The Mother-in-Law of Plant Life

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It takes 15 to 20 minutes to kill a whale—that and a whaler wielding an exploding harpoon. Unfortunately for whales, this gruesome nightmare will become a reality for many of them if Japan has its way.

At an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting this summer, Japan will move to kill minke whales for profit. Minkes are small baleen whales; most of their cousins—the larger baleens—have dwindled at alarmingly high rates over the past century. The gray whale is extinct, and there are only about 3,000 right whales and 2,000 blues left in the world. Humpbacks have plummeted from 150,000 to a measly 12,000. The fear of the whales' total extinction has led to the formation of the IWC and a moratorium on hunting the larger baleens.

Whales are harpooned and then sold as choice cuts for
$200.

Why all the killings? Some countries claim that whales swallow up their fish supply. But it's the meat market that sparks the hunting in Japan, according to Dan Morast, director of Earth Trust's Save the Whales Program. Choice cuts of whale meat go for $200 there. So if the IWC says no way to its whaling request, Japan is likely to terminate its membership and team up with China, Korea, and Russia. Their mission will likely be commercial whaling. Iceland, Norway, Greenland, and Denmark's Faroe Islands, located in the North Atlantic, have already taken steps to form their own group: the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission. This group plans to form policies independent of the conservationist IWC. So far, Iceland has pulled out of the IWC and Norway is threatening to.

Minkes still occur in healthy numbers but won't for much longer if Japan and company start hunting them legally. All whales are constantly threatened by pirate whalers, who kill them in the dead of night and never report it.

You can help the whales' plight by adopting one. Your money will go towards their protection and you'll have regular updates on the progress of your whale as well as cards, photos, newsletters, whale watching coupons etc., depending on the organization you adopt from.

•Adopt a humpback by sending $15 to: Whale Adoption Project, 634 North Falmouth Highway, Box 388, Dept. ME, North Falmouth, MA; 508/546-9980.

•Adopt a finback by sending $30 to: Finbacks, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME 04609; 207/288-5644.

Butterfly Invitations

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