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March 12, 2000
CITES SECRETARIAT REVERSES SUPPORT FOR JAPAN & NORWAY
The week began on Monday with the very good news that the Secretariat of
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) has
reversed its recommendations regarding the proposals by Japan and Norway to
"downlist" gray whales in the eastern Pacific, and minke whales in 3 oceans
(North Atlantic, North Pacific, Antarctic). The effect of downlisting from
Appendix I to Appendix II would be to potentially open up international
trade in the meat & other products of these whales. The ramifications of
downlisting include further encouragment of Makah whaling, the possibility
of other First Nations' killing gray whales too, and not far down the line,
great pressure on the IWC (International Whaling Commission) to again
legitimise commercial whaling. The CITES meeting is in Nairobi, Kenya,
April 10-20. In its draft recommendations, the CITES Secretariat supported
all the downlisting proposals from Japan & Norway. The reversal will help
a lot, though it is not guaranteed to win the day for whales in Nairobi.

CANADA REVERSES POSITION ON WHALE "DOWNLISTINGS" FOR CITES 2000
On Tuesday came the terrible realisation that Canada was intending to
support Japan and Norway's "downlisting" proposals for gray & minke whales
at the forthcoming CITES meeting in Nairobi. We heard that a final
decision on Canada's position would be made on Friday, March 10th.
Previously, we'd expected Canada to oppose the downlisting proposals,
though not put much effort into the exercise. We'd thought our job to be
one of getting Canada to support whales vocally. We were shocked,
therefore, to learn about Canada's proposed position. We were even more
shocked to realise that it was being determined without anyone in the
British Columbia government being consulted... B.C. waters being the part
of Canada used by gray whales. Not only that, it seemed that the
bureaucrats in Canada's capital, Ottawa, who were making the decision
hadn't even consulted their own representative in British Columbia. A
rather mad scramble to inform people who should know began, and though we
don't know the details of what everyone did, something worked. On Friday
morning, at a public meeting in Hull, near Ottawa, Canada's CITES
representatives announced there had been a "typographical error" in the
draft document they'd circulated on Canada's positions for CITES 2000. The
word "not" should have been placed before the word "support". i.e. Canada
now OPPOSES the "downlisting" proposals for gray & minke whales. That's
great news, though we doubt the typo explanation. The accompanying text
carefully explains why Canada supports Japan & Norway. Besides, every
other draft recommendation used "oppose" to express the negative. We guess
"not support" will do just fine though. Thanks Canada! Of course, there's
a long way to go before Canada turns that "not support" into vocal
opposition to Japan & Norway's cynical manipulation of the CITES/IWC
agendas. Canada has no voice at the IWC, but it does have one at CITES.
Our job now is to see that Canada uses it to help whales. Meanwhile, our
thanks go to everyone who helped achieve this weeks step forward.

All in all, this was a pretty good week for us, and whales!

Our best wishes to you all,

Paul & Helena.Spong



March 3. 2000
Keiko, the orca star of Free Willy, has taken another step toward his potential release in his home waters.  He has swum from his floating pen into a netted-off area of Klettsvik Bay, Iceland.  He has been catching and eating live fish introduced to his pen.  Now he will have the opportunity to have contact with the ocean bottom and perhaps chase down wild fish.  If all continues to go well, the next stage if his release will be to the open sea. The final stage envisioned will be reunion with his kind.  He still speaks the local dialect according to his caretakers.  If you would like to receive news bulletins of his progress, sign up at www.oceanfutures.org.

March 2, 2000
San Ignacio Lagoon salt works cancelled.  Whale advocates  around the world breathed a grateful sigh of relief when they learned of the joint announcement by the Mexican agency and Japanese firm Mitsubishi that they had cancelled plans to build a giant salt evaporation plant near Mexico's Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve.  The lagoon is one of the last birthing places of gray whales and is home to black turtles, sea lions and other hard-pressed species.

February 4, 2000
Request to capture sea otters for Japanese aquaria denied. 
The US Fish and Wildlife Service turned down the request of the International Animal Consulting Group, Inc of Shadow Hills CA for permission to capture northern sea otters for shipment to two Japanese aquaria.  In view of the fact that two of the six otters captured and exported to Japan in October had died within days coupled with an outpouring of opposition from individuals and animal organizations in addition to the endangered status and recent population decline of this species, FWS refused to grant a permit.

January 22, 2000
SEA SHEPHERD BRAZIL VOLUNTEERS TAKE ON OIL SPILL
A seven-hour leak in a Petrobas pipeline has spilled 3,000 barrels of oil fouling 17 rivers and estuaries and 12 square miles of coastline at Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay.  Petrobas clean-up efforts underway do not include wildlife rescue and rehab, which will be undertaken by Sea Shepherd crews.  To assist the local branch, Sea Shepherd expects bring in its oiled wildlife rescue volunteers who assisted at the clean-up of the Erika tanker spill on the coast of France for the past three weeks.

"Our resources are nearing exhaustion, but we'll try to keep going for as long as we can, as long as we continue to get the outpouring of support from donors and volunteers that we've seen since the Erika disaster. We will save as many lives as we possibly can."

Sea Shepherd  Address: POBox 628   Venice CA 90294