Whales Rally on the Mall

Reminiscent of the Save the Whales days of the 70s and 80s, Earth Day 2010 saw a pod of whales and a mass of people converge on the National Mall in Washington DC to rally for whales. With cries of “Maintain the Moratorium” and “Stop the Sell Out” the orange shirts of AWI staff and supporters mingled with those of other groups, activists, students and tourists all calling for an end to a proposal being negotiated at the International Whaling Commission which would see a return to commercial whaling. After the rally, the crowd marched on the White House to call on President Obama to intercede and turn the negotiations toward saving whales. The US is involved in the high level negotiations which would result in a suspension of the two-decades old whaling moratorium and a return to mass whale slaughter. Details of the proposal are contained on page 11. You can make a difference by contacting President Obama to tell him that you don’t want the whaling ban suspended, that Japan, Norway and Iceland should not be rewarded for decades of intransigence, that whaling is inherently cruel and that whales are worth more alive than dead as vital components of the ocean ecosystems and through whale watching.

Write:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20500
Online: www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Phone: (202) 456-1111