Is Commercial Whaling On Its Way Back?

We hope not. And we hope you’ll ask President Obama to consider your opinion.

We’ve been hearing a lot about the International Whaling Commission meeting that’s due to start on the 21st of June (Monday). Whales are facing the worst crisis since before the commercial whaling ban went into effect more than 25 years ago.

We’ve gotten several notes from the HSUS and other animal welfare groups so we though we’d publish our favorite one today. The following letter, via the HSUS, is the publicly offered personal message from Pierce Brosnan, who’s been working to protect whales for years. While you might know him best as the newest Bond, James Bond . . . we’ve all loved him since the Remington Steele days. So it was easy to pick our favorite “Save The Whales” appeal to share.

Dear Friend,

I’m writing to you today because my friends at The Humane Society of the United States and I need your help. More importantly, the whales of the world desperately need a hero.

Unless we speak up now, the International Whaling Commission, which has banned commercial whaling for more than 25 years, may surrender to commercial whaling interests: It is poised to give its blessing to commercial whaling, even in the pristine waters of the Antarctic Southern Ocean Sanctuary.

The Obama administration has the power to stop this cruelty. That’s why I’m asking for your help: Please join me in sending a message to President Obama now to urge him NOT to endorse a deal that effectively lifts the ban but instead to enforce and strengthen it.

The United States has long understood that the only way to save whales is to outlaw commercial whaling. That’s why it has championed the ban on commercial whaling that has been in place since 1986.

But next month, more than 80 nations will come together to consider a deal to end this international ban — and if they do, it will give Japan, Iceland and Norway a license to kill whales. And believe it or not, officials in the Obama administration are supporting this ill-conceived deal and thus declaring open season on the oceans’ most majestic creatures.

Please tell President Obama this is no time to abandon the whales, who are no longer seen as a commercial commodity, but an integral part of our ecosystem.

Unless you act now, members of the Obama administration will push other nations to pass a secret backroom deal that would suspend the moratorium on commercial whaling and make decades of conservation efforts to bring these species back from the brink of extinction meaningless.

Why? Because rogue nations such as Japan, Norway, and Iceland refuse to obey the quarter-century long moratorium.

We cannot allow three nations to decide the fate of the world’s whales. In 1982, the nations of the world recognized that whales could not survive if commercial whaling continued. In 2010, when whales face even more threats than ever before — including toxic pollution, climate change, loss of habitat, ship strikes, and oil and gas exploration — how could anyone believe it’s safe to let whalers off their leash?

On June 21, the International Whaling Commission will meet to decide whether to effectively lift the prohibition on commercial whaling for the next decade. The United States and YOU can make all the difference.

Please tell President Obama to reverse course and keep the ban and enforce it.

Tell him that the United States must protect whales, not whaling nations. Let him know that you want him to stand up and fight for the lives of these animals. He has the opportunity to be a hero, and the whales need one now.

Sincerely,
Pierce Brosnan
Actor and whale activist

More From Pierce Brosnan About Whales (and Dolphins)

Whaling: A Proposal Littered with Problems
The world knows him for his distinguished turn as James Bond, 007, but actor Pierce Brosnan is also well-known as an advocate for oceans and marine life, especially whales. Recognizing how high the stakes will be for whales this year at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, in Agadir, Morocco, Pierce and his wife, Keely Shaye Smith, television host and correspondent, decided to meet the challenge by producing an advertisement encouraging President Barack Obama to honor his promise to uphold the commercial whaling moratorium, and to oppose an international deal that the majority of American and international environmental and animal protection organizations oppose.

Save the Whales Again! campaign
An International Conservation Campaign featuring spokespersons Pierce Brosnan
& Keely Shaye Smith. Most people believe that the whales were saved because of the very popular “Save the Whales” movement of the Seventies… But if you think whales have been saved…
Think again!…for nothing could be further from the truth.

SaveTheWhalesNow.org
In 1986, a global commercial whaling moratorium was initiated, outlawing the hunting of whales anywhere in the world. But today, a group of countries, including the United States, are working behind closed doors to come up with a “deal” that could legalize commercial whaling for the first time in nearly 25 years.

NRDC’s Lethal Sounds – Narrated by Pierce Brosnan
Deafeningly loud sonar is a proven danger to marine life, but its use throughout the world’s oceans is spreading. This powerful movie makes plain what sonar does to whales caught within its range, and explains how whales, dolphins and other marine animals can be protected from deadly sonar. Watch the short movie, then follow the link below and demand action.