No Free Whale watching 1st Feb 2008
Sadly today we received confirmation that overnight, the Japanese whaling fleet took up to 5 whales in the southern ocean whale sanctuary.
Although it was understood that the Whaling fleet most probably took whales earlier in the season before being interrupted by Greenpeace and Sea Shepard, this is the first observed whale kill this year.
Our offer to take Japanese whale watching free this year is therefore suspended. We made the original offer based on the prime condition (see below) that the Japanese Fisheries Whaling fleet take no whales this season.
While it was acknowledged that this was unlikely, at least for this current seasons hunt, it was hoped that growing public opinion against whaling in Japan may help turn the tide and possibly recall the fleet early without any further whales being taken. We were willing to extend the offer until the last possible moment to give the greatest chance of success.
We welcome the Japanese decision to not kill Humpback this year. As the mainstay for our whale watching industry we are extremely heartened that the majority of whales we see each year will be left in peace. However they continue to hunt Fin and Minki whales, both species we see off the Sydney coastline during our whale watching season and both species that deserve protection.
The Minki whales we see around May and June are shy and hard to watch, possibly because of the last 20 years of continuous hunting. It seems these whales have learnt, quiet rightly, to fear vessels.
Last year(2007) also saw our first ever sightings of Fin whales of the Sydney Coast. These Fin whales are still listed as endanged and the numbers are estimated to be far lower that the Humpback population. We hope to able to see more and more of these rare whales in the upcoming years.
However if Japanese Fisheries continue to take them under the guise of 'research', it is unlikely the numbers will ever have a chance to recover and as with the Minki whales the surviving Fins will most likely be wary around human vessels.
We would also like to thank the Japanese public for there support, we have received a large number of emails from ordinary Japanese stating they do not support whaling and thanking us. It is hoped that while we are not able to offer the free trips this year, this groundswell in public opinion and the willingness to make themselves heard on this issue will end this pointless and unhappy industry once and for all.
So to all Japanese, while unfortunatly we cannot offer you a free trip this year, we hope that you will still visit us and see the whales.
Free Whale watching to all Japanese 14th Dec 2007
We have made this offer to the people of Japan as a last minute plea to hopefully stop the unnecessary hunting of whales in the South Pacific this year.
While it is understood that due to the entrenched resistance in the Japanese government and Fisheries agency, the chance that this years hunt will be called off is low at this stage, it is hoped this will demonstrate to the world and most importantly to the Japanese people how strongly we and most Australians feel about this issue.
We belive that offering the chance to watch the whales free, rather than eat them, will demonstrate directly to the people of Japan why they should be protected. If this offer is successful in prompting the Japanese people to stop the hunt, we would count the investment well worthwhile. If it can tip the balance and helps save over a 1000 animals, including 50 humpbacks of the thousand that we watched this year passing Sydney then we will happily fulfil our promise.
The prime condition for this offer is that the government of Japan orders the whaling fleet to return and does not take a single whale.
If that condition is met, we will honour our promise and let any person with a valid Japanese passport travel on our whale watching tours for free over the 2008 season
It is hoped that this will send a positive message to the people of Japan and show them that whales deserve our protection, that hunting them for food is unnecessary and that there is more to be gained by watching them than killing. We have had many Japanese take our tours and the overwhelming response of wonder and excitement once they have experienced the whales makes these people despair that their government is the one supporting both the full scale resumption of whaling and the current smaller scale faux scientific/commercial whaling.
What can you do?
Support the Non Government Organisations that oppose whaling such as HSI ,IFAW and Greenpeace
Lobby your Government to work to end whaling, especially if you are Japanese! Email or phone your local member, Enviroment Minister or head of Government and voice your opinion.
Support Whale watching as a valid alternative to commercial whaling where ever you are in the world (but of you are in Sydney or nearby keep us in mind!)
Repost, link to, Translate and pass on this page.
Stay invoved, the world will change if enough want it and act on this issue.
To all those that are Japanese, we truly hope to be able to show you the whales in 2008, but now it is up to you, thank you.
More Information and Resources
click here for Sydney whale season Background
if you are writing a related story on this offer and would like use of some hi res images:
Last whale calf of 2007 season
all images are taken on our tours photo credits to whalewatchingsydney.net