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Addressing a crowd at Washington D.C.'s Dupont Circle, Hayden
Panettiere speaks about her passion to save the whales and other
marine animals.
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As regular AWI Quarterly readers
know, AWI joined forces with The Whaleman Foundation last year to
launch the Save the Whales Again! campaign. This January, campaign
spokesperson Hayden Panettiere, who plays the role of cheerleader
Claire Bennet on the NBC hit series "Heroes," visited Washington,
D.C. to promote our efforts against a resumption of commercial
whaling and to raise the issue with Congressional leaders.
Hayden's visit kicked off with a
lively Sunday afternoon rally at Dupont Circle, where she spoke
about her passion for whales and her attendance at the 2007
International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, as well as her trip
to Taiji, Japan last fall in protest of dolphin drive hunts. AWI's
Susan Millward and The Whaleman Foundation founder Jeff Pantukhoff
also spoke at the event, chiding the U.S. government for its
weakening resolve to protect the commercial whaling moratorium.
Later that afternoon, the trio addressed a crowd of students at
Georgetown University's Gaston Hall.
The remainder of Hayden's visit
focused on inter-national relations and politics, including meetings
with representatives from the embassies of Japan, Iceland and
Norway-the three IWC member nations that continue to whale
commercially. Iceland Ambassador Albert Jonsson told us his country
had ended its scientific whaling program, with no plans of
resumption. We attribute this development in part to thecountry's change in government and thanked the Ambassador for his
candor-though we acknowledged the strong will of the Icelandic
whalers to resume commercial whale hunting.
Our meeting with Japan was equally
cordial, and while there was no hint at a change in policy, it ended
with the Minister being willing to receive more information about
the fact that cetacean meat is often
contaminated with heavy metals and other persistent pollutants.
However, the meeting with Mr. Petter Meier, Norwegian representative
of the Fisheries Ministry, was far less amicable. Meier was not open
to any discussion of the issue, and at one point, he even suggested
that Hayden try whale meat.
The next day held meetings with key
Congressional offices to discuss the US position on whaling. Senator
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) voiced her support for the Save the Whales
Again! campaign, and Senator John Kerry (D-MA), House Natural
Resources Committee Chair Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Representative
Christopher Shays (R-CT) joined Hayden, Susan and Jeff at a press
conference in Representative Rahall's chambers. The speakers
encouraged the administration to maintain and reinforce the whaling
moratorium at upcoming IWC meetings; to fight for the closure of IWC
loopholes; and to hold firm against any compromises.
Hayden's visit ended with an
evening reception hosted by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), providing
an opportunity for legislators, Hill staff and a small group of
reporters to speak individually with campaign
members about their work. With a successful trip to the nation's
capital under her belt, Hayden will next turn her attention to this
summer's IWC meeting. The Save the Whales Again! campaign's momentum
can only grow exponentially with the help of this cheerleader's
energy and international fame, both of which show no signs of
slowing down.
No Compromises
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After many of the great whale species became depleted, whalers began
targeting the smaller and more abundant minke whales. |
With the IWC reaching an almost
50-50 split between conservation-minded and pro-whaling members,
some delegates say the body is unworkable and needs fixing. One
suggested "fix" is to allow Japanese whalers some measure of
commercial whaling. Sadly, due to pressure from the pro-whaling
bloc, the recruitment of new member countries to vote in line with
these nations, and the weariness displayed by once-stalwart
conservationist members (such as the United States), there is
increasing support in the
IWC to give the whalers something as a compromise.
What these proponents, including
the IWC Chair and US Commissioner William Hogarth, do not realize,
however, is that this compromise will be disastrous for the whales.
Allowing for a resumption of some measure of commercial whaling will
result in yet more whales being killed. The existing loopholes in
the whaling convention will continue to be exploited, and there is
no mechanism in place for effective enforcement. Any lifting of the
moratorium will also allow other members to legally engage in
commercial whaling, and the path would open for a resumption of
international trade in great whale products. Additionally, the
coastal species that the Japanese whalers want to target are
vulnerable to contamination from pollutants and are interspersed
with visually identical but actually distinct whales who are highly
endangered. Of course, the overriding reason against a resumption of
commercial whaling is its inherent cruelty that cannot be avoided.
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