We are in Friday Harbor trying to arrange dry dock for the Wii Seeks and I have been getting caught up to speed on the Orca Protection plans. So much needs to be done I guess it is up to us to help Captain Hobbes and other parties start. Yesterday at Lopez Island I learned that local activists have been trying for a large number of years to get an Orca Sanctuary imposed to give the mammals a place of peace from whale watching boats. They have been trying for years??? What is the problem? From further investigation I learn that all they seem to do is go to meetings to discuss the problem. No commercial businesses or researchers want to give up their access to these animals. Kind of like the “not in my backyard” philosophy… make others stop but not us.
As always the problem is discussed and nothing gets done. The local citizens are frustrated, and I don’t blame them. My suggestion is always to end the BS, politics, and meetings and go to the streets. Flood county government meetings. Throw out the representatives who have been discussing the subject for years. Make the powers that be, DO SOMETHING. We humans often, so as not to upset our friends and neighbors, will talk and study a problem to death before anything is done. It is time for a change in tactics.
Remember we are not doing the dying, the whales are… and quickly. They all have alphabet names and people know them by sight. A false alarm was raised the other day as J50 was missing and then claimed lost. It turns out she is still with us, but now NOAA is talking of capturing her to treat whatever illness she has to treat her. I mean really? Capturing a wild animal in my opinion is never good. First, I realize it makes us feel good as heroes… what does the animal feel? Do we know? Of course not. Maybe nature should run its course, and we should spend our time and money cleaning up her home? This is way more difficult as we need to look at ourselves. Clean up the ocean and put pressure on Canada to stop dumping raw sewage, and Washington to stop the introduction of 800,000 Atlantin salmon to fill up the site where a similar ni=umber escaped recently… just a thought.
Why we cannot impose regulations, self imposed or not to save the Southern Resident Orcas is beyond me. There are always a few bad apples who push the rules to make their clients happy by driving too close or in short harassing the creatures. Well stop them. If you are opposed to direct intervention then use public scorn… it usually works. I remember people originally ignoring smoking rules until the public really got aggressive and pushed the subject. The concerned public got into smokers’ faces and demanded they obey the rules. They put aside their fear and timid natures and spoke up. Oncce scorned others did the same, and in a few short years you see no one lighting up in a bar or restaurant. Public pressure works.
Confront your friends and neighbors and stand up for the whales. You might regret it now, but when they are gone, your children and grand children will spit on your graves for allowing yet another species to go extinct under your watch. Be brave take a stand and do it now.
I also understand there are a number of researches crowding the whales. I understand the importance of science and research, but don’t we have enough for now? What are we researching? How the whales can stand swimming in our sewage? How the whales communicate and replicate surrounded by the noise boats emit? Maybe, why they can’t find salmon to eat while we suck up all the resources and allow salmon farms to poison our oceans. I mean really do we need all this up close research just now? My answer is no we don’t. Start your research again when they are extinct, but give them peace now. It is the least we can do.
In the meantime clean up our act. Maybe, just maybe if we give them some peace they will reproduce again and come back. I know salmon farms should be removed, and this is another situation the local people know is bad. They all know the open pen salmon farms pollute their waters and add sea lice, antibiotics, and pesticides to the oceans that have made the San Juans a beautiful place to live in the first place. Really think about it? People around the world are holding protests in far off cities to show they are concerned. It is up to the local people, local fishermen, and Natives to take it upon themselves and hold their governments, local businesses, and the themselves responsible.
Now we at gaianetwork.net have thrown our support behind Captain Hobbes Buchanan of Friday Harbor. We have offered our assets free of charge, but it takes money and volunteers to keep the whole thing a float so to speak. Help him out, make a donation, offer your services to help. We can all do something and we don’t have to be rich to contribute. We at gaianetwork.net ask people to donate $5.00; the price of a cup of coffee at Starbucks. We, of course need more, but the five dollars will get you involved and give you “skin in the game” so to speak. It is necessary for everyone to get involved. Start today or there will be no tomorrow for the wild oceans!
I appreciate your indulgence to my rant, but I am here, and I am getting more concerned daily. Speak up and become part of the solution. Thank you.
GAIANetwork.net 