Posted by Dave (in New York)
Great news folks – Ecuador has rejoined the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and will be voting for the whales in Alaska this month. Ecuador’s joining a few other new pro-whaling faces at the IWC, like Peru, Costa Rica and Cyprus, as well as Nicaragua, which has gone from being a pro-whaling nation to a pro-whale nation since last year’s meeting!
Ecuador’s Pacific waters are amongst the richest waters in the world – every year, more than 4,000 humpback whales migrate 7000km north from Antarctica to breed and give birth near Ecuador, to places like the famous Galapagos Islands. The Japanese whaling fleet plans to kill 50 of these whales next year.
I’ve got to love the translation on Prensa Latina, which refers to “bent-dorsal-fin” whales, meaning humpbacks. Ouch!