All Japan's fault....
"Effort to limit whale hunting breaks down; 3 nations reject phase-out plan" by Arthur Max, Associated Press | June 24, 2010
AGADIR, Morocco — An international effort to truly limit whale hunting collapsed yesterday, leaving Japan, Norway, and Iceland free to keep killing hundreds of mammals a year, even raiding a marine sanctuary in Antarctic waters unchecked.
Ah, yes, their hungry partners in crime.
The breakdown put diplomatic efforts on ice for at least a year, raised the possibility that South Korea might join the whaling nations, and raised questions about the global drive to prevent the extinction of the most endangered whale species.
It also revived doubts about the effectiveness and future of the International Whaling Commission. The agency was created after World War II to oversee the hunting of tens of thousands of whales a year but gradually evolved into a body at least partly dedicated to keeping whales from vanishing from the Earth’s oceans.
“I think ultimately if we don’t make some changes to this organization in the next few years it may be very serious, possibly fatal for the organization, and the whales will be worse off,’’ former prime minister Geoffrey Palmer of New Zealand told the hundreds of delegates.
“We need this organization to function,’’ US whaling commissioner Monica Medina said. “It certainly is in need of repair.’’
Japanese officials and environmentalists traded charges of blame after two days of intense, closed-door talks failed to break a deadlock in which the three whaling nations offered to limit their catch but refused to phase it out completely.
About 1,500 animals are killed each year by the three countries. Japan, which kills the majority of whales, insists its hunt is for scientific research, but more whale meat and whale products end up in Japanese restaurants than in laboratories.
Not that I am unsympathetic to the whale; however, how many people died in wars last year?
Several whale species have been hunted to near extinction, gradually recovering since the ban on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986, while other species like the smaller minke whale are still abundant. But the whale arouses deep passions around the world, because it was one of the first icons of the animal conservation movement, starting with the popular Save The Whale campaign of the 1970s.
Again, people were being slaughtered all over the planet, but....
Related: Fart-Misters Dilemma
Yeah, that sure is a problem.
Well-meaning environmentalists manipulating us all as well?
Is there no one you can believe in anymore?
A key sticking point is the sanctity of an ocean region south of Australia that the agency declared a whaling sanctuary in 1994. Despite that declaration, Japanese whalers regularly hunt in Antarctic waters, a feeding ground for 80 percent of the world’s whales, and the commission has no enforcement powers to stop them.
Then what good is it?
Just an excuse for globalist front men to go party somewhere.
Another stubborn obstacle was the demand to phase down whaling to zero....
Japan delegate Yasue Funayama said her country had offered major concessions and agreed “to elements which are extremely difficult to accept.’’ She blamed the failure of the talks on countries that refused to accept the killing of even a single animal....
That may be a way to start making this a better world.
The United States had pushed hard for a deal to bring the three nations back under the commission’s control and recognize a limited catch, but finding an acceptable number of whales to kill proved elusive....
Another U.S. failure.
The 88 members of the whaling agency are about evenly split between countries that oppose whaling and nations who advocate sustainable whaling.
Some environmentalists have accused Japan of using its foreign aid to recruit nations into the whaling commission so they support Japan’s position.
Good thing the U.S. never does s*** like that, huh?
Ten years ago the commission had only 41 members, but today it includes landlocked nations like Mali that have no direct interest in whaling or ocean conservation.
Of course, when we pressure people at the U.N. to sign off on sanctions it's another matter entirely.
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Now what else can they come up with to keep people from hunting and eating whales?
"‘Jaw-dropping’ levels of heavy metals found in whales; Contamination threatens human food supply" by Arthur Max, Associated Press | June 25, 2010
AGADIR, Morocco — American scientists who shot nearly 1,000 sperm whales with tissue-sampling darts discovered stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals in the animals that they say could affect the health of ocean life and of the millions of people who eat seafood.
Yeah, there is poison in them thar whales! Just like there is mercury in the tuna, etc. Better off not eating fish at all; however, that is not an option for many hungry mouths on this planet.
A report yesterday cited high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury, and titanium in the mammals, according to samples taken over five years.
Analysis of cells from the sperm whales showed that pollution is reaching the farthest corners of the oceans, says biologist Roger Payne, founder and president of Ocean Alliance, which conducted the research....
Yeah, the REAL ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT!
Ultimately, he said, the metals could contaminate fish, which are a primary source of protein for 1 billion people.
“You could make a fairly tight argument to say that it is the single greatest health threat that has ever faced the human species. I suspect this will shorten lives, if it turns out that this is what’s going on,’’ he said.
Okay, let me put that one on the list after terrorism, global warming, the Gulf gusher, et al.
US Whaling Commissioner Monica Medina informed the 88 member nations of the whaling commission of the report and urged the commission to conduct further research....
Payne, 75, is best known for his 1968 discovery and recordings of songs by humpback whales, and for finding that some whale species can communicate over long distances.
Is this what they told? Weighed down by heavy metal?
The 93-foot ketch Odyssey set out in March 2000 from San Diego to document the oceans’ health by taking tissue samples from the free-ranging sperm whale, which venture from the poles to the tropics. Like humans, they stand at the top of the marine food chain....
Which can not be a good sign for us.
The original objective of the voyage was to measure chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants, and the study of metals was an afterthought.
The researchers were stunned by the results. “That’s where the shocking, sort of jaw-dropping concentrations exist,’’ Payne said.
Although the crew did not track the movements of the whales, Payne said contamination was embedded in blubber that had been formed in the frigid polar regions, indicating that the animals had ingested the metals far from where they were emitted.
“The biggest surprise was chromium,’’ Payne said. “That’s an absolute shocker. Nobody was even looking for it.’’
Chromium, a corrosion-resistant material, is used in stainless steel, paints, dyes, and the tanning of leather, and can cause lung cancer in people who work in industries where it is commonly used....
Whales have lungs, too.
Where do you think the blowhole leads?
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AGADIR, Morocco — Native people of Greenland won a long battle yesterday to extend their annual whale hunt to humpbacks, overriding objections from conservation-minded members of the International Whaling Commission.
The decision came at the end of a contentious five-day meeting that failed to resolve a larger dispute: a proposal to suspend a quarter-century ban on commercial whaling in exchange for a promise by the three whaling countries — Japan, Norway, and Iceland — to reduce the numbers they kill in defiance of the ban.
The commission decided on a one-year “pause’’ in negotiations on the commercial moratorium.
Greenlanders, like indigenous people from three other countries, are granted the right to hunt for food and to maintain traditional cultures, but only under strict quotas that are reviewed every five years....
Now THAT is WRONG!
They should be the FIRST CONSIDERATION!
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society condemned the decision, saying some of the whale meat ends up on supermarket shelves.
Ours are full of cows, chickens, and pigs -- as well as other fish.
In the past, the five-year renewal of subsistence quotas have led to bitter clashes.
The US delegation sought to extend the period to seven years, but withdrew its motion when it was clear it would fail.
In a departure from normal procedure, the mayor of a small town in the northernmost area of Alaska made an emotional appeal to the commission to lift his people from “the constant uncertainty’’ of the periodic renewals.
“We the Inuit are the original conservationists and have sustainably hunted the bowhead whale for over 2,000 years,’’ said Edward Itta. “Our relationship to the bowhead whale is at the very core of our culture. It is who we are, physically, spiritually, and as a community.
And like most Indian cultures, AmeriKa is destroying it.
“We Eskimos are like the bowhead. We are a part of the Arctic ecosystem,’’ he said.
If it were global warming they would listen.
Until the final day, the indigenous issue was overshadowed by the failure earlier in the week to strike a deal on suspending a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling....
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