Victory! Mexican whale sanctuary declared

"The Mexican whale sanctuary is the biggest protected area in Mexico and the
largest national whale sanctuary in the world. It occupies an area equivalent to
half of Europe. All of these European countries would fit inside: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, UK, Ireland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway Luxembourg," said Juan Carlos Cantú, biodiversity campaigner of Greenpeace Mexico.

The sanctuary would protect 21 species of cetaceans: the right whale, blue whale, fin whale, grey whale, sei whale, Bryde's whale, minke whale, humpback whale, sperm whale, pygmy sperm whale, dwarf sperm whale, Baird's beaked whale, Cuvier's beaked whale, Gervais' beaked whale, ginko-toothed beaked whale, pygmy beaked whale, melon-headed whale, killer whale, pygmy killer whale, false killer whale and pilot whale.

Greenpeace Mexico started the campaign to create the sanctuary in 1999. More than 120 thousand signatures were collected in that year and 125 Mexican and international NGOs signed a letter to the Mexican President requesting the creation of the sanctuary. Over the years, thousands of Mexicans sent letters, faxes and e-mails to the Mexican president requesting the sanctuary. In 2000, a poll in Mexico City showed that 84 percent of those polled were in favor of the creation of the sanctuary.

One of the offshoots of the campaign was the modification of the Wildlife Law in 2000 to forbid all whaling in Mexico for commercial or subsistence purposes, and the listing of all cetaceans as under special protection.

The decree states that the sanctuary will support the maintenance of the environmental conditions that are necessary for the biological functions of whales, such as reproduction, calving, growth, migration, learning and feeding.

"The creation of this sanctuary is a victory for the conservation of whales and for the Mexican people. The fact that it was created during the week that the IWC meeting took place in Shimonoseki, Japan is a message to the entire world that Mexico is against whaling. This sanctuary should serve as an example for other countries to follow so that eventually all the oceans of the world become sanctuaries to protect all species of whales," said Cantú.