A Whale of a Time?

I don’t usually post other people’s blogs, but if you are living in the L.A. area, take a ride to the Santa Monica pier and join in the festivities:

On February 18th and 19th our aquarium under the Santa Monica Pier will be hosting “A Whale of a Weekend,” celebrating the annual gray whale migration along our coast. Read the rest of this entry »

Justice is really blind, now that a U.S. Federal Court Judge, Richard A. Jones, is willing to listen to a frivilous lawsuit filed by the Japanese to stop the Sea Shepherd from its activities to hinder the Japanese from their so called "scientific research".

In a recent Associated Press release, The Tokyo-based Institute of Cetacean (Whale) Research along with a few other countries are seeking to get a U.S. federal court to order the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to cease disrupting its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica.

What is amazing to me that a U.S. federal judge is willing to hear Japan’s whaling argument or even allow it into the federal court system. Why? Consider the fact that our own President was supposed to take the side of anti-whaling, based on his initial campaign promises.

But, as we have seen, no sanctions – other than a letter – have been written and authorized by the President – and sent to the Faroe Islands, which somehow is supposed to tell them to “stop whaling”.

It is kind of like the recent spy plane recovery. A several trillion dollar spy plane is downed in Iran. Instead of destroying or recovering it, Obama felt that we could just get it back by asking for it. Well, it will be returned – in pieces!

Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited SeaWorld following the death of a killer whale trainer. If a Florida court rules in favor of OSHA, employees of SeaWorld and other parks like it will no longer be able to come into direct contact with whales unless there is a barrier between them.

Although I usually write about the less aggressive whales, I by no means wish to forget Killer Whales and the ongoing saga with Sea World.

You see, Killer Whales are big business. People are drawn to intrigue and horror stories. And “Killer Whales” always draw a crowd, especially when “killers” can be shown to be playful, docile and controlled.

At least that is what you are led to believe.

But to understand it a bit more clearly, you need to separate out a couple of ideas. Ideas that confuse the issue, simply because words can border on sensational, and thus draw crowds. Crowds that pay money to see “killers”.

Killer whale jumping out of the blue water (Orcinus orca)

You see, the word “killer” usually brings into one’s mind a sinister thing, an evil thing. And from years ago, “killer” whales, were actually just that – whales that eat other whales. Recent events now show that these whales even eat sting rays and great white sharks.

The truth is, these whales are at the top of their food chain, just like we are. They eat other animals.

However, when any animal, including man, is caged and corralled, behaviors change. Men become violent. Well, so do whales, especially whales that are predators. Just like men, given the chance, they will turn against their keepers.

Tilikum is one such “killer” whale.

How would you express your rage at captivity, left to be in a room the size of a living room for the rest of your natural life?

As it turns out, Tilikum has killed two other people. But remember one thing – there are no records of wild orcas hunting and killing man in open waters. The behavior changed when forced these mammals were forced into a small enclosure.

Sea World has 25 of the 42 whales that exist in large-scale aquariums. And right now there is a move to remove trainers from being in the water with any orca. The interesting thing is that Sea World is attempting to stop this lawsuit by OSHA.

They are trying to prove that these animals can be “controlled” when the point is that having human trainers riding them are what visitors come to see every year, paying millions of dollars in entry fees and paraphernalia.

Does Sea World really care about the safety of their trainers…really?

The spark of sanity that may occur is that OSHA could win this case, denying trainers to be in the water with orcas.

People will no longer be drawn to the shows where trainers are thrown into the air, hug and ride whales.

The excitement will go.

And so will visitor attendance.

If OSHA wins their case, it means one step closer to freedom for these magnificent beings.

Some times I amazed at the press and their PR antics.

You see this all too often. Sensationalism done for notoriety's sake.

Earlier this week, a YouTube video caught the eyes of people all over the internet world. The video captured two things if you look closely: the creation of a ‘bubble net’ used by Humpback whales to corral fish they are about to eat, and then the actual surfacing, or breaching, of Humpback whales between two kayakers and a woman on a paddle board.

It was a rare shot and actually a good one. But then the Press loves controversy:

“Woman Almost Swallowed by Whale!”

Well, sort of. Nearly doesn’t really say that she was swallowed. But anyone reading the headline bites the proverbial lie and goes to the site where such an untruth has been dealt. Read the rest of this entry »

The onslaught of endangered whales continues, while Japan ignores the real truth

It is time once again for Paul Watson and his group of merry men (and women) to brave the Antarctic seas in an attempt to disrupt and delay the extinction of a race.

I am talking about whales.

The Japanese to date have fabricated the need for whale meat, when giant frozen stores lie untouched in Japan. Why? Because less than two per cent of the Japanese population eat whale meat. Some don’t even know it is still being sold.

So why are whales being hunted by the Japanese and being killed? Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent blog from the New York Times, a “cushioned warning” has been recorded about whales,

made by President Obama against Iceland.

The warning is tantamount to saying how much the budget was cut, when in reality nothing was really “cut”.

This is a portion of the blog regarding whaling is what I want to focus on:

In a move hailed by conservation activists, President Barack Obama initiated potential diplomatic sanctions against Iceland this week for its commercial whaling activity. The sanctions include six measures ranging from possibly limiting cabinet-level visits to Iceland to limiting cooperation with Iceland in the Arctic region. Read the rest of this entry »

A friend of you and I asks your help.

Many of you who have read my ongoing blogs, know how I feel about the taking of life from sentient animals, especially whales.

My main concern has been endangered whales, but I do include dolphins, simply because I have had many wonderful opportunities to know and be with dolphins.

What I have come to realize is not the death of these animals I want to focus on – as far as Taiji is concerned – but it is only the rebirth of man’s awareness regarding his responsibility to his own environ.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today I read an article about a recently approved hunt of a Bowhead whale in Alaska.

The whale was hunted and killed, using a license issued through the Canadian Government.

The meat of the bowhead being cut up by an Inuit. Wait just a minute...is that a "Yamaha jacket" she's wearing? What about the "igloo cooler" in the background, and the Coleman stove? Wow! Tradition at it's height...PHOTO COURTESY APTN

Bowheads have not been hunted in one hundred years. The Inuits state that it is their right and part of their cultural heritage to do so. Some of the reasoning explained by members of the Inuit nation is that one whale can feed many people; the cost of normal meat or poultry is far more expensive. Besides, the Bowhead population is now at a sustainable level where at least eighteen Bowhead can be killed yearly. Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent article this week on ecorazzi, Pierce Brosnan took on center stage for whaling concerns:

Pierce Brosnan, photo courtesy Ecorazz1

Pierce Brosnan seems to be getting into his latest role, animal and environmental advocate. He is calling for an end to Iceland’s whale hunt.

The actor has teamed up with the National Resources Defense Council and is leading their campaign to stop Icelandic whaling. In a recent post on OnEarth, Brosnan said “Last December, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups filed a petition to stop Iceland’s rogue whaling. In response, the U.S. Commerce Secretary recently declared that Iceland is defying the international ban on commercial whaling. That declaration started the clock ticking on a 60-day period during which President Obama must decide whether or not to impose trade sanctions on Iceland.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Is it the Polar Bear's fault for the death of a young man or the fault of the program that sent him there?

This past week mourns the loss of a student in Norway who lost, what the press and a few people think was a brutal and violent murder.

Many readers and those close to the incident have mixed emotions about it, simply because of the press the media has given it. Read the rest of this entry »