One thing that is maddening about this proposed compromise process is that in the last few days, numerous stories have been published that all undermine Japan’s thin veneer of legitimacy. First, there’s the whaler who has stepped forward to talk in detail, from first hand knowledge, about the pilfering and reselling of whale meat. There are the reports that Japan is bribing countries to vote with them, using not only money but entirely false arguments about the impact of (re)growing whale populations. And now, there is a story about new research – not into learning about whales but to find new ‘applications’ for whales’ bodies.

And still I wonder – are these stories too late? Will there be enough momentum against sanctioned commercial whaling to make a difference? How deeply entrenched and backwards are the politics at the IWC?

South Korea has indicated that if commercial whaling is restored for Japan, Norway and Iceland, it will also start to issue whaling permits. I think it is folly to think that this can truly be a controlled return to sanctioned whaling.  It cannot wind up with a reduction in whale catch if other countries start killing whales as well. And while Japan is the most visible villain in this battle, this compromise also involves Norway and Iceland, whose combined whaling catch exceed Japan’s.

Meanwhile new and legitimate research is producing stories all the time about whales, including a recent story about long term ‘friendships’ formed by humpback whales. A simple Google search on whale-human encounters will yield seemingly countless anecdotes which only bolster the growing theories of intelligence, sentience, and community amongst whales. These are not simple fish. There is no humane way to kill a whale. This should not even be a subject of debate any longer!

Oh and I want to add – as this was pointed out to me today by the fine folks at the Whale Center of New England – this proposed compromise does NOT guarantee an end to whaling in 10 years. It merely attempts to add limits to catches over the next decade. Once that decade concludes, we could well be back at the drawing board and having to fight from scratch to end whaling. Again.

So what do we do? I have sent more than one message to Obama at the White House (the guy who promised to end whaling). I will send another. Wherever you live, regardless of how your government stands on the issue, tell them you are against whaling. If your government is against whaling, the reinforcement that this is the right position is important. If it supports whaling, it needs to hear opposition.

As I said, the IWC meeting starts on June 21. There are multiple avenues for tracking new from it: IWCblogger, the IWC itself, even through a Japanese site (which could be painful yet interesting for an alternate perspective). WCDS also has a Twitter feed, AllEyesonIWC, which will have information about the meeting.

I’m on the edge of my seat!

There are three things that are bringing attention to these matters to the fore: the death of the SeaWorld trainer, Dawn Brancheau, the recent Small Group meeting of the International Whaling Commission to discuss a fundamental shift in whaling (basically going from “banned” to permitted commercial whaling), and the Oscar win for Best Documentary to The Cove (congrats to all involved in that film!).

What can we do, those of us who are not working for marine organizations or right on the front lines?

At the moment, the most urgent thing we can do is to contact our government representatives. There is a serious effort being made to create a plan that allows for some commercial whaling towards the goal of ending all commercial whaling. The US is one of the countries working on this – it is critically important to increase public pressure to say that this is NOT acceptable. Killing whales on a commercial level needs to end, period.  This proposed compromise simply rewards Japan, Norway and Iceland – who have been flouting the ban on whaling for decades and even increased their kill numbers – by given them legitimacy without an enforceable way to ensure that the killing DOES end. Meanwhile, thousands more whales will suffer inhumane deaths. President Obama has promised not to allow whaling – contact the White House and make sure he does not become the president who DID move towards killing whales.

In the case of The Cove, which works to expose the slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Japan, you can send the text DOLPHIN to 44144. Be aware that this will place you on a text alerts list (from which you can easily opt out) and will be subject whatever text charges you have on your cell plan.

Stay up on the news. If you’re on Twitter, there are loads of marine, whale and conservation groups you can follow which post stories and developments. For ideas of some, check my follow lists for oceans, whales, and green/nature. You do not have to be on Twitter to see what people are saying, and you can often find websites for organizations by clicking on their @ nicknames to reach their individual pages.

Greenpeace is another organization that posts current news and offers e-petitions that can be signed and shared. These e-petitions do NOT replace direct individual contact from us to our representatives. Individual letters still hold more weight.

I keep a list here on the blog of whale research and conservation orgs. Again, it is not comprehensive but is a good start. Go to their sites, read up on their work, and support them however you can.

In the end, there are  countless matters of concern for ocean conservation: ending shark finning, establishing marine parks, ending destructive fishing methods like bottom trawling and long lining, cleaning up pollution. There are countless organizations involved in many of these causes. Use the web – find out who is working on the issues that matter to you most, and get involved. All it takes is one voice to get the ball started.

I’ve been following a lot of the stories and commentary about this latest incident of a captive orca’s killing a human trainer. Not surprisingly, that leads to having thoughts of my own.

I used to have a strong aversion to orcas, or killer whales. When I was 9 years old, I went to see a movie called Orca, a thriller. My one enduring image from the film is of a large orca surging up onto a beach, trying to grab some human(s) there. We left the movie before it was over because it was so terrifying to us. I have also once been to SeaWorld in Florida, around the same time, and seen a killer whale show, though I don’t honestly remember much about it. I knew just about nothing about the reality of orcas.

Then, as an adult with a growing interest in and passion for whales, I finally picked up a book (that I had passed over multiple time before) called “Listening to Whales: What the Orcas Have Taught Us” by Alexandra Morton. This is a highly engaging and accessible book which demystified orcas for me and made them much more intriguing animals. They were no longer in my head as mindless, vicious killers, but as intelligent, complicated animals. Part of the book talks about how she started by working in marine parks and then moved to study orcas in the wild as she became increasingly uncomfortable with the idea and practice of orcas in captivity.

I find that one of the things bothering me most about the coverage of this latest killer-whale-kills-human story is that almost universally it is called a killer whale, not an orca. While  I know that killer whale is a legitimate and commonly used name for this species, I feel like it is also deliberately ramping up the monster image of this particular whale, Tilikum. That he has a history of killing another trainer and having been found with another deceased human just adds to that portrayal. BUT, in the wild, there are no documented cases of a killer whale’s killing a human. There are rare stories of attacks, usually attributed to a whale’s presumed perception of a human as prey. The name “killer whale” seems to come from a mistranslation of Spanish fisherman who dubbed these whales as “whale killers” because they witnessed orcas pursuing and killing other whales.

It is a good thing that this is sparking a lot of discussion about captive large marine mammals and shows, though it is a result of an unquestionably tragic event. Captive whale shows are undoubtedly big money for marine parks. But are they really educational? What do we learn about a whale’s life in the open oceans by watching them perform tricks? It’s a pretty safe bet that wild orcas (or sea lions or dolphins etc etc) are not bouncing balls off their noses or leaping through hoops out in the wild. I am sure that some facts about orcas are conveyed through the show’s narration, but do any of them make the sort of impact which will lead to greater awareness and efforts towards conservation? (Really, if someone could tell me, I would like to know.)

Animal expert Jack Hanna chimed in today, with unwavering support for both the whale and SeaWorld. I am glad he points out that this is not the whale’s fault (what we as humans attribute to the human condition of fault, that is), but I am struck at how he names SeaWorld the world experts on killer whales. I am sure their body of knowledge is immense, and it does seem that they partner with scientists from around the world. Their site is unclear (on quick review) as to what scientists they have on staff who are out in the field. I hope they do have some because there is no way to fully understand a wide-roaming animal that is stuck in a cement tank. I am going to keep digging because I would like to know more about their work and programs overall.

I think Hanna’s saddest statement is:

“Let’s say 20, 30 years from now, there’s 200 killer whales left in the wild. Let me tell you where we’re going to go: We’re going to go to SeaWorld and see what to [do] to save this magnificent creature. That’s how valuable it is for what we’re doing with research.”

Not a single word is in this interview about conservation, or about how human activity has threatened all of the populations of all whales around the world, making this sort of captive breeding/preservation necessary in the first place.

He also said:

“Some people said they know what the whale [is] thinking. That’s impossible. I don’t know what the whale is thinking I don’t know what stress is to a whale. All I know is that SeaWorld provides the best possible care, and I’ve in been going to those parks for 30-something years. And I always seen nothing but animals that seem to be very, very happy.”

Which is it, Jack? How can it be impossible for people to know what the whale is thinking, and yet you then assert that the animals seem happy.  That strikes me as a dramatic contradiction. If you do not know what stresses the animals, can you really know if they are happy? (Maybe they are, I don’t claim to know one way or another. I’m just reacting to the mixed bag of anthropomorphism that this story is generating.)

I am glad that this whale will not be euthanized as he was acting out of instinct and not likely out of any malice, but have we also condemned him and his fellow killer whales to a life of torture caused by confinement, all for the sake of research?  I don’t know what the best answer is – there are no magically large water parks that simulate the ocean environment. There are no easy answers, period.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have done a “swim with dolphins” thing, when I was on a cruise that stopped in Cozumel. These dolphins were captive in a pen fenced off the beach, not in a cement tank, but yes, still captive. I admit that I could not resist the opportunity. I do realize now the very very mixed good/bad about doing this sort of activity. I also fully acknowledge the powerful draw of these charismatic animals which is hard to resist. Does make one wonder if dolphins think about swimming with us… (No, I don’t for one second think that they do, but it would be an interesting thing to discover, what they think of us wacky humans.)

2,000,000 – two MILLION whales – killed in the 20th century.

That’s a lot of whales. Present populations of different species vary around the world, with some like the Atlantic grey whale’s being completely gone, the Pacific grey whale and North Atlantic right whale very close to it. But two million… that was a number that made me sit up and take notice all of a sudden.  I’ve read different accounts of whaling with estimates of number killed, but never an aggregate total. Of the largest whales, populations were so drastically reduced as to result in single digit percentages (as little as 1-2% of blue whales, 5% or less of humpback whales) remaining from the original, naturally healthy and abundant populations.

Why does this hit me now? With the increased visibility and tension around the fight against whaling in the Antarctic, there are a lot of stories hitting the “wires” regarding arguments for and against whaling, measurements of existing whale populations, etc.

For example, the article which brought home that two million number draws attention to the hollow argument that the Antarctic minke whale population must be growing since there is less competition for krill, now that so many of those lager whales (humpbacks, blues…) are gone. This study finds NO evidence to support that belief. Mother Jones also writes up this information in Whaling Loses Another Flimsy Rationale.

This dovetails with the argument by some who support Japanese whaling that whales need to be killed because they are competing with humans for the fish. To that I say: poppycock! How do they reconcile this flawed thinking with the fact that before commercial whaling and overfishing, the oceans TEEMED with abundance of all. The Pew Charitable Trusts have weighed in on this, as has the Humane Society. We have overfished the oceans; humans are in the process of sucking/trawling/fishing them dry. In fact, overfishing is the single greatest threat to the health of the oceans. Recently, a bluefin tuna sold for $177,000.  They are becoming so critically endangered and yet in such great demand that they draw a high price tag. Still, despite their dwindling numbers (and probably due to the higher potential for profit), Japan resists and fights any efforts to conserve remaining bluefin tuna, calling it a threat to their iconic food. Hello!? Overfishing your iconic food is what is threatening that iconic status! Bluefin tuna are Huge, Fast and Almost Gone, but there actually has been discussion about INCREASING the number taken, rather than trying to conserve and restore their numbers. Immediate profit is overruling long term “supply”.

So basically there are just a bunch of lame excuses masquerading as reasons to kill whales, when the reality is that none of those excuses hold any merit. Frankly, I am a little perplexed as to how the comparatively small island nation of Japan is running the table on both whaling and the bluefin tuna fishery. Seems that so many countries are so afraid of their trade agreements (is there not a whole world to which potential trade can be developed?) that they simply cave to Japanese threats. New Zealand is becoming a largely more visible force to push an end to whaling, with the majority of their population wanting to stop whaling. NZ Prime Minister John Key has been alluding to a diplomatic solution. While I agree that this is probably the most likely route towards resolution, I remain cynically wary to believe that the necessary nations will stand up to Japan in the end. Until concerned nations are willing to eschew or risk their precious trade agreements for the greater good, I fear that nothing will change, whales will still be killed, and the escalating conflict in the Antarctic will also result in the loss of human life.

Two million whales have already been lost. How many more will be added to that number?

I will start by saying that I’ve long had a sort of mixed feeling about the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS). For one thing, I respect people who are willing to put their lives on the line for a matter for which they feel such passion. Because this matter is whales and their survival, it’s certainly on my radar more prominently than many other conservation concerns. And I respect that people ARE willing to go to these lengths to stop whaling. I don’t think I could make the sacrifices that they do.

I also know that the SSCS can be a source of consternation for other conservation groups, too, with the mixed blessing of calling attention to an important issue but doing so in a frequently very dangerous manner. The TV show Whale Wars has certainly brought the activity of whaling before a lot more people than would have otherwise been aware of it. There’s also a very good book on the same topic, from the whaling season before the TV show began, The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet’s Largest Mammals by Peter Heller. He went out with them for a season and wrote about the experience, from the perspective of relative objectivity so it’s not all “rah rah SSCS” but still with respect for them and their devotion. Through all of these avenues,  I think that SSCS is calling valuable attention to a serious issue, even though their tactics are heavy handed.

Andy Rivkin of DotEarth at the New York Times has posted a great piece about this whole event, Video Views of a Violent Clash Over Whaling. My favorite quote summarizes why it is important that someone be there to monitor the whale slaughters: “If a whale is hit by an exploding harpoon near Antarctica and the world doesn’t have a way to witness that, does it make a sound?” It can take a harpooned whale half an hour to die. Whales have been increasingly, repeatedly, shown to be sentient, feeling animals and there is no truly humane way to kill a whale. In what culture is it ok to cause such cruelty to get meat? Does that alone warrant the escalation of tactics in the Antarctic Ocean?

Greenpeace no longer sends ships down there. When they did, it was only to observe, and they did not attempt to stop the whaling, just document it. Australia and New Zealand send no ships down there to witness or monitor the whaling activities. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to witness the harpooning of whales and do nothing. So it’s understandable that the passions of the SSCS crews call for action. There’s just no clear way to draw the line for what action is “enough” or when it crosses the line into truly dangerous action that puts human lives at risk. I know that the crews of the SSCS ships are aware of the risks they face on these voyages, but I also wonder – if someone on their crew did lose a life, would it change anything? Japan has such an increasingly aggressive stance that they would likely applaud such loss and blame SSCS for whatever happened to “cause” it.  Paul Watson proudly touts how they have never lost or caused the loss of a life in these campaigns (“Paul Watson: Sea Shepherd’s Stern ‘Warrior’ Defies Japanese Whalers“) but the actions of him and his crew are razor close to leading to loss of human life. And now the whalers are demonstrating how willing they are to toe that razor thin line themselves. Is hyperbole overriding reason to the point of no return, no resolution?

Japan is notoriously resistent to Western influence on this matter. I once commented to Bill Clinton, when Hillary Clinton was running for president, that if she won the White House, to please pressure Japan to stop whaling. His response was that this was the one issue that they were really defensive about. As Philip Hoare wrote in relation to this event in Anti-Whalers Collide Over Tactics, it will take calmer heads and actions far away from the whaling grounds to finally resolve this. While the SSCS wants to hit the whalers where it hurts, in the economics of hunting, Japan has shown itself  to be consistently stubborn and has even started to drop the pretense of the “scientific” research. This is well covered in a recent editorial from Australia, Ram Raid On The High Seas, which also calls out the Australian government for  their appallingly consistent lack of actual action on the issue. It’s known that the Japanese people are fairly indifferent to the issue of whaling. Is it that they truly do not know what is happening, how much the whales suffer in the killing? I don’t want to sound too jaded, but would it matter to them if they DID know?

There’s a recent interview with the Bob Barker’s captain, Chuck Swift, which provides a sort of “in the field” look at the after effects of this event on the Ady Gil’s crew. Getting run over by a ship far more massive than your own is going to be traumatic. It’s also going to make your opponents dig their heels and fight harder. It’s just an escalating stand off.

If the Japanese people become more aware and more vocal about a resistance to this slaughter, will that be the final piece neeeded to end this cruel practice there? Greenpeace is on the ground there trying to open and change minds. I wish they were also continuing to send ships to the Antarctic, but at least something is happening in Japan. SSCS would have no luck on that front since they are reviled there.

And what will it take to also end the commercial whaling by Norway and Iceland?

Yes, I believe that whales need this war. Most successful movements for change are a result of a combination of approaches – the loud and visible to keep it on the radar, and the quieter efforts to effect change. I sincerely hope this war does not escalate to the loss of human life on either side. Another piece by someone who has been there (independently of SSCS) and tangled with the whaling ships cautions against this escalating war: Do Whales Need This War? Progressively more violent encounters put more lives at risk as well as potentially causing ecological harm to the Antarctic environment (sinking ships = fuel spills, contaminants etc. The Ady Gil was offloaded with their contaminants before it sank because there was time to do so. That’s a luxury that is rarely found especially in so unforgiving a place as the Antarctic.)

Meanwhile, stepping up the verbal-only rhetoric again, Australia told Japan to stop whaling. It’s going to take more than just SAYING it, folks, you gotta put your money where your apparent determination is. Since Japan does not even recognize Australia’s claims on the waters in which it goes whaling, I think its going to require more decisive action than just a memo and a finger wagging. Japan is “fighting back” by accusing Australian Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard of siding with SSCS because she called for calm on BOTH sides of the action (Japan Pins Whale Row on Gillard). Seems that if you are not with Japan or passively accepting heir illegal whaling, you are against them.

I have no idea what the answer is. To me, first step is for Australia to do what it has been threatening and start legal action to immediately end the whaling activities before more whales die. Then, cooler heads on ALL sides need to sit down and figure out how to end commercial whaling. That needs to include Norway and Iceland as well. It’s easy for me to sit here and say these things, thousands of miles away from any of the action. Meanwhile, I am glad SSCS is there to witness the killing and make sure we do not forget that it is going on. I just sincerely hope that things have not/do not reach a point where circumstances push tempers to where heels get dug in so deeply that nothing changes and whales keep dying.

Meanwhile, I shift into more of a mode of watching for stories and reflecting upon them. Which brings me to the dead whales of the post’s title. There’s an interesting story from the UK about a biologist’s experience with trying to learn from the body of a dead whale. As he says, “everybody should watch a whale being dissected – it teaches us about life“. Does make me glad that I made the effort to watch some of the dissection of a fin whale back in May. Gruesome business though it is, seeing these animals so closely adds a whole new dimension to their reality, and reaches people who might suddenly see the beauty of these animals and want to do more to try to save them.

So with reports of great end of season whale watching, I took my mom and two family friends out for their first whale watch, and a friend out for his second. And we got a lesson in the reality that we are indeed entering the natural, wild habitat of the whales and nothing is ever a sure thing. We DID see some whales, specifically Evolution, Ravine, and Lavalier and her calf. But aside from the calf’s giving us one playful belly roll, all were basically just travelling along and not being very surface-active. Just proves that each trip is different, and one never knows what will be seen. We travelled fairly far south along Stellwagen Bank, and the visibility was so spectacular that we could see Provincetown’s Pilgrim Monument on the horizon. We just didn’t find a lot of whale activity.

Any day on the water is a good day. Any day with whales is even better! I’ve been spoiled by several spectacular whale watches this season so this was a little bit of a let down, especially as a first trip for some of my group. I am hoping to get out at least one more time before the season wraps up, and hopefully there will be some more activity to see. If not, I will just anxiously wait for next year!

Check out the photos – there are not many, but it was a beautiful day for shooting!

But, fewer and fewer people are interested in eating whale meat! I’ve already written about the news that whale watching is actually more profitable (and Iceland’s bizarre response that whaling and whale watching are industries that can grow together). Since whaling IS all about profit, I just can’t wrap my head around why these whaling nations (Iceland, Norway and Japan) don’t understand the bigger numbers they can generate by putting away those harpoons for good.

Killing fewer whales is obviously good – for us, for whales, for the planet. Increasing profit as a result is simply a win-win for everyone, especially when it means that the whales are no longer threatened by commercial whaling.

And so I went off to take whale watch #7.  Was happy to be joined by a friend who had never been out before, and the weather report was really very favorable.  And it was, above the water.  The water itself was quite choppy, making for an interesting ride out (better than a carnival ride).  This time, though, no fog, so the visibility was much better.  The other “hitch” to the day was that most of the activity happening on Stellwagen Bank was happening to the south, so off we went for a 2 hour ride down (usually it’s just about 1 hour from Gloucester to find activity), far enough that Provincetown’s Pilgrim Monument could be clearly seen on the horizon.

Our first whale encounter of the day turned out to be a mother and calf pair, Nile with her 4th calf.  In the distance, we could see them breaching in turn, but once we got closer, they had settled down a bit.  The activity had become more of  what was possibly a teaching moment, with Nile demonstrating how to tail slap and lob tail.  We were close enough to really get a sense of how large Nile, as an adult humpback, is.  It’s hard in photos to appreciate their size, but with one’s own eyes, it takes on a whole new dimension.  After a few minutes of this activity, both whales settled and the calf started nursing.  

While they were doing this, more splashing could be seen a little distance away, and it turned out to be a breaching minke whale!  I’ve seen this activity only once before, and Mason Weinrich from the Whale Center reported that this is really only seen a handful of times in a season.  So, this was an extra treat for all of us.  The whale appeared to be a juvenile, reported to be around 10 feet long.  It’s an interesting contrast after seeing the relative bulk of a humpback, even a calf, to see this much smaller, sleeker whale suddenly fly out of the water. Its size made the breaching a much quicker blink-and-you’ll-miss-it venture. In thinking about it more, it also is a strange sight because minke pectoral fins are small, and they remain pressed against the body during the breach, unlike a humpback which often shows some sort of pectoral flourish as it spins in the air.

After the minke settled down, we went off after more splashing, and found Nile and calf once again.  The calf had apparently learned its lessons well as it treated us to a display of breaching. Nile did not join in this time, but the calf was very energetic. After some time watching these two, it was time to turn back to the north, though we came upon another humpback before long. This one was basically surfing the waves just beneath the surface so we saw only the dorsal, but it was a frequently seen whale and so well known and identifiable: Etch-a-sketch.

The ride back to Gloucester was a good bit calmer than the ride out since we were going with the wave motion. My friend didn’t have a lot of fun with the motion, so hopefully it didn’t turn her off to whale watching forever since this was sort of a rare rough travel day.  And I know it’s just a matter of time before the tweets entice me out on the water again…

While there are few actual results being reported from this year’s meeting, a lot happened during the week. Most encouraging to me was the report that whale WATCHING is actually more profitable than whale KILLING! Imagine that. What gets me is that the IWC delegate to Iceland actually made the comment that whaling and whale watching were industries that could co-exist and “grow together”. Um, what? How does one expect to see more whales if one is also killing more whales? Total lack of sensibility. And sentimentally speaking (on top of conservation concerns), I really hope that Greenland does not start killing humpbacks since the whales up there are part of the same overall population seen here off New England.

One piece of good news on the whaling front, too, was that Norway actually suspended whaling for the season, despite having killed only half of its quota, because the country’s freezers were full and there was no room for more. Hopefully this means that fewer people are eating whale meat, depressing demand. If this trend continues, whaling can truly be put in the past for the industrialized nations who continue with it.

Related to this was the recent news that the governments of Japan and Norway heavily subsidize their whaling industries. I wonder how long their citizens will stomach tax dollars supporting declining industries? If people are no eating the meat, for how long can the tax dollars go to propping up industries that are no longer independently profitable? And Japan’s claims of scientific research have long been considered weak and controversial. Since science is fast catching up and non lethal techniques are being used to find out most of the information that Japan claims can only come from dead whales, their argument gets weaker and weaker.

According to this story, outgoing IWC chair Hogarth believes fewer whales will be killed if agreements can be put in place to regulate commercial whaling. While I think I understand what he means, I really think we need to focus on really eliminating as much whaling as possible (native populations are sort of the “wild card” on that count because of subsistence reasons). With increasing evidence of the potential sentience and intelligence of whales (larger whale brains have cellular complexities found only in the brains of humans and great apes), I personally believe they need to be viewed as intelligent animals, certainly not as dead profit centers. If it really is all about making money, then billions of dollars a year watching live whales should be a pretty significant reason not to kill them. IMNSHO, of course.