1200 lend their voice to end whale slaughter

Nearly 1,200 Sydneysiders took up the unique chance to voice their intent to end whaling during a special event in the CBD today (Monday, 7 June).

In a joint partnership with Optus, the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) called on people to drop by a purpose-built sound stage in Martin Place from 6.30am to 2pm and speak into a microphone for the ‘Give Whales a Voice’ campaign.

Created by M&C Saatchi Sydney, the campaign aims to record every word in the English language (give or take a few) via people visiting www.givewhalesavoice.com.au and the outdoor microphones. WSPA will take these thousands of voices to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting on 21 June in Morocco to articulate Australians’ opposition to whaling.

Monday’s event was fronted by passionate animal welfare campaigner SamiLukis, the WSPA ambassador for the ‘Give Whales a Voice’ campaign.Lukis was delighted with the turnout on a cold and rainy day: “It’ssuch a brilliant campaign. People know a recording of their actualvoice will be used in a presentation to the IWC,” Lukis said.

“It only takes 30 seconds out of people’s day, we are making it so easyfor people to give whales a voice.” There is no humane way to killwhales, Lukis added.

“The slaughter of whales is disgusting. What I didn’t realise was thatwhalers actually use harpoons that explode in the body of the whale andit can sometimes take hours for them to die an agonising death.Sometimes when they haul the whales up to the boat they aren’t evendead before they start cutting them up.”

A large proportion of the 1,164 people who stopped to sign on and lendtheir voice to the campaign were under 25 years old, a fact thatpleased WSPA spokesperson Louise Fitzsimons.

Generation Y is not as concerned or passionate about the inhumanity ofwhaling compared to older generations, according to latest researchconducted by WSPA.

Although almost all Australians surveyed (93%) support the cause toprotect whales, only 35% of the respondents aged 18-­24 are passionateabout it and, just as alarmingly, only half (55%) of this age group areconcerned about the cruel way whales are being killed.

“We know that Aussies are passionate when it comes to putting an end towhaling, but the younger generation does not appear to be getting themessage about this issue,” Fitzsimons said. “Years of debate aboutnumbers of whales that can be killed, rather than acknowledgement ofthe fact that whaling is inherently cruel, may have left them feelingfrustrated and powerless.”

On the agenda at the 21 June IWC meeting is a proposal to legitimisecommercial whaling in some countries, effectively putting an end to theexisting whaling ban.

 “It is critical that Australians speak up and join the fight against whaling now,” Lujkis said.

“Decades of progress are under threat due to the proposal the IWC will discuss when they meet in Morocco this June.”

Lukis urged people to quickly log onto www.givewhalesavoice.com.au to make their voices count at the IWC meeting.