Dead whale left outside embassy

[acmejack]

A huge beached whale has been dumped outside the Japanese embassy in Berlin. in a Greenpeace anti-whaling protest.

The controversial environmental activists hauled the fin whale to Berlin from the Baltic coast after finding it beached on a sandbank.

The dead whale measured 17 metres (56 ft) long and weighed 20 tons.

Activists are trying to demonstrate that there is no need to kill the mammals for research - as Japan does - because cadavers can be found.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4627178.stm

[DS1]

1. Nice!

:thumbsup:

[stepnw1f]

2. Very Cool (nt)

[Solly Mack]

3. I have got to get to Berlin more often

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Maybe it was a "Maximus Roveus".........

[hatrack]

5. Now THAT'S what I call a protest

:evilgrin:

[Tesha]

6. And here I was wishing it was Rush dumped outside the U.S. Embassy! (NT)

[Straight Shooter]

40. Nope.

Whales are benevolent creatures on the planet. ;)

[rogerashton]

7. As I understand it,

most whales killed by Japanese ships for "research" are actually eaten. I suppose you could call it market research.

[hatrack]

8. "Mmmm . . . PCBs and dioxin . . . mmmmmmmmmm!!"

(Insert Homer Simpson voice).

[Vogon_Glory]

43. Indeed. Whale Meat Isn't Safe Eating

I think that pro-cetacean advocates ought to make the point that eating whlae meat isn't really safe. Whales are too high up the oceanic food chain and are indeed loaded up with PCBs, dioxins, mercury, and other poisonous biproducts of our industrial civilization.

You don't have to be be a paid-up member of PETA to have that opinion, you can just look at the unpleasant facts.

[acmejack]

You are correct.

They are serving them at schools for lunch in an attempt to develop the children's taste for the meat. Pure evil!

[wordpix]

10. you don't need 935 minke whales for research!

"Japan is expected to kill 935 minke whales in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary during the first four months of 2006.


The whale got stuck in the Baltic's shallow waters
The International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, but Japan resumed whale hunting the following year. "

[Kagemusha]

14. OTOH the minke whales aren't endangered here.

There are many other whales that are faring far worse.

But no, I don't think 935 is a reasonable number for pure scientific research either. I don't bump into many people who do think so. I just would like to see science done service here so that this thing isn't even more of a rip-off than it already is.

I still don't approve of acts of terror on the high seas. I just find it moronically stupid that anyone who disagrees with such acts is expected to buy into stretching of the truth like this research issue. I know on message boards such expectations are a matter of course but, I sort of care about right and wrong about more than one issue at a time. It's a hard balance.

[Coventina]

17. Acts of terror like hunting an animal to exhaustion, then slowly killing

it over a period of several hours, literally ripping it to pieces alive?

[Kagemusha]

25. I don't want sailors freezing in Antarctic waters in addition to that.

Or put bluntly, two wrongs doesn't make a right.

[Coventina]

29. Put bluntly, the whalers deserve it.

They shouldn't be doing the horrible things they are doing.

Karma's a bitch sometimes.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

47. Ah, good old...

...abortion clinic bomber logic.

[Coventina]

50. There is absolutely NO comparison between the two activities.

I utterly reject your analogy.

[Zhade]

51. You should. It's a bullshit analogy.

For one thing, abortion clinics aren't breaking the law like the whalers are, so it's an utterly false analogy to make, and an intellectually dishonest one to boot.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

63. No, it's not.

Because, simply put, it's not up to YOU or ME or the fuckwits who bomb abortion clinics, or these high-seas morons to decide who is and is not breaking the law. And in both cases the vigilantes are themselves doing something illegal.

[Coventina]

64. AFAIAC, the "law" regarding whaling is completely irrelevant.

The international community as a whole has decided that whaling is both morally and environmentally wrong, and the so-called "legal" whaling that takes place was only put through because it was the only way to get Japan and Norway on board. Of course, there is a lot of evidence that Japan breaks their agreement every chance it gets, by taking whales that have not been approved.

So I say, if Japan feels it's open season on whales, then it's open season on Japanses whalers.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

65. Japan has done no such thing.

They are using a loophole in the existing statute to harvest a specified number of whales LEGALLY. I don't like it either, but I support changing the law, not ramming ocean-going vessels.

[Coventina]

66. Japan doesn't care about laws regarding whaling.

They only signed on to the international agreement because of the loophole that was specifically designed for them.

If that "loophole" was eliminated, they would simply withdraw from the treaty, and do whatever they want. They have no morality in this case.

[Ladyhawk]

84. A marine biologist I talked with said someone sneaked a DNA sample

from so-called "research" whale material. DNA examination confirmed the Japanese whalers had killed a blue whale.

This is only hearsay, but I knew poachers while growing up. I was raised by a poacher. They have absolutely no respect for laws or animal life, period. I wouldn't put it past whalers to kill an endangered species just so they could say (in secret circles) that they did it. A fundamentalist preacher I know used to brag about how he had killed a mountain lion that his dogs treed and just left it to rot. Very, very illegal here in California if you don't have a depredation permit. Poachers get off on their stupid power trips, but they are cowards. They only bully and kill those without a voice.

[Zhade]

74. Again, yeah, it's a difference.

Regardless of the illegal activities of the first party (bombers who kill or hardcore environmentalists that damage property), the thing they are opposing is legal in the first case and illegal in the second case (since whaling in the South Ocean Sanctuary in the numbers the Japanese ships are doing IS illegal).

That's why the analogy is a false one. I can't make it any clearer than that.

[JVS]

86. A difference that the person he was responding to doesn't care about

So I guess it can stand.

[JVS]

85. I thought the whole Karma thing was about vague retribution from above..

not a justification to fuck someone over.

Karma: asshole on freeway cuts me off, later that day he gets a flat tire from running over a nail

Not Karma: asshole on freeway cuts me off, and I shoot him.

[Kagemusha]

12. Though no reason a whale used for research can't also be eaten,

(I mean we're talking massive amounts of meat, the entirety of which is certainly not necessary for research - literally, how many tons of tissue sample do you need?)

there really needs to be proof offered that there is legitimate scientific research done. I want to see it. I want it in peer-reviewed journals, legitimately done and legitimately verified. The world is owed that much for approving this whale hunt against stiff opposition.

[wordpix]

19. how many minke whales migrate to this sanctuary, since you are such an

espert?

[Kagemusha]

23. Don't bother using me as a whipping post for aggression.

FYI, I heard the numbers are supposedly 800,000 worldwide. Even if they're 200% off that's still 400,000 worldwide. So this hunt is a drop in the bucket.

Your narrowing the question to this sanctuary leaves me at a complete loss because I'm not an expert. And of course, I'm sure you expected as much. I just don't find it to be the point.

[wordpix]

27. I am not whipping, I really want to know. Link to your 800K figure, pleas

[Kagemusha]

30. Wait just a darn minute. It's not "my" 800k figure.

I think it bears repeating I don't come onto DU looking for fights to "win" them because I don't think there is a point in "winning" debates like this.

My understanding is that environmentalists reject the 800k figure without bothering to make their own estimate because to them even one whale is too high. If that's not good enough, there's always Google. I'm satisfied that there's not 2000 Minke whales on Earth and the Japanese are hunting almost 50% of them... however much the "research" issue may or may not be a joke.

[wordpix2]

55. you put out "800K" minke whales in S. Antarctic Sanctuary, Post #23

On DU, custom is to give source when requested (such as when you write you heard there are 800,000 minkes in sanctuary. See your own post #23). You haven't given the source, even though I asked.

Your 800K whale number has no credible source and I don't believe that number. The Japanese are killing 900 minke whales in a 4-month period and we don't know the number of whales in that ocean. Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace contest this is illegal slaughter since it's not research---NO ONE kills 900 minke whales for "research." I agree with these credible non-profit groups.

I support both organizations wholeheartedly in their methods to bring this issue to public attention to stop the slaughter.

BOYCOTT JAPANESE PRODUCTS TO STOP THE WHALE KILLING IN THE S. ANTARCTIC INTERNATIONAL SANCTUARY

[rogerashton]

44. Whales are long-living slow-reproducing animals so

roughly 1000 out of 800000 is NOT a drop in the bucket. An increase of mortality of 1.25 per thousand, continued over years, really could make the difference between extinction and survivial.

For the human population this is equivalent to about 7.5 million extra deaths per year. Population of Switzerland. How does that sound: this year we will exterminate Switzerland, next year Austria, Bulgaria the year after that. Why worry: it's just a drop in the bucket. How does that sound?

[The Stranger]

68. Wow. Excellent post.

[quaoar]

22. What I would like to know

is what sort of "research" they do with these whales and why killing them is necesaary to do it?

[Kagemusha]

24. As I just finished saying, I'd like to know too. In legit journals.

If this is all just a big game to hunt these whales for the commercial market, I'd like to see evidence of that. My not being an expert (see posts above) cuts both ways: I have to be a heavy skeptic that there's legitimate research here. If there is, let's see it.

[arikara]

39. What sort of "research"

could be classed as legitimate? There is none that justifies killing or harming them. Whales are intelligent creatures, certainly more so than their hunters and those that advocate hunting them for ANY reason.

[MrPrax]

34. Why?

Can't eat them unless they are dead...there is no scientific validity whatsoever...but then again what scientific study is involved in drift net fishing.

It has become very obvious that other than Greenpeace, few so-called enivironmental groups have the bothered to get tough with Japan.

(mind you Japan gets a free ride over quite a few things that usually leaves social democrats livid in any other context...like kidnapping women, raping them repeatedly and then refusing to even admit it about it as a war atrocity)

[0007]

31. Whale blubber is delicious !

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

35. so is Kitten--mmmm moist and tender

[Kolesar]

38. I think you figured it out

[wordpix]

9. Greenpeace, you rock!

[The Stranger]

11. Kick and recommend for greatest.

[Coventina]

13. Right on!!!

Greenpeace makes a very good point.

The poor, unfortunate whales who become beached should be their subjects of "research".

They have NO EXCUSE to kill!

[liberal N proud]

15. Creative!

All I can do when I hear stories like this is laugh and think how very creative people can be.

[The White Tree]

16. Dead Whales Stink!!!

Seriously,

I once helped a group from the University of Florida flense a Cuviers Beaked Whale that had washed up in New Smyrna Beach. It had been buried in the sand for about a week but the smell of that oily flesh is one of the nastiest things I've had the pleasure of smelling in my life.

And becuase it's so oily it gets on everything and is hard to get off. A week later I was in the lab and I pulled out one of the stainless steel knives that I had used and it still had a stink on it, and I cleaned that thing good.

[AndyTiedye]

60. It's Probably Just About Frozen By Now

-8°

[LiberalEsto]

18. Don't tell me -- they ran out with their chopsticks

and dug right in, didn't they?

Pass the tamari sauce, and thank you, Greenpeace, for the tasty dinner.

[wordpix]

20. although I love my Honda, a boycott of Japanese products seems like the

thing to do

[ShadesOfGrey]

28. I agree! Count me in! n/t

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

33. I'm In

[wordpix]

45. i will email Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd to get it organized, come on, DU

join in

BOYCOTT JAPAN TO SAVE WHALES

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

48. .......... GREAT---- Let's do it-----keep us posted-!! .......... n/t

[wordpix]

70. just wrote Greenpeace & asked it to put "Boycott" banner above dead whale

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

75. cool!! good job !!

[AndyTiedye]

52. There Is One American-Made Hybrid (The Ford Escape Hybrid)

If you want a hybrid that is made here, not in Japan,
you can get the Ford Escape Hybrid
(or the Mecury Mariner hybrid, which is the same except for some trim)

http://www.fordvehicles.com/escapehybrid/

[wordpix2]

57. thanks for the hybrid, Ford, now how a hybrid car like Civic or Prius?

Also, thanks, Andy

[AndyTiedye]

62. Alas, Ford's Director of Hybrid Programs Left the Company

The Associated Press (AP) recently reported the resignation late last week of Ford Motor Company director of hybrid programs Mary Ann Wright, a decision Ford spokesperson Oscar Suris maintains will not affect the company's planned hybrid expansion.

According to AP, Wright, who was also the chief engineer behind Ford's Escape Hybrid, will leave her post in the next few weeks, at which point the company's small vehicle engineering director Nancy Gioia will assume her responsibilities.

AP noted that Wright had worked for Ford since 1988 and was recently involved in the company's hybrid electric vehicle consumer clinics and its delivery of a Ford Focus fuel cell vehicle to the California Air Resources Board. Gioia has worked for the automaker since 1982, previously serving in a variety of engineering capacities.
http://www.allbusiness.com/periodicals/article/600239-1.html

[leftchick]

21. Photo...

Very creative.

[Kellanved]

26. The Spiegel story has a few more:

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,396081,00.html

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

32. it's Enviro Terrorism! It's Mental Terrorism! it's Enviro-mental Terrorism

Dignified Japanese Diplomats should be furious!!!-
When Japanese Whale Ships kill whales in protected waters
they are NOT terrorizing the environment for profit!!

It's those who are causing a fuss who are terrorizing the environment!

Whales are just big fish!
I love to go fishing.

They are just doing research to see how much meat is on a whale.


sarcsm off

[CottonBear]

36. Will it explode like that whale being transported in Taiwan(?) last year?

For some reason, a dead whale was being taken on a large flatbed trailer to a facility in a large city. Perhaps it was being taken to study for research purposes. Anyway, gasses built up and it exploded putrid whale innards all over store fronts, cars, mopeds and the street. Ewww!

There were pictures of the mess. :( Perhaps the Berlin whale will explode on the Japanese embassy. ;)

[Kellanved]

37. Unlikely: -8° Centigrade

And snow. ;-)

[CottonBear]

46. Good point! I'm here in the relatively balmy Southern USA state of GA

where it will be over 60 degrees Farenheit today! :)

BTW, I visited Berlin back in 1991. Fascianting city. I loved the museum in East Berlin that housed entire ancient temples! Amazing!
None of the redevelopment of the east/west boundary line had yet taken place. I had to go over to the East German side of the city to another train station in order to catch a train to Prague. I'm sure the city is quite different now! I lived in Germany as a child and very much enjoyed my time there in 1991. I must say that Munchen is my favorite German city that I visited. :)

[BrotherBuzz]

53. Maybe some terrorists will blow it up with the same unintended results....

the Oregon Highway Division experienced in 1970. LOL, BOOM!



It was back in November of 1970 when a dead whale washed ashore on a beach near Florence, Oregon. Unable to find a use for it, and unsure how best to dispose of it, the Department of Transportation decided it was going to blow it up.

Why?

The Oregon Highway Division not only had a whale of a problem on its hands, but a stinky whale of a problem: What to do with one 45-foot, 8-ton whale, dead on arrival on the beach near Florence.

It had been so long since a whale had washed up in Lane County, that no one could remember how to get rid of one.

In selecting its battle plan, the Highway Division decided the carcass couldn't be buried because it might be uncovered, it couldn't be cut up and then buried because no one wanted to cut it up, and it couldn't be burned, so dynamite it was -- some 20 cases, or a half ton of it.

Anything left over, officials reasoned, would be taken care of by seagulls and other scavengers.

And so, with dozens of bystanders watching from a distance, the DOT lit off the dynamite, sending thousands of whale blubber and bits skyward.

Of course, they forgot an important law of gravity: What goes up, must come down.

Sure enough, a few moments later, it was raining whale blubber. And not just tiny bits, but huge chunks. One huge chunk landed on a parked car over a quarter mile away, destroying its roof. Fortunately, no one was injured, but everyone was covered with bits and pieces of dead whale.

Needless to say, Oregon has not blown up a whale since.

http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=28338

[NYC]

59. I had forgotten about that.

I saw some pictures of it. Quite a mess.

The Berlin Wall has been replaced by the Berlin Whale?

[f-bush]

41. Excellent Good way to make a statement

We should be doing that to our White House and every American Embassy around the world!

[formercia]

42. A dead Minke is small enough to be carried on an aircraft.

Any ideas? :)

[greiner3]

49. Japan sucks! n/t

[wordpix2]

56. LET'S BOYCOTT IT

[wordpix2]

54. hahahaha, Greenpeace told authorities it would take whale to Oceanographic

Inst. in Germany, as authorities pondered what to do with its beached whale. Greenpeace took it to Japanese Embassy, instead. Great story with photos on Olbermann/MSNBC.

Go, Keith Olbermann! You are seeing the truth.

Please! Boycott Japanese products to give "Whalemeat Capital of the World" a message about killing hundreds of Minke Whales "for research" in the South Antartic Whale Sanctuary.

sigh. I guess this is a trend,
since the corporatists are also after the Arctic Nat'l Wildlife Refuge

[LeftyMom]

58. That's so great!

:yourock: :woohoo:

[leesa]

61. Well, now ther's a feat!

Good job!

[wordpix]

67. self delete

[wordpix]

69. Canada Dismisses Charges Against Captain Paul Watson---good news!

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_060119_2.html

snip:

01/19/2006 printer-friendly version


Canada Dismisses Charges Against Captain Paul Watson

The Canadian Federal Prosecutor in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island has dismissed all charges against Captain Paul Watson under the Canada Shipping Act.

The dismissal of the charges come only three days after the acquittal of Captain Watson under Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) regulations for approaching within a half a nautical mile of a seal hunt without a permit. That verdict also established that Captain Watson had a legal right to approach the seal hunt onboard his ship the Farley Mowat.
snip:

“My crew were attacked on the ice by sealers and struck with sealing clubs,” said Captain Watson. “In response to our official complaint to lay charges against the sealers, the government arrested eleven of my crew and me for witnessing a seal being killed and then charged me with what amounts to harassment charges under the Canada Shipping Act. The Canadian government has been abusing their authority for decades in their attempts to prevent me from opposing sealing, whaling, and illegal fishing. They have absolutely refused to charge the sealers claiming our presence on the ice provoked the sealers to violence.”

Despite having video footage of the assault by the sealers on the Farley Mowat crew, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police refused to lay charges against the sealers. Instead, the government charged Captain Paul Watson with violations of Transport Canada regulations and now admits they had no evidence to do so. The Canadian government is being abusive with their authority and the Federal prosecutor is more motivated by politics than by evidence.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society continues to oppose the annual East coast slaughter of harp seals.

[ShadesOfGrey]

72. Thank you for the update! That IS good news... But,

I'd like to know why the sealers that attacked them weren't charged!!!

:grr:

[Strathos]

71. Do you ever want to just throw up your hands and quit?

I swanny I don't know what else can be done. All the reports that Rove will go down have led to nothing. All the people that Abramoff bribed are still sitting pretty. I don't think one conservative, true conservative, not neocon, cares about the environment or really anything other than money and making more of it.

Are these forums good enough? Are we typing just to hear the sound our keyboards make?

What is being done? What is truly being done to make America what its supposed to instead of what its becoming?

Sorry folks, just feeling a little defenseless today and unsure if we're really doing anything other than having bitch sessions.

[wordpix]

73. these boards are good for laughs and info, even tho much of the news is

depressing. I'm sticking

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

76. you are right--something struck me today

I went to court to pay a traffic fine (red light changed in mid-intersection)
--it's costing me 186 dollars plus the cost of traffic school to get it off my record--
I realized that the ONLY thing that keeps people driving in a somewhat safe and orderly fashion is the MONEY!!
They have to shell out "MONEY" if they violate the traffic laws.

So...my point-->"
We can affect any situation if we as a group decide to
"reward" and "deny" money toward companies/countries that contribute to the
exploitation and destruction of our planet.

It is a matter of organizing to the point of power.
Any efforts to do this on a large scale would likely be met with violent opposition (corporate organized crime)
So it would take some real guts and some real "protection" to pull it off.

I'm hoping some kind of organized response may actually happen sometime in the near future!

You wanna watch things change FAST ? money talks to these greedy companies.

[Strathos]

77. Now you're thinking.

But what could be the catalyst for such an undertaking?

How could such an huge task be accomplished when the majority of Americans seem to not really give a damn.

I agree 100% though. Get 'em in the pocketbook/wallet, and you can accomplish most anything.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

79. I thought about this some more-no one thinks it affects them personally

Can we really afford to allow our fate to rest on the good judgement of profiteers and corporations?

It seems like average people only stop their routines and go out of their way if they see that something directly affects them.
If the media pushed environmental preservation as much as they do the "terrorism" then maybe people
would participate.
People need to be informed (if they weren't paying attention in 5th grade science class)
that once certain things happen (like extinction of a species) there's no recovery-it's too late.

If people only knew how close we are to destroying the food chain (the ocean and what's left of the rain forrest as well)
and knew that if that if certain things are allowed to happen, then total destruction would befall this planet,
- then some people may get "worried" enough to do something.
Maybe their personal jobs and careers and hobbies would go on hold?
Maybe they'd join in together to take back control of our earth's destiny?



But it seems unlikely that those with money and power would ever allow the masses to rise up.
They have control of the propaganda machine...They'd tell everyone to go shopping on Doomsday.

[Strathos]

82. They'll never promote the destruction of the Earth

First of all, Christians believe that the world can only get worse, and some of them are glad to make it it happen quicker so that they can have their "second coming" a little sooner.
Secondly, the government will never tell the public that our fish are dying or our land is becoming invaluable for planting and growing simply because there's too much BIG BUSINESS involved with those industries. They need those industries to make more money to make more greed to make more to have more to be better than anyone else.

They'll never learn until its too late.

[sakabatou]

78. Woah!

[buddysmellgood]

80. I wish I could make a point like that.

[fujiyama]

81. This was a clever protest

:thumbsup: for greenpeace!

[Ladyhawk]

83. Fin whale = second largest animal on the planet.

I hope they enjoy the stench.