ongoing

Who don't like whales? Certain Japanese and Icelandic whalers, I suppose, or maybe we should say they like whales a little differently than we do. They like whale parts. So, did we, here in America in the 18th and 19th centuries. You've read "Moby-Dick." You might have heard Mountain's "Nantucket Sleighride" and done the digging to find out what that was - harpooned whaled talking whalers for a frightening ride. I've been to the whaling museum in Nantucket and it's quite a trip back in time. Sitting in the precarious whaling boats, taking in the lecture about whales meant then and now, honoring the island's proud whaling past and then coming to the 180 degree turn of: We don't do that anymore. We just about made these huge animals - the largest earth's ever seen - extinct.

The Museum of Science has just put up a new exhibit, "Whales Tohura," that encompasses an exhbit and an IMAX film "Whales." The film itself, made by explorer and President of the Ocean Alliance Roger Payne, was done 15 years ago. Need we say it's not dated. That is, whatever went on in the whale world 15 years ago is going on today. Payne spoke at a press function, before the film went up June 20. "Whales face more threats than ever before," he said. There are more than 80 species of whales, including dolphins (did not know this, dolphins are whales.) The film, he added, is "the next best thing to swimming with whales" - maybe even better because of the lack of actual wetness. He's right. It's a totally immersive enviornment, the dome IMAX screen and the huge images and mega-sound system, putting you in the center of the various whale adventures. As these things tend to do, we get lots of whales scouring the ocean for krill and whales doing their acrobatics, but we also follow a mother and her calf as they migrate north to Alaska - lose lots of weight in doing so - in the hunt for food. You'll hear whale songs - a bit like early Fripp and Eno - and realize they're all variations on the same mating call. You'll meet Killer Whales, clearly the gangstas of the whale bunch, who think nothing of treating their own brethren as food. They are, we're told, the most massive predator of the seas. The film can't help but put you in awe of these creatures. It touches upon the peril they face from man, but that sort of oceanic greed-mongering hunting expose can be found elswhere, like the doc "The Cove." There's a balletic quality to what these elusive, massive creatures can accomplish. And the underwater footage, need we say, is just spectacular. The film costs $9. For showtimes, visit the website below.

Enter the exhibit, and you see the 58-foot-long skeleton of a sperm whale and its calf, immediately impressing you with its massivness. (Could Jonah have survived in the belly of one of these? Hmmm. A Bible fable to puzzle over ... ) Some of the accompanying material informs us 300,000 whales die each year from the fishing industry. If you have little kids, they can crawl through the insides of a plastic live size Blue Whale heart. The exhibit focuses on whales of the South Pacific and will school you on their evolution, their sound, their mating habits.
Tickets for the museum run between $24.50 and $33.50, depending on what you want to take in. Hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., except Fridays when it's open til 9 p.m.

What you should do (and what JSInk plans this summer): Take a Whale watch tour, available through Sept. 6 via Boston Harbor Cruises. It's a three hour tour - tickets are $51 and can be obatained by calling 617-723-2500, or online at the address below.)

Associated Press Writer Arthur Max filed this report June 23 on the state of whales today.

AGADIR, Morocco – An international effort to truly limit whale hunting collapsed Wednesday, leaving Japan, Norway and Iceland free to keep killing hundreds of mammals a year, even raiding a marine sanctuary in Antarctic waters unchecked.The breakdown put diplomatic efforts on ice for at least a year, raised the possibility that South Korea might join the whaling nations and raised questions about the global drive to prevent the extinction of the most endangered whale species.

It also revived doubts about the effectiveness and future of the International Whaling Commission. The agency was created after World War II to oversee the hunting of tens of thousands of whales a year but gradually evolved into a body at least partly dedicated to keeping whales from vanishing from the Earth's oceans."I think ultimately if we don't make some changes to this organization in the next few years it may be very serious, possibly fatal for the organization — and the whales will be worse off," former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer told the hundreds of delegates.

"We need this organization to function," U.S. whaling commissioner Monica Medina told The Associated Press later. "It certainly is in need of repair."

Japanese officials and environmentalists traded charges of blame after two days of intense, closed-door talks failed to break a deadlock in which the three whaling nations offered to limit their catch but refused to phase it out completely. About 1,500 animals are killed each year by the three countries. Japan, which kills the majority of whales, insists its hunt is for scientific research — but more whale meat and whale products end up in Japanese restaurants than in laboratories.

Several whale species have been hunted to near extinction, gradually recovering since the ban on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986, while other species like the smaller minke whale are still abundant. But the whale arouses deep passions around the world, because it was one of the first icons of the animal conservation movement, starting with the popular Save The Whale campaign of the 1970s.

A key sticking point is the sanctity of an ocean region south of Australia that the agency declared a whaling sanctuary in 1994. Despite that declaration, Japanese whalers regularly hunt in Antarctic waters, a feeding ground for 80 percent of the world's whales, and the commission has no enforcement powers to stop them. Australia has already launched a complaint against Japanese whaling at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the U.N.'s highest court.

Another stubborn obstacle was the demand to phase down whaling to zero. "We certainly pushed for that long and hard," Medina told AP. "We think that all whaling, other than indigenous subsistence whaling, should come to an end."

Japan delegate Yasue Funayama said her country had offered major concessions and agreed "to elements which are extremely difficult to accept." She blamed the failure of the talks on countries that refused to accept the killing of even a single animal.  Palmer, who worked with 12 countries to help draft a compromise, commended Japan, which he said "showed real flexibility and a real willingness to compromise."

The United States had pushed hard for a deal to bring the three rogue nations back under the commission's control and recognize a limited catch, but finding an acceptable number of whales to kill proved elusive. A proposal drafted by the commission's chairman suggested a limit of 400 whales in the southern ocean annually for five years, then going down to 200. Altogether, Japan's immediate quota would be 632 — about 300 less than the quota it has assigned for itself.

"After nearly three years of discussions, it appears our discussions are at an impasse," said Medina. Australia, leading the hardline anti-whaling nations, hailed the outcome that preserved the ban on commercial whaling, even though it is flouted by the three whaling states which claim exemptions. Australia was supported by a bloc of Latin American countries.

"The fact that there wasn't a consensus on the compromise is the right place for the commission to be," said Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett. (JSInk note: Peter Garrett, I know. I interviewed him a number of times when he was the lead singer for the politically oriented Aussie band Midnight Oil. A great guy, very passionate about music, environment and surfing.) South Korea acknowledged that it wants the right to hunt whales and may apply to the commission for a quota. The Koreans opposed the latest proposal because it "allows whaling only for countries currently involved in commercial whaling, which excludes South Korea," said Lee Kang-eun of the department of fishery policies in Seoul.

The 88 members of the whaling agency are about evenly split between countries that oppose whaling and nations who advocate sustainable whaling. Some environmentalists have accused Japan of using its foreign aid to recruit nations into the whaling commission so they support Japan's position. Ten years ago the commission had only 41 members, but today it includes landlocked nations like Mali that have no direct interest in whaling or ocean conservation.

But the delegate from St. Kitts and Nevis, Daven Joseph, told the media and environmental groups to stop such allegations. "We have been accused of being surrogates. That is not the case," he said.

Many environmentalists blamed Japan for the breakdown. "If Japan had agreed to a phase out in the Southern Ocean, there would have been a good chance" for a deal, said Wendy Elliott of WWF. Others expressed relief that the 25-year ban on whaling was not lifted.

"Had it been done here, this deal would have lived in infamy," said Patrick Ramage of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The commission's annual meeting ends Friday. Talks now are likely to focus on less controversial issues, such as preventing collisions by whales and ships, the effects of climate change.

Later Wednesday, Russia rejected the commission's science committee recommendation to delay oil exploration off its eastern coast, where testing is planned during the seasonal feeding period of the highly endangered Western Gray whale. WWF said only 26 breeding females are known to exist anywhere, and they could be hurt by the blasts of Russia's seismic tests.

1 Science Park, 5617-589-0100 www.mos.org