Iceland's whalers have belatedly been granted a quota of 40 minke whales to kill over the next few months but the government is clearly divided over the issue with Foreign Minister Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir warning that resuming the whale hunt could damage Iceland's "long term interests".
Japan has announced it will not kill 50 humpback whales this winter after talks with the United States have increased fears that a political deal is imminent that will lift the 22 year ban on commercial whaling.
On October 4th, Campaign Whale Director Andy Ottaway and MEP Caroline Lucas met with Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas in Brussels, handing him a 110,000 hand-signed petition calling for the EU to do more to protect whales and stop commercial whaling.
Special offer to Campaign Whale friends and supporters! Campaign Whale is delighted to associate with Fluke jewellery - makers of exceptionally beautiful sterling silver jewellery, hand-crafted in the Orkney Islands of Scotland.
Members of the Makah tribe of the north-west USA illegally killed a grey whale on Saturday 8th September. Although commercial whaling is banned in the United States, the Makah tribe claim they have a cultural, and Treaty right with the US Government, to hunt whales after a lapse of over 70 years.
Campaign Whale has welcomed the announcement by Fisheries Minister Einar Guofinnsson that the Icelandic Government will not permit more whaling after the current quota expires on August 31.
Town councillors in Taiji, Japan, scene of countless cruel dolphin slaughters, have revealed that schoolchildren in the area have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of cetacean meat.
The oceans now resound to a cacophony of underwater noise from ships, echo sounders, seal scaring devices, underwater loudspeakers, explosives, dredging, seismic survey airguns, drilling rigs, and active sonar systems. Although whales and other marine mammals have evolved to cope with natural ambient sounds such as from air bubbles, waves, even earthquakes, there is mounting evidence that the huge increase in human generated noise invading the ocean depths is strongly detrimental to the health and wellbeing of cetacean populations.
Many synthetic chemicals found in north-east Atlantic waters are known to cause genetic disruption and cancer; kidney, liver and heart disease; damage to the central nervous system; reduction in resistance to bacterial, fungal and viral infections; as well as disruption of the hormone system in wildlife and humans. These effects can occur even when toxic pollutants are present in very low concentrations.
There has been increasing evidence that the Earth is getting warmer and that human activities are the main cause. The increase in greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, and the correlating rise in global temperatures are causing sea levels to rise as a result of thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of ice. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has just predicted global temperatures to increase between 3-5 degrees Celsius (January 07), and sea levels to rise anywhere from 15 to 95 centimetres by 2100 (Baker, J 1999). Although there has been some progress in ratifying agreements to curb the rise in global temperature it is still dubious as to their success.
The Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO, 2000) calculates that 75% of the world''s fishery resources are fully or over exploited. Many fisheries have collapsed through poor management and overexploitation. However, consumer demand for seafood is constantly increasing and fishery management committees are desperately searching for new methods to increase fishery output from our oceans. Whales and other marine mammals have been blamed for reducing fish stocks by direct consumption of target species or their prey. However, there is no scientific evidence that an increase in whales has ever decreased fishery production (IFAW, 2001). In spite of this, some governments have proposed culling marine mammals to increase fishery output.
Introduction
The world is filled with harmful synthetic chemicals - over 65,000 according to the US National Research Council, with 10,000 of them in regular use. Toxic industrial chemicals and pesticides have been detected in wildlife from the Arctic to Antarctica. Among whale species, all individuals tested have been found to be contaminated. The offshore oil and gas industry alone uses some 2,500 different chemicals, many of which are discharged directly into the marine environment. Many of these chemicals accumulate in the tissues of plants and animals inhabiting contaminated marine waters and sediments. Very little information is available on the majority of these chemicals individually, let alone what they do when they form complex mixtures.
Many synthetic chemicals found in north-east Atlantic waters are known to cause genetic disruption and cancer; kidney, liver and heart disease; damage to the central nervous system; reduction in resistance to bacterial, fungal and viral infections; as well as disruption of the hormone system in wildlife and humans. These effects can occur even when toxic pollutants are present in very low concentrations.