Lydia Unsworth
Whales and We
Fundraising for Whale And Dolphin Conservation
Story
So, I read a book about whales, Phillip Hoare's 'Leviathan, or The Whale', and it made me do this.
Anyway, I wanted to do something for a charity and raise some money for somebody other than myself, and it seems this is the thing I feel passionately about. Not because I am in love with whales, or they are my favourite animals, or they are 'cute' or whatever, but because it seems to represent man's relationship with every species: i.e. if is isn't useful in some way then what is it for?
Whales seem to me to symbolise this attitude; perhaps because of their size and age. The whale was a big opponent to come up against and we certainly got it down to a tee: after the WWII British whalers killed over 360,000 humpback whales, reducing the species to less than 1,000. Some of the statistics and all of the greed in Phillip Hoare's book really won't get out of my head.
Many of the species of whales have been hunted down to less than 5% of their population: at which point, we panic, protect them, build the numbers up, hunt them down again. I think the fear of extinction is often just the fear of the loss of another renewable energy source. Something in this attitude makes me very uncomfortable: this planet belongs to the whales as much as us.
So although whales, to me, may be a symbol of a greater problem, it seems as good a place as any to start and I would like to raise 3,000 pounds for this cause. 2,000 for the Whales and Dolphins Conversation Society UK, and 1,000 for the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust's research programme.
I intend to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats from the 1st of June to (approximately) the 14th June 2011. I will end my journey by applying as a volunteer on one of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust's research boating expeditions, thus, as a culmination, being able to learn more about that animal which I am working towards helping.
Please sponsor me, however much, however little. I really think it's important that we change the attitudes of existing whaling communities, or at least destroy the demand for their product. It's about more than just the extinction of whales, because the knock-on effect will inevitably lead to the extinction of other things. And it's about us not having the right to use tools just because we invented them. We are a successful species, we proved it, we should calm down now.
Many many thanks for reading!
How the money will be spent:
http://www2.wdcs.org/hych/info/wishlist.php
Please see below for links and details of your payment's security:
http://www.whaledolphintrust.co.uk/index.asp
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