Great news, finally Kevin Rudd is making good on one of his election promises ! Australia will take Japan to court for the illegal killing of whales.
We have been begging the government to do this for many , many years and it seems now there is an election on the horizon, and as Rudd tries to chase the green vote after scrapping its climate-change emissions trading scheme, its finally going to happen.
Of course, regardless of the reasons why ( this was an election promise that Rudd made 3 years ago ) it is fantastic news.
A formal application will be lodged in the international court of justice in Hague early this week. Australia will argue that is illegal to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean whale Sanctuary under the guise of scientific research. “we want to see an end to whales being killed in the name of science” Environment Minister Peter Garrett said last week.
Its about time. This could have been done years ago , and I would dearly love to ask Mr Garrett ” Why wasn’t this done years ago”
Whaling is a barbaric practise. No whale dies humanely . Many whales take up to a half an hour to die even after a grenade has been fired into the its head. Of course Japan says they mainly kill Minke Whales which are not endangered. But what stops them from perhaps killing endangered Humpback whales whilst they are out there ? The whaling fleet has a mother Ship which proscesses the whale meat into boxes whilst out on the high seas. How do you carry out research on something that is in a box ready for the supermarket shelves ? The only way you can tell the difference between Minke meat and Humpback meat is by a DNA test. You can’t tell me that a huge 40 tonne Humpback would not be a more profitable, and due to their slow speed, easy target for the whalers. It makes me ill to think of our beloved Humpbacks that we love to watch off our Australian coastline every year during their 5000 km migration may be a target for Whalers.
Humpback whales are incredibly intelligent. During my time whale watching in Hervey Bay I also experienced first hand how gentle and loving they are. After we hunted them for so many years it always humbled me when they approached my boat to greet us. I’ll never forget the day we had two whales right next to the boat embracing each other with their arm-like pectoral fins. Many times I would venture into the galley of my boat so that i could hear the whale song reverberating through the hull of the boat. It is such a beautiful song, its a means of communicating with other whales perhaps hundreds of kilometres away, and even more complex than a Beethoven concerto .
Regardless , all whales need to be protected. The average Japanese person does not want to eat whale meat. And contrary to what they tell us whale meat was not really a part of their national cultural cuisine. It is all just a ploy for a minority, the heavily lobbying whaling industry, to make a buck. Now in the light of this court case maybe the Japanese government will finally stop supporting this disgusting practice, rather than lose face by being told by an international court what to do.
Lets cross our fingers.
check out the video below it made me cry. It is a gorgeous young boy pleading with “whoever you are, please ,please stop killing the whales.
3 Comments (Leave a Reply)
The points you raise with all your environmental blogs are valid and scarily genuine problems in todays world. It is staggering to think that this ‘whaling’ torture has been going on for so long and yet multiple governments cannot come a unified policy. A typical example of ignorant governments and politicians, who are too worried about PR stunts and popularity votes than making a fast, efficient and environmentally statement/ decision. Unfortunatley common sense is not common practice in a political day. Keep the blogs up Mimi, you raise strong, valid questions on the way we all manage the environment.
Whales are beautiful and should be saved at all costs! I wonder how the whalers would feel with a harpoon fired into them and a grenade shoved in their mouth!!!!
Wow,Peter Garrett is a joke in his ministry seat and not the big environmentalist he claims! His leadership should be contained to the RSL stage, playing mid night oil music!!!