Money, Money, Money

I leave for Japan on December 5^th.     

I have been asked if my presence in Taiji will make a difference.  Yes, it will.

The Cove Guardians are costing the Japanese a great deal of inconvenience and a lot of money.  In order to protect themselves from the Cove Guardians, the Japanese have a significant police presence, coast guard vessels, and a helicopter.  All this to defend themselves from a handful of people who have cameras and write blogs!

Some people do not have the mental or emotional capacity to view a whale or dolphin as anything more than a fish.  They will never understand that killing an intelligent, sentient creature or condemning it to a life of slavery in an amusement park is wrong.  These people believe that anything in the ocean can be taken with no regard for the irreparable damage that is being done. 

What does make sense to this type of person is money. Even the people in Japan who support the killing of whales and dolphins can only take that support so far when the financial costs far outweigh the gains.  

I am encouraged by recent developments with the Japanese whaling fleet.  As of December 1^st, they had not left Japan to poach protected Minke whales, endangered fin whales, and highly endangered humpback whales in the Southern Whale Sanctuary.      

It appears the whalers do not have a refueling vessel and can’t find anyone to provide the service.  As is the case with all bullies, they eventually run out of people to intimidate.  No one wants to be associated with the whaling fleet’s “research”.    

It is hard for the Institute for Cetacean Research, the financially and morally bankrupt organization that runs the whaling program, to buy support.  They are tens of millions of dollars in debt.

Sea Shepherd has cost them their profits by preventing them from catching their self-imposed quotas.   It will be impossible to keep pouring money into this losing venture. The same can happen in Taiji.   Perhaps money is the only thing they understand.

The Cove Guardians will keep up the pressure and their presence will continue to cost Taiji a great deal of money.  The Japanese people will eventually question if the money they spend to defend this barbaric practice is really worth it.

For the Oceans,

Janice