Eco
Volume LXIV · Panama City, Panama · No. 5 · Friday July 6, 2012
Korean Surprise: Phony Scientific Whaling Proposed
For several years, the government of South Korea has made allusions to wanting to go whaling like the Japanese. This week, the delegation of Korea surprised the Commission by announcing their own phony “scientific” whaling proposal. Apparently, having just one country embarrassing itself globally by pursuing commercial whaling via a trumped-up research program is not enough! Joon-Suk Kang, Chair of the South Korean delegation, made the announcement on Wednesday, amid discussion of Japan’s proposed small type coastal whaling proposal and the annual rant against the interference by Sea Shepherd against Japan’s so-called “research” whaling in the Antarctic. In fact, Korea is beginning to sound just like Japan, having voted against the Southern…> Read more
Japan’s Whaling Fleets Financed War on Korea and China
It is the darkest secret of Japan’s whaling industry. In the 1930s, when Japan invaded Korea, Manchuria, and later the rest of China, Japan’s pelagic whaling industry was owned by the Japanese Imperial Army. Six huge whaling fleets ruthlessly plundered the world’s whales for the sole purpose of raising funds to finance the invasions. Japan’s occupation force in Manchuria, the Kwantung Army, exploited the vast natural resources of the northern China region through the Manchurian Heavy Industries Corporation, which was set up by the army in 1931 after the invasion of Manchuria. Korea became a virtual colony of Japan. “All of the pelagic fleets sent to the Antarctic were owned and operated…> Read more
In Memorium: Alberta “Binki” Nora Thompson
Alberta “Binki” Nora Thompson was a Makah tribal elder who opposed her tribe’s effort to kill gray whales for the first time since the 1920s. Mrs. Thompson attended five IWC meetings and stood her ground as she faced off with the Makah tribe’s government that supported whaling. Even though there were several elders who, with Alberta, signed a petition opposing the hunt, it was she who remained the public symbol of tribal opposition. For that, she faced an unrelenting barrage of persecution from pro-whale killing factions within her tribe. Mrs. Alberta “Binki” Nora Thompson died this spring. At her service, her pastor wept openly as he described Binki’s suffering from that persecution…> Read more
Are Whales People, Too?
Whales are not human, but they could soon be considered people—a legal standing which would put a serious wrench into allocating whaling quotas of any kind. Last February, the Declaration of Cetacean Rights was presented at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science. Backed by noted scientists and compassionate members of the public, the landmark declaration argues that whales and dolphins should be accorded basic rights, such as life, liberty and well-being. According to neurobiologist Dr. Lori Marino, “People are taking it seriously,” which is an important first step in seeing the declaration officially recognized. Personhood status can be ascribed to any being that possesses certain qualities—things like culture, self-awareness,…> Read more