Whales and Wiener Dogs

To almost no one’s surprise, the IWC meeting this week in Portugal turned out to be a complete waste of time. In fact, so much nothing was accomplished that the meeting actually wrapped a day early. The two sides - nations opposed to commercial whaling and pro-whaling nations (led by Japan, Norway, and Iceland) - agreed only to continue to disagree, giving themselves another twelve months to negotiate some sort of compromise.

During all this, Greenland, with support from Denmark, made a formal request to the IWC to hunt 10 humpback whales per year. The IWC dodged the issue by appointing a scientific committee to research Greenland’s request.

And the New York Times published an editorial on Sunday urging non-whaling nations to press harder than ever for a complete ban, saying that while many whale populations are recovering, they face a growing threat from other dangers like global warming, habitat loss, and commercial shipping and fishing. Their assertion that a ban on hunting is a vital component to the overall survival strategy of whales is a belief shared by many conservatonists.

Right whales...heard but not seen off the coast of Greenland

Up until recently, only two right whales have been spotted off the coast of Greenland in the last fifty years. And that number hasn’t changed. However, over the last year, scientists using underwater listening devices have recorded over 2000 whale calls within 400 miles of Greenland’s coastline. The scientists believe the calls were made by North Atlantic right whales, leading them to suspect that the eastern population of this species might not be extinct after all.

Scientists admit, though, that they can’t yet determine if the whales are native to the region or if they have migrated from the coast of North America.

More news from the world of whales:

• Jessica Simpson and Billy Ray Cyrus will be performing at Texas Sea World on May 9th. They probably have whales there. (Perez Hilton)
• WB picks up script for “Everybody Loves Whales.” It’s about a true story about whales and it’s written by the guys who wrote “Shaggy Dog.” (Reuters UK)
• If there really are 32 pro-whaling nations planning to vote as a unified block at the upcoming IWC meeting, then the IWC needs to redefine it’s definition of nation. (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Area man makes whale of a find! (Hometown Annapolis)
• Greenland celebrates self rule with a good old fashioned whale-b-q. The whale stands for whale. (UPI)

More news from the world of whales:

• Apparently there are actually people still living in Greenland, and some of those people are into whaling (IceNews)
• Monitoring of North Atlantic Right Whales off New York loses funding (Newsday)
• There is supposedly a Whale Museum in Bar Harbor