Help protect whales!

The International Whaling Commission is considering a proposal to legalize whaling. Please take time to send an email to IWC Commissioner Monica Medina before the next IWC meeting in June. For more information on how to contact Commissioner Medina and how else you can take action please visit: the ACS action alert page. According to the ACS website, the best email to use to contact Commissioner Medina is publicconcerns.whales@noaa.gov.

Here’s the email I just sent in case you are having trouble getting started:

Dear Commissioner Medina,

I am asking you to do everything within your power to stop whaling once and for all! Most whales are still recovering from the brink of extinction since the complete ban on whaling more than 20 years ago and some whales, such as the Atlantic right whale, haven’t recovered.

Please give whales a chance by strengthening the international moratorium on whaling and eliminating commercial whaling by Japan, Iceland and Norway. Japan claims the tradition of hunting whales is cultural, but this “tradition” started after WWII based on a suggestion by General MacArthur to help feed a starving nation. It seems that whaling started out of desperation and really isn’t necessary anymore. They are still hunting endangered fin whales! More than 900,000 fin whales died thanks to whaling, we can’t afford to lose one more!

It’s time to remove trade incentives and close regulatory loopholes that reward whaling nations. Let’s not reward bad behavior by legalizing whaling and giving in to countries that have refused to follow international regulations that were enacted to protect whales from extinction.

Today whaling is completely unnecessary and just plain wrong. After everything the human race has done to whales in the last 200 years, it’s finally time to leave them alone once and for all. What have they ever done to us besides share with us the magic of their existence? Whales include the largest animals to ever live on earth, are fellow mammals and highly intelligent creatures. It’s bad enough that we have polluted their ocean home with deadly discarded fishing gear, plastic trash and toxins. The least we can do is stop whaling and let them live in peace.

Thank you for your time and consideration.