Sad news today, 150 pilot whales died after being stranded off Tasmania’s west coast. The numbers nearly doubled from what it was believed to be yesterday.
The whales were discovered Saturday, on a rocky area of coastline of Sandy Cape. Members of the local community and about six Department of Primary Industry and Water members worked in vain to try to save the stranded animals, that had been badly injured by the rocks.
Warwick Brennan, a department spokesman said that the whales’ chances of survival were much less in that sort of environment than if the had come ashore in a sandy area.
There were about thirty whales milling around not too far from the stranded whales that had to be shephered out to sea to prevent them from also meeting the same fate.
According to this article and Brennan, this is becoming a more common occurance in the area, with stranded whales appearing almost every twelve days. It is believed that the whales get in to this sort of danger when persuing prey into shallow waters.
Every year in the Faroe Islands, a commonwealth of Denmark, close to 2,000 pilot whales are rounded up near the shore where they come for feeding and then they are brutally slaughtered and eaten. It is a gruesome spectacle of human cruelty what is done on the shores of this island.
The Faroese people defend themselves by saying that this is a tradition that dates back to the 16th century, and a practice that has helped the people survive the harsh winters. The whale meat is not sold but divided among the community. The salughtering has become more intense since the collapse of the fishing industry in the region. They say they need to continue this barbaric butchering of whales or the community will starve.
In an ironic twist, chief medical officers of the Faroe Islands are recommending that pilot whales no longer be considered fit for human consumption because they are toxic. Apparently the whale meat contains too much mercurey, as well as high levels of PCBs and DDT derivatives, all unsafe for humans.
According to this article, research on the impact of the pollutants on the Faroese people, has shown that mercury especially has caused lasting damage. Such as damage to fetal neaural development, high blood pressure, and impaired immunity in children, as well as increased rates of Parkinson’s disease, circulatory problems, and possibly infertility in adults.
This is an example of the unsustainable lifestyles people have adopted throughout the ages in order to survive. It is now time for the Faorese people to reconsider their practices and possibly adopt a new way of life. One that respects the animals in the ocean, and one that will not put themselves at the risk of extinction from consuming poisoned wildlife.
Bad news for about 200 narwhal whales stranded in the icy waters of Canada. According to this story from the AFP:
At least 200 narwhal whales in Canada’s Arctic, trapped by winter ice that is setting in around them and facing starvation or suffocation, must be culled, officials said Friday.
Hunters from the village of Pond Inlet on Baffin Island discovered the animals trapped near Bylot Island, about 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) from Pond Inlet, on November 15, and checked on them periodically.
The local hunters are allowed to harvest only 130 whales each year for food, according to standards set by the federal department of Fisheries and Oceans.
But department spokesman Keith Pelley told AFP: “It’s unlikely the animals are going to survive the winter, so the hunters have been given authorization to cull them.”
The hunters have been on the ice slaughtering the whales since Thursday and are likely to accomplish their task over the coming days, he said.
It’s killing season in Japan, the factory ship has headed out sea, unceremoniously this year, though. Wonder if that has anything to do with the anti-whaling activists whose attention they are probably trying to avoid? And why wouldn’t they? According to this article, the Sea Shepherd activists plan to disrupt the 2008-09 whaling season, like they did the last. Last season Japan was only able to slaughter 551 whales, almost half of their 1,000 whale quota. That is pretty bad-ass!
Meanwhile, in Australia, the Environment Minister, Mr. Peter Garret, the former lead singer of Midnight Oil, is revealing the details of a $4 million anti-whaling program. Mr. Garrett said that the Australian government was undecided about whether to send a ship to shadow the Japanese hunting fleet.
Mr Garrett said he intends using diplomatic efforts together with the results of the new research project to influence the IWC and force Japan to stop hunting, “I’m not under any delusions as to how difficult and challenging this task is,” he said.
Whoa! Hold it there! Diplomatic efforts have not worked thus far, and it seems that the only people who are trying to actively do something are folks at Sea Shepherd. It’s not the research that is the issue, it is the fact that whales are being slaughtered illegally for profit! Now that Peter Garrett is in a position of power, a position where something could be done, why not do something? Diplomacy can only get you so far, and activists are putting their lives at risk because governments are unwilling to do anything.
Dear readers, say good-bye to George Bush with an open letter. My good friends at goodbye.us would like to extend an invitation to anyone who has something to say to this President to post an open letter to GW at http://goodbye.us . This is a project to essentially create a time capsule of feelings and thoughts about the outgoing administration. So please, check it out and share!
Mr. Bush and his administration have done a great deal to undo policies that protect our environment during his time of reign. Now is your chance to let him know just what you think him. Check it out, leave a letter, get it all off your chest. It’s almost over!
