Without You, Whales are Alone

Agency: Los Quiltros, Chile

Client: Cero Caza de Ballenas

Scientists in Iceland want to prove their theory: whether the world will let them exterminate whales. Commercial whale hunting has been prohibited since 1986. In August 2003, after a 14-year period of inactivity, Iceland announced that it was resuming whale hunting for "scientific purposes". From that date onwards, whale meat from these investigations has been commercialized for human consumption in Asian countries.
Without you, whales are alone.

Japanese scientists have yet to conclude their investigation: whether whale meat tastes better with soy sauce or ginger.
Commercial whale hunting has been prohibited since 1986. In 1987, Japan began to hunt them once more, claiming "scientific motives". Whale meat from investigations has been sold in restaurants all over Japan since 1987.
 Without you, whales are alone

Under a loophole in the International Whaling Committee’s (IWC) guidelines for whaling, nations are allowed to harvest whales in the pursuit of scientific study. As a result, the whaling nations of Japan and Iceland have taken this clause and run with it. These are actual photos of Japanese whalers taunting activists with signs about their “scientific” pursuits:

What’s infuriating is that they’re being perfectly legal (legal turds, but legal just the same): according to IWC guidelines.

The IWC states:

            A major area of discussion in recent years has been the issuing of permits by member states for the killing of whales for scientific purposes. The use of such permits is not new. The right to issue them is enshrined in Article VIII of the 1946 Convention. Whilst member nations must submit proposals for review, in accordance with the Convention, it is the member nation that ultimately decides whether or not to issue a permit, and this right overrides any other Commission regulations including the moratorium and sanctuaries. Article VIII also requires that the animals be utilised once the scientific data have been collected.

The IWC has pretty much put itself in a corner—and other nations that want to stop Japan are trying desperately to figure out how to put an end to it.

While most countries oppose whaling of all kinds, Iceland and Japan have been paying small, poor countries to vote for the harvesting of whales—keeping the support for scientific harvesting active. However, “Articles 65 and 120 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establish that all countries must ‘cooperate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and in the case of cetaceans shall in particular work through the appropriate international organizations for their conservation, management and study.’”

The IWC is definitely fighting back—but they can’t do it alone. Not many people even know that whaling still goes on. It’s up to you to spread the word and put pressure on people to do the right thing.