The IWC has proposed a reinstatement of commercial whaling.
This would reverse 3 decades of progress in protecting endangered whale species.


Please read and sign the Greenpeace petition @ http://ow.ly/1cNCo

Took me 15 seconds to fill out the form. Please take 15 seconds of your life to help the cause.

Thanks, Ntt...
I feel so bad for whales.
The oceans are littered with chaotic noises nowadays...totally fucking with their songs/communication.

There is no way this will ever actually pass. The only reason its even being talked about is because of lobbying by Japanese whaling interests. The vast majority of the international community is against commercial whaling.

Unfortunately the IWC lacks the political teeth to do anything about it.

Little bit of a rant from here on out.

On a more personal note this issue really hits home for me. I was born in Hawaii (moved to California when i was very young) however I still consider Hawaii a very special place. I have visited family there yearly or bi-yearly throughout my youth. Some of my fondest memories as a child were standing on the cliffs of Hawaii Kai and seeing eight or ten whales all at once surfacing, or sailing in Waikiki and seeing the porpoises following the current of my grandpas sailboat, or snorkeling in the many exotic locations on Oahu.

Depletion of the oceans is real and present. In the last 10 years or so I have witnessed first hand the destruction in Hawaii. I visit many of the same places each time I go there, and the contrast darkens each time I visit. Hanauma Bay is a shadow of what it once was, there are almost no porpoises left in Waikiki and the humpback whales are few and far between.

I know every country has its problems (the US more than anyone) but Japan really really needs to adjust their lenient policy towards commercial whaling immediately if they don't want to be forever remembered as the nation that destroyed some of the most beautiful and intelligent species on earth.

Anyone who hasnt seen The Cove yet should. A documentary on the brutality of Japanese fisherman. Here is a link to the stream http://milledrive.com/videos/32340/The_Cove.html

TheNtt

Thank you so very much for this thread! Whales are such precious creatures and we all need to do what we can to protect them. Unfortunately the Japanese government is doing everything that they can to legalise whaling as they stand to make to much of a profit from whale meat (This is being done through the U.S.) Most of the whaling that goes on is done in areas which whaling for commercial purposes is not allowed, but the whalers have found a loop hole if they masquerade as if they are harpooning whales for so called scientific research they can just get away with slaughtering these beautiful and peaceful animals.

We all need to stand up against what they are doing as its ethically and morally wrong on so many levels. I'm passionate about our earth and my daily job is to protect our planet as well as all the animals that share this wondrous world with us. Thank you so much for spreading awareness about this very heated and important environmental issue, we definitely need more people like you my friend...


Much Peace and Compassion

Yea, I thought that section on Cosmos where Sagan talks about the whales was fascinating. I never knew they could communicate around the entire world before we dropped massive motorized ships into the waters. It makes you wonder how many bio-feedback loops humans have wrecked that we're not even aware of...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys. This is an issue often overlooked in this strange world of ours. Your story is very saddening to me allnatural. Thank you for sharing. And I completely agree- for those who have not seen The Cove GO WATCH IT!

This is horrible..I wont say any more about this becasue it wont sound nice at all.

Bastards thats NOT good news, i shall pass that around, thanks Ntt. We need to stop draining Gaia of its life.

R*R
L

I really hope this will not pass, whales are the most amazing creatures on this planet.
I am reading the book "Leviathan, or the whale" by Philip Hoare which i highly suggest to anyone interested in whales.

Peace
Elpo

Normally most of what greenpeace sais or does makes me want to vomit violently. But their opposition to whaling overall I think is positive. Although I think they are by far the worst group of individuals to make any seriously well founded arguments against it because of the complete utter lack of intelligence they have on most other issues.

(burnt doesn't like greenpeace sorry their anti GMO anti logging anti anything they are too stupid to understand shit pisses me off to no end)

Hey burnt, that brings up another topic of interest. GMO's. From what I understand there has been very little research to determine whether GMO's are safe or not in the long term. The research that has been done suggests that they might be harmful. Could you correct me if I am wrong/shed some light on this topic? Perhaps I will make a new thread when I wake up tomorrow though.

^^Well first I should give some backround on why I am against greenpeace's behavior. Its because I am a realistic environmentalist. I want people to take environmentalism seriously but that won't happen if groups like greenpeace are some of the main spoke's people. In its early days (70's) greenpeace did a lot of good things but now they have shifted to an anti corporate anti technology stance which is counter productive to true environmentalism.

One of the founders of greenpeace (Patrick Moore) discusses this stuff far better then I can because well he was there:

http://www.greenspirit.com/index.cfm

Greenpeace really hates him now because of the way hes spoken out against them so theres a lot of propaganda against his ideas. But science sees through the propaganda.

For example greenpeace is against commercial logging. They oppose it whenever they can. But commercial logging (especially when it uses more modern sustainable long term profit maximizing techniques) is one of the primary reasons why in the US and Canada there is so many standing forests. When a forest has lots of wood and the demand for wood is high that land has value. Furthermore clear cutting land is useless because then it also will lose value so its in logging companies best interest to manage forests sustainably (which many now are doing). If no one wanted to buy wood or use wood the land would lose value and large land owning farmers or families or corporations would sell it. It would become either agricultural land or real estate. Some of my good friends are foresters who can back me up on this. Logging and demand for wood are pluses for the environment (something no one in greenpeace will admit).


Anyway concerning GMO's. SWIM started out as a biotechnology student and knows alot about this issue and these debates. There is so much anti GMO propaganda out there and the vast majority of it is 1. complete overblown 2. completely misinformed. I can explain why but yea maybe we should start a new thread on that one?

Burnt

Greenpeace is not anti technology or anti corporate at all. Greenpeace holds companies accountable for the damage that they do that's all, I think you have interpreted Greenpeace's philosophy incorrectly...


Renewables 24/7

International Annual Report


Much Peace and Sunshine

I sort of have some weird an skeptical feelings about greenpeace at times..but they do some good things..there are other environmental groups Id rather support.

I also think that overall, greenpeace does not serve nature. Environmental protection is thanks to them, now seen as a hobby for left wing radicals who oppose global economy as a whole.

I recently found out though, that greanpeace, amnesty international, oxfam and many other organizations for humanitarian or environmental benefits where founded by quakers.

I always thought that quakers where very conservative, but it appears that historically seen, they are interesting dudes. Also among the first abolitionists, etc.

And yeah, the whaling thing is terrible.
The disrespect some people hold for animals, even the ones that undoubtedly are very capable of feeling pain like we do, is one of the most appaling things to me, of our and other society´s.

There is no excuse, other than total ignorance.

My main bug with greenpeace is their anti GMO campaign. I am very much a lover and student of biotechnology I know its value very well. Greenpeace has complete distorted the public perception about GMO technologies and its creating serious problem for people who could be benefiting the most from it.

My second bug is with their anti logging campaign. I know too many foresters who have a far more rational and level headed approach to logging then greenpeace claims. We can't get rid of logging and most forests are taking a more sustainable approach and greenpeaces rhetoric makes it harder for those people to be heard.

My third bug is that they totally oppose nuclear power even though it is useful and safer then most people think. I'm not an expert on this so I won't get much further into it.

My fourth bug is that they oppose animal testing for toxic or potential pharmacuetical substances. This is just naive and stupid and has caused serious problems for researchers in places where the public is more sympathetic to groups like PETA and greenpeace.


Greenpeace consistently rejects science in favor of rhetoric and thats where I draw the line with them as an environmental organization.

On the whole GMO thing I think greenpeace are bordering on crimes against humanity, but otherwise I think they have done some good work.

I'm certainly not adverse to anti nuclear campaigns.

I think animal testing is wrong. Lab animals have never done anything to deserve being used disrespectfully. When we can use them, we acknowledge their simmilarities with us, but when it comes to oblugations coming forth out of this, than we sudenly deny them.

It is ethically much more tolerable to use people who have violated the social contract in such a way that they cannot claim to be entitled to any kind of protection society offers. I´m thinking of rapists or people who´ve violently molested other human beings.

If you oppose the use of those people as test objects, than i don´t see how you could justify the use of animals that have never done anything to deserve being treated this way, except being born into this world.

I think people like this should be subjected to other kinds of tests altogether, but now we're heading off topic.