Greenpeace ship Esperanza arrives to the Icelandic port - Isafjordur, the first stop on her voyage against whaling.
The Icelandic media saw the incident as we did, at first: an
angry pro-whaling Icelander was telling us that we were not
welcome. After all, we were arriving in Isafjordur, the number one
Icelandic whaling centre, where we were kicking off our 'Choose the
future, not whaling' tour.
But appearances can be deceiving. Upon arrival, our antagonist
came aboard, shook hands, and bid us welcome to Isafjordur. The son
of a whaler, he told us he had been shouting that he was
demonstrating how the relationship with Greenpeace used to be, and
that he welcomed the new openness with which Greenpeace was
engaging with the Icelandic people. He was mortified to learn that
both we and the press had seen him as attempting to blockade the
ship, and immediately began to ring around the press to correct the
misimpression. When the Esperanza left port the zodiac escorted the
ship out of port, this time carrying a Greenpeace rainbow flag.
The incident is illustrative of just how far debate has moved
along in this country since Greenpeace's last visit to these
shores.
It was about a year ago that Iceland announced a plan to return
to commercial whaling, when the government announced its
"scientific research" with an aim to hunt 500 whales, including sei
and fin, during a two-year period. We abandoned other plans in the
Mediterranean and turned our ship, Rainbow Warrior, around in
mid-course. The decision required a response.
But we chose a different approach. We went on a tour of
Iceland's coastal communities, striking up conversations rather
than shouting slogans.
We set up an information centre to inform people of our position
on whaling. We tried chipping away at the misunderstandings - among
them that Greenpeace only worked on whaling. Some people believed
that Greenpeace only worked on Icelandic whaling.
We talked about the areas of common policy with Iceland, and our
respect for good positions the government has taken on nuclear
issues and global warming.
And when it came to whaling, instead of rehashing arguments we'd
had for decades, we decided to use a carrot instead of a stick. We
made an offer to the Icelandic government to promote Iceland as a
nature tourism destination, if the decision to recommence whaling
was 100 percent reversed.
We set a goal of getting 50,000 pledges from individuals stating
that they would go to Iceland if the Government gave up whaling.
Our cyberactivists got to work. Nearly 60,000 individuals have
signed up to the pledge so far, representing over US$ 60 million in
potential tourism spend versus the US$ 4 million that Iceland made
from commercial whaling in its heyday.
Soon after our activists met the pledge target, the Icelandic
government announced that it would put the expansion of its so
called 'scientific' whaling programme on hold and limit this year's
take to 25 minke whales.
"Iceland is on the border between old and new, future and past,"
said Greenpeace spokesperson Frode Pleym. "The government of
Iceland should make the obvious wise decision and cancel the entire
programme. By choosing the only truly sustainable future path,
Iceland can set an example for other whaling nations to follow and
secure a future for the people of this country."
Two of our dedicated cyberactivists, who got the most people to
sign up to the pledge, are also joining the tour to tell the
Icelandic people to support whale watching as a more
environmentally friendly - and lucrative industry.
To read about Marnee´s impressions of Iceland, follow the daily
updates at the Iceland Tour Blog.
Here's a sample:
"Now that I'm an accomplished deck hand, I know more about boats
than you do. But don't worry, I'll help you out. For example, just
because there's a helicopter pad doesn't mean shopping trips into
town whenever you want. Also, if the ocean is coming in the round
window thingy, you should close it. Lastly, if you are visiting the
bridge, do no sit on the "Control Panel." No need to thank me for
these tips, I'm just doing my job."
Help us sustain the pressure on the Icelandic government by emailing a
letter to Prime Minister David Oddsson.