Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, in Toronto, September 1-3, 2007

I received a postcard today from Greenpeace. It shows a picture of the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise going among ice somewhere (Arctic I imagine). It is a ship that gets in the way of Japanese whaling fleet, has done research on the impacts of climate change off the coast of Greenland, and disrupted pirate fishing.

The ship is coming to Toronto September 1-3 and there are public tours from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at John Quay, Harbourfront.

I have mixed feelings about Greenpeace. Whenever there are comments needed from an international spokesperson about the environment, Greenpeace is usually there to speak out. However, I find the focus of saving whales, etc., a bit remote from my life and the climate change problems of industrialized countries that needs to be remedied.

Don't get me wrong. I don't get particular sentimental about dogs and cats, but I have seen whales to and from Alaska and in the St. Lawrence Seaway close to or at Tadousac. I was particularly lucky to see some pods of Beluga whales a couple summers ago. Tadousac is a great place for watching whales. The road stops and you go onto a ferry to get your car to Tadousac. You can see whales even from that small ferry crossing. If you walk along the beach you can also see the small whales like belugas or minke whales from the shore.

One of the most heart wrenching things I have seen for any wild animal, was a small whale who was being cared for at Mote Marine in Sarasota, Florida. The animal was sick and I'm not sure whether it had also tried to beach itself. Volunteers along with the staff quietly kept the whale wet and took care of him or her. Any visitors were told to keep very quiet in order not to disturb or upset the whale, as being injured was enough of a disturbance.

There is something about seeing a wild animal and, in particular, a wild animal in distress that really was very moving. Later I learned that the animal did not survive. But I will never forget standing there quietly and seeing all the staff and volunteers, who stayed with the whale around the clock, and who were caring for him so very quietly. It was distressing to know that the whale was very very sick and probably would not survive. I think because people do not have much contact with whales and because of their size, people are drawn to them and their plight in a way quite unlike say, a species of fish.

Sometimes I think Greenpeace is stuck a bit and does not realize that many of their boomer supporters who care about the environment are still not the kind of people who will chain themselves to buildings or logs or whatever. I see pictures of people who look very young all the time in the orange jumpsuits bringing attention to some stunt or other. Okay, it does keep Greenpeace in the news; but I cannot relate to that kind of activity. I also believe it stereotypes environmentalists into the chain-yourself-to-the-tree variety.

I believe that the influence of regular people, particularly if they are acting together, can be very strong with government or corporate officials. This is the way that Amnesty International works - many, many individuals who band together to bring attention to a person and issue, by the flood of letters that are sent on their behalf to governments or companies.

I only wish that Greenpeace had a bit more like this that people could do in the letter writing or signing petition online type of action. They usually have two or three things, but these do not change very frequently at all. I think this would broaden not only their support and legitimacy to other groups of people, but that it would provide another avenue for bringing environmental and climate change issues to governments and corporations.

I think