WHALES

Dear Friends,
Today is the 13th day in a row without whaling in the Southern Ocean due to the presence of the Greenpeace Ship Esperanza. It looks like the whalers are still intent on hunting though, so we're calling on prominant figures in Japan to speak up.
Urge Canon's CEO in Japan to defend our photogenic friends.

Send him a message
One man with more influence than most is the CEO of Canon, the world's number one camera maker, and current head of the Japanese Business Federation. He'd also make a perfect whale defender, since Canon has built so much of its reputation on conservation of endangered species (you may have seen their ads in National Geographic--every month since 1981).
This is the statement we're asking Canon's CEO, Mr. Fujio Mitarai, to sign: "Canon is committed to building a better world for future generations, and does not support the hunting of endangered or threatened species with anything other than a camera. Canon believes the lethal whaling research programme in the Southern Ocean should be ended, and replaced with a non-lethal research programme."



Why use a harpoon... when you can use a Canon?
Canon is the world’s number one digital camera company, and a major sponsor of wildlife initiatives, environmental groups, and efforts to save endangered species.
The CEO of a company that attracts support to its brand by associating itself with environmental issues ought to oppose lethal research whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Tell Mr. Mitarai, head of Canon Japan, that you want him to express Canon’s disapproval of whaling in the Southern Ocean, and to call upon the government of Japan to use only non-lethal research methods.



Please write a letter to Canon urging them to join the cause
Whales need a powerful domestic ally in Japan. If Japan wants to do research, it can do so with cameras and other non-lethal means -- just as we're using photo identification to research whale migration patterns, along with skin biopsies, satellite tracking, and other harmless methods as part of our Great Whale Trail project.

For the whales,
Sarah King
Oceans campaigner

P.S. Please forward this message to your friends too -- nature-lovers and photography-lovers alike!


From
Antonio Aviles
To
Fujio Mitarai, Canon Japan
Subject
Whales should be shot with Canons, not harpoons
Dear Mr. Mitarai,

I don’t want to see whales being shot with anything other than a camera and I hope that you and your company agree. However, thousands of whales have been shot and killed with exploding harpoons in the Southern Ocean since the global moratorium on high seas whaling came into force in 1986. Every year the Japanese whaling fleet returns to plunder the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, under the guise of “science” in the hope that the moratorium will soon be overturned.

Yet with around 4,000 tonnes of whalemeat in storage, declining demand, and subsidised production, it is not a commercially viable activity. When this is added to the fact that whales can be studied without killing them – it is a scandal that this so called “science” continues at the expense of Japanese taxpayers.

Given Canon's sponsorship of environmental groups and the cause of endangered species the world over, I'm sure you share my concerns. I believe you are the ideal person to advocate for an end to this unnecessary slaughter and waste of Japanese taxpayers’ money.

Mister Mitarai, you are best placed among Japanese business leaders to help bring about an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean and you have a personal responsibility to safeguard the interests of Japanese businesses abroad where whaling is a liability for Japanese brands and their profitability. I am urging you to sign the following statement:

"Canon is committed to building a better world for future generations, and does not support the hunting of endangered or threatened species with anything other than a camera. Canon believes the lethal whaling research programme in the Southern Ocean should be ended, and replaced with a non-lethal research programme."

Canon says on its website that it wants to “hand over a beautiful earth for future generations”. I think the earth would be incredibly less beautiful without whales. Don’t you?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-59VcB2e3k

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