Anti-whaling Advertisement

Hello everyone! This week I would like to show a picture which you can see above. The picture comes from an anti-whaling campaign from the International Fund for Animal Welfare. This picture has made a lot of controversy because of its plain and straight message. Some people argue that it was not necessary to put flesh on the floor trying to make it look more striking (even if they are not sure whether the flesh is real or not). In the other side, it is stated that it is the only way to create awareness, showing how “disgusting” and bad whaling could be.

We could say that all anti-whaling activists agree with the use of this advertisement but even some of them think the IFAW activists went too far. It is true that the picture shows nothing but the reality because that is how whales have been founded after a fisher ship leaves them by the bay. Also, the advertisement is really striking and kind of shocking when you walk in the street and suddenly you see that flesh in the floor apparently coming out of the cut open whale. Personally, I believe the image is actually disgusting but at the end that is the point of the advertisement. Some people may feel offended or disgusted; others may question why the IFAW would use real flesh if they are pro animal welfare. What I think is that someone must take actions about whaling; they need someone to create awareness among people so all of them can stop whaling. It does not matter how if they have respect for the others. 


Bibliography

IFAW. International Fund for the Animal Welfare . 2011. 20 de September de 2011 <http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw_latin_america/>.

SSCS Goals

Hello!

Last week I did a little research which proved why anti-whaling activists do what they do. Today I’ll be talking about the some of the goals that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) –a foundation which is trying to stop whaling –that are not only about protecting whales from being killed but their goals also are to protect other species: Dolphins, seals and sharks; and to protect the Galapagos Islands. The SSCS not only care about whales, they also care about the rest of the marine species and the conservation of the marine ecosystems.

The way they work with dolphins, seals and sharks is similar to the way they protect whales because these species are also hunted for their meat or liver oil. The problem with these other cases is that dolphin, seal and shark hunting is still legal everywhere in the world and it is not regulated for any institution causing the lost of millions of these animals. Nowadays, some of them are threatened or endangered; therefore, the ecosystems they live in are damaged. The exploitation of these species is a slaughter because fisher ships kill them in the most brutal ways just to save money. One example is the way they kill sharks: “hooked sharks are hauled onto boats; their fins are sliced off while they are still alive. Then the sharks are tossed back into the ocean where, unable to swim without their fins, they sink towards the bottom and die an agonizing death” (www.seashepherd.org). To protect the Galapagos Islands from being exploited causing the extinction of their endemic species, they do campaigns to stop illegal fishing and educating the local population about the environment issues from nowadays.

So the SSCS is not just about stopping whales but they are also trying to conserve the environment by defending animal rights and protecting the marine ecosystems.

Bibliography

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society . Sea Shepherd. 2011. September 29th 2011 <http://www.seashepherd.org/index.php>.

Under-covered Whaling

Hello there! In this week’s post the theme is not about anti-whaling activists specifically, I will be talking about one of the problems they have nowadays with whaling. Even though the International Whaling Commission has established some regulations to preserve the cetacean species, it is rumored and criticized that Japan commercial fishers have gone undercover to the Antarctic and Pacific oceans to hunt whales. The reason they are allowed to do this is because whaling is legal if fishers do it for research and scientific investigation. These people claim that it is only for scientific purposes but anti-whaling activists have discovered that these fishers still sell the whales’ meat. I think it is unnecessary to kill whales even if it is only for research and investigation and we cannot blame fishers for selling whales’ meat because once these animals are dead, what can they do with them? If the International Whaling Commission is really trying to preserve whales, they should not allowed whaling for any kind of reason.

According to a Seattle News article, the Japanese fishers harvested “49 minke, 95 sei and 50 Bryde's whales and one sperm whale”. From all these species, the IUCN established that the Sei whales are endangered and the sperm whale is classified as vulnerable, so how the IWC allowed these fishermen to hunt 95 whales endangered? This is why the Whaling ships who hunt whales with supposed scientific purposes are so criticized; but as I said before I do not think it is only whaling fishermen fault, the IWC is responsible for this too. Fortunately, anti-whaling activists are working to stop whaling at all.

Bibliography

International Union for Conservation of Nature. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010. September 22^nd 2011 <http://www.iucnredlist.org/amazing-species>.

The Associated Press. The Seattle News. September 15^th 2011. September 22^nd 2011 <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016215067_apasjapanwhaling.html>.

World Society for the Protection of Animals. Whalewatch. 2007. Septemeber 22^nd 2011 <http://www.whalewatch.org/>.

The Bob Barker

Hey everyone! This week I am posting something different along with the interesting information I have found. Yesterday I watched this video from the official Sea Shepherd YouTube channel and it changed my whole perspective from the Sea Shepherd’s crew. During the video you could notice how these people have to fix the vessel by themselves, their work is not only about traveling by sea, reaching whaling ships and trying to stop them; they have to do a lot more of things. With the donations from people around the world, they get an old ship and the engineers from the crew fix with the help of the other members; they almost change the whole ship from repairing the motors to painting the cover. Most part of the crew is not only ecologist, they have studied other things and they have other skills that they use to help in the Sea Shepherd tasks. I think it is one of the most important things from the crew members because they could have been developing their professions in other areas, but they have chosen to work with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in order to save the more whales possible and to stop whaling.  I admire the way they use their knowledge for the good of the environment and animal rights, because not everybody would do that and still the crew members are only volunteers, so they do not expect to get paid back. With this ship, the sea shepherds have save more than one thousand whales and they decided to name it after the television personality Bob Barker –who is also an environmental activist –because of the donation he made for the SSCS’s campaign. 

Bibliography 

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society . Sea Shepherd. 2011. September 7^th 2011 <http://www.seashepherd.org/index.php>.

A New Trip

Hello everybody! I am back to talk a little more about anti-whaling activists. The last week the blog’s topic was about the case of Tarah Miller, a member of the Sea Shepherd. She and her partners have been criticized for what they are doing, which is defending the whales that are victims of the cruel practice of whaling. In general, the anti-whaling movement has people who support it and people who reprobate it. This week I will leave it all aside and I will talk about the new voyage that the Sea Shepherds are about to take.

Their next stop is West India Quay in London for an anti-whaling trip in Antarctic. They decided to stop there before start their trip because of the support this conservation society receives from the British. They are going to be there for an awareness campaign where they are inviting people to go into their vessel and meet the Sea Shepherd members; the public will have the chance to board the Sea Shepherds ship, the “Steve Irwin”. According to an article from the Yellow Advertiser, the group is planning on letting people know about their work on protecting whales, so they can get more support from another places. I think this is a productive and creative way of spreading the word, even though they will keep on travelling around the world, risking their own lives. People must know about their objectives and the methods they use, which are considered as “aggressive non-violence” as the author Jenny Green says, which means that they only use these aggressive methods like throwing stink grenades. These bombs do not cause any damage; they just keep fishermen from doing their jobs because of the strong smell of the bombs. Unfortunately, the people who are against the anti-whaling movement are more concern about how the activists are just affecting the economy in countries where some of their primary industries need the whale’s meat and oil, like in Japan. But there is so much more than economy, because even when economy is vital to keep a society working, every human being depends from nature. This is why I think the Sea Shepherds campaign is so important.

Bibliography

Green, Jenny. Sea Shepherds cruise in to West India Quay. September 1^st, 2011.  September 1^st, 2011 <http://www.yellowad.co.uk/news.cfm?id=32432&headline=Sea%20Shepherds%20cruise%20in%20to%20West%20India%20Quay>.

Too Extremist

Hello everyone! Last week in the post I made an introduction about whaling and the activists that are against this activity. Also, the controversy that the anti-whaling activists are causing because of their methods was mentioned; this week I’m writing about a case in particular. It’s about a member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, activist Tarah Millen.

This anti-whaling activist from Canada and her Sea Shepherd’s partners are being blamed for wasting too much money on travelling to Japan when there are Whaling ships in the East Coast of Canada. Also, the way the “Sea Shepherds” fight the whale meat processing ships in Japan is considered extremist and they haven’t been stopped because of the harassment against the fishermen from the Whaling ships. On the other hand, they could be already in jail for doing in this in Canada. In resume, “she's going to Japan to bully the people there because they're too polite/meek to fight back” as Erica Ueda wrote in her article. The “Sea Shepherds” are also criticized because of the bad reputation they gave to all the anti-whaling activists that still use “more ordinary” methods.

I think is not about how extremist the anti-whaling activists are but how they should act to get what they’re looking for, the forbiddance of Whaling. I don’t think this people started harassing Whaling ships just because they wanted to or because it is easier. There is so much at stake when the Sea Shepherd goes across the Antarctic seas just to stop whaling. They have come to a point where they have to use these extremist methods because nothing else is working.

Bibliography

Ueda, Erica. BC Local News. August 23rd 2011. August 25th 2011 <http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/letters/128269043.html>.

  

Welcome to my blog

Hello bloggers, this is my brand new blog about anti-whaling and the activists who support this movement. As you should know, the world's environment is changing and we must be informed about the events that are developing these changes.

Nowadays the environment is being affected by whaling, there are fewer whales in the sea and they may be endangered in matter of time; also the people who commit whaling are violating the animal rights. But what is whaling? Basically, whaling is the concept used for whale hunting and its meat processing. This is why activists from pro-animal and environmental foundations are taking control of this situation.

The reason why anti-whaling activists are causing a lot of controversy is because of the actions some of them take. The controversial battle between the whale meat processing ships and the activists have caught the attention of international organizations and there are countries were whaling is now forbidden or the laws got stricter. The famous group of activists Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, better known for the Animal Planet series Whale Wars, are possibly about to meet their goal: to stop whaling in Japan; but it’s been also criticized because of the activists’ methods. In the series, we can see the Sea Shepherds attack Japanese ships as seen in an ABC News article: “Harassment by Sea Shepherd has limited the whaling fleet's effectiveness, and last season it was forced to return to Japan after harpooning only a fifth of its total quota of whales” (Willacy, http://www.abc.net.au). The anti-whaling activists risk their own lives to stop whaling and some people have considered it extremist, some others think that it is the only way to get what they’re fighting for.

Bibliography

Discovery Communications, LLC. Animal Planet. 2011. August 18^th 2011 <http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/about/>.

Willacy, Mark. ABC News. August 11^th 2011. August 18^th 2011 <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-12/japan-fisheries-flags-whaling-end-am/2836118>.