Hi Jennifer,
Unfortunately a fourth western gray whale has died after becoming entangled in a fixed fishing net off the coast of North Eastern Japan:
http://david-in-tokyo.blogspot.com/2007/01/another-western-gray-whale-entanglement.html
Regards,
David.
Travis,
I'm frequently surprised.
Regards,
Just as well you cleared that up for us David. You wouldn't want us to think of you as a heathen hey? 🙂
... that's not a suggestion that anyone start hunting western gray whales though, naturally 🙂
That makes sense. The IUCN's 2003 publication "Dolphins, Whales and Porpoises" says "The Antarctic minke whale may be the most abundant baleen whale species today", so I would have assumed that they'd be downlisted if the common minke was.
This is useful PR material for the whaling nations. Norway and Japan have both been hunting them for ages, and yet here we have the IUCN is downlisting them.
To some Aussie,
I heard from an Australian that that you have killed lots of whales in the past ( for oil) but you never ate them, is this true???
Aah Ian, it's Sea Shepherd that has asked for the coordinates.... btw the NZ Air Force know the coordinates, they have documented a part of the hunt, but it seems like they don't want to pass on the coordinates to Greenpeace....
Hi Rune,
Thanks for the clarification....actually methink this is bad news for Greenpeace right now when they are in the Southern Oceans... but I'm glad that some species have recovered and can be downlisted, something I know that the Norwegians have been fighting for .
This is also good for the IUCN,which in some cases have been blamed that the listing of whales is politically motivated...
This downlisting indicates that the IUCN is flexible and I also believe this is good for the polar bear situation ( indicating that the IUCNs decisions are based on science).
Ha det fint!
Where do you live Ian? I'll pass on those co-ordinates.
I hope someone ate the whale.
And now that Greenfarce have posted a US$25,000 reward for the co-ordinates of the Japanese fleet, lets hope the Yakuza boys collect the reward and are there waiting for the ultimate reality TV.
Hi Ann,
Our understanding is that the "widespread and abundant" Least Concern classification applies to minke whales globally (both Balaenoptera acutorostrata and Balaenoptera bonaerensis).
Rune Frøvik, High North Alliance