Marine Life
International Day of Action for Seals, March 15
Published March 14, 2009 @ 11:47AM PT
Tomorrow, Sunday, is the International Day of Action for Seals. Visit this page at Harpseals.org to learn about the horrifying annual "hunt" of baby seals, if you're not familiar already.
Check this list at the same site to see if one of the dozens of rallies across North America and beyond (there are rallies scheduled in Dublin and London as well) is located near you, and attend tomorrow if you can.
And then make your voice heard with the Canadian politicians (tomorrow or any day) who are in a position to end Canada's commercial seal hunt. The European Parliament is in a real position to affect the hunt as well; as In Defense of Animals (IDA) explains, "the European Parliament will vote on April 1, 2009 to ban products derived from seals from being imported into the European Union (EU), exported from it, or even being transported through EU territory."
See the Change.org action on ending the seal hunt for contact information for the parties with whom you should register your opposition to the seal hunt and for a seal-hunt video from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Photos: HSUS/Brian Skerry (above); SF Bay / Indymedia (top right)
Animals in the Blogs & News: Sea Lions, Salmon, & Self-Criticism
Published March 05, 2009 @ 07:34AM PT
Activists Pry for Truth at Sea Lion Killing Press Conference from Planetsave
Fish-eaters, take note. It's not just wolves in Alaska. It's not just mountain lions in Nevada. It's also sea lions in Oregon and Washington, sea lions who are being killed because they eat too many protected salmon, a part of the manner in which they must eat to survive--yet humans, of course, aren't being asked to decrease the number of salmon they unnecessarily kill and eat. A report from Portland IMC tells us this:
Activists were there to ask the hard questions that are not being asked by the corporate media. Questions like, "Aren't you again raising the fishing quota this year, at the same time that you are talking about the need to kill sea lions?" "How many years in a row have you raised the quotas for commercial and sport fishermen?" "Didn't you just raise the quota to 13%, and didn't you say in your own documents that a 13% take by fishermen would pose 'no significant impact' to the salmon population? How, then, can you tell the public that the sea lions' alleged take of 4% of salmon poses a significant impact to the salmon population?" "Haven't sea lions always co-existed with salmon on the Columbia river, without posing a threat to either species?" "Isn't it true that dams and over-fishing are causing salmon to go extinct, not sea lions?""Why are you not addressing the salmon crisis in a non-lethal, and far more effective, manner by curbing fishing?" And many other questions.
Bizarrely, the corporate "reporters" stood mutely by while these questions were blatantly skirted by the people who organized this press conference. When one activist demanded answers regarding the raising of the fishing quotas at a time when salmon populations are imperiled, Diana Fredlund of the Army Corps of Engineers leapt between the questioner and the government "expert" who could not answer the question. Diana brusquely told the questioner that "we are not here to answer questions." . . . At a press conference. The corporate reporters never even batted an eye nor asked a single relevant follow up question. The same thing occurred again and again, as activists and indy reporters sought answers to legitimate questions about this very misguided program.
On another note, we have The Importance of Criticism from L.O.V.E. I'll give you the conclusion here, but you'll have to go to the original post to get the rest:
Having experienced this fear [that my previous activism was not effective], I understand why the leadership of the animal welfare movement is so scared of challenges. The fear is so strong that they instinctively reject any criticism and often react by personally attacking those bringing up concerns as a way to avoid addressing the criticism. While understandable, this is unfortunate, as it results in an insular community that values the false comfort of self-deception over the continued critical analysis necessary for effective advocacy.
Criticism is valuable because it offers us the choice to face the fears that we might not choose to face on our own. If we opt to consider the criticism, we have the opportunity to test and refine our understanding and thereby develop a stronger, more confident, deeper understanding of the issues. It helps us pierce the bubble of complacency that forms when we listen only to opinions that match our own. And it helps us move from a reactive doing that may be satisfying but not necessarily effective to a thoughtful, considered action more likely to advance our goals.
So as not to overwhelm you with too much at once, I'll feature more in a second post later today.
EU Committee Endorses Ban on Seal Products; Hunt Is "Inherently Inhumane"
Published March 02, 2009 @ 12:51PM PT
The European Parliament's committee on market and consumer protection today endorsed a bill "that would impose a tight ban on the import of all seal products to the 27-nation bloc."
The bill calls for EU rules "prohibiting the placing on the market and the import to, transit through, or export from" the EU of seal products.
It does, however, grant a "limited" exemption for Inuit communities from Canada and Greenland to continue to trade pelts, oils or meat derived from their seal hunts "for cultural, educational, or ceremonial purposes."
The lawmakers endorsed a plan that branded the hunting of seals, notably in Canada[,] as "inherently inhumane," and called on the EU to answer public demands for a ban on what many animal rights groups have called a senseless slaughter.
To become law, the bill will still need the approval of the entire EU assembly and EU governments, which could come as soon as April.
Read the rest of the Canadian Press article here.
Need more information on the annual, brutal commercial seal hunt in Canada? Check out this informative page, in FAQ style, from Canadian animal rights group Liberation BC. See also Liberation BC's take on PETA's new Olympics-themed campaign against the seal hunt.
Sea Shepherd Ship Boarded by Australian Police; Videos and Logs Seized
Published February 21, 2009 @ 11:05AM PT
Australian police boarded the Sea Shepherd ship immediately after it docked in Hobart, Tasmania, yesterday and proceeded to seize all Sea Shepherd's video footage of this year's anti-whaling campaign--including footage of the clashes between the Japanese whalers and Sea Shepherd and footage of the killing of a whale (to be aired on the Animal Planet series Whale Wars)--as well as other materials.
The warrant authorized the seizing of "all edited and raw video footage, all edited and raw audio recordings, all still photographs, producer's notes, interview transcripts, production meeting minutes, post production meeting minutes as well as the ship's log books, global positioning system records, automatic radar plotting aid, purchase records, receipts, financial transaction records, voyage information and navigational plotted charts."
-Read on after the jump for more details of what's happening (or what we know so far anyway)-
A Dog & Whales with a Home; Firefighters with Healthy Hearts (and, um, other parts)
Published February 19, 2009 @ 01:11PM PT
I could use some good news. Perhaps you'd like some too? (You'll have to read all the way to the end of this post for the make-you-blush "other parts" stuff.)
First, easyVegan.info tells us the story of Gramby, a pit bull who was found as a stray puppy in a town with a breed ban and who, after too long in a shelter (a great no-kill shelter, but still a shelter--no match for a loving home), has found a happy home. I really needed this particular story this week. Thanks, Kelly.
-----
Over at NRDC's Switchboard, there's a post titled "What Successful Environmental Activism Looks Like: Wild Baby Whales."
I spend most of my working hours sitting in meetings in office buildings. But over the past few days, I came face to face with what those meetings can achieve: wild baby gray whales, whales whose last unspoiled nursery was saved by NRDC and our citizen activists.
Every time I go into the field, I am reminded that environmental activism has tangible results--things you can literally touch, like the trunk of a 300-year old tree in a healthy forest or a grizzly bear footprint along a muddy stream. Being within arm's reach of the sleek, rubbery gray whales was a jolt of inspiration: this is what successful conservation feels like.
-----
Finally, after you've finished reading about Gramby and the whales, check out this super-cool article about an Austin firefighter who's spreading the plant-lovin', meat-eschewing word throughout his fire station and--now--beyond, with a book on a way of eating that does remarkable things for health (though I'll be the first to admit that my diet is not oil-free as Esselstyn's recommended diet is). Think you have to consume meat, dairy, and eggs to be strong, healthy, and--yes--tough? Tell that to this guy. Read lots more (including the "who needs Viagra?!" testimonial) after the jump.
Oppose Whaling: Sign the Petition, Make a Phone Call, Send a Fax
Published February 12, 2009 @ 06:45AM PT
You may recall that on Monday, I posted on the possibility that the United States is gearing up to support commercial whaling. Change.org team member Mike has kindly created a petition calling on President Obama and the Secretary of Commerce to reverse course. Read this post for more on this topic. Also, in addition to signing the petition, please consider calling and/or faxing to register your opinion, especially in the case of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (to whom the e-mail petition is not able to be sent at this time). All contact information is available on the page for the petition: Stop the U.S. from Conspiring to Overturn the Commercial Whaling Ban
The Dolphins--and the Dolphin Slaughter--of The Cove
Published February 10, 2009 @ 02:42PM PT
"You gotta get in there; you gotta do something," says one voice, followed immediately by "You're either an activist or an inactivist" from another voice at one point during the trailer for The Cove. The film, which exposes the yearly dolphin slaughter in a small Japanese town--a slaughter that even most of the Japanese public knows nothing about--received high praise from viewers and critics at Sundance, where it won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary a few weeks ago.
Explains Joel Reynolds of NRDC,
The film, directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by the Oceanic Preservation Society, chronicles former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry's heroic campaign to stop the killing of 2,000 dolphins every year in the Japanese coastal village of Taiji. In the 1960s, O'Barry trained the animals that collectively became known as Flipper to TV viewers - an experience that he has spent decades trying to undo because of the role the television show played in creating the captive dolphin industry in the United States and around the world. He came to believe that dolphins should never be captive, and he has tirelessly campaigned to end the inhumane treatment of these undeniably intelligent, self-aware creatures.
The Cove is a riveting tale, told with skill, substance, and relentless drama. The place that gives rise to the film's name is a secretive cove in Taiji, Japan, and the film tells the story not only of what goes on in this hidden place but the lengths that O'Barry and his team had to go to expose it. The Cove is promoted as "an intelligent/action/adventure/Ocean's Eleven-like horror film wrapped around a tale of redemption and ultimate revenge - oh, and it's a documentary." It justly deserves, and was recently awarded, the Audience Award at Sundance.
And here is part of the synopsis from the film's Web site:
THE COVE, directed by Louie Psihoyos, tells the amazing true story of how Psihoyos, O'Barry and an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate a hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The mysteries they uncovered were only the tip of the iceberg.
The Cove, an intelligent/action/adventure/Ocean’s Eleven-like horror film wrapped around a tale of redemption and ultimate revenge – oh, and it’s a documentary.
Trailer:
