(Artist Credit: unknown)
The pressure is getting more intense on Japan regarding their "scientific whale hunts" and dolphin drives. Their defenses for killing these mammals are sounding more and more strident and empty hallowed. Japan is feeling it but are they reeling from it yet? Sea Shepherd continues to be the only organization out there that continues to put the pressure on Japan and also continues to cost the whalers millions of dollars annually. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is catching on more and more to the weak defenses Japan keeps putting up for why they continue to kill whales in the name of science and to kill dolphins in Taiji.
If you haven't seen The Cove yet, please do. It is now available in DVD and can be bought at places like Amazon and rented at Blockbuster, Netflix, etal.
The pressure on Japan needs to continue and to get stronger. Various reports out there about the high levels of mercury aren't going to go away. The Cove has opened up a lot of peoples' eyes on this senseless and cruel slaughter and while the dolphin killers let up on it for awhile because of all the publicity, unfortunately they are right back out there and it's business as usual. See: Grotesque Business as Usual
If you care about this issue, please go to the following sites and learn more about what is going on out there and what you can do to help.
Make no mistake, Japan is fully aware of the mercury levels that come from their citizens eating the whale and dolphin meat from their "catches." See: Taiji Mercury Levels Extremely High And from the Save Japan Dolphins blog: Ten Times Higher Mercury Levels
Back to the whalers, Sea Shepherd states they are planning to pursue attempted murder charges for the ramming of the Ady Gil. The captain of the Ad Gil shares his crew's experience in this article: Brush with Death
To go back to the liars that are Japan in regards to their defense on killing whales and dolphins, here are a couple of articles, one from Sea Shepherd and one from the science community, that debunk Japan's defense that continues to develop more holes than swiss cheese: Bogus Science of the Japanese Whaling Fleet and Secret Science Cast Doubt on Japanese Whale Numbers
Interesting article: The Impact of Animal Rights, Rescues and Shelters on Animal Law
If you live in or near Florida, USA, you might be interested in knowing about this: Sonic Death: Blasting the Oceans in Pursuit of Oil I find this absolutely frightening. If you want to get involved and/or take action on this issue, see the Save our Shores! Florida website.
We have choices. We can continue to stand by, be silent, be apathetic, and be careless when it comes to our non-human friends and this very planet we all inhabit, or we can speak up and take action. You can write letters to your representatives in your government, sign petitions, take part in local rallies, donate to the causes you are passionate about, help spread the word through a blog, your social networking site, word of mouth, etc etc etc. There are no small actions. Just by the power of the people deluging the Japanese Government, embassies, and their media, the pressure is rising on them. Sooner or later, the dam WILL break. Japan does not like bad publicity, especially on these issues. And they know their defenses and excuses for these slaughters is no longer sounding true to more and more people.
The same goes for any country that supports these unnecessary slaughters. And the same goes for the USA Government in their continued use of navy sonar and sonic gun blasts that obviously and painfully have a detrimental effect on our marine mammal friends.
Some examples of pressure being applied to governments to cease with activities that are harmful to the ocean species is: U.S. Navy Sued Over Anti-Sub Training Range Where Rare Whales Calve
I've shared this before but it's worth repeating: Seeing the Songs of Whales
Whales are so popular now that they are starring in Super Bowl ads: Why You're Going to Need a Pickup Truck to Save the Whales
Beluga Whales take an interest in Scuba Divers. More photos here.
P.S. If you are on Facebook, please do a search for The Cove and join the community there :-)
Till next time,
Dolphin
I've read articles regarding the sonic blasting- but those were referring to testing of weapons. The impact on sea life is equally devastating, whether it be in pursuit of a more lethal weapon, or of oil.
ReplyDeleteYet another reason to pursue alternative energy sources. It mystifies me the resistance that is out there to alternative energy sources. Even members of my family get up in arms about how "useless" and "pointless" it is. Makes my head(and my heart) hurt to hear them.
Hi Mary :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the alternative energy sources. It'll take a very long time though to wean people off oil since it's used in so many things. Hopefully though, as people learn more and more about becoming "green," we'll get there ... and hopefully, too, before it's too late.
Thank you, as always, for taking the time to stop by and to comment. I truly appreciate it!