Japan Heads to Whale Sanctuary

(Artist credit: Christian Lassen)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday :-) Mine was pretty quiet for the most part, other than some insanity involving horses my partner was taking care of over the weekend. They are racing thoroughbreds and decided to have some fun with us.

One came barreling up behind me while I was walking one horse to the barn and if I had been just one inch to the left, I would have gotten run over. Sheesh. Insane beasts lol

We celebrated our Thanksgiving on Saturday since my partner had her own family plans on Thursday, and Friday she had to work for a bit so it would have been too late to really start dinner. It was fun to cook it together although she did the cooking part. I have a tendency towards either burning things or blowing them up.

The only thing I'm good at in the kitchen is making coffee and bagels, and using a barbeque grill (unless that explodes too.)

Onto some news about our beloved marine mammals out there ....

This breaks my heart. 150 whales died off the Tasmanian coast. One of the theories is that it was due to echolocation.

We can prepare our military and continue to kill each other, but never mind that we're killing off our various and diversified species around the world. Priorities on this planet sure can suck.

You can read more about these pilot whales here: Whales Die Off Tasmanian Coast

I've been watching the Whale Wars on Animal Planet and find it utterly fascinating. It's almost like you're a fly on the wall on that ship and can witness up close, just how things are happening out there in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

I'm up to the episode where two of the crew boarded the Yushin Maru last season and were finally brought back to SS. I've got another episode on my DVR to catch up on.

I think there are only seven episodes airing so not many left. I do know the Animal Planet is filming the Sea Shepherd again this season.

So far, my opinion of Sea Shepherd has not changed, based on what I've been watching on the Whale Wars. I do have to say though, that I am sometimes ... :: searching for the right word :: ... amazed by how unswayingly passionate Paul Watson is in his pursuit of the Whalers, the things he says, and the actions he takes.

It's also interesting to witness tension at times amongst the crew and differing viewpoints, opinions, and judgments on what should or should not be done.

Still, they have my respect for what they do. They are the only organization taking this strong and consistent of a stand against the whaling .. and for that, they have my admiration and respect.

The Sea Shepherd site has several new updates.

As of November 17th, the Japanese whalers had embarked for the Whale Sanctuary to begin another season of unapologetic slaughter.

Has Australia finally taken a firm stand against whaling? You decide. Read it here: Australian Senate Wants Immediate Action on Whaling

The Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin ship will depart tomorrow, Dec. 3rd, from Brisbane for Antarctica. Since they'll be the only ship out there attempting to pursue, intercept, and hopefully intervene in the whaling, let's hope they meet with success. Should be a very interesting season to say the least.

There is worry off the New Jersey coast, that a pod of dolphins may stay too long and end up drowning if the waters freeze over and they can't come up for air. There is controversy over whether the government should let them be and let nature take it's course, or if humans should intervene and try to help herd the dolphins down to warmer waters.

You can read more about it here: Should they stay or go?

I recommend this article for your reading consideration: Butchered Dolphins, Oceanic Collapse

Finally, on a serious political note. I just finished reading Brigitte Gabriel's "They Must Be Stopped." I highly recommend it.

Mahalo,

Dolphin