Whaling Resumes

(Artist credit: Jeff Wilkie)

I've been struggling the last few days with thoughts about whether or not to continue blogging. I enjoy writing, but do not know if what I do really matters. Anyone can do a search online on the subjects I write about and get updates sooner and in more detail.

We all have our passions and our reasons for writing. We also like to know that anything we share is actually reaching people, possibly making them think or feel, or helping them to become more aware.

I have another blog, but have struggled with that one too. It focuses more on my attempts to make a living online. Not too successfully I might add, but not for lack of trying.

I thought that by creating another blog that focused on things I have a passion for, it would inspire me to branch out, or do more, or write more, or whatever, as long as it would have a positive result for me personally and hopefully to other people as well.

I hesitate to get too personal because for one thing, I'm a pretty private person and don't like to air certain stuff in public. For another, I have friends and family who read my blog and I end up wondering if anything I write will result in negative reactions or hurt feelings or whatever else I can think of. I don't have a thick skin and when it comes to writing, I can be hyper-sensitive to the point of obnoxious. While I don't claim perfection, I personally admire people out there who have the courage to "put it all out there" and to be starkly honest about their thoughts, good and bad, dark or light.

Sometimes I wonder if my having created this blog has just been a diversion and an avoidance in dealing with certain other things in my life. Kinda like denial. Denial that anything is wrong so therefore focus on other things and life is all hunky dory.

There's a part of me that has an urge to be more outgoing and open but I end up walking a careful line and thinking thoughts like "What if what I write is far too personal, far too uncomfortable, and construed as being a psycho?" lol

But on the other hand, writing has been therapeutic for a lot of people. I used to write far more than I do now but in private. I used to write scores of poetry that could fill books. Much of it probably nowhere near being publishable. And I hear of people who have worked through traumas or issues, etc via writing and that it helps them. But every time I think to do that, I stop just short.

Why? Fear? Denial? All of the above and everything?

Will I ever scrounge up the courage to find out? Hopefully ... but not today. Besides, this blog isn't about me, it's about my passion for our marine friends.

So on that note, moving on ....

Sea Shepherd is currently docked in Melbourne, Australia and getting ready to return to the Southern Ocean and to hopefully intercept the Japan whalers again. Currently, the Steve Irwin is undergoing routine maintenance while some of the crew members are going back home and new ones take their place.

Captain Paul Watson wants to have two ships out there next year and is hoping to raise enough funds to make that possible. He feels if there are two Sea Shepherd fleets out there, then their attempts to continue interfering with the whaling will be even more successful.

Thanks to Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace, no whales were killed for much of January. Once Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd had to leave though, the killings resumed immediately with five Minke whales being slaughtered.

Paul Watson continues to be critically outspoken of Australia for being "too timid" and of Greenpeace for not doing enough and doing it for the publicity more than for the cause.

Meanwhile there is increasing pressure on the Australian government to release their surveillance photos to the public of the whaling. They have stated they have absolutely no plans to do so though. I find that a bit ironic considering they take a public stance against whaling but at the same time, they continue to protect Japan by refusing to share evidence of the whale culling.

If people saw the photos and the videos, they would agree that the killing is very cruel and unnecessary. Most people agree that if you need to do "scientific research" on whales, there are numerous methods in today's technology age to do so that are non-lethal and much more humane.

The fact that Japan doesn't seek out these non-lethal and humane means of doing their so-called research, clearly makes them look like blatant liars and hypocrites.

Good news on the Navy Sonar subject I've been writing about. The Judge ruled that the Federal government can not override her decision on this matter.

Bush had stated his reasons for allowing the sonar training is because it's an "emergency" and exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act.

Thankfully the Judge disagreed and her orders are back in effect.

Excerpt:

“The court has affirmed that we do not live under an imperial presidency,” Joel Reynolds, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said yesterday. “The Navy doesn't need to harm whales to train effectively with sonar.”

By the way, yay to the NY Giants for winning the Super Bowl! That was a great game!

Mahalo,

Dolphin