Cheap and mean as I am, I felt this was a very worthy cause to slip a large note to, so I did so. The ship is the Farley Mowat, owned by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Among other projects, they attempt to spoil illegal whale hunting by Japan.
It is moored at Melbourne’s Docklands for some fund raising and preparation before sailing south again for another tussle with the Japanese.
They have plenty of other projects too, as you will see by their website. One that comes to mind that is less controversial perhaps, is helping the authorities guard Galapogos Islands' enviroment.
I was shocked to learn that although Canada does not club baby seals to death anymore, they do club and shoot seals. The interesting bit is that a seal is classified as an adult at a couple of weeks old, a nice sleight of hand. (I heard this but I cannot confirm it)PS It is hard taking a picture of a black ship in bright sunlight.
Farley Mowat is a well-known Canadian author.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it is terrible that the government of my fair and chilly country allows the Seal hunt to continue. I think it has to do with the fact that natives were given back certain rights to carry on with the hunt and now the government feels like its hands are tied.
Not that I want to give stupid Stephen Harper any frickin' excuses.
black ships are kind of intimidating.
ReplyDeletedo they also 'fight' against other countries that whale? i can't remember which (pretty sure it's Norway) but one scandinavian country is into whaling too
the galapagos plight is truly tragic and not advertised enough
I gathered that Jess. I did wonder if he is still alive. There are plenty of pics of him on the net, with his full grey beard.
ReplyDeleteThe annual baby Harp Seal clubbing went on as usual this year. The Innuit do have permission to hunt seals but only for their own consumption. Iceland is resuming whaling and is sneakily selling it's catch to Japan.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Galapagos Islands, apart from the fishing boat damage, cruise ships now pose the greatest risk of outside contamination.