You can join Big Blue marches planned from Amsterdam to Buenos
Aires - or organise your own event. Some people aim to march down a
major street, others to hold a family "fun day." In other places,
whale events with food, music and guest speakers are happening.
People are even having whale parties at their house! Run, dance,
swim, skate - do whatever you gotta do, just do it blue!
Why May 27th? While the Big Blue March takes place, the
International Whaling Commission Meeting (IWC) will be in session
in Anchorage, Alaska. At the IWC, diplomats from around the world
make crucial decisions on the fate of whales throughout in our
oceans.
At last year's meeting, 33 countries - led by pro-whaling Japan
- voted in favour of the "
St. Kitts Declaration," essentially an attempt to restart
commercial whaling, which has been banned since 1986.
Since then, whale defenders - like you - have been busy, helping
to motivate countries around the world to protect the whales.
Really busy! Recent months have seen several countries joining or
rejoining, like Peru, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia, Costa Rica and
Ecuador - or even swapping sides to vote for the whales, like
Nicaragua.
A short time ago, Ecuador decided to rejoin the IWC - and to
vote for the whales. Last year, Nicaragua was one of the countries
voting for commercial whaling - now they're on the whales' side.
The decisions of these governments have been massively influenced
by people who signed petitions, sent emails and artwork to
the government of Ecuador, or turned up on the doorstep of
Nicaraguan embassies with huge cut-out whale flukes to form a
symbolic "whale graveyard." In Iceland, where the whaling ban has
been ignored, the government is now in a quandary over the future
of whaling, following sustained pressure - more than 70,000
people have signed a pledge promising to visit Iceland if the
government stops whaling. With every tourist worth about US$1,169
to Iceland's economy, is it any wonder that the government is
pausing for thought?
Activism works, folks - so let's show
the world that we want the whales protected.
Here's list of Big Blue March cities so far - but we need more.
Can you
help?
Anchorage (Alaska)
Valparaiso (Chile)
Queensland (Australia)
Madrid (Spain)
Lisboa (Portgual)
Mexico City (Mexico)
Bogota and Cali (Colombia)
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
San Pablo (Brazil)
Quito (Ecuador)
Caracas (Venezuela)
Buenos Aires Rosario Mendoza and Córdoba (Argentina)
San José (Costa Rica)
Find out more about events in your city, or start your own Big Blue
March
Join the
Fickr Big Blue March Group and post your photos!
Get organised - use Whale Defender Robbiebow's Big Blue Day Blog to publish
your event. Post it at protest.net too!
Take action
Join the Big Blue March!
Donate
We need your help to keep on saving whales!
Grab the source code for the banner above for your blog or
website: