whales are under threat again pic: marineEcotours.comRecently a proposal was unveiled that could legalize commercial whale hunting for the first time in 24 years.
The fate of the proposal will be determined largely by the world's immediate reactions to it - and according to insiders, many governments are planning to stand aside and allow commercial whaling to resume. An outcry is needed now to ensure they stand strong to save the whales.

Avaaz has launched a last-moment petition to show our leaders their people want to protect whales, not hunt, kill, and sell them. The petition will be sent to the delegates to the International Whaling Commission every time we raise another 100,000 signatures - sign here.

A strong international consensus has opposed whaling for decades - but for just as long, Japan, Norway, and Iceland have continued to hunt whales, ignoring the global ban on whaling or exploiting a loophole by claiming their expeditions were "scientific research." Now they could be rewarded by a "compromise" proposal, in which their commercial whaling would be made legal.

Worse still, a number of other countries are watching the process closely - with rumored plans to start their own whaling programs if the proposal goes through. If Japan, Norway, and Iceland can hunt whales and sell their meat, others will ask "if them, why not us?"

It's time to save the whales -- again. Forty years ago, whales were on the brink of extinction. But thanks to a global social movement, the world banned commercial whaling in 1986. The ban is one of the environmental movement's great triumphs.

Today, whales still face many threats: not just the whalers' harpoons, but also climate change, destruction of ecosystems by overfishing and pollution, and nets intended for other fish. A renewed wave of commercial whaling could devastate these extraordinarily intelligent and social cousins of humanity. This is no time to move backwards.