Show Date: June 14, 2006 
Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

SAVE THE WHALES

Welcome to The Deep science and technology column where we cover topics from the deep sea to deep space and beyond. Join us each week on Newstalk K57 on Wednesday night from 7 to 8 p.m. for exciting live science expeditions or listen live on our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com

We’ve come a long way in our battle to not pollute and degrade our environment in the last two-hundred years or so. One of the biggest victories in the environmental battle was a 1982 international ban on commercial whaling. The motion passed in the International Whaling Commission by one vote and we all believed that the slaughter of the world’s largest mammals was at an end. Or was it?

That moratorium saved many whale species from extinction. By the early 1980s, it is estimated that the numbers of humpback and gray whales - those most commonly seen by the public - had declined by about 98 percent of what they were before the commercial whaling of the 19th century.

For nearly 10 years after the whaling ban went into effect in 1985, there was a steady drop in the number of these and other whales being killed each year, reaching a low of 731 in 1994. Since then, however, the numbers have steadily risen. In 2005, about 1,300 whales were killed and the number is expected to exceed 2,100 this year.

We believed that the moratorium meant that whales were safe. But it didn’t really stop the killing. A loophole in the agreement permits countries to kill whales "for purposes of scientific research." In addition, nations that object to the provisions of the moratorium, even those that are members of the IWC, are not bound by its restrictions. Norway and Japan are responsible for the vast majority of whale kills and Japan has worked industriously to overturn the whaling moratorium since it was instituted. Since 1998, Japan has systematically attempted to gain a majority of pro-whaling votes on the IWC. Ten years ago, there were 35 nations that belonged to the IWC, with roughly two-thirds opposed to whaling. Through the use of multimillion-dollar aid packages, Japan has succeeded in bringing 19 new countries into the IWC since 1998, most of which are poor nations in west and north Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific that have no tradition of whaling.

When the IWC meets this month in the West Indian nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, Japan will probably command a majority of votes for the first time since the whaling moratorium was put into place. While a simple voting majority is not sufficient to overturn the moratorium (a supermajority of 75 percent is needed), Japan is expected to seek to establish secret voting procedures, abolish the sanctuary for whales in the southern oceans, dismantle the IWC's conservation committee, expand support for "scientific whaling" and generally loosen restrictions on killing whales.
The world should not let this happen.

Whales have been on Earth longer than we have. They are a source of inspiration, awe and wonder for people throughout the world, who spend an estimated $1 billion each year to watch these remarkable animals, orders of magnitude more than is earned by killing them. Once, the world rallied to stop the wholesale slaughter of whales, not because whale watching was good business or because we felt that their presence was essential for human survival, but because we believed that whales should be allowed to live in the world's oceans, that their presence somehow enhanced our own, that we had done them great harm and that we should stop.

We once believed that humans should be good stewards of the land and ocean and maudlin though it may sound, the whales are our brothers.

Now it is time to save them, again. Join us on The Deep this week as we try to save the whales.
The Deep is broadcast on Newstalk K57 every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. You can also listen live from our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com. Join Jim Sullivan, Pam Eastlick, and Peter Melyan on the deepest radio show on Earth.