Author's Note

Sadly, the facts and figures presented in Echoes in the Blue are accurate, and the central conflict described in this story is inspired by real life circumstances.

The dolphin slaughter at Taiji Bay in Japan is real – and takes place every year.

The Japanese Pelagic Whaling Fleet is also real, as is their complete defiance of the IWC’s Moratorium on commercial whaling and the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Every year they continue to slaughter hundreds of whales in the Southern and North Pacific Oceans under the guise of “scientific” research – the kill taking place perhaps even as you read these lines.

At the time of writing, other nations are beginning to follow the example set by Japan and are reinstating commercial whaling operations of their own – Norway and Iceland already setting themselves similar quotas in the northern hemisphere. Other countries, while not actually undertaking whaling themselves, nevertheless use their vote in the IWC to support the continuation of whaling in the oceans around the world.

What can I do to stop it?

Legitimate science has shown that the larger whale species have never recovered from the over-exploitation of a century ago. Many other cetacean species are still hunted today – including smaller whales and dolphins whose population biology remains poorly understood – but are even now threatened or teetering on the brink of extinction.

If the wanton slaughter continues it is only a matter of time before more species join those already on the Red-list, and cetaceans may be exterminated, one by one, from the oceans of our planet.
Forever...

The future is in our hands.
C. George Muller