Whaling Resumes

Blogpost by John Hocevar - December 8, 2010 at 9:56

As you read this e-mail, the Japanese whaling fleet is steaming towards the Southern Ocean to begin their annual whale slaughter. Their planned death "quota" this season: nearly 1,000 minke whales, 50 humpback whales, and 50 endangered fin whales.

We must stop this massacre now.

During the 2008 campaign, then-Senator Obama said, "As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including the international moratorium on commercial whaling." Three more whaling seasons have come and gone since Obama spoke those words, and no change has been made.

Please rush your most generous contribution as we put pressure on President Obama to fulfill his campaign promise!

"Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable," as President Obama himself has stated, and Greenpeace is rallying support to put a stop to the slaughter, once and for all.

Commercial whaling is not only unacceptable—it's a violation of international law.

Picture a Japanese harpoon ship speeding through the Southern Ocean. Suddenly, the harpooner spots a mother whale and her calf. The sounds of the ocean are drowned out by the blasts of exploding-tip harpoons being fired at the whales.

The pair struggles to free themselves from the harpoon lines for nearly an hour, desperately thrashing their tails in the water, before a gunman finally steps onto the deck and shoots them dead. The mother whale and her baby are dragged up the ship’s slipway, leaving a long trail of blood behind them.

Much to our frustration, in a few days time this tragic scene will play out in the Southern Ocean over and over again. Greenpeace needs your help, and the help of President Obama, to put an end to the slaughter of our oceans’ most unique, intelligent, and emotional creatures.

Please help us stop this terrible massacre and save the lives of these whales with your most generous donation NOW.

Together, we can let Japan know that commercial whaling has no place in the 21st Century.