Toxic Waste Dumped off Donegal Coast

donegal cancer group claim barrels of dumped chemical waste may have caused illness

Please read the above link, and please forward to as many people as possible to highlight this serious issue.

Would you feel safe eating seafood from these waters? Or would you be happy to let your kids swim and play on the beaches of Donegal?

These barrels need to be removed for the safety of the Irish people and indeed tourists

A hero of Whales? I think so, do you??

Alfonso Chavez, Lima Peru
June 2008

On Friday June 20 an adult humpback whale was seen very close to the shore in the Punta Sal beach in the north of Peru, and it was obvious that the whale was heavily entangled with fishing net.

While local fisherman were getting ready to kill the whale and cut it for food, Alfonso Chavez, who is an experienced free diver, with the help of his boat captain Jorge, got close to the whale. Alfonso dove into the water and the whale was very calm while Alfonso started to cut the net with his knife. Alfonso was in the water working for about two hours, clearing the head and lateral fins.

He had almost finished cutting the last part of the net on the whale’s tail, when apparently it made a fast move with its tail and hit him on the back of his head. The blow to his head made him unconscious for an instant, but he managed to remove his weight belt and get to the surface. Here, he was rescued and taken to Lima by an ambulance airplane.

Alfonso was very lucky because he had only suffered damage to a couple of cervical discs. The poor whale could not recover, and the next day the whale was finally sacrificed by the local fisherman and cut into pieces.

For his efforts, Alfonso will receive a Save The Whales T-shirt.

(this is a extract from savethewhales.org)

Save the Whales

http://www.savethewhales.org/

Check out the link above, it's a great site and you can sign the petition and show your support for saving the Whales!!

A different point of view???

Hi, followers,

Have a listen and see what you think, video is 3 mins long and provides a good argument!
Replies welcome, I would love to know what your feeling are on this one?

Agree?

Disagree?

Aboriginal Whale Hunts?

Check out the link below - Ever heard about this? News to me!!

Aboriginal Whale Hunting?

I'm not certain but I would not have figured that Aboriginals hunted Whales? Could anybody help explain further?

UPDATE: This week's IWC Conference

At this week's IWC Conference (International Whaling Commission) which is the annual meeting of whaling nations, there was a motion proposed to declare the South Atlantic waters a Whale Sanctuary which was defeated with 38 for and 21 against (the IWC requires three quarters of a majority to pass any motion)

For more on this article, follow; IWC as reported by Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News, Panama City 

'A Japanese statement said that as there is already a global moratorium on commercial whaling, adding a sanctuary here was unnecessary - "building a roof on top of a roof".

'Denmark, on behalf of its territory of Greenland, has submitted a bid to increase the number of whales hunted by Inuit people.'

'But some other nations, including EU members, are concerned by a recent report that found whale meat on sale to tourists, raising questions over whether the Greenlanders really need quotas as large as those they currently have.'

Did anybody expect Japan to fully agree or support any motion proposed at this conference?

Would you accept the offer to taste Whale Meat? Have you tasted?

It's not just Whales.. Blue Fin Tuna are at risk also

The Sea Shepard sailed in the mouth of the warm Mediterranean, not to help protect whales but this time to help the Blue Fin Tuna!

This develops and expands on the scope of the work that the Sea Shepard is involved in; commercial fishing of Blue Fin Tuna can raise hundreds of euros per KG of Blue Fin, Check out the video footage and see what you think? Do you agree with the protection of Blue Fin? 

Has Japan lost it's appetite for Whale meat?

Three quarters of the meat from Whales caught in the North West Pacific last summer went unsold, Japans controversial scientific whaling mission left 908 tonnes of the 1,211 tonne haul unsold!!

'The Institute of Cetacean Research blamed low demand on the complicated auction procedure and reluctance among food suppliers to attract criticism from anti-whaling groups such as Sea Shepherd.
A 2006 survey by the Nippon Research Centre found that 95% of Japanese people never or rarely eat whale meat. Consumption of whale meat rose after the second world war as it provided a much-needed source of protein.'
(Sourced, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment)

So could the tides be turning? Could demand help prevent whaling hunts in coming years? I guess we will just have to wait and see but this is without doubt a step in the right direction of Whale preservation.

Greenpeace

Greenpeace on Whales

Responding to an earlier comment from 'Colly' - Thanks’ and I've checked out Greenpeace, there is a link above to the Whale protection section above.

                    

                                                      Ever heard of the 'Tokyo Two'?

Two Greenpeace members from Tokyo by the names of 'Tour Suzuki' and 'Junichi Sato' got 12 months prison sentence in 2008 for intercepting a box of Whale meat weighing in at about 23kgs - worth about 20,000 Yen per KG on the open market - this Whale meat was intercepted from some employees that worked on-board the Nisshin Maru! It came to light that employees that have come off the Nisshin Maru take up to 10 boxes of Whale meat home with them, the Nisshin Maru is also heavily subsidised by the Japanese Government!

Now, I am confused because I was informed that the Japanese and the Nisshin Maru only hunted Whales for scientific research so why would employees take up to ten boxes of Whale meat home weighing, as we know, up to 23kgs per box @ 20000Yen per KG!! Let's put this into monetary terms, that's worth about €200 per kg so a possible €4600 on top of salary!
If it was not for the Greenpeace members, Tour Suzuki and his friend Junichi Sato these practises would have continued to the detriment of the Whales!

That's all for now - and don't forget Whale Wars - Viking Shores is on tonight!

Whale Meat - How do you like it? .. Alive??

                                                    Whale Meat & Green Veg!!

  Check out this link to a great article I came across in the Guardian (UK)  Environmental Blog, originally added by Gwladys Fouché

Whale Wars - VIKING SHORES

New Whale Wars - Discovery Channel Tomorrow Night - Viking Shores

Whale Wars is back on our TV screens airing on Discovery Channel Tomorrow night!

Check out the link, above, and you tube clip, below.


It's a long video clip but really worth the watch, as Pilot Whales are not endangered do the people of the Faroe Islands have a point?
Can you see it from their point of view?
I can understand the tradition of the people in such a remote location but at the same time this is not now a tradition to provide food for families as they have this easily supplied from another source - Supermarkets!

Captain Paul Watson & Legal Proceedings

Sea Shepard comments on Legal Proceedings in Germany

Whale Wars star Paul Watson freed on bail from german jail UPDATED!!

A Taste of Whale..

A Taste of Whale?


Could you be tempted to taste? I've researched some of the recipes for Whale.. check these out and see what you think? Would you try? Have you already tasted?

How-to-cook-whale

herrickreport.com Whale Recipes

This video from you tube is in subtitles but it is actually really interesting and a normal tradition in Japan!!

FAMILY OF RARE KILLER WHALES SPOTTED OFF COAST OF DONEGAL

              FAMILY OF RARE KILLER WHALES SPOTTED OFF COAST OF DONEGAL

I found this article at www.donegaldaily.com
                                           Orca Whale (below) aka the 'Killer Whale'

It's amazing that Irish waters host such varieties of marine life don't you agree?
Marine biologists in Donegal estimate that the pack contains 9 whales!

                                                   Buncranna and Rathmullen 
The shores of Lough Swilly (above) providing a safe haven for the Whales to feed

                                                       The tail of the Orca!
Orca Whales are commonly known as Killer Whales featured in such Hollywood movies like 'Free Willy'

Beached Whale on Fraser Island.

7 News Australia, Whale beached on Fraser Island 6th June 2012

7 News, Australia, report on a beached Whale on Fraser Island.
It's a baby Whale and it's over 5 tonne and it became beached at unusual high tide (could this be related to the passing of Venus last night?) It's suspected a pack of tiger sharks pushed the Whale too close to shore!
It's interesting to note the survival struggle even in protected and policed waters.
Hopefully this story will end well!

                          (Just checked 7News and the Whale died before high tide returned)

News Hour clip on Greenpeace & Japanese Whaling Fleet

A good clip on the Whaling Fleet and Government on the annual Killing of Whales!

Rutland Island, County Donegal Pilot Whales Beached

A sad sight of beached whales and this is Located here in Ireland!

National Geographic - Diving with Whales - Pretty Amazing!

Some amazing footage of diving upclose with Whales and the results are pretty cool!!

Baby Humpback Whale Calf..

Humpback Whale and baby Calf

Whale Wars Video

Some full on footage of the battle between seashepard.org and the Japanese Whaling Fleet!