Category — Sea Shepherd

The Tourist Trail tells the story Magellanic penguin researchers and anti-whaling activists. And though the book is fiction, the stories themselves reflect all-to-real events happening right now around the world.

I read this morning that Japan had suspended whaling activities due to harassment from the Sea Shepherd Society. This is amazing news, though Japan could very well start up again at any moment. Paul Watson and his organization have made it clear that when governments fail to enforce a law — illegal poaching in protected waters — civilians don’t have to sit back helplessly. Ordinary people are making a difference every day protecting all types of animals all around the world. I will meet many of these people at the FARM event this July — more on that later.

The bad news I read this morning has to do with Magellanic penguins. A group of 20 have been shipped to a zoo in the US. These were beached penguins, starved and probably close to death. Brazilians had rescued them and now were committing them to a life in zoos. I’m assuming that these penguins could not have been returned to the wild — I’m certainly hoping that’s the case. Its comforting to think that penguins will enjoy a life in the zoo, but I’m not so sure anymore. These birds go from traveling a hundred miles in any given day to doing laps in what amounts to a bathtub. Sure, they get food for life and they are free of predators and oil spills. But when you see penguins in their native environment it’s just hard to see them in a zoo. And it’s harder still to think that their native environment is disappearing, the food becoming more elusive. That’s what appears to be happening right now, as penguins venture further from home in search of food, ensuring more beachings and more tenants at the local zoo.

Although I’ve been living up and down the west coast for several years, I’d never made it far enough north (or south) see the Redwoods National Forest.

Until yesterday.

It is a strange feeling to stand next to another living thing that has been on this planet for more than a thousand years.

These trees are survivors, and not just because they’ve outlasted centuries of Pacific storms. But because they’ve outlasted the loggers.

I asked a park ranger how these trees escaped logging. He said only 3% of them did. He said that even today there are people who would like to get at what’s left of them with a saw.

Thankfully, we have the Save the Redwoods League. It got started back in 1918, when a handful of people realized that something precious was about to be lost and very nearly was. There was no national park then (not until 1968). In the absence of government protection, the people protected those trees. And this organization is still around today as there are still trees in danger.

After visiting the redwoods, I visited the coast south of Crescent City and I watched grey whales in the distance.

More survivors. And, thankfully, people have stepped up to protect them as well.

In a few weeks the Sea Shepherd Society begins its 7th annual journey down to Antarctica to protect the whales from the Japanese. No government is protecting these whales. Just people.

From Save the Redwoods to Save the Whales, these fights are not fought by governments or militaries, but by people. And for that reason alone I remain optimistic that we can save many more creatures, many more habitats.

The fight is only just beginning.

PS: I just came across a great TED presentation on the redwoods:

I’ve been avoiding The Cove — the Oscar-winning documentary about Japan’s dolphin slaughter.

I’ve been avoiding the film because I knew it would be disturbing. While researching the Japanese whaling industry for The Tourist Trail years ago, I learned about what happens off the coast of Japan. I had seen video clips, and those were enough to turn my stomach.

Last night, The Cove was on TV and I ended up watching most of it. It’s hard to put into words the feelings that go through you when you watch dolphins treated that way. I alternated between anger and tears. Now I’m just angry.

The film wasn’t just about dolphins. It was about all cetaceans. Paul Watson of The Sea Shepherd Society was featured. He’s been doing battle with Japan for decades.

When I began this blog I asked: Why doesn’t Japan just stop killing whales?

The same question could be posed for dolphins.

Japan is in a sad state of denial about its past and its future. The world has changed. The oceans are depleted. And Japan wants to pretend that its “way of life” — a way of life that is overly romanticized — will continue forever.

We do the same thing here in the US. We romantize fisherman. But we overlook the brutal fact that the fishing industry is an industry. Machines do most of the heavy lifting. And machines are too efficient and there are too many of them. The fish, the dolphins, the whales. They can’t reproduce quickly enough to compete with the machine. They never stood a chance.

The sea needs a break.

What is most sad about the dolphin slaughter is that these are animals that, by most measures, everybody loves.  The Cove is the tip of the iceberg because there are so many other species at risk — species that aren’t quite so loved. The Northern Bluefin Tuna. The Silver Shark. Orange Roughie. Swordfish. When will they get their documentary? Or will they just fade away?

We all have a role to play. I know what I’ve got to do. And Ric O’Barry, the man behind The Cove, isn’t about to give up. Blood Dolphins is a new TV series that keeps up the pressure on Japan. Hopefully, sustained pressure will convince Japan to give up.

And then we will turn our fight to the next species.

Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Society, has been added to Interpol’s wanted list, at the urging of Japan.

As this article notes, this designation does not mean Japan wants Paul arrested, just spied on.

For now.

It appears that the International Whaling Commissions meeting is going nowhere fast, which means Japan will continue its annual hunts and Paul and his crew will continue their annual battles.

So Japan is taking another approach to getting Paul out of their way.

I write about all of this here because one of the major themes of The Tourist Trail is the illegal whale hunts. The main character known as Aeneas was inspired by Paul Watson. In my book, Aeneas is on the run from those who are trying to arrest him. It’s all fiction of course, but when I read the news lately, it’s not quite as fictional as I once thought.

An investigation by the Sunday Times reveals that the Japanese whaling commission has been buying votes by using cash and prostitues — all in an ongoing effort to support its whaling industry.

This is just another reason for the US government not to strike any backroom deal with Japan for “limited” whaling over the next decade.

Fingers crossed that no such deal comes to light over the next week…