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Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

"if The Oceans Die, We Die"

i love this initiative. i'm a firm follower of Sea Shepherd and George Watson ever since i read Peter Heller's book The Whale Warriors. What are your thoughts on this ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHEbmk-1Bj8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E3V_sZ2mfQ

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Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

i've heard that by 2050 there will be no fish left in the ocean. our whales are being hunted and killed and are in danger of extinction. all kinds of seabirds are found washed up with stomachs full of plastic. soon there will be no birds or fish left to photograph and paint, and yet i can't get any of you to watch these two short videos. am i the only one here who cares what is happening to our oceans?

 

Patricia Strand

9 Years Ago

I believe you, Carolyn, but I tend not to look at videos on my computer. I'll give these a watch if they are not long. I think 2050 is probably too soon. I can see a bleak future for the oceans, although further down the road. Meanwhile, we can only hope that measures will be taken to circumvent the inevitable. I feel confident we will, but it needs to happen more rapidly. In my town, for example, plastic bags have only recently been outlawed -- that should have happened years ago!

 

Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

i'm sorry you did not watch, Patricia as it is a solution for the plastic bags. and doesn't take long to watch at all. 2050 is unfortunately about right if we do not act now.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans/oceans-fish-fishing-industry.htm

you can read this one and it only takes a minute.

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Carolyn, that's a sad prediction, I certainly hope it does not come true, I want my grandchildren to enjoy the ocean like I do. I enjoyed the series that Paul Watson had called whale wars. I think that the biggest offenders are the big corporations, like BP that's not to say we all don't have some responsibility as individuals to make sure we don't pollute, but it's the big corporations. Here is a sculpture I did right after the big BP oil spill, the original title was "A Crude Reality". You have to look closley to see the insignia of the 3 executives sitting on the oil barrel. Difficult to see in the image is a mother sea turtle on her back gasping for air and a baby turtle on top of her as if to comfort her.

Photography Prints

 

Kathy K McClellan

9 Years Ago

Carolyn,

I've always considered myself sort of an environmentalist......yes, I occasionally hug trees!
I am also blessed to live "at the beach" (not ON the beach but close enough).

So you can imagine my horror, fear and depression in 2010 when BP not only gushed crude oil and gas into the Gulf Of Mexico but then poisoned the gulf with millions of pounds of Corexit dispersant---banned by most of the other developed countries of the world.

Five years prior we survived Hurricane Katrina, although our home did not. After five years of living in a polluted flood soaked area, struggling to pick up the pieces and rebuild our lives we were threatened with tropical storms that could potentially flood us with BPs poisons less than a year after rebuilding and moving into our new home.

One person canNOT make a difference when talking about polluting and destroying our planet. It would take ALL of us, including huge corporations. Sadly I don't see that happening.

As for me, I can only do my best, living in a modern society, to pollute as little as possible and try to set an example for others. Supporting the efforts of the above mentioned organizations and others like them helps, too.

Thanks for the awareness provided by the links.
Kathy

 

Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

a lot of damage is done by trawling. thousands of sea creatures including birds are caught up in the nets and then thrown away dead. the whaling itself is a huge problem. however this is really addressing the garbage that ends up in the sea which the fish and birds then eat. it is not just the large corporations doing the damage though i was as horrified as you, Kathy over the whole BP episode.

one person does make a difference because that one person encourages another person and so on and so on. its like voting, if we don't vote then we should not complain and if we did not bring it to people's attention about this issue, then maybe the RAW initiative would never have been started.

beautiful sculpture, Mario the thread is not so much about the oil spill as about the garbage that has collected in the oceans which is being removed and converted into denim. or it was supposed to be. ;)

 

Roy Erickson

9 Years Ago

Few countries actually still hunt whales - and certainly not like they did in the "old days". That whales will be come extinct - maybe, from hunting - probably not. More serious however is the detritus we throw in ALL of our waterways and the beach - and off of ships - (did you think they saved it and brought it back to land). I've been on deep sea fishing trips and watched as the plastic rings on beer and soda cans were simply flipped over the sides. But - we live in a throw away world of plastic - and there really are few people (relatively) that recycle. There's McDonald's and all the other trash producing fast food places that have carry out in foam and plastic as well as the paper bags that get strewn all over the streets - and in this town - it all washes to the water run off and down to the lakes and ponds. Everyone may cry and moan over the destruction caused by folks - and it's more likely we will, in the end, poison ourselves to extinction - than "global warming/climate change" will ever hurt us. {Although war is the other way we've taken to reduce the population of the earth}.

I don't need to watch video's - I can simply walk a short way down the street and look in the little creek that comes through town and look a the debris, cups, cans, paper, and other trash - that is on it's way to the lake.

 

MM Anderson

9 Years Ago

I'm sad to say that here in the state of South Carolina littering is a common thing. Our roadsides and nature areas alike always have trash strewn all over. I can't understand the mindset of people who just toss their garbage on the ground or in the water. You wouldn't believe the stuff they pull out of the rivers, marshes and beach areas when they have the clean up days. If individuals don't care then the big corporations certainly won't care. It really makes me depressed.

 

Amanda Stadther

9 Years Ago

Cool subject Carolyn!

In my old journalism and card-carrying-tree-hugger life I spent some time in the Southern Ocean (mostly vomiting, but that's a different story)...I went to some old whaling outposts in South Georgia where even in the first half of the 1900s, factory ships almost wiped out the Southern Right Whale population in 60 years - a terrifyingly short amount of planet-time. Even back then there were environmentalists who could see what was about to happen but whaling continued. In the end the whalers in South Georgia became extinct - not the whales. Often nature fights back on its own terms...and sometimes it even wins.

I wrote about it in my blog.

http://fineartamerica.com/blogs/grytviken-whaling-abandoned.html

 

Carlos Diaz

9 Years Ago

Agent Smith: The Matrix

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

:)

 

Bonfire Photography

9 Years Ago

There have been people predicting this type of thing for centuries, most current ones are shills with their hand out looking for money, and people give it to them..

 

Floyd Snyder

9 Years Ago

I though political propaganda was not allowed on FAA?

 

Robert Frank Gabriel

9 Years Ago

I don't mean to be mean but anyone with an ounce of brains and not filled with mememe propaganda knows that we humans have destroyed this planet and it's dying before our eyes. I suggest you all watch Mad Max and the Thunderdome....because that is what we have turned the earth into...BarterTown...

 

Abbie Shores

9 Years Ago

Politics is not allowed in the forum. Discussing the planet is. Leave the politicians out of it for as soon as they enter then I will have to close

 

Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

the videos are about RAW, the second one is an initiative to turn the plastics into denim and recycle it. i think that's just such a wonderful thing to do.

thanks Abbie, no politicians involved. :)

@Amanda, thank you for sharing your blog, it is very enlightening and informative. i learnt a lot from reading it.

@MM that happens here on our city streets too. it is disheartening. i've been known to toss cans back through car windows when some person driving up my block chucks one out.

 

Bradford Martin

9 Years Ago

I have a life long interest in the sea. I have a lot of education and training. I volunteered for years on whale watch vessels. I worked professionally for many years in marine mammal protection. To count my accomplishments in education, training , research, rescue and rehabiltiation, direct intervention, protection and mitigation would take a book. People I know wrote the Marine Mammal Protection Act. That was considered liberal radical back in the 70s. Its been a year now since I have done that work. I am at least staying abreast of things but not active. Although I do follow a few dozen whale groups. Part of being a marine biologist is working on ships. Its hard to have any respect for a group that endangers other ships. I have no regard for Sea Shepard and a lot of the radical environmentalists today. Most of those that are really making a difference don't either. I didn't watch the videos and don't plan to. Please don't count not watching a video from that group as not caring about the environment.

 

Jason Politte

9 Years Ago

Great thread - I'm also a big supporter of Sea Shepherd and have made several donations during the past few years. That group alone has done more to stop whaling and overfishing than many other organizations combined.

 

Tony Murray

9 Years Ago

I would think from an evolutionary standpoint if we die that would be a good thing.

 

Bradford Martin

9 Years Ago

Educating and changing laws has made a much bigger difference then eco-terrorism. Sea Shepard gave real environmentalists a bad name. The whaling moratorium although not perfect was the biggest thing to help whales. We have a program started here where we track mother and calf Right Whales and then warn ships in the path. Ships almost always comply. This resulted in an instant drop in vessel strikes. Out of the came speed laws and better ways to monitor for Right Whales. This is a lot better then threatening to ram a fisherman.

 

Jason Politte

9 Years Ago

Changing laws doesn't help when it comes to fishermen and countries who either aren't willing to abide by them or work to find loopholes in the law. What helps that is actually stopping the poachers, especially when the poaching is being committed in a whale sanctuary. Unfortunately, Sea Shepherd is the only organization to really step up to the plate.

The ICJ finally ruled against Japan whaling in the Antarctic but said nothing about the Pacific. A few days ago, the whaling fleet set sail to take 51 Minke whales in what they claim to be 'research', but in reality, it's all about selling whale meat for large sums of money.

 

Karen Zuk Rosenblatt

9 Years Ago

It is very sad and frustrating. I do what I can. This is how I feel about it.
Sell Art Online

 

Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

wow, that is eerily and sadly beautiful, Karen. a very strong statement.

 

Karen Zuk Rosenblatt

9 Years Ago

Thanks Carolyn.

 
 

Val Arie

9 Years Ago

Hi Carolyn! Very good Videos...I too am a fan of the Sea Shepard and others. I didn't read the replies because ...well ...I just didn't . One of my favorite quotes about the state of our planet :

"Someday the earth will weep, she will beg for her life, she will cry with tears of blood. You will make a choice, if you will help her or let her die, and when she dies, you too will die. " -John Hollow Horn, Oglala Lakota, 1932

It really is as simple as that...Water is the source of life on this planet...What is that cute guys name...the one that produced Water Planet? If you ask me we need to stop polluting...let the lawns turn brown and weeds grow and bugs live...be mindful of what we do an a daily basis...It is not a matter anymore of a species extinction but the extinction of life on this planet.

here is another that deals with the plastic pollution....


http://www.upworthy.com/people-should-know-about-this-awful-thing-we-do-and-most-of-us-are-simply-unaware?g=3

 

Carolyn, I hope you don't take airplanes anywhere or drive too much, those are some of the BIGGEST contributors of our problem besides some manufacturing especially done in China for Walmart stores, so hope everyone thinks before they shop at Walmart also or fly in an airplane. China loses so much land per year that can't be used because of the over population and polution from factories. I believe the weather conditions getting more extreme and over population which has more wars is Mother Nature cleaning herself and trying to survive and make the population smaller to save the resources, and we shouldn't be too surprised at it happening . We can only do so much unless we switch more to wind and solar energy and have it assessable to millions not only to the rich ,we can only help with what we can be handed in our financial means. Commercialism and profit makes us at the mercy of the people holding the goods on modern energy that could save the oceans, water and air, it's there it's just not profitable or inexpensive for millions to use in regular homes, If you are VERY interested read work on Amory Lovins a famous environmentalist living in Colorado ,I used to take care of his father before his father past away
Art Prints

 
 

Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

@Val great quote and thanks, i will read the upworthy article a little later. saturday is market day. :)
@Leah i love your mother nature. lucky you to have had that contact with Amory Lovins. i flew two years ago to alabama and before that to the uk. otherwise no, i do not fly nor do i drive. i do take buses (environmentally friendly ones) and the subway (not so environmentally friendly but better than driving) or i walk. mostly i walk. and i agree totally about Mother Nature throwing more and more storms at us because the environment is trying to survive in spite of us. and it will. it will change. people will probably die out, just like the dinosaurs did. but the planet will survive and be different.

 

Bradford Martin

9 Years Ago

The bulk of my paid work with marine mammals has been working with the fishing, oil and construction industries to raise awareness of the presence of marine mammals and actions that can be taken to reduce harm. This means being allowed aboard vessels for days weeks or even months. I used acoustic monitoring and direct observation to detect the presence of whales. The animosity generated by pirates such as Sea Shepard makes it more difficult for the hundreds of observers to gain access to vessels. In the fishing industry we work with vessels to reduce incidental catch of turtles and mammals and also endangered fish.. Maybe SS has done some good in raising awareness but they are far from being on the forefront of making a difference. Things like whaling bans and marine sanctuaries come about by working with industry not being hostile to them. Sea Shepard may get the headlines but the work that has made a big difference has been done by peaceful means. My own venture into photography came from my efforts to document the presence of marine mammals in NY State. I worked on the stranding team and assisted in almost every necropsy done on the ones that stranded dead or died after. I took the plastic from the stomach of marine mammals and sea turtles and put them in large water bottles to display. Many of the animals had slowly starved due to intestinal blockage by plastic. At one time I had only a few and people though it was some random thing. So I kept collecting more and more. We got some of the early grants to study the effects of plastic on whales and that knowledge led to big changes in society and laws. We educated people and eventually raised support for an educational aquarium. I have never met any person working in this field that supports eco-terrorism. I am very resentful of the notion that if you don't support eco-terrorsm you don''t care which seems to be what an early post suggested. We always put human lives first. We don't confront directly. Now that cetacean observers are associated in the public mind as terrorists we have to live under threat of harm by others who view us as pirates. Thanks Sea Shepard for undermining decades of work.

 

Jason Politte

9 Years Ago

Bradford,

I have a lot of respect for the work that you and others in your field do, just as I have a lot of respect for what Sea Shepherd does.

However, the Japanese whaling fleet goes to the Antarctic whale sanctuary every year with a quota of taking 1000+ whales, including a few humpbacks. Through Sea Shepherd's direct intervention, those numbers have been kept very low and not only have resulted in thousands of whales saved but also hurt the whaling fleet economically. There is no other country or organization except for Sea Shepherd willing to stop the whaling fleet from taking 1000+ whales every year, and to me and many others, that is huge.

 

Chris Scroggins

9 Years Ago

I went to a screening of a new documentary called "Cowspiracy" this week. It is as powerful as Blackfish. Here is a website with information on how to find a screening:
http://www.tugg.com/titles/cowspiracy
It may change the way you think about the main cause of global warming.

 

Carolyn Weltman

9 Years Ago

i'm with Jason on the issue of Sea Shepherd. the other organizations are intimidated by the Japanse ships and the Sea Shepherd, through their Captain's dedication has made a huge difference towards saving these beautiful mammals from extinction both by standing up to the Japanese whalers and by bringing the goverments' and people's attention to the plight of these amazing whales. more so than any other organization. interestingly, the Dalai Lama supports Sea Shepherd. i hardly think he would support them if they were really pirates and dangerous to the whaling ships. Sea Shepherd does not back down but this is not an act of violence.

 

When I saw the one-sheet attached to the trailer for 'Cowspiracy,' something ironic and hysterically funny immediately came to mind; from Monty Python's, Holy Grail, I conjured the scene that featured the killer cow (here's the excerpt from the script):


Arthur: Now this is your last chance! I've been more than reasonable....

Soldier: (to four other soldiers, standing behind him on the rampart) Fetchez la vache.

Other Soldier: qua?

Soldier: Fetchez la vache!

(the other soldiers are seen leading a cow...mooing noises are heard)

Arthur: (continued) ...if you do not agree to my commands, then I shall-

(Boing! The soldiers catapult the cow through the air, over the rampart...

Arthur: Jesus Christ!

(...and the cow lands, amid much wailing and mooing, on one of the footmen. Various crying-outs from Arthur's party are heard.)


Additionally, I detect a subtle, cynical undertone inherent in a few of the responses posted to this thread that is a reflection of the theme in my oil on canvas, 'Merthiless Mythanthrope' (edit out the lithp, and you'll have it):

Photography Prints


And what's this...mass extinction caused by anthropogenesis?

Such conceit!

 

Chris Scroggins

9 Years Ago

I forgot to mention that a Sea Shepherd representative has a cameo appearance in the film.

 

This discussion is closed.