As the 61st annual International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting comes to an end, we can reflect on the position adopted by each delegation.
During the meeting the USA Government delegation expressed their support for the Danish application for an expansion of the Greenlandic hunt to include humpback whales.
Many nations were willing to oppose the request, but the position of the USA is very influential. In the end, fearing a defeat of the proposal at this meeting, the USA and Japan sponsored a proposal to defer the decision to another IWC meeting to be held before Christmas 2009.
President Obama has pledged to make decisions based on sound science – yet the outgoing US delegation seemed poised to accept an arbitrary, last-minute proposal that has not been given full scientific scrutiny. As the new US team appointed by President Obama takes full control of the US IWC position, we call upon them to review the position taken on this issue.
Please do all you can – in the coming weeks and months the lives of the Humpbacks are in the balance and we together can ensure that the US stands up for protecting the whales
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