October 26, 2007
October 16, 2007
Whale Trail TV
October 11, 2007
Whales shouldn't die for research!
I have been working on a very exciting project for Greenpeace for the past 6 months.
Unlike the thousands of humpback whales in the North Atlantic - many of which migrate past Bermuda where I live - the humpbacks from the South Pacific now risk being harpooned by the Japanese whaling fleet this year in the Southern Ocean. The small populations of humpbacks that breed in the waters surrounding several South Pacific islands are also a lot less lucky than their Atlantic relatives since they have hardly recovered at all from commercial whaling.
Greenpeace is now satellite tracking humpback whales from small endangered populations in the South Pacific to their feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean in order to prove that the whaling fleet is a serious threat to these whales. These populations are treasured by Pacific islanders and provide a great source of income for the Pacific whale watching industry. In Tonga for example one humpback whale is estimated to provide over $1 million dollars to the economy through whale watching.
The Great Whale Trail was created by a team of Greenpeace folks and whale scientists that I have coordinated since the beginning and I am so proud this week to see it being beamed around the world! Non lethal research including satellite tagging provides scientists with everything they need to know about the whales - proving that whales don't need to die for research!
You can now follow the Great Whale Trail along with me and find out how you can help make the oceans a safer place for whales and other marine life!
- Sing up to receive regular updates
- Check out the interactive Google map showing the whales' migrations
- Name a whale!
- Support an end to whaling and a global network of marine reserves!
You can watch the first episode of Great Whale Trail TV
- and meet some of the team that I have been working with all this time. They are totally cool!
I hope you will join me on the Great Whale Trail!
Thanks!
Lisa
May 27, 2007
Man and Whale
My mate Dave is over in Anchorage blogging at the IWC - check out his blog
May 25, 2007
It's about time someone got their tits out for the whales!
October 17, 2006
Iceland resumes commercial whaling
Just when I thought that Iceland might actually stop whaling altogether they go ahead an announce that they will hunt whales commerically! Their new plans include slaughtering 9 endangered fin whales this year!
I feel sick to stomach just thinking about it.
Please take the Iceland Whales Pledge to show the Iceland Government how you feel. It only takes a few minutes.
Thanks
Lisa
July 19, 2006
Rained Out
It rained for most of the day on Sunday and sadly the sand whale got cancelled. I had some friends over to my house to watch the movie "Deep Blue" and we had a party for the whales instead. I managed to get plenty of donations for all kinds of things. I even did tarot readings and charged people $5 a pop.
I made this box for donations and put speakers inside along with a CD player and then I played whale songs inside the box. It was kind of freaky... We put Jack Johnson on after a a while though since listening to whales harping on about god knows what can actually get pretty irritating. Still though - that is no reason to shoot them with exploding harpoons!!
This party made me realise that it's easy to raise money for your favorite charities in this way and I'm considering making a regular thing out it. Now it just seems insane to have any kind of party without it being for a good cause!
The photos from the party are up on my Flickr account and I have also created a Flickr Group for anyone else who held a party for the Save The Whale Week. Unfortunately Flickr tubes are clogged so I can't add those links till later...
L.
July 16, 2006
Today I am going to make a whale from sand!
I am going to the beach today to make a whale out of sand. I have no experience making sand sculptures but I will give it my best shot. I am hoping I wont be alone! It's been "SAVE THE WHALE WEEK" this week and I am hoping to raise awareness about whaling in my little corner of the world by doing something a little bit crazy. Maybe it might not be a whole whale cos that might take too long and people will start to pass out on the beach. Maybe we'll make a big tail instead. I have invited people by e.mail but I have no idea who is actually going to show up and help. Eeek!
Yesterday I went with my friend Phillip to get lots of food to take the the beach and the most important thing - WATER! It's been super hot here lately. I borrowed two big coolers from a friend and cleaned them out while Phillip chopped up carrot sticks. All I need to do today is get some ice and then head down to the beach and see who shows up. My goal is to get a picture of the sculpture into the news and collect donations for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
If you can make it to John Smith's Bay today (Sunday July 16th) at 5pm PLEASE COME!
Continue reading "Today I am going to make a whale from sand!" »
June 22, 2006
Whaling goes on and on and on and on and on and on!
So the IWC is over with a final score of 5 for the whales and 1 for the whalers and after all the doubts and concerns about this year's meeting we should feel relieved and there is cause for some kind of celebration I guess. After all it could be so much worse but I don't feel happy and actually I am angry at governments who voted for a return to the "normalisation" of whaling and I am angry at the IWC for accepting the votes from countries who have clearly been bribed. Thousands of whales will die again this year, for no other reason than national pride and greed, despite our best attempts to save them.
It's wonderful to see that Greenpeace will return to give the whalers a hard time in the Southern Ocean but we all know that this hasn't helped to strengthen the international moratorium on whaling in the past so my question is: Is it at all possible to stop thousands of whales being killed each year? Nothing has worked so far and we can argue about tactics all we like but ramming and sinking whaling vessels has not stopped whaling either. Letters have been written, protests have been staged, boats have been rammed and sunk, meetings have been attended, awareness and money has been raised, pressure has been applied to companies who funded whaling while countries who have been bribed have been named and shamed. Maybe it's up the politicians to do something about whaling but what can they do and will they do it? The only thing that is going to stop whaling nations is a fisheries boycott or some other form of financial or political pressure yet I don't see any anti-whaling nation ready to instigate this.
In the meantime it doesn't hurt to keep TAKING ACTION online: E.mail the Prime Minister of Denmark and ask him to save whales
L.
June 16, 2006
Is the IWC democratic?
Pro whaling versus anti-whaling countries represented by population size rather than simply the number of countries who voted one way or the other
I really can't understand how the IWC continues to function in the way it does today - turning a blind eye to all the vote buying that goes on and making no distinction between votes from large countries and votes from tiny islands. Shouldn't over 1 billion people get more of a say than 1 thousand? This doesn't seem very democratic to me at all.
Score: Whales 1 - Japan 0
June 12, 2006
The mussels taste great but the whales are not safe yet!
 Japan plans to kill 50 humpback whales |
I just cooked up this lovely dish this evening... mussels in a tomato based sauce with lots of chili and garlic. I used green lipped mussels from New Zealand... produced by Sealord. This is the company that used to have links with the Japanese whaling fleet but thanks to the pressure mounted by NGOs like Greenpeace and Earth Island Institute their parent company Nissui pulled their funding from the fleet. So now, Japanese whaling is a fully governmental affair. That's got to hurt somewhat but sadly not much has changed. I can eat Sealord mussels now without feeling guilty but the whales are still not safe.
In the last few weeks more countries that will probably vote against whale conservation have joined the IWC. Although the moratorium is not at risk (yet) many measures that currently protect whales and dolphins may get the chop if the pro-whaling nations get their way. We all know that they succeed in winning pro-whaling votes from other countries because they bribe them financially but this blatant corruption of the IWC continues. Additionally proposals including the creation of a South Atlantic whale sanctuary (led by Brazil) are unlikely to succeed.
Continue reading "The mussels taste great but the whales are not safe yet!" »
April 24, 2006
Would you like to be a whale?
 A female humpback whale raises her fin out of the water |
April 20, 2006
Letter to the Editor
 Wild dolphin |
I thought I'd post a copy of my letter. I'm against dolphins in captivty anywhere in the world not just in Bermuda and am proud to have organised and won a campaign against the construction of a second dolphinarium in Bermuda. However, we still have one dolphin jail here and I'd like to see it go!