It's time to renew US leadership in whale protection
Post written by Patrick Ramage, IFAW's Global Whale Program Director
Many people think commercial hunting of whales ended in the 1980s. Sadly, this is not the case! More than 30,000 whales have been killed since the 1986 commercial whaling ban and Japan, Iceland and Norway continue to slaughter whales for products that nobody needs. The Government of Japan leads this effort and its factory ship and fleet are killing whales right now in the waters of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica!
Whales face more threats today than at any time in history -- from marine pollution and habitat destruction, to entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with high-speed vessels. New and emerging threats such as global warming and ocean noise pollution are also threatening the ways whales breed, feed and migrate across our oceans
For more than two decades, IFAW has been giving hands-on-help to whales around the world. Not just on the water or on the beach but also in the halls of government. IFAW is a leader in the fight to protect our planet's great whales at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) the global body charged with protecting whales and managing whale stocks. On Sunday, January 25th, the Washington Post broke the news of a secret Bush administration plan to allow the Government of Japan to kill more whales.
Read the Post story and join our campaign to encourage governments worldwide, including the Governments of Japan, Iceland and Norway to put down the harpoon, pick up the camera and join the emerging global consensus for whale conservation in the 21st century!
Join our fight to protect whales - take action today at www.stopwhaling.org
The Animals in Haiti Need Your Support We urgently need your donation to help IFAW's emergency relief teams on the ground in Haiti. Your donation will help us buy the bandages, vaccines, antibiotics and other supplies for our mobile veterinary clinic.
We have partnered with WSPA to mount a coordinated animal relief response, and our team has deployed into the devastated country.
Your donation will go directly into IFAW's Emergency Relief fund, and will be used immediately and where needed most to help the animal victims of Haiti and our Emergency Relief work around the world.
Best of luck to the campaign! I'll help in any way I can.
Fred Smilek is the acting president of the Society to Save Endangered Species. It was founded two years ago by Fred Smilek along with his two best friends Charles and Jonathan. http://www.fredjsmilek.com
Posted by: Fred Smilek | February 12, 2009 at 12:01 PM