Archive for November, 2006
Death of the Dolphins
During the heydey of the eighties, to see Shamu the killer whale and his aquatic friends was not an option in our country. And so as a kid, I look longingly in movies where blue eyed blond haired kids get to frolic around otters and dolphins in Seaworld.
In the late nineties, dolphin and whale watching tours in our country started taking off. We have two spots now –Bais in Dumaguete and Pamilacan Island in Bohol where organized tours and educated spotters can claim tourism value for cetacean sightings in their natural habitat. No trainers, no entrance fees and no rehearsed shows.
These tours came about when the local government started banning the hunting. Former hunters are turned to guides, spotters and environmental caretakers, a better alternative to aquatic parks where animals are caged and trained for profit. Not to mention where do these parks get the dolphins from?
I found the answer when I stumbled upon an internet video on the brutal massacres of dolphins in Taiji Japan. The video can be found at http://www.seashepherd.org/taiji/ .
From the months of October to March, fishermen in Taiji, Japan hunt for dolphin meat. The fishermen lower steel poles in the water. By banging on them, a sound wall barrier will disorient the dolphin’s sense of navigation causing panic making it easy to trap and herd the dolphins to the shallow area of the ocean.
Once trapped, they will start by shooting a few of them. Being familial mammals, the dolphins will not leave wounded members of their pod. Some of them are killed in the trapped shallow water. Some of them are dragged by their tails to dry land where fishermen will hack off the heads with knives, harpoons and spears.
Some of the good ones, if a buyer is available, are separated and sold off to aquamarine parks. Usually, these dolphins are carted off after the killings to a separate area where they are not even fed until the buyers picked them up. Imagine most of them have just witnessed the deaths of their family while they wait hungry and exhausted unknowing of their fate.
The rest, butchered and packaged are sold off as whale meat. Ironically enough, there have been reports of mercury poisoning found in dolphin and whale meat across Japan. Mercury was found in high doses during testing.
Through an email correspondence with Hardy Jones, Executive director of Blue Voice, an organization geared towards the preservation of dolphins and whales through media awareness, I was given permission to use some of their pictures from their website http://www.bluevoice.org. Hardy Jones has been going to Japan for nearly 30 years fighting the kills. The fishermen try to stop him from documenting these activities in order to protect their livelihood. Although it is not banned on International law, worldwide protests can put pressure to stop villages to stop dolphin hunting. What struck me was his statement “Some dolphins are shipped from Japan to the Philippines.”
Now, I hope you will you start thinking twice before you pay for an entrance ticket to an Aquatic Park.
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bought the ugliest salt and pepper shakers ever in my life…
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Gone to Greece ” Cruising the Greek Isles /part 2
Oupah! The Grecian version of Mabuhay reverberated heartily around the ship as it sets sail for a day cruise to the Saronic Gulf . Our group will be visiting the 3 islands of the Gulf – Hydra, Poros and Aegina , each with a personality of its own. As seating were assigned by language, from English, Chinese and Spanish, we all scrambled towards our assigned deck where we were given a briefing and treated to a show of Greek history, costume and dance.
Poros island was our first stop. The visit was short and vivid of last minute buys from small shops surrounding the area. Greek caps and caftans, alongside puffy embroidered blouses and mats were sold in Mediterranean style shops jutting out like mismatched growth of houses atop hills. A few of us climbed up a maze of steps to see the panoramic view from a watchtower resting loftily above the hustle and bustle of activity below.
We retreated back to the ship for a light lunch at the dining deck. One of the cruise staff found out we were Filipinos and called out “Tito! Tito!”. It turns out that one of their well loved staff is a Filipino. We also had a short chat with a Filipina from Switzerland with her family. As we made new friends, the sound of the bell signaled us to our next stop, the pretty island of Hydra .
Hydra, is everything I imagine a Greek isle should be, pretty and quaint with a spattering of fantastic stone villas and houses in their characteristic Grecian architecture. Houses, washed in white with accents of aqua blue, sunny yellow and cherry red are arrested in shrouds of trees. Transportation is limited only to donkeys and horses since cars are strictly barred from the island. Island locals offer tourists a short round of the island on their donkeys, cobblestone path of shops sell seaside souvenirs and family owned tavernas display let their freshly caught squid and fish like shirts on a clothesline.
I got bored with the group’s shopping and decided to walk further up towards a path leading to a cliff where a few resorts offered a quick jump into the shiny sparkling Mediterranean Sea . I find Poros to be deliciously lazy and absolutely delightful, my personal favorite.
The last stop, Aegina was where we stayed the longest. One can choose between a historical visit to the temple of Athena , a wild beach party at a Waterpark or an adventurous hike to the Hellenic Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. One can also opt to discover Aegina on your own where shops, museums and churches also abound. A public beach was a few minutes walk away where one can swim for free. I took a dip just to say I did touch the sea but I find it too dull and brown however compared to the white sands of our own Paradise Island .
In Aegina, one can also shop for the islands fresh produce of pistachio nuts and fresh honey, sundried tomatoes and olives along stores where storekeepers entice you with a a taste test. Gelatos and ice flavored drinks are a fresh respite in the hot sun. I bought a pistachio flavored gelato while waited for my group to finish their buys before we headed off back to the ship and back to the city of Athens .
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The Unlonely Planet 