September 14, 1999
Wonderful news! The Russian government has stopped the beluga hunt!  They have called off  both a domestic hunt with a quota of 2100 animals and the commercial deal with Japan for 200 tons of flesh, which would have resulted in 553 additional deaths assuming that the ratio between tonnage and the number of whales had remained the same.

Carl Dortch, director of Lolita's legion, credited this about face in policy to prompt action on the part of officials and individuals who were quick to protest.  The Russian CITES committee strongly recommended canceling the hunt citing unknown number of belugas and damage to Russia's international reputation.
Website:  http://www/geocities.com/rainforest/canopy/8126
The Russian Marine Mammals Council and The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) were among the organizations busy on the scene and elsewhere. Website:  www.ifaw.org

Mentioned as being particularly effective were Rollie Schmitten  of  the US State Department, Bob Brownell who hopped a plane to Japan to brief the US Embassy, the Marine Mammal Commission, and Congress-
man William Delahunt who persuaded colleagues to sign a letter to the Russian government which was particularly influential.

September 11, 1999
Cousteau Society photography crew accused of harassing whales.  Yesterday's Canadian Broadcasting Company news aired a French whalewatcher's  video that showed Cousteau zodiacs appearing to run over fin whales that resulted in the Cousteau Society's permit to photograph whales  under water to be rescinded although it appeared the harassment was taking place on the surface.  The society denied they were harassing whales, claiming that they came no closer than 3 to 4 meters (c. 9 to 12 feet), making one wonder how close they considered they would have to come to disturb the whales. 

September 10, 1999
First shipment beluga flesh reported cleared for shipment from Russia to Japan.  Commercial trade in small cetaceans like belugas and dolphins is not restricted by the CITES treaty and is, therefore, not illegal. With so many small countries poised to resume whaling after the Makah murder of a young gray whale, there is a danger of widespread killing of dolphins as long  as there is an eager market for their flesh in Japan.  As the trade is not illegal, the only recourse open for stopping the trade before it escalates is focus worldwide attention on the shameful role of Japan in purchasing the flesh of these creatures.  As heaping shame on Japan has not caused her to comply with the IWC moratorium on whaling, perhaps the best approach is to express concern for the health of the Japanese people because of large number of toxins like dioxin carried by dolphins and whales who are at the top of their food chain.  It is important to write, or better, FAX the Japanese Ambassador and consulates in your country as soon as possible.
The address for Americans is The Honorable Saito, Ambassador of Japan, 2520 Massachusetts Ave. NW,  Washington DC 20008.  The fax number is 202-328-2187.  Remember to be especially polite.   

September 9, 1999
Russia resumes commercial whaling with plans to slaughter belugas and sell 200 tons of their flesh to Japan. The Russian Federation's State Fishery Committee has authorized the killing of 200 belugas in the Sea of Okhotsk.  This decision has yet to be approved by the Russian CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) committee which has the authority to approve a "limited", but apparently unspecified amount of beluga flesh to be traded.  So far the committee has asked for assurance that no more than 200 belugas will be killed and that DNA testing will be used to make sure none of the flesh belonged to a more criitically endangered whale species.  The flesh cannot be legally exported without CITES approval.

Members of Russia's Marine Mammal Council, the Russian Society for Animal Protection, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare are protesting the decision.  According to Peter Meisenheimer of the International Marine Mammal Association: "Very little is known about the status of several of the stocks covered by the Russian quota.  All but the Bering Sea populations are considered depleted.  Any unmonitored take from these stocks could have serious consequences for the population. ~~~

It appears that 36 belugas have already been killed.  The World Wildlife Fund  urges people to send messages to appropriate officials via
http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org  ~~~

Efforts are being made to inform the Japanese people that the flesh of belugas and other whales is likely to have a high dioxin content. ~~~

August 1999
European supermarkets threaten Faroe Islands with trade embargo in response to their customers' concerns over pilot whale slaughter.  Aldi, the German supermarket chain that has opened stores in the US has joined the Tenglemann Group in banning all products from countries that kill whales.  The Faroese killed 4000 whales and dolphins in 1988.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is actively importuning the Danish government to stop sharing its EU subsidy with the Faroes in the amount of $150 million a year as long as the islanders persist in their especially brutal slaughter of whole pods of whales driven ashore for that purpose.  The organization is campaigning to persuade Danish tour companies to avoid the Faroes and to educate more of  the public on the slaughter and the high concentrations of heavy metals in whale flesh.

Hopefully, the economic boycott will become more wide spread and accomplish what humanitarian appeals and sabotage of Faroese whaling vessels did not. ~~~

July 1999
US Government report confirms underwater noise can cause hearing loss in ocean mammals.  The Office of Naval Research Marine Mammal Science Program has found evidence that high intensity underwater noise can cause temporary or even permanent hearing loss in marine animals.  Noise may drive animals from best feeding
areas, interfere with echolocation, social communication.

Worse yet, the US Navy has been aiming low frequency sonar directly at humpback whales in the Pacific.  The noise generated by this equipment has been equated with 50 times the sound of a 747 jet plane at take-off.  The study reported above involved ordinary industrial noise such as oil drilling platforms.
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