It’s time to cast your votes for the 2008 webby awards. While we are sad to report gCaptain did not receive a nomination this year we are please to find some other great sites that did.
The image above links to the most innovative and graphically pleasing website of the year “The Whale Hunt“. What is it exactly? Boiled down the site documents the whaling tradition of Inupiat Eskimos in Barrow, Alaska. What is generating buzz is how photographer Jonathan Harris displays his amazing photos in such a graphically stunning and usable design. Here’s more the information from their FAQ:
Is this a political project?
No. This project has nothing to do with politics. It is about storytelling, and makes no comment on the politics of hunting whales.
What’s the difference between subsistence whaling and commercial whaling?
Subsistence whaling is the hunting of whales by aboriginal groups who have a tradition of whaling. Commercial whaling is the hunting of whales for commerical profit. The International Whaling Commission includes a more detailed definition here.
Do you personally support subsistence whaling?
As stated above, this project is not political. But speaking personally, after spending nine days with an Inupiat Eskimo family in Barrow, Alaska, observing their traditional whale hunt, I support their right to continue whaling, in compliance with scientifically determined annual quotas. Nutritionally, whale meat has allowed the Inupiats to subsist in the Arctic for thousands of years (where farming is impossible due to eleven months of snow covered ground, and where fresh fruit and vegetables are flown in at great expense). Culturally, the whale hunt is equally important to the Inupiats, shaping their sense of honor, purpose, community, and identity.
For gCaptain’s coverage of whaling CLICK HERE then head over to the 2008 webby awards to vote on your favorite maritime related sites. Our top pick? National Geographic for the use of social media in the release of their top shows The Deadliest Catch and America’s Port.
Tags: · americas port, design, maritime_photographer, natgeo, photographers, whaling
gCaptain and others have chronicled the ongoing Whaling – Conservation controversy between environmental groups and Japanese whalers. The Independent/UK is reporting that secret plans are underway to allow Japan to continue whaling. Here’s an excerpt:
The plans would permit the world’s main whaling nation to carry out a limited hunt in waters close to its shores. In return, Japan would have to stop exploiting a loophole in international law, through which it kills hundreds of whales around Antarctica each year under the guise of “scientific research”.
The plans - drawn up at another unpublicised meeting in Tokyo last month - were presented by the governments of Argentina and the Netherlands to a closed three-day session of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) at the Renaissance Hotel near Heathrow airport, which ended yesterday (March 8, 2008.)
The compromise aims to end decades of deadlock by allowing this coastal hunt while stopping “scientific whaling”. Proponents argue this would sharply reduce the slaughter, while allowing Japan to claim victory. Opponents say it would be unenforceable and fail to provide a lasting solution.
The full Independent/UK story is here.
Background
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling which was signed in Washington DC on 2nd December 1946 (Click HERE to view full text). The purpose of the Convention is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry.
Membership of the IWC is open to any country in the world that formally adheres to the 1946 Convention. Each member country is represented by a Commissioner, who is assisted by experts and advisers. The Chair and Vice-Chair are elected from among the Commissioners and usually serve for three years. Click HERE to view the full Membership list or click HERE to download a PDF of the Status of the Convention, which details all current members, past members and country-specific notes. The present Chair is Dr. William Hogarth from the USA and the Vice-Chair is Mr. Minoru Morimoto from Japan.
Scientific Permits
A major area of discussion in recent years has been the issuing of permits by member states for the killing of whales for scientific purposes. The use of such permits is not new. The right to issue them is enshrined in Article VIII of the 1946 Convention. Whilst member nations must submit proposals for review, in accordance with the Convention, it is the member nation that ultimately decides whether or not to issue a permit, and this right overrides any other Commission regulations including the moratorium and sanctuaries. Article VIII also requires that the animals be utilised once the scientific data have been collected.
Research
At the 2000 Annual Meeting, the Government of Japan submitted an extensive new proposal entitled ‘Research Plan For Cetacean Studies In The Western North Pacific Under Special Permit (JARPN II) - Feasibility Study Plan For 2000 And 2001’. It was envisioned that 100 common minke whales, 50 Bryde’s whales and 10 sperm whales would be sampled in each year. The stated goal of the programme was to obtain information to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources (including whales) in the western North Pacific. It includes sub-projects on:
- feeding ecology (including prey consumption and preferences of cetaceans and ecosystem modelling);
- stock structure;
- environmental effects on cetaceans and the marine ecosystem.
In 2002, after completion of the feasibility study, Japan put forward a proposal for a full long-term research programme primarily aimed at feeding ecology in the context of contributing to the ‘conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources in the western North Pacific, especially within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone’ The 2005 programme proposes the taking of 220 minke whales, 50 Bryde’s whales, 100 sei whales and 10 sperm whales in the western North Pacific.
The most recent population estimate for common minke whales in the western North Pacific and Okhotsk Sea is about 25,000 (95% CI 12,800- 48,600). A preliminary estimate of abundance for western North Pacific Bryde’s whales is about 22,000 (95% CI 15,000 – 32,600). There are no IWC agreed abundance estimates for North Pacific sei or sperm whales.
The report of the Committee’s discussions of first the feasibility study and second the full programme (available from the IWC office) were published in the supplements to the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management in June 2001 and April 2003. There was considerable disagreement within the Committee over most aspects of this research programme, including objectives, methodology, likelihood of success and effect on stocks. (Click HERE for more details on these discussions).
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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.
Tags: · Environment, Japan, whaling
Activists from the Sea Shepherd group, Ralph Lowe (L) and former Dutch police officer Laurens de Groot, throw bottles at the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru from their vessel, the Steve Irwin, in the Southern Ocean March 3, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
China View is reporting this morning the above story here.
Maritime piracy, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) of 1982, consists of any criminal acts of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft that is directed on the high seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on board a ship or aircraft. Piracy can also be committed against a ship, aircraft, persons, or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state.
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This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.
Tags: · Japan, piracy, sea shepard, whaling
The Whaling - Conservation controversy in the Southern Ocean has escalated to violence. Earlier today it appears that the Japanese Coast Guard fired on The Sea Shepard’s vessel Steve Irwin, and its captain Paul Watson.
In a video, Watson is seen removing a bullet from a Kevlar vest he was waring. Video clip #9 show removal of the projectile. Understand that this story is breaking and there are always several sides.The Sea Shepard site is here.ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corp) is reporting:But Japan’s Government denies that, saying it only launched “noise balls” - loud explosive deterrent devices - after repeated attacks on its whaling ship by Sea Shepherd.Foreign Ministry spokesman Tomohiko Taniguchi says no shots were fired. The ABC post is here.Thanks to Peters Points for leading us to this story.(Ed. note: It is not beyond both sides to embellish such events. None the less, the developments bear watching.)
___________________________This post was written by Richard Rodriguez, Rescue Tug Captain, and US Coast Guard approved instructor for License Training. You can read more of his articles at the BitterEnd of the net.
Tags: · Japan, sea shepard, whaling
(If Video becomes “unavailable” try HERE or HERE)
The BBC Writes:
Australia has released graphic pictures of minke whales caught by a Japanese hunt in the Antarctic.
Canberra claimed the pictures, taken by customs officers tracking the hunt, show a harpooned mother and calf being dragged from the sea.
Japan denied that claim and called the pictures “emotional propaganda”.
Australian environment minister Peter Garrett said he hoped the “distressing” images would boost international opposition to the whale hunt.
Mr Garrett said they contradicted Japan’s long-standing claim that the hunt was legal and for scientific research purposes.
“It is explicitly clear from these images that this is indiscriminate killing of whales, where you have a whale and its calf killed in this way,” he said.
“And to claim that this is in any way scientific is to continue the charade that has surrounded this issue from day one.” Continue Reading…
Links:
Tags: · australia, Greenpeace, Japan, whales, whaling
The following images were taken by the Australian Customs Service in their mission to end Japanese whaling of the Souther Ocean.
Japanese Whaling Ship Yushin Maru
Australian Customs Ship Ocean Viking
Source: Australian Customs Service
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Tags: · australia, customs, images, Japan, photos, southern ocean, whales, whaling
In breaking news from the Antarctic Japanese whalers have taken two activists hostage after they boarded the whaling ship Yushin Maru. The BBC tells us;
The Sea Shepherd campaign group said the two - a Briton and an Australian - had been assaulted and tied to the radar mast by the Japanese crew.
They said they wanted charges of kidnap to be filed in Australia.
Minoru Morimoto, of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), admitted the pair had been detained but denied they had been assaulted or harmed.
He said the Sea Shepherd’s accusations that the two men were tied up were “completely untrue”.
“It is illegal to board another country’s vessels on the high seas. As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future,” he added.
You can read the full report HERE and watch the video HERE.
UPDATE 17Jan:
The AP wire tells us:
Australia said Thursday it would send a ship to pick up two anti-whaling activists who jumped on a Japanese harpoon vessel from a rubber boat in Antarctic waters, offering a solution to a tense, two-day standoff on the high seas.
The protesters from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society scored a victory with their stunt, bringing Japan’s whale hunt to a standstill while officials scrambled to resolve the faceoff.
The Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking will pick up the two activists, an Australian and a Briton, and return them to their anti-whaling vessel as soon as the details can be arranged, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said. Continue Reading…
Tags: · antartica, arrest, Greenpeace, ISPS, Japan, sea shepard, southern ocean, whaling
Reuters has an update on Australia’s recent attempts to track Japan’s whaling fleet:
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) — An Australian fisheries ship has begun pursuing Japan’s whaling fleet near Antarctica to gather evidence for an international court challenge to halt the yearly slaughter, officials said Wednesday.The icebreaker Oceanic Viking, used for customs and fisheries policing, left a base near Perth on Tuesday to track the fleet in the Southern Ocean for up to 20 days, a Home Affairs Ministry spokeswoman said.
The vessel has stowed arms below deck to avoid a confrontation, but Australian customs officials on board plan to gather photographic and video evidence of the Japanese kill.
In mid December The Sydney Morning Herald gave further details on the “customs” ship:
AUSTRALIA plans to spy on the Japanese whaling fleet using an armed P&O cruise ship, with a lesser role for the Australian Defence Force.High-level talks have focused on leasing the commercial vessel, Oceanic Viking, which has a re-enforced hull to cut through ice, a crew trained for polar conditions and “super-telephoto” lenses to record the whale slaughter.
Sources said the ship would also carry video equipment, and the images would be used in Australian international court action planned against the Japanese whale hunt, the largest for 20 years. The images would complement a series of aerial surveys on whale populations, to begin soon.
Under plans being developed, the Oceanic Viking would have two .50-calibre machine-guns manned by a customs boarding party to supply the “muscle”, while working with a civilian P&O crew. Continue Reading…
Since that article was published the Japanese fleet abandoned plans hunt 50 endangered humpback whales, refocusing efforts on a goal of 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales. In response to the changes Australia has decided the guns, while remaining aboard, will be kept under lock and key.
Along with the customs ship Greenpeace has given orders to the M/V Esperanza (photos) to join the effort. The following image is charts planned route of each vessel;
The deputy whaling commissioner Joji Morishita told BBC News that Japan’s position was hugely misunderstood;
What drives Japan is a belief in the principle of sustainable use of resources, whatever they might be, he said.
“Many countries support sustainable use of resources, but somehow they exempt whales from this principle, because they think whales are a special animal.
“But there are many special animals - the cow in India, for example - and if each nation tries to impose its own special animal on other countries, you can see the problem.” Continue reading…
If this story interests you can watch the action live on the M/V Esperanza’s Bridge Cam. Also be sure to check out the following resources:
Tags: · australia, Environment, fishing, Greenpeace, Japan, marine mammals, ship, whales, whaling
