In a recent press release posted by JiJi Press, the Japanese Whaling fleet returned back from the Southern Atlantic Ocean with a total of 267 dead whales. Of those caught and killed, 172 whales were pregnant.

When you think of it, it is at best an outrage. Japan’s press release was that it was a “successful catch,” when in truth, whale meat is being stockpiled for people who eat it only as a luxury. The fact is, less than 2% of the Japan’s population eat whale meat.

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Although a great family movie, the Big Miracle misses the big picture.

Although for some it is very old news, I saw the film “Big Miracle”, based on a true life story about three endangered Pacific Grey Whales trapped in Alaska and the rescue efforts to save them. The unfortunate thing is that the real message was watered down and overlooked!

As is usual with scriptwriters, the story was “much to do with Hollywood” and altered from the real story. The movie, although moving and portraying the mindsets of the people and cultures affected by the “whales plight”, did touch but touch upon the realities of current Inupiat life and the lust for power by oil barons.

The only ones not really represented or understood were the ones the story was really all about – whales! Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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.

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In a recent article in the Huffington Post, the Faroe Vikings are at it again.

Captain Paul Watson and a few f his crew of the Sea Shepherd. Photo courtesy Fotopedia

” Paul Watson, captain and marine activist arrived in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s vessel, The Brigitte Bardot, to Torshvan harbor earlier in the week, creating a media frenzy in the small Nordic village bound by the cruel custom of killing in the name of culture. Local villagers showed up to oppose Sea Shepherd’s presence by offering local whale meat to the little girl and bystanders. However, the youngster refused stating, “No thank you. I don’t eat my friends.”

“Later in the week, members of the Sea Shepherd crew unveiled a mass underwater dumping ground of whale carcasses, further pointing to the large amount of waste that surrounds the sporadic hunting episodes of the socially complex marine mammals, which are listed as “strictly protected” under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, also known as The Berne Convention. Read the rest of this entry »

With the life of whales in the balance, is the Obama administration really capable of making a decision to save them?

The Obama Administration could save whales or end their life in our seas

“A few days ago, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and the U.S. Department of Commerce formally declared that Iceland is undermining the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) by hunting whales in defiance of the IWC’s global ban on commercial whaling. As a result of this declaration, President Obama now has 60 days to decide whether to impose economic penalties and/or trade sanctions against Iceland pursuant to legislation known as the ‘Pelly Amendment’. Diplomatic negotiations and disapproval of other countries have so far failed to stop this practice.” Read the rest of this entry »

What can be considered a bold move by the Obama administration, could be considered a blade with two sharp edges.

Recently and According to the Associated Foreign Press, environmentalists convinced Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to enact the Pelly Amendment to the Fisherman’s Protective Act that could impose a whole variety of sanctions on Iceland.