LAST week the International Whaling Commission (IWC) met on the Portuguese island of Madeira and agreed that climate change is a threat to whales. A decision on the Danish proposal for Greenland to hunt 10 humpback whales a year was postponed. Australia’s Environment Minister was there and told the meeting that whale-watching is a growing industry worth more than whale hunting. Ian Mott disagrees:
“THE claim, by Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett, that whales are worth more alive than dead betrays a breathtaking level of economic ignorance and a dangerous penchant for simplistic, “Cargo Cult” panaceas.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.