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Iceland Kills
Two Protected Blue Whales
Iceland is one of three countries including Japan and Norway that are currently whaling. This violates the 1986 International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on whaling. Recently, a whaling company in Iceland called Hvalur hf. killed two endangered hybrid whales, believed to be a mix of fin and blue whales (two very endangered whale species). Whaling is not done by traditional methods, but with exploding harpoons that kill these mammals in a horrible way (although no method of killing is considered the "right way.")
Whale meat is then processed in Iceland and shipped to Japan for consumption.
Many tourists will not travel to Iceland due to their whaling practices.
A sustainable and profitable alternative to whaling is whale watching or ecotourism. People are fascinated by whales, and Iceland whalers could educate the public with their local knowledge of whale species and the ocean environment as a positive alternative. Ecotourism is a sustainable business.
Email or write respectful letters asking Iceland to become a sustainable ecotourism destination for people to watch whales instead of killing them by whaling.
Teachers Around The World:
We ask that you have your students participate in a global letter writing campaign as a class project. Students have so much influence when they raise their collective voices.
Please share this.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Prime Minister of Iceland
The Prime Minister's Office
Stjornarradshusid vid Laekjartorg
101 Reykjavik , Iceland
Email: postur@for.is
Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson
Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources
Skuggasund 1
101, Reykjavik, Iceland
Email: postur@environment.is
Ferðamálastofa
Icelandic Tourism Board
FERÐAMÁLASTOFA
Geirsgata 9
101 Reykjavík, Iceland
Email: upplysingar@ferdamalastofa.is
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NOAA Photograph
17 Days and 1,000 Miles - A Grieving Orca Carries Her Dead Baby
At long last, a mother's obvious grief has ended. Tahlequah (J35) the mother has resumed life with her pod. It is thought that the death of her calf was so hard on Tahlequah because she recently lost a calf. With this infant's death and the death of Scarlett (J50), also of the J pod, it brings the number of orcas in the Puget Sound Washington area to 74 individuals making up the J, K, and L pods. We can help Tahlequah and we can do something for this once thriving community of orcas.
Orca numbers are diminishing. If something isn't done about their lack of food, namely Chinook salmon, the resident orcas will not survive. Based on estimates of their food requirements, the average Southern Resident killer whale must consume 18-25 adult salmon daily just to meet its energy requirements.
Removal of the Snake River dams promises the greatest hope for delivering the much needed Chinook salmon that provide the nourishment for a healthy Southern Resident orca population. If the lower Snake River dams were breached, it would double or triple survival rates restoring many millions of fish to the Columbia Basin. The dams have been rendered obsolete because of aging and economic realities. Power generation has declined to about 800 megawatts of power annually. The worst aspect of this is that these dams are driving the orcas to extinction.
Ask Governor Jay Inslee to take down these dams before it is too late.
The orcas can't wait any longer.
Call Governor Jay Inslee's office (Washington's governor) and ask him to breach the Four River Dams. The number is 360-902-4111.
Thank you for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Maris Sidenstecker
President Co-Founder - Save The Whales
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Save The Whales
Voted Top-Rated Nonprofit 2018
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