What's PEGGY OKI up to?

The only female "Z-Boy" on the original Zephyr skateboard team has never slowed down when it comes to the whales. Most importantly at the moment:

• Free Lolita the lone Orca, over 46 Years in an illegal tank!
www.origamiwhalesproject.org/lolita



---------------------

With an appreciation of flow and motion Peggy's life has been always been driven by passion. From surfing and skateboarding to the intimate appreciation what she calls the 'Cetacean Nation'. Discovering the transformative force of participation artwork through her Origami Whales project was the first step to realising that passion could be harnessed, amplified and ultimately inspire for a deeper purpose.

Surfer, Skateboarder, Artist and Activist.
Once the only female member of the famous Zephyr Skateboard team from documentary 'Dogtown and Z-Boys': Peggy’s love of the outdoors inspires her to travel worldwide in search of good surf. In 2004, she founded the Origami Whales Project to raise awareness about commercial whaling. She has also developed the Whales and Dolphins Ambassador Program and led campaigns such as ‘Let’s Face It’, which petitions to save New Zealand’s critically endangered Maui’s dolphins and Hector’s dolphins.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Check out Peggy's own website http://www.peggyoki.com

PROPELLED BY PASSION Peggy Oki interview in Paradigm Magazine

from PARADIGM magazine

“I just feel that there is so much beauty and life here that we are so blessed to have on this Earth that we all live on.”
- Peggy Oki

Introduction by Lee Nentwig
Interview by Lee Nentwig & Theo Constantinou

When the legendary Zephyr Skate Team emerged from California in the mid-1970’s they did not shift the paradigm, they shattered through it! The Z-Boys skated with a style so gritty, so raw, so gutsy, and so pure that it could not be measured by the conventional criteria of the era. For the Dogtown crew, there were zero precedents to follow and zero limitations to obey. A true sense of freedom could be felt and admired in their skating because they were driven by an intuitive passion that shined through.

That same wave of passion continues to propel the Zephyr Team’s only female member, Peggy Oki, in her endeavors today. After her competitive skating career ended, Oki continued to pursue her own path. Combining her artistic talents with her love for nature and wildlife, she has now devoted herself to creative activist projects that raise awareness and appreciation for our planet. Programs such as her Origami Whales Project and the Whales & Dolphins Ambassador Program not only educate youth about our planet and our fellow inhabitants, they encourage youth to utilize their own unique individual creative abilities to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Whether through skateboarding, art, or wildlife activism, it is a radiant vitality that distinguishes Peggy Oki as a pioneer. She lives in sincere devotion to her awe and passion for life and commits whole-heartedly to following her own path. In doing so, her sense of joy resonates in those around her as she inspires us all to follow our own bliss along the paths we each pursue.

______________________________________

Lee: Not only were you the only female skater with the skills to skate with the Zephyr team, but in your earliest skate competitions the other female skaters even protested against you because of your raw, gritty style of skating, claiming that you skated too much like the men. Based on these experiences, it would seem that you were a bit of an outcast in some regards, but you had the courage, will, and tenacity to maintain and strive to be the strongest version of yourself. Could you discuss the effects that these types of experiences may have had in making you the woman that you now are?

Well, I would say that it strengthened my sense to believe in what I thought was the right thing to do and that has always been a driving force in my actions. So even after I left the skateboard competition scene and went on towards my studies and learning about the different things that were happening to the environment and threatening dolphins and whales and other forms of life on the planet, I felt very compelled to, no matter how adverse the circumstances have been, stand my ground for animal life.</blockquote>

Jay Adams & Peggy Oki circa '74 (Photograph by C.R. Stecyk III from the book, DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys)

Theo: Through yoga I have learned that you must learn to live your inner life without undue tension. Introspection can mean enlightenment, but it can also mean self-destruction. In the process of learning who you are and what you are, there may come a time when you may not like what you see, and deep down you can become your own harshest critic. A high level of introspection can be constructive, but it can also by destructive. How do you systematically start to change, develop, and grow?

I think that it is a life long challenge to learn to know when your mind needs to be quieter and to grant yourself that by doing things that give you a balance. For me, yoga is a great way to quiet my mind because I become internally more focused on the yoga. The same is true for me with the physical activities that I like to do – the surfing, and the rock climbing, and the skating, and cycling – all of those things require focus and give my mind a break.

L: For someone like yourself, very ambitious in everything that you strive to accomplish and challenge yourself with, all of these things – yoga, skating, surfing, biking – help to let go and I think it’s very significant to let go at points in life and not get too caught up. It sort of puts things into perspective and you’ve got to kind of laugh at yourself once in a while. Yeah, keep striving to get better and better and better, but you’re always going to get knocked down. Just take a breathe and let things go because it’s not going to go your way all of the time and things are bigger than yourself, so break that ego. It’s good to fall on your ass off the skateboard or have a bad day out on the waves…

And it’s an amazing thing when we let go of our attachments and expectations such as going out surfing and saying to yourself, “Well, I’m just going to go out and see what I get and have fun!” It’s not about the mindset of, “I’m going to go out and get all the best waves!” And it’s amazing how much better it can be when you just release yourself from those expectations.

L: It’s an extremely marvelous and uplifting sensation to begin to really consider the symbiotic marvel of life. Everything, past and present, correlates and resonates to make life possible in this moment on this planet. Not only every human being, but every plant, every insect, every bird in the sky, and every fish swimming at the deepest depths of our ocean plays an integral role in the cooperative process of life on this planet. Can you discuss the inspiration that has driven your work as a marine wildlife activist?

Well, I’m a total natural history nerd (laughs). I am fascinated when I learn about things, not necessarily about marine species alone, but whenever I learn about the life-forms on this planet I am in awe! Because it’s not just one creature that has unique qualities or survival features or behavior, it’s how beautiful all animals can be. And I get chills, I feel so amazed, and I really appreciate these things! I feel that for whatever life-forms there may be in this entire universe, and there could be limitless life out there, I really feel so grateful to be alive on this planet and I treasure this planet for being home to such a diverse range of life – it’s just so inspiring to me. I just feel that there is so much beauty and life here that we are so blessed to have on this Earth that we all live on. It’s endless beauty, and there are so many beautiful natural places – waterfalls, deserts, and mountains and then a whole undersea world of coral reefs and kelp forests. I am constantly in a state of awe as I continue to learn more and more about all of these things and what continues to be discovered and revealed about all different kinds of life-forms.

For example, take a look at cephalopods, the squid and the octopi, and the more and more that scientists are revealing about their behavior and the sense of intelligence of these beings – it’s just mind-blowing! To me, it’s all so precious and when I see things happening that are destroying the life on this planet it gets to my heart. It’s heartbreaking because we are so blessed to be here and it seems that humanity is just not fully respecting and appreciating nature the way that it needs to in order to continue. There’s talk that we are entering the sixth mass extinction of life on this planet and it’s sad to think of the extinction of any species on this planet… except for maybe mosquitos and leeches (laughs). And I know that those creatures also have a role, so I can’t give them a hard time. But I just see that this planet is so amazing – the stones on this earth, the gems, the water, the ice, all of the magnificent life-forms in the Arctic, and glaciers, and icebergs, it is truly awesome!

L: I agree, and it’s so wonderful to hear you speak about these things with such vigor and enthusiasm. As you were saying, I think appreciation and gratitude are so important because you just sit back and you are in awe about how astonishing everything around you really is and you’re humbled to be a part of it.

It really is, I mean every single life-form is truly amazing, you know? Millions and millions of years of evolution to become what these different beings are today, it is fascinating. To me, in learning about dolphins and whales, and their social intelligence, as well as elephants and other animals, there is so much more to learn about and probably learn from these animals that we humans just seem to overlook. We’ve got to lose this human, it’s all about me, anthropocentric attitude or we’re going to lose so much of the beauty that is here and ultimately the quality of life is just going to deteriorate to… who knows? Who knows if humans can survive without whales and dolphins and corals, our ocean, and clean air and water?

Theo: I recently found this poem by Alberto Caeiro which correlates with your work, it reads:

If sometimes I say that flowers smile
And if I should say that rivers sing,
It’s not because I think there are smiles in flowers,
And song in the rivers’ flowing …
It’s so I can help misguided men
Feel the truly real existence of flowers and rivers
Since I write for them to read me, I sometimes stoop
To the stupidity of their senses …
It isn’t right, but I excuse myself,
Because I’ve only taken on this odious role, an interpreter of Nature,
Because there are men who don’t grasp its language,
Which is no language at all.

From what we’ve been discussing, I’m curious to hear your reaction to Caeiro’s words. Can you talk about how you interpret this poem and how it relates to the responsibility that you have taken on in becoming a wildlife activist? What thoughts and emotions does this poem makes you feel as relates to your own efforts as a wildlife activist? And what do you think Caeiro is speaking about in regards to helping misguided men and women feel the truly real existence of flowers and rivers?

I interpret this poem as saying that each person as an individual, whether it’s Alberto Caeiro or another poet, or another painter, or myself, has our own sense of perception of nature, beauty, and joy that we experience and a hope that we may try to relay that beauty and transmit it so that other people, especially those that are abusive of the Earth, will hopefully begin to share that sense of love and feeling for it and then begin to understand that need to protect it. And it’s a real challenge, I think, to change people’s perceptions, but it’s got to be done somehow. Many do not see the precious nature of this Earth and its living beings and only, I would say, a false sense of beauty in life – which are materialistic things that aren’t really so meaningful. And I can’t determine what’s beautiful for one person versus what’s beautiful for another, I really don’t want to sound critical of people who chose a more materialistic path, but I know that speaking for myself, boy, the feeling that I get when I’m out in the desert looking at that open space, the magnificent rock formations, or seeing the colors in sky, the clouds, and breathing fresh, clean air… I just wouldn’t get that inside of some multi-million dollar house! And again, I don’t want to sound judgmental or critical and call them “misguided” men or women, but I really feel that in order for this planet to keep going that the greed and the sense of values has got to shift.


(For more information regarding the “Free Lolita” campaign and how you can help, please visit here.)

L: Certainly, and understanding that we’re not in control, that there are significant things far beyond ourselves. I think that part of the awe, which we discussed earlier, is knowing that we’re not responsible for this. As much as we may want to hold onto things and accumulate in life, and achieve, and earn, and build ourselves up…nature, this planet, and this universe ultimately existed long before us and it will go on long without us. Maybe it’s just a motivation to open your eyes and the eyes of a few around you to all that this moment really is. All that you accumulate, all of the material wealth that you may compile in your lifetime, the giant house, the car…it’s not going to mean much after your dying day.

It’s a very interesting thing, the obsession of humans for possession, the idea that if one has more, then one will be happier and people will appreciate this perception of wealth. This kind of mentality is really leading to the demise of this planet as well as sociologically… it’s really not helping.

L: So whether it’s skateboarding, art, or wildlife activism, you have chosen to live your life as trailblazer who continues to explore, evolve, innovate, and pave new paths for others to follow. What advice would you lend to future generations of ambitious youth, aspiring to set out on their own paths?
Well, because of my fame through Dogtown and having been on the Zephyr team, I’ve been invited to do a lot of public speaking. And while some people want to hear about the skateboarding, I feel that it is really important to inspire everyone. So when I give my talks I talk about my background and then I also share about those who inspired me – leaders, artists, and activists who are doing things to evoke love for this planet, people like Bob Talbot, the Dalai Lama, Jean Cousteau, different people that have really moved me and have all followed their own paths towards their passion and have been in service, which to me is such an ultimate blessing, to be able to do that.

When I talk to people I tell them to really try to find what their passion is, to follow that, and to try to be of service. Really think about what you can do that will help make the world a better place. Even if someone is working a “regular” job, perhaps as a plumber or a bookkeeper, no matter the type of work, there has got to be some ability that they have to help make a contribution. For people who really do feel that they have a passion for something, whether it’s helping wildlife, or animals that are in shelters, or people who want to do beach clean ups, or re-vegetating areas that have been cleared and need to be replanted, or helping the elderly, or getting involved with youth groups to keep our youth on a healthy path… I believe that everything is connected in one way or the other and that whatever good energy is put out there, it is all contributing in one way or another to the greater good.



L: Like all parts of nature, human beings alike, each individual has something different to offer to the greater whole.

Yep, that’s what I believe! I believe that people will find their own power and willingness to do something and make the most of their lives. And again, I don’t want to sound judgmental or overly critical, but too much television time is a disappointment! If someone really thought about how many hours they actually spend watching the television versus doing something that’s truly productive (laughs)… that would be a good thing for people to think about!

When I meet people that are at the end of high school or just entering into college, I may ask what their major is and they’ll tell me what it is, or maybe they’ll tell me that they don’t know and I just say that it’s all good. Just continue to follow what you’re interested in, even if it may seem like a strange combination of interests or you’re not so certain. As long as you explore and continue to search for what’s for you, that’s just the path that you’re walking and eventually things will come together. That’s how it worked for me. I studied field biology because I was really interested in natural history and animal behavior, and then I was also studying art before that. Then, through my own life and path, the two things, which some may seem opposites, have come together into environmental art! So life is interesting and whatever those passions are, as long as people follow them, they’ll have the tools and they’ll put something together.

Take, for example, my Whales and Dolphins Ambassador Program that formed as a result of my Origami Whales Project. It’s an environmental art project that came as a result of a thought five years ago that besides the whaling, there are so many other things that are harming life in the ocean and I felt that I needed to do the whole cause justice and lend help! So I teach kids about all of the different things that are threatening and how we as humans are impacting the lives of these dolphins and whales and marine life, and the things that we can do with art and in personal life choices that can reduce our impact and help.

For further information about Peggy Oki’s artwork, wildlife activism, and public speaking please visit Peggy Oki's official website.

"SeaWorld, ‘Blackfish’ and the Corporate Abuse of Captive Whales"

Big Marine Parks are Abusing Orcas… Here’s Why We Need to Evolve and Stop Enslaving Marine Mammals

by Amy Nicole from UltraCulture.org

At the end of the SeaWorld show, the crowd leaves and goes home. The trainers get into their street clothes, jump into their cars and drive home to friends and family. But Tilikum the orca, and others like him, cannot go home. Tilikum is left alone, floating motionless in a silent, barren, chemically treated concrete tank very far from home, perhaps looking up at the moon and feeling its tidal pull, perhaps dreaming of his family and what it would be like to swim and swim, without any walls or barriers. When the sun comes up, though, he will still be there. And when you’ve finished reading this, he will still be there.

Tilikum is an orca, or killer whale, that was captured in wild Icelandic waters in 1983 at age two. After being brutally taken from his matrilineal family group, Tilikum was sent to live in a sea park in British Columbia, Canada. There, a trainer accidentally fell into the tank Tilikum shared with two other orcas and was “tossed about” by the three killer whales, until her corpse was recovered by park staff. Tilikum was then shipped to Sea World in Orlando Florida, where he has remained, being forced to perform circus tricks for crowds and routinely having his sperm “harvested” for the park’s breeding purposes.

The Orcinus orca (genus name meaning “kingdom of the dead”) is actually part of the oceanic dolphin family, and is made up of the three subspecies: resident, transient and offshore. Residents are fish eating whales that stay with their mothers for life, in tightly knit family groups called matrilines. They gather with close family members in “pods”, which are four to five matrilines combined. “Clans” consist of a few pods combined, and “communities” are a group of clans. Resident killer whales never stray from their social structures and will only mate with individuals from different pods. Their vocalizations are complex and family specific, and share little with transient whales who eat marine mammals and have a completely different social structure, dialect and culture. 2 million years ago these subspecies parted ways, and genetic data shows that although residents and transients live in the same areas, they avoid each other, and have not interbred for 10,000 years.

That is, until the SeaWorld theme park decided they would take the sperm of a transient whale and artificially inseminate a resident whale. The resulting births were difficult. One mother refused to feed her baby and became aggressive with trainers and other whales. Another died while giving birth in a painful twenty-four hour labor. She was only twenty years of age, and this was her fourth calf, something unheard of in the wild, as resident whales only start reproducing at age fifteen, and spend up to five years with each calf.

Orcas normally swim up to 100 miles per day in the open ocean, spending most of that time with their families. In captivity they spend most of their time totally alone or grouped with unfamiliar whales with whom they share no ancestral, social or vocal similarities. The acoustically dead tanks are prison-like, and many orcas lash out and ram each other, as Kandu V did in 1989 at SeaWorld California, severing an artery in the process. She bled to death in front of the audience for 45 minutes, spraying blood out of her blowhole. It was the 4,332nd day of her captivity in a tank.



Nobody is This Stupid… Right?

I remember going to SeaWorld in Florida when I was a kid. I was initially excited to see the animals, but the shows seemed sad to me. It felt corny, canned and overdone. “Nobody is this stupid,” I thought, “especially the whales.” I could feel that even as an eight year old. Yet after decades of the orca’s documented physical, mental and emotional suffering, humans still insist on keeping and breeding killer whales in tanks to entertain ourselves. One must ask the question: Why? Why is it that the most fundamentally offensive and obscene ideas still persist in a culture that fancies itself sophisticated, scientifically advanced and fair?

These great beasts break their teeth trying to chew through crude metal grates we put up to keep them trapped. Their teeth are then drilled through to remove the rotten portions. Their mouths are washed out three times a day to prevent bacterial infections. Antibiotics are hidden in their frozen food rations. Many of them get the infections anyway and die. But we’re sophisticated, scientifically advanced and fair enough to have whale cum on reserve, that we gathered without their permission so that we can create new inbred whales for new monstrous “shows.”

And, oh, what shows they are. Seizure inducing lights, screaming guitar solos, and armies of trainers withholding food until the right tricks are performed on cue with the cymbal crash… that’s not an accurate portrait of ocean life. There’s something very wrong here if we as a species are just now getting around to realizing this is shameful. It illustrates, again, just how deep our species-ism is. How low we’ve sunk in the race to the bottom.



In Indonesia and the Philippines, people catch dolphins, put them into small tanks in pick-up trucks and drive them to parking lots as displays for the on-looking humans. The majority of the dolphins die from the shock. One particular story recounted how a dolphin gave birth in such a parking lot tank, and both parent and baby died. The people then went back to the ocean to kidnap another unlucky dolphin. We hear a story like this and are disgusted, yet we allow places like SeaWorld, Seaquarium or Marineland to exist. Why? Because they have fancier tanks? Fancier lights, seats and memorabilia? Or is it just better PR?

The Loneliest Whale in the World

Lolita was captured on a tragic day off the coast of Washington state in 1970. Workers from that incident recount crying as the screaming baby whales were lifted out of the ocean for the last time. One mother and four other adolescents drowned trying to free themselves from the nets and bomb blasts. The workers were told to slice them open, fill their bodies with rocks and anchors and sink them, disposing of the evidence. Miraculously, their bodies washed ashore months later. The public was outraged, but the Miami Seaquarium was happy to show off their live catch: southern resident killer whale Lolita and a male southern resident named Hugo, who was captured earlier. Since they were from the same family, they began calling to each other from their tanks, and were eventually put together. They became close mates, but Hugo would often ram the windows and walls of the pool out of frustration. After ten years he finally killed himself in this manner, trying to escape his prison cell.

Lolita, who was found bumping up against his lifeless body, was forced to perform the very next day. She has been alone ever since, and is now forty-two. Her pool is only twenty feet deep; yet she is twenty-two feet long, so her tail drags on the bottom of the tank when popping up to eat fish. Her mother and pod members who share her same dialect are still alive off the Washington coast, and have been awarded endangered species status. Lolita was omitted from this ruling, and there are lawsuits raging to free her. She has been called the loneliest whale in the world.

Due to his infamous 2010 attack on late trainer Dawn Brancheau, Tilikum was relegated to solitary confinement as well. SeaWorld claims he “got confused” and pulled her pony tail underwater, mistaking it for a toy. But Tilikum’s toys were all plastic, and Dawn didn’t merely drown: her scalp was ripped off, along with her left arm, and her vertebrae were snapped. Orcas have an instinct to hunt and kill, and they are being driven mad in these gaudy sea circuses.

A year after the incident, Tilikum was living each day isolated from the other whales, completely without toys, stimulation, or even a sunshade; he was seen listlessly bobbing for ten hours in a tank. As the “Believe” show went on without him, he floated by the gate of his pool looking out towards the other whales who were leaping and cavorting for fish. Although Tilikum may never get to go fully back to the wild due to his damaged teeth, he could clearly be released to a coastal sea pen that would allow some sort of semblance of normalcy. Yet the theme park refuses to retire him, preferring instead to extract his sperm for future captive cetaceans. This magnificent beast, 12,000 pound Tilikum, has been thrown under the bus by SeaWorld.

There are many other killer whales SeaWorld keeps hostage, knowing their pods still exist and they could go home. Release or rehabilitation is the only answer a sane, sophisticated and fair society should accept. Research has shown that female orcas can live up to ninety years in the wild, the males around sixty. Yet in captivity the average lifespan is less than twenty years, in some cases less than ten. Drs. Jett and Ventre, former SeaWorld trainers, assert, “a review of the scientific literature suggests that very little new knowledge is being generated as a result of orca captivity… The time has come to evolve beyond keeping killer whales confined in small, unnatural spaces, purely for entertainment purposes.”



In fact, things are looking quite grim for the marine theme park industry today: numerous trainer attacks and deaths, negative press, OSHA rulings, USDA-APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) reports, and damning evidence from whistleblowers have all lined up against the sea circuses. In addition, numerous high profile documentaries (one, Lolita: Slave to Entertainment, on Lolita’s plight, and the other, Blackfish, are set to reveal more about Tilikum) have shown the world the slimy underbelly of marine mammal captivity. Even India has recently banned travelling dolphin shows. Public awareness is at a tipping point, and eco tours are allowing people the chance to see killer whales in the oceans of the world.

When a recording of a whale pod was played to captive members of that same pod, they all stopped moving in their tanks. The squeaks and calls, clicks and whistles were spelling out specific things for these whales. We have no idea what they felt when hearing their ancient dialect sung, but these hostages probably felt what other hostages have felt when seeing a video or hearing a tape of their loved ones.

Imagine you’re walking with your family in a park, when suddenly a UFO appears and brutally kidnaps you. Some of your family dies in the attack. You’re left wondering if these aliens are going to kill you. Instead, they put you in a mock up of a park, about the size of a room, and force you to do various physical tricks that you would normally do when playing with your family in a park. Over and over, for decades, you live like this while other aliens come to watch, sometimes to dine, sometimes buying stuffed dolls made in your visage. Sometimes they bring in other humans, but rarely do you speak the same language or get along. They take your sperm and make babies that you will never see, but that you know exist. If you had the chance, you could maybe break out—somehow get back home. You walk around your “park” day and night, dreaming of your home and lost family. Sometimes you catch a glimpse of the moon.

Short Film: In the Eye of the Whale

This is a short film about MMCTA founder Bryant Austin's efforts to compose and produce high resolution life-size photographs of whales to share in whaling nations and beyond.

The film was produced through the non-profit organization Marine Mammal Conservation Through the Arts (MMCTA). MMCTA continues to raise funds to allow Bryant to accomplish his goal of documenting ten endangered whale species. To learn more about our work, to donate and support its continuation, we encourage you to visit mmcta.org

(thanks, Peggy)

"The Cold War Over the Hottest of Blood"

Founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Paul Watson wrote for the Huffington post:

They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains
the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent.
-- D.H. Lawrence (Whales Weep Not)

As Animal Planet's highly rated show Whale Wars nears the end of its second season in the US and Canada, it has proven to have been a controversial action drama provoking emotions ranging from joyous support to enraged opposition.

Set at the bottom of the world in the remote and bitterly cold waters off the coast of Antarctica, Whale Wars documents the increasingly escalating confrontations between the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the Japanese whaling fleet.

This Animal Planet show has stirred up controversy internationally with audiences taking sides either with whale defenders or whale killers. There is an additional controversy amongst those who side with the whales but condemn the tactics of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

What is important is that love us or hate us, people are watching the show and becoming aware of the issues and the annual drama in the great Southern Ocean.

Negative accusations range from the Sea Shepherd crew being incompetent to outright condemnation as criminals and eco-terrorists. There is no doubt that the show provokes emotions and more importantly it stimulates discussion and thought. These elements added to life threatening drama on board a ship set amongst icebergs, storms, whales, and penguins makes for a compelling and successful television show.

There are four major points of criticisms leveled against Sea Shepherd. First that the Sea Shepherd crew are not competent; second that Japanese whaling is legal and Sea Shepherd has no right to oppose it; third that the Sea Shepherd crew are "eco-terrorists;" and fourth that Sea Shepherd has not accomplished anything significant with its campaigns.

It is true that many of the Sea Shepherd crewmembers are inexperienced, but the fact is that these volunteers bring a passion to the project that cannot be found in a hired crew. The officers however are indeed experienced. The best evidence for competence is that after five voyages to Antarctic waters, Sea Shepherd has not suffered any loss of life, any serious injuries and we have not had any mishaps like fire, oil spills, groundings, or ice damage. The whalers have suffered three deaths, two by accident and one by suicide, a catastrophic fire that was the cause of one death, oil spills, and numerous serious injuries as a result of their whaling operation. The Steve Irwin may not be an ice class vessel, but none of the whaling vessels are either, and this last season the Yushin Maru No. 2 suffered significant ice damage whereas the Steve Irwin was not damaged at all.

The test of competence is in experience. In this hostile sea where Sir Ernest Shackleton lost his ship and Sir Robert Scott perished with his crew, the Sea Shepherd crew have proven themselves competent.

With regard to the law, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society operates in accordance to the principles established in the United Nations World Charter for Nature that allows for non-governmental organizations and individuals to uphold international conservation laws and treaties.

Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is not endorsed by the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission. Japan is targeting endangered whales in an internationally established whale sanctuary in violation of the terms of an international moratorium on commercial whaling. The Japanese fleet is violating the Antarctic Treaty by conducting commercial activity and refueling their ships south of sixty degrees. The Australian Federal Court has ruled that Japan is in contempt of an Australian Federal Court order prohibiting Japanese whaling activities inside the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society intervenes against Japanese whaling operations because we are an anti-poaching organization and the only difference between whale poachers in the Southern Ocean and elephant poachers in East Africa is that the African poachers are black and poor. In Africa, the rangers shoot poachers. We merely toss rotten butter at them.

The Sea Shepherd crew is doing what governments should be doing, but refuse to do themselves, because of the threats of trade retaliation from Japan.

After five voyages to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, not one member of the Sea Shepherd crew has been charged for any crime in relation to Sea Shepherd activities. There has not been a single whaler injured by our activities. There has not been a single arrest warrant issued and Sea Shepherd crew are free to travel internationally. In fact, during more than thirty years of operations not one Sea Shepherd crewmember has been convicted of a felony and not a single person has ever been injured.

Of course, these days it does not matter if a person is defending whales or running for President of the United States, the accusatory word of choice is "terrorist." The word has become practically meaningless a result, with even the Dalai Lama officially classified as a terrorist by China.

If "terrorist" I be, then it is a strange sort of terrorist that I am. I've received a Presidential award from George H. Bush, the Amazon Peace Prize presented by the President of Ecuador, honorary citizenships from Key West, Florida and towns in Australia, France and Canada. I was cited as an "Environmental Hero of the 20th Century" by Time magazine in 2000, and I have been invited to meet with dignitaries like Prince Albert of Monaco, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Vice-President Dr. Alfred Palacio of Ecuador, and I was invited to address Ministers of the Government of Brazil. In addition Sea Shepherd's Advisory Board includes former Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell and former British Columbian Environment Minister Rafe Mair, two men of a conservative nature, not inclined to endorse "terrorism."

The objective of the Sea Shepherd campaign is to sink the Japanese whaling fleet economically. For the last four years we have cut the quotas and negated the profits of the industry. Up until Sea Shepherd interventions, the Japanese succeeded in killing their entire quota. Our intervention in 2005/2006 saw the quota fall short for the first time by 83 whales. Operation Leviathan in 2006/2007 and Operation Migaloo in 2007/2008 saw the quota cut in half at 500 whales and 484 whales respectively. Operation Musashi in 2008/2009 cut the quota by 305 and forced the whalers to extend their season by two weeks at great cost.

The financial statements for the Institute for Cetacean Research show liabilities of 2.1 billion yen ($23 million). The industry survives on government subsidies. The whalers admit they need to take 750 whales to break even. We have prevented that. Plans to construct a replacement factory ship have been put on hold for lack of capital to invest in upgrading the fleet.

We have the Japanese whaling fleet on the ropes financially and we intend to keep the pressure on until we shut this illegal industry down once and for all.

Some people may not agree with our methods but our clients are not people. We represent the interests of the great whales and as long as we are not causing injury to humans and as long as we are not in violation of the law, then our actions are justified.

If I were a "terrorist" or even a criminal, I would be in jail. It's as simple as that.

There are more than 1,500 whales swimming freely in the waters off Antarctica that would now be dead if not for our intervention. These are results that we are proud of that make all the risks worthwhile.

I am contributing a photograph from my Recognize collection for this benefit. Click on the flyer above to read the details better or go to the website.

(Paul Watson portrait above by Shepard Fairey)

(original article here in the Huffington Post)

(thanks to Peggy Oki)

Ethicurean: Chew the Right Thing.

Here's a blog recommended by my friend, artist, activist in the effort to protect cetaceans (dolphins and whales) and to bring commercial whaling to a halt, as well as the only original Z-Girl, Peggy Oki.

eth.i.cu.re.an n. (also adj.) Someone who seeks out tasty things that are also sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical - SOLE food, for short. The Ethicurean