Greenpeace and Korean
environmental group KFEM have joined forces
to save whales in Korea.
18/03/2005 — Our flagship Rainbow Warrior
has just arrived in Incheon Harbour for the
start of a month-long tour to protect whales
in Korea. We've joined forces with Korea's
largest environmental group, Korean Federation
for the Environment Movement (KFEM) to highlight
the urgent need to protect our whales and
the oceans that they inhabit.
KFEM has recently launched its own domestic
campaign to oppose all forms of whaling, and
its 52 local offices are busy working to raise
awareness on the issues that surround the
plight of whales and other ocean life.
Together, we aim to jointly inform the Korean
public and government that whales in Korean
waters are some of the most threatened in
the world and, like all whales, are in need
of urgent protection.
Welcoming ceremonies for the Rainbow Warrior
in Korea.
The Rainbow Warrior was greeted by an incredible
spectacle: a percussion band, a Buddhist monk,
Korean Environment Minister Mr Kwak Kyeoul
Ho, Korean women in traditional dress who
danced a welcome and children who presented
the crew with "I love whales" t-shirts.
While Korea has no official whaling programme,
if a whale or dolphin is found dead in a fishing
net, it can be sold on the open market for
huge prices - in 2004 the average price paid
for a mature minke whale was US$100 000. It
is perhaps no coincidence therefore, that
Korea has some of the highest cetacean bycatch
incidents in the world, second only to Japan.
Welcoming ceremonies for the Rainbow Warrior
in Korea.
Two marine biologists aboard the Rainbow Warrior
will conduct a whale survey from Incheon to
the southern island of Cheju, to document
the decline in whale populations and sound
a warning bell against a return to commercial
whaling.
Also aboard will be Greenpeace cyberactivist
Yewon Kim, a member of our online community
who has volunteered to keep a weblog aboard
the ship to relate her experience in Korean.
It is not commonly known in Korea that whales
are under threat or that they are anything
other than 'big fish.' It is vital that we
raise awareness before this year's International
Whaling Commission meeting, scheduled to take
place in Ulsan, an old whaling port in the
southeast. The meeting is already being widely
publicized in Korea with billboard advertisements
across Seoul.
Welcoming ceremonies for the Rainbow Warrior
in Korea.
The International Whaling Commission voted
in 1985 to place a moratorium on commercial
whaling. That moratorium has been under concerted
attack by Japan and other whaling nations
for several years now. Votes for and against
the moratorium are neck and neck. If Korea
sides with the whaling lobby this year, as
it has done in the past, it could mean the
resumption of whaling worldwide. We are calling
for the Korean government to 'vote for whales,
not whaling' at the IWC in June, and by doing
so, send out a clear message to the world
that they are serious about the protecting
the whales and the health of the oceans that
they inhabit.
Korean waters were traditionally home to dolphins,
finless porpoises, humpback whales, orcas,
minkes and the Western Pacific or 'Korean'
Gray whales – the most endangered whale species
in the world, whose population numbers only
100 of which only 25 are reproductive females.
Welcoming ceremonies for the Rainbow Warrior
in Korea.
There are also many in Korea, especially in
the southeast, who would like to see a return
to whaling, and with a whale processing infrastructure
and appetite for whalemeat already in place,
the Korean government could conceivably announce
a plan to take up 'scientific' whaling.
Under a loophole in International Whaling
Commission rules, the killing of whales for
research purposes is allowed, and Japan, Norway,
and Iceland currently use 'scientific' whaling
programmes to produce whalemeat in commercial
quantities.
Over the next few weeks, we'll be providing
more information and action opportunities
by which you can help ensure Korea doesn't
return to whaling. Our campaigners, crew,
marine biologists, and cyberactivist Yewon
Kim will be keeping a weblog of their experiences.
Take action
Yewon Kim ended up on a Greenpeace ship because
she signed up as a Greenpeace Cyberactivist.
If you'd like to be a part of Greenpeace's
online community, register here. It's free!
You'll get a a monthly e-zine chock full of
things to do to help our planet, plus a free
homepage. You'll also be able to exchange
views with other members at our cybercentre's
online message board. In the past, cyberactivists
have travelled to the Amazon, China, and Iceland
to help us with our campaign work. You may
be next.
