Through Our Eyes

I just recently watched a program on the Discovery Channel called ‘Whale Wars’ (http://animal.discovery.com/whalewars) and that got me to thinking, “How in the world can anyone believe that this is research?”  Exactly what kind of research requires a factory ship designed to process whales at sea as food for human consumption?  It seems to me that true research would require, I don’t know, maybe a research vessel?  In any event, I realize that there are two sides to every story, so I did some research of my own and have this to share:

(excerpt from Wikipedia)
From 1987 to the present, Japan has been sending a fleet consisting of a single factory ship and several catcher/spotting vessels to the Southern Ocean to catch Antarctic Minke Whales under the guise of scientific research. The first research program, JARPA (Japanese Research Program in the Antarctic), began in 1987-88, when 273 Antarctic Minke were caught. The quota and catch soon increased to 330 and 440. In 2005-06 the second research program, JARPA II, began. In its first two years, in what Japan called its “feasibility study,” 850 Antarctic Minke, as well as 10 Fin Whales, were to be taken each season (2005-06 and 2006-07). The quota was reached in the first season, but due to a fire (and possibly harassment from environmental groups such as Sea Shepherd) only 508 Antarctic Minke were caught in the second. In 2007-08, because of constant harassment from environmental groups (principally Sea Shepherd), they failed to reach the quota again, with a catch of only 551 whales.

(For full entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Minke_Whale)

Now, as it turns out, my research began as simply a search for a good image of an Antarctic Minke Whale eye for DJ to paint to add to our growing number of Collectible Animal Eye Pins.  So, of course the logical place to start this search was with JARPA (their official website is http://www.icrwhale.org/)

After reading about their Mission (http://www.icrwhale.org/abouticr.htm), I was drawn to the last item:
Section #7:  Other activities, part c) Analyses of data and materials collected from field surveys

I guess the ‘materials collected from field surveys’ refers to the Minke whales that Japan catches as part of their research.  Now, is it just me or does anyone else think that it would be reasonable to assume that out of the 1909 whales that Japan performed ‘research’ on over the past three years, there should be at least ONE decent picture of an Antarctic Minke whale’s eye to be found on their website?  I went through as much of their ‘Photo Library’ as possible by following links (all in Japanese I’m afraid even though they direct you to ‘Scroll down’ for English on their Photo Library page) but did not find very many photos.  I did, however, happen to come across this document http://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/081106Release.pdf .  I clicked on this since it had a ‘NEW’ icon next to it.  Not exactly what I was hoping for — but, it did tie in to aforementioned Discovery program.  I clicked on a lot of other links — mostly leading to .PDF files in Japanese — and did manage to find a fairly recent document in English:  http://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/080905BriefingNote.pdf  But, no photos — I guess I’m not looking in the right place.

Another interesting link was to the list of scientific papers arising from their research (http://www.icrwhale.org/eng/IWC48.pdf) — seems a little out of date.  And, likewise, is this the extent of their ‘current’ research available to the public — http://www.icrwhale.org/08/s/08-A-02.htm

One final thing that really interested me was their link to their ‘Comments’ page:  http://www.icrwhale.org/Comments.htm Now, as an internet architect and having been involved in the creation of many websites, I find it totally laughable that they are actually directing all ‘questions about whales and whaling’ to their webmaster!!!

Somehow I do not think I am alone in my lack of conviction that The Institute for Cetacean Research is living up to its name.

I’ve always been surprised whenever I’ve heard someone exclaim, oh my dog is so stupid, he eats the cat’s food but not his own food, or did you hear about the stupid elephant who broke out of the circus and was running down the middle of a highway? Maybe your dog is telling you the food you are giving him isn’t good for him, the cat’s food has more nutrition. And if you knew how animals are treated in circuses (beaten and abused in many ways -this is what I’ve heard in the past, not sure if it is true now but I hope not) you would escape, too. But just making that statement always makes me look at the person saying it and in my mind I’m thinking how stupid they are.

I don’t know about you, but I think it is pretty amazing that dogs can be taught to detect cancer in people. And what about the dogs trained to find bodies in an avalanche, or a collapsed building. And then there are dogs that can sniff out drugs in a suitcase among hundreds of other suitcases that are not carrying drugs. What about the dogs that can foretell when their owner is going to have a seizure! I think that is just incredible. I don’t know any humans who can do any of these things. A lot of animals in the wild have a sense when major disasters are going to strike, like a tsunami, and head for higher ground. A lot of lives could potentially be saved if people paid attention to these signs from animals. Oh the stupid fox ran right out in front of my car, someone will say. I have developed a respect for animals that live in our backyards and even though we have taken over most of the land, they have learned how to live with us. I often wonder, why can’t we do the same with them? Why can’t we develop more ways of protecting animals when they are trying to cross the street at night. Why can’t we learn to respect and cherish the resources we have instead of just killing off whole species of animals and polluting and trashing every beautiful place that is our responsibility to protect and care for. Once they are gone, they are gone for good.

I heard a story one time about a baby that was taken off her porch by a grizzly bear. A horrible story I thought, so incredibly tragic. But I thought about the unfortunate mother who left her baby, unattended, in the middle of the only place left in this country where grizzly bears are found (years ago they were found in many parts of the US but have since been killed off so their number in the wild is dwindling), in Montana. I wouldn’t even leave my dog out on the porch if I lived in Montana. I’ve been to Montana, I’ve seen grizzly bears, and I respect their territory. Since this is about the only place they live now in the US, I think they deserve to be left alone. People move to these places and think, oh, this is great, we are living way out in the woods, with nothing around. Isn’t it beautiful here? But they forget to learn about who they are sharing the beautiful woods and land with and think that once they have built their home, the animals are supposed to vacate. Who are you calling stupid?

Nearly every day Jim and I take our three dogs for a walk around the block, which equals about 2 miles. About ½ mile of the walk is along a “busy” road (busy in a rural location means about 1 car every couple minutes although we usually get 3 or 4 cars together and then none for about 3 to 5 minutes). Now I am a person who decided a long time ago that I could never be a waitress because the first time someone gave me a hard time and complained I would dump their food in their lap. But besides that, you have to clean up after people, and since I don’t even like to clean up after myself much less a stranger (no, I do not clean up after Jim, that is his job) I could never imagine being a waitress.

What, you may be asking, does this have to do with my daily walk? Well, it has everything to do with it. I enjoy the rural area we live in but I abhor the trash I find along the road, so much so that a couple of years ago,I decided that Jim and I needed to pick it up. I was sick of looking at it. And since we are the only ones who walk in our neighborhood, we are the only ones who see it. And I prefer to look at the trees, the rock walls, the streams along our walk and not the beer cans, bottles, and MacDonald’s bags that float in the streams or litter the roadway.

But it got me to wondering, what is it that possesses a person to, when finished with their MacDonald’s meal, open the window, take their empty Giant Gulp cup complete with lid and straw, Big Mac box, apple pie container, and bag that they all came in and drop them out the window to land along our road? I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure, they aren’t doing it in their neighborhood. I’m sure they wouldn’t want to look at it. I’ll bet you they would even find it disgusting if someone else’s trash landed in their driveway. But how is it that these people (or disgusting humans as I call them since saying they are pigs or animals I find offensive to animals) do not see the harm they are doing to our planet. Do they feel, since it is “our” planet that they have the right to do with it as they wish? Do they not understand that it is one planet, one earth, one world and we all suffer the consequences of their selfish gesture?

I’m also pretty certain that back seats come standard in most vehicles. So, why not just throw the trash into the back seat and remove it when they get home? I’ve known people who have a back seat full of trash and when you first see this you think, oh my, how can they have this much trash in their car, and you notice a slight rancid odor and decide you’ll take your car instead of riding with them. But at least they are respecting the earth, if not their own space. Then once a year or so, they clean out their car. Disgusting, you say? I consider them considerate and conscientious.

I guess I can understand people throwing out beer bottles. Who wants to get stopped with empty beer bottles in the car? But isn’t that a comforting thought, people driving along the same road you are driving on, drinking beer and other alcoholic beverages. It’s bad enough that people get behind the wheel when they have left a bar filled to the gills. But to also know that they are driving and drinking is an even scarier thought.  Yes, they should be arrested and/or have their license revoked for drinking and driving, first offense, no second chances (especially if they have failed the sobriety test). Every drunk off the road could save your life.

Now when I was a kid, we returned bottles and we got money. That was great! This was often how I got my spending money – go collect soda bottles if you want some money. A working class family, cash wasn’t just lying around for our spending pleasure. We had to earn it and for a kid under 16 that often meant spending hours looking for empty bottles that people threw out. But I’ll tell you, the roads were much cleaner than they are now. And I can’t tell you how many broken bottles I’ve found with pieces of glass that could cut not only my small dogs’ feet but any other wild animal that lives in my neighborhood and walks the same roads we walk. I say, bring back the bottle bill (and yes, it does exist in a few forward thinking states.) There will still be people who litter, but at least those people who pick up the trash will make a little money doing it!

I recently read a terrific O Henry cartoon that demonstrated perfectly what I’m talking about: O Henry goes to a beautiful spot to paint. While he is painting, a family comes along and sits down to picnic. They proceed to litter the scenic area and then leave. O Henry finishes his painting and brings it to the home of the people who littered the scenic spot. The painting is just how they left it with all the trash. They look at it and say, “Who would want to buy such an ugly scene?” Exactly! Not in their backyard.

The founders and co-owners of EyeHelpAnimals.com share their personal views on wildlife conservation and habitat preservation issues.