Esperanza back in Tasmania after successful anti-whaling tour

To read that "....media coverage and public discussion on the whaling issue has reached unprecedented levels in Japan..." is good news indeed.

However, your statement in the heading of this article, that your anti-whaling tour has been "successful" is debatable, bearing in mind your own admission that as soon as the Esperanza left the scene the killing of whales began again and, presumably, continues.

As the campaign has now moved to Japan, could you please let us, your supporters, know what exactly you are doing there, and where we can find details about the actions you are taking (apart from your request for us all to email the CEO of Canon)?

You must surely have raised a significant amount of money in response to your (continuing) appeals for donations to help the anti-whaling cause and as a long-time supporter of Greenpeace I am interested in knowing exactly how my money is being spent in this respect.

Where can I find out about the campaigns and initiatives being pursued and what effect they are having in winning over Japanese hearts and minds, thereby ending whaling for good? Because as far as I'm concerned, the campaign can only be declared "successful" when the slaughter has finally stopped.

I've just seen the news on the BBC regarding the killing of a mother & calf by the japanese whalers. Apart from very harrowing, these images were also very powerful, given that the BBC have not given a great deal of coverage on it's main news programmes.
Maybe we can come up with some form of action, that will engage the greater public. In the past, the wearing of wristbands and ribbons have been two ways, which on one hand can be sold to the public with no great hardship on their behalf and often can be quite fashionable therefore increasing sales and awareness. Whatever we can do, it's time to act now to ensure those images don't fade away from the public psyche very easily.

To be honest I am really disappointed with Greenpeaces anti whaling campaing in the Southern Ocean. As someone has already said, how can they market this years trip a success, if whales were slaughtered as soon as they had left the area to refuel? it seems all we ever do is take an expensive trip to the south to watch the whalers and cause some iritation where we can, but at the end of the day the whaling goes on year after year.

Isnt it time we started to target the Japanese government rather than the whalers? Woudn't a global campaign aimed at encouraging people not to buy Japanese products bring about a more speedy and permanent end to the whaling. At the moment we all sit in our arm chairs watching Japanese televisions feeling that there is nothing we can directly do to stop whaling, yet collectively I feel we could have an enormous effect on the issue.

Isn't it time Greenpeace thopught about changing its attack?

Its never too late for a happy childhood

The anti whaling campaign headed by Greenpeace is so far the most effective effort. The very fact that 5+ whales have been killed since the Esperanza was forced to leave due to refuelling is exactly why their prescence is absolutely neccesary for the short term solution.
Within the 2 weeks prior to that, only a single whale was killed. Admittedly thats one whale too many but we can only hope the deaths were not in vain, and with new footage brought to the public over the killing of a whale and her calf, more people will stand up and use their voices to stop this pointless killing.
If youve been following the action so far you can see that Greenpeace are clearly having a positive effect on this situation. Its important to stop a wrong instantly in whatever non violent way possible but the long term must be considered. Any action that is considered violent will jeopordise the level of support that an organisation like GP have. If you lose your supporters you are no longer a voice to be reckoned with.
Over the years there are many issues that have been changed not just because of the direct action and ideals championed by GP but also the fact that there are 4.5 million supporters who are happy to use their voice to make the world better. Without those voices, the cause is lost. So support, solidarity, composure, careful planning and perseverance are the key here.
Whats the point in going all out to stop a fleet of ships today when they will only start again tomorrow? The governments and authorities must be pressured constantly to make some positive changes and this is exactly what is happening now.
The Canon approach is an excellent one since they are massively influential within the borders of japan along with the rest of the world. The CEO is also on the board of japanese businesses so as an individual, he holds a lot of power within his world, including the whaling industry. Some long term changes can be implemented this way.
Currently, the japanese government are discussing these issues and the majority of the japanese public are anti-whaling so its only a matter of time before;
-The whaling trips are costing too much due to the esperanza shadowing the factory ship
-The japanese public stand up and shout louder that their tax money is being wasted on such nonsense killing
-Canon agree to use their power and 18 year history of supporting the National Geographic Channel and raise further awareness
-The Japanese government finally close in on the offenders and change the laws that currently permit this madness.

This is a sensible long term solution. A solution that is already in motion and all thats needed now is the full support from the rest of the caring public in actually using their voice. Sign petitions, Donate so GP can stay in the oceans, Raise awareness. These individual actions are all so crucial although many feel their voice wont make a difference or simply isnt enough...

'...but what is the ocean but a multitude of drops..'

Hi Phil, I defined 'successful' as locating the Japanese whaling fleet in thousands of miles of open ocean, and tracking and chasing their factory ship for over two weeks, preventing them from whaling and preventing the deaths of over 100 whales - and causing problems at home for the whalers by challenging their plans to expand the whale hunt to include humpbacks. Your definition that 'the campaign can only be declared "successful" when the slaughter has finally stopped' is true, but I was talking about one battle, not total victory. Whaling in Japan is incredibly entrenched within their government's bureaucracy, the sham that is 'scientific whaling' has been going on for 18 years and anyone who examines the situation can see that without public pressure in Japan nothing is going to change. That's why we've been focusing so much attention there. Here is a list of links to some of the initiatives we've been trying over the past couple of years: www.greenpeace.org/international/news/the-key-to-ending-whaling www.greenpeace.org/international/news/big-in-japan www.whalelove.org/en/wagon/about www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling/great-whale-trail

I just wanted to thank Al and Josh for replying to this blog and qualifying Greenpeaces anti-whaling campaign. The thought that this year's actions saved 100 whales puts things in a different light and Greenpeace have to be congratulated on that.

However in your own words these are short term measures to win battles and not wars. Since this war has been on going for so long it still leaves me wondering why we have not targeted the japanese government and its publics opinion sooner and set our sights on total victory.

I can well remember the campaign that was launched against South Africa to bring about the end of Apartheid. People thought twice about buying South African products and any sport or social links with SA were lambasted in the press. Isn't it time we did the same against Japan? Many drops together can make a big wave.