In launching its 100 Days to Save the Whale campaign, WDCS is highlighting the urgent need to protect whales from an industry that is increasingly aggressive in its approach to international conventions relating to the numbers and different species killed.

This wakeup call to the international community comes 100 days prior to the end of this year’s International Whaling Commission meeting in Alaska. More than any other meeting in recent history, the 2007 IWC conference will be crucial to whales’ future. Last year, pro-whaling countries gained the majority of votes at the IWC for the first time since the ban on commercial whaling was effected 20 years ago. This year, they are expected to use this majority to attack vital protection from commercial whaling and international trade in whale products.

“Whale conservation currently faces the biggest onslaught since the ban on commercial whaling was put in place,” says Sue Fisher, the WDCS’ U.S. policy director, who’s leading the anti-whaling and trade campaign. “Not only do pro-whaling countries want to lift the ban on whaling, but they also aim to lift restrictions on international trade in whale products—which, if allowed, would once again fuel an uncontrollable slaughter.”

In January, Japan proposed a review of the great whales currently protected from trade, including humpback, blue, fin and sperm whales. The Japanese proposal will be considered at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in the Netherlands, just days after the conclusion of the IWC. CITES regards the IWC as the authority on whale issues and follows its lead by banning trade in whales that are protected from whaling. This move by Japan is an attempt to break that relationship.

“These two meetings are providing a perfect storm for whales,” Fisher says. “Pro-whaling nations tipped the balance of power at the IWC last year, and they are hoping to build on that influence this year. The combination of the decisions at IWC and CITES this year could be devastating for whales for generations to come.

“Commercial markets for whale products once fueled a slaughter that saw many whale species pushed to near extinction,” she adds. “If international trade is permitted again, whale products could once more be in demand from industries all around the world. We simply cannot let it happen again.”

One country that is of particular importance in the balance of voting on whaling issues is Denmark. By voting in favor of whaling, Denmark is going against the policy of the EU, of which it is a member, and the majority of the Danish population who oppose whaling. WDCS is now calling for the international community to put pressure on Denmark to oppose any attempts to resume commercial whaling and international trade in whale products.

Although the recent fire aboard Japan’s massive factory ship, the Nisshin Maru (the only vessel in the fleet capable of processing and storing large quantities of meat at sea), may appear to have given the whales a small reprieve this year, Japan is expected to proceed with at least part of its North Pacific hunt this spring, using smaller local vessels. Japan is also expected to continue its campaign at IWC and CITES with renewed vigor.

Since 1986, all great whales have been protected from commercial exploitation by the IWC and CITES.

Note: OrganicAuthority.com publishes science news so organic consumers have access to the latest information on climate change and threats to our environment. You can view more posts by visiting the Environment Section of our blog.

Book Pick of the Day: The Humpback Whale: Help Save This Endangered Species!

Some headlines warrant closer inspection. In this case, it was a July 8 story in the Los Angeles Times: “Sea Critters’ Feces Clean Air, Study Says.”

OK, I’ll bite. For those of us concerned about global warming and organic living, we’ll take our environmental solutions any way we can get them.

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanic Institution (WHOI) in Woodshole, Massachusetts, have been studying transparent jellyfish-like creatures called salps, considered minor players in the ocean food chain. But salps may be more important to the fate of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than previously thought.

In the May issue of Deep Sea Research, scientists reported that salps—about the size of a human thumb  and swarming by the billions in ocean “hot spots”—may be transporting tons of carbon per day from the ocean surface to the deep sea, thereby preventing it from reentering the atmosphere.

Salps feed on phytoplankton, tiny marine plants that consume carbon dioxide. Other sea life eats phytoplankton, but most of it returns to the ocean when these animals defecate or die.

WHOI biologist Dr. Laurence Madin, along with Dr. Patricia Kremer of the University of Connecticut’s Department of Marine Science and other colleagues, have repeatedly found that one particular salp species (Salpa aspera) multiplies into dense swarms that last for months. One swarm, in fact, covered 38,600 square miles of sea surface, consuming up to 74% of microscopic carbon-containing plants from surface waters. Their sinking fecal pellets transported up to 4,000 tons of carbon per day to deep water.

“Salps swim, feed and produce waste continuously,” Dr. Madin says. “They take in small packages of carbon and make them into big packages that sink fast.” (Indeed, salp fecal pellets sink as much as 3,280 feet a day.)

As the researchers concluded, if salps are an oceanic “dead end,” which other marine animals avoid eating, they can send even more carbon to the deep. This enhances the transport of carbon away from the atmosphere.

You go, salps!

WHOI photo by Dr. Laurence Madin

Acclaimed biologist Dr. Roger Payne, author of Among Whales, received the 2006 Earthwatch Film Award for his documentary, A Life Among Whales. The film chronicles his quest to understand and conserve the world’s whales—an important topic for those who believe in protecting the environment and organic living.

“Like all large animals, whales are threatened by human competition and habitat degradation,” says Dr. Payne, founder and president of Ocean Alliance. “But their most immediate challenge is that whaling is increasing exponentially. We need to restart the ‘save the whales’ movement. This, and the other environmental crises that mankind has generated, are not insurmountable problems; they represent the most singular opportunity for greatness ever offered to any generation in any civilization.”

“Documentary films help broadcast the inspiring power of nature,” says Ed Wilson, president and CEO of Earthwatch, an organization that recruits ordinary people to join scientific expeditions around the globe and one of the world’s largest nonprofit supporters of marine mammal research. “This is particularly important when dealing with marine issues, as so few people get the chance to witness this unique environment first hand. As we mark our 35th year, Earthwatch is increasing its focus on improving awareness and management of our oceans. Dr. Payne’s life work is a stellar example of how to engage the public in addressing these issues. From whales burdened by toxic chemicals to coral reefs overcome by climate change, we know the larger part of our blue planet is in trouble.”

Dr. Payne is best known for his studies of whale behavior, especially early recordings of humpback whale songs, and for his theory that the sounds of fin and blue whales can be heard across oceans. He is concerned about the efforts of whaling nations, such as Japan, to shift the balance in the International Whaling Commission and potentially overthrow the moratorium on commercial whaling.

“Unless we get off our chairs and start persuading responsible nations to support whales, the whaling nations will have a majority in the International Whaling Commission in a year or two,” he says. “That will enable them to institute new laws, like throwing out the conservationists who are currently allowed to observe meetings and lobby delegates.”