the age of the whales, which was done by counting the layers of the whale's ear wax... and to do so the whale must be dead.

Now Australian scientists found a way to determine the age of whales by analyzing little bits of skin the whales shed.

I doubt, however, that this will really keep the Japanese "scientists" from killing whales....

... Because as we all know Japan has a large market for whale meat - though the profitability of said market is debatable.

- Gary Schmidt

A Newborn Whale

Beluga whale born at Shedd Aquarium: " A Beluga whale named Puiji gave birth to a male calf on Monday. Mother and calf are doing well."

Happy (Belated) Birthday!

- Gary

A Call To New Zealander's

Wanted: Whale spotters of the right stuff:

"A southern right whale spotted off Mahia on Monday afternoon could be part of a "homegrown" population.

The Department of Conservation has asked people to report any sightings of southern right whales - which will be near the coast as they breed from June to September - so staff can collect DNA samples and record details that identify individual animals. More information was needed to confirm the theory of a population separate to that in Australia and the subantarctic Auckland Islands."

Get in on part of the action, help them determine if it really is a separate population... you still can go whale watching and help out!

What a great excuse to go to the ocean and go whale watching!

You can have great time, some fun and help scientists figure out how well the whale populations are doing.

The Best,
Gary

The Freed Whale

Rescuers free whale entangled in rope : "A humpback whale that was entangled in marine gear off the coast of Mount Desert Island for at least 20 hours was cut free just after noon Sunday. "

Here's a nice little article, about a whale that was saved from being entangled in marine gear off of the coast of Maine. It made note that they don't bother disentangling whales unless it's life threatening. Not only is it a danger for the whale, it is also a danger to boaters and the rescuers. It took a whole 20 hours in part because of a dense fog reducing visibility to about 100 feet.

Get the complete story through the link.

- Gary

It's Time

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I last wrote... I've been extremely busy, but that's no excuse.

There really wasn't a whole lot that really happened the last part of the winter and spring. Just the few stories of Japanese whalers and Japan's efforts to lift the moratorium on whaling.... of which I can recall that there was vote in the IWC to lift it and about half of the countries voted in favor of lifting the moratorium for whaling - which means that Japan may eventually get it's way, but 2/3 of the countries need to vote in favor for it to be lifted!

However, on a more positive note off of the coast of California the whale populations were found to have increased over the last season.

I thought a while back that I might've seen an article on a whale species that was thought to have been extinct discovered... somewhere maybe in the Atlantic?.. I'm not too sure because I can't find the article or anything, leave a comment if you've seen it!

- Gary

Signs of Whales Returning

Redesigned signs warn of dangers during whale season: "Fearing that more boating traffic increases the potential for collisions with humpback whales during the winter whale season, state and federal agencies say they are posting new warning signs at harbors and boat ramps."

The signs of the whales return are litterally starting to show in the Hawaiian Islands region...

New signs are being posted that are easier to read and understand at a glance warning about whale collision, compared to the older signs that are harder to read while passing. This is good, since when the next generation of calves are born and start their life they need to surface more often.

Gary Schmidt

Outraged (Yet)? Here's What You Can Do

Outraged? Take action - Ocean Defenders - the weblog

Take a moment and see what you can do to take action and help stop Japanese whaling.

This site has several good links to places where you can make your voice heard.

Gary Schmidt

Cross-Fire

They said we said - Ocean Defenders - the weblog:

"He also noted that we have 'repeatedly interfered' with their whale killing.

It's good to hear he thinks we are being effective.

Nishiwaki-san also pointed out that we take risks with our own safety. That is true. This is dangerous work we are doing out here, but each of us chooses how much risk we wish to accept."

A nice post about the interaction between the Japanese whaling fleet and Greenpeace.

Gary Schmidt

Whale Warriors

Look up, whale warriors - the air attack is coming - World - smh.com.au: "War on the waves ... Sea Shepherd activists in dinghies failed to snare the Nisshin Maru's propellers on Sunday after the whaler rammed a Greenpeace ship..."

"If Greenpeace action becomes more aggressive, the Fisheries Agency may ask the Maritime Police Agency to dispatch aircraft," the deputy director of the Far Seas Fisheries Division of Japan's Fisheries Agency, Mr Hideki Moronuki told the Herald yesterday. "Or the agency may ask the Government of Australia to take action to normalise the situation."

How far will things go!

Who's gonna get things their way?

Pulling Punches

Japan accuses Greenpeace of prolonging whale deaths. 12/01/2006. ABC News Online:

"'When Greenpeace activists put themselves between the harpoon and the whale, the time to death of the animal has sometimes surpassed half-an-hour,' he said in a statement.

'When they get in front of the catcher boats, the harpoon can hit a less than optimum part of the whale's body. So the time necessary to shoot additional harpoons increases as a consequence of Greenpeace presence.'

Dr Hatanaka says Greenpeace is condemning whales to a slow death because of the time it takes to reload the grenade-tipped harpoons."

I've gotta give the Japanese credit....

Credit for being so determined in stopping the Geenpeace and SeaShepherd from trying to end their whaling activities.

They are pulling every single punch that they can get!

Gary Schmidt

Gorton's Seafood = Whaling

Ocean Defenders:

"Ask Gorton's to help stop whaling

With total annual sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Gorton's is the market leader in frozen seafood products in the US. The company even invented the McDonald's Filet-O-Fish burger. Its products are sold at grocery stores across the US.

In 2001 Gorton's was sold to its current owner, Nissui USA, for US$175 million. Nissui USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nissui, Japan's second-largest marine products firm, which is a major shareholder of the company that owns Japan's whaling fleet.

Send a message to Gorton's CEO Steve Warhover asking him to persuade Gortons' parent company, Nissui, to bring the hunting of whales to a permanent end."

A little action can go a long way.

Please go here and make your voice known:
Ask Gorton's to help stop whaling

You and I can do something!

Gary Schmidt

Japan Planning On A War

Japan 'warship plan' to guard whaling fleet - National - theage.com.au: "anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd claims Japan may be sending a warship to the Southern Ocean to protect its whaling fleet from interference."

There's a bright move, start a war!

It won't stop Sea Shepherd or Greenpeace from trying to stop the Japanese from whaling.

Gary Schmidt

In More Detail... Full Color Vision

Underwater Times | Japanese Whalers, Greenpeace in Square Off in Ocean Battle Over Whales: "Japanese whaling fleet and Greenpeace environmental activists are involved in a stand-off in the remote Southern Ocean near the coast of Antarctica with the two sides accusing each other of ramming their vessels."

Here's an article that shows some of the particulars about the Whalers and Greenpeace arguing about "who hit who" and "what's what" about the collision(s) that have been going on between the two.

This was so fascinating I had to post it

Gary

Greenpeace Goes Full Contact

Greenpeace defends anti-whaling tactics - Breaking News - National - Breaking News:

"Greenpeace said it welcomed any scrutiny of tactics, including incidents in which a Greenpeace ship and a whaler were involved in a minor collision.

The Japanese whaling industry's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) said its crews were documenting the behaviour of Greenpeace ships Esperanza and Arctic Sunrise, claiming serious violations of maritime laws."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!

This is so dumb, what basis does Japan really have!

What makes them think that they have so much power or a good enough reason to do what they are and get away with it?

First off, the whaling that they are doing - which they call 'research whaling' - is not needed at all. The major scientific community organizations have said repeatedly before to Japan that the intended 'research' and whaling that they do is not needed. Plus, they won't learn anything new from it really. Also, it might be understood that Japan has an alternate motive for its so-called 'research' whaling and that is because Japan has a big market for whale meat.

Also any of the governing bodies for the control of international whaling such as the IWC or any of the others don't have a means of patrolling and controlling whaling, even though there has been a moratorium on whaling for the past several decades!

Greenpeace and some other organizations closely associated with Greenpeace are the only organizational bodies that are willing and able to patrol the seas and help put an end to unnecessary whaling, which is exactly what Japan is doing!!

If Japan were so concerned with abiding to International Maritime Laws, shouldn't they also be concerned with the laws established by the International Whaling Commission too on the preservation of the whale populations - which are practically on the verge of extinction!

Isn't the preservation of a species of greater worth than worrying about a scratch on a boat!!

NO JAPAN, you cannot pass the blame!! If you weren't out there whaling there wouldn't have been a situation anyways!

Get your priorities straight Japan....

I do not think that Greenpeace was in the wrong, but then again I probably don't know all the specifics about maritime law anyway to make an accurate judgement based solely on that...

Gary Schmidt

Big Bad (Yet, Pathetic) Japan

The Advertiser: Whaling is butchery - Brown [27dec05]: "GREENS leader Bob Brown has accused Japanese whalers of being D-grade butchers masquerading as scientists."

This is a rather interesting article that totally disses the Japanese "scientific" whaling program.

It also mentions the Grade-A courage of the Greenpeace protestors trying to stop Japanese whaling.

A good article!

Gary

Amazing Photos!

rightwhales

This site has a ton of great photos of, mostly, right whales. Shows the whales in action! They are also very professional looking, and have great colors.

Be sure to check them out!

Gary

What's Really Out There?

There haven't been too many interesting stories to report about whales lately... usually the same old stuff about whales and any events regarding whales has been circulating the web. And that for several weeks. Nothing has occured that seemed break-through, or anything... However this was an interesting story:

Lessons from a whale stranding :: ABC North Coast NSW:

"The death of a female pygmy sperm whale found bleeding from its reproductive organs and wounded by shark bites on a Byron Bay beach this week, was inevitable according to scientists.

The whale was still alive when it beached but died shortly after."

In the lack of any special interest on the web or in the news circulation... if anyone would like to submit to me something that they came accross that would be fabulous!!

I'll take stories about whales in my inbox. Or leave a comment with a link in it and a description and if I find it substantially suitable for feature in the blog I will certainly make a post about it!!

Looking for anything you find about whales and whale watching that it worth posting up in this blog!!

Let me know

Gary