Chris Del Moro: El Mar Mi Alma

Dear fellow watermen and women of the world,

I have just returned from Chile, for the 60th annual IWC (International Whaling Commission) meeting. The journey was comprised of an eclectic group of heavy hitters, such as, trip coordinator Dave Rastovich and wife Hannah Mermaid, current world #2 Joel Parkinson, Chilean super charger Ramon Navarro, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson, Dane Ward, Chrystal Thornberg, and cinematographer extraordinaire, Dave Homsey. Our trip was organized by the amazing people from ‘Surfers for Cetaceans’ and our journey was rightfully entitled “El Mar Mi Alma”, which roughly translates to “the sea my soul”.

During our adventures across the Chilean coast line, we surfed and interacted with local environmental organizations, fishermen, artists, students and anyone passionate about protecting our rapidly depleting population of whales, dolphins and *cetaceans alike. We were also there to celebrate Chile’s recent decision to declare their waters an international marine sanctuary. Blessed with good fortune, we were able to sample a few of Chile’s finest left hand point breaks and express our creative sides by painting huge whale-centric murals across Chile’s colorful townships. The country is alive with spirit, culture and endless ways to enjoy nature at it’s finest.

On the other hand, during my time spent inside the IWC meetings in Santiago, I realized that the various suited delegates from around the world care more about maintaining politically correct relations than ending the illegal slaughter of whales and dolphins. It seems as though the IWC has created a platform for talking heads to spin their wheels in up scale hotels, wearing designer suits and indulging on gourmet buffet platters. While grass roots organizations such as Sea Shepard and Surfers for Cetaceans, push to create long lasting change in order to protect our ‘planet ocean’.

As the delegates justified the relativity of killing of whales and dolphins, scientific research has proven that whale and dolphin meat can hold up to 20 times the acceptable mercury limit for human consumption. Recent test of dolphin meat being fed to Japanese school children indicated that mercury levels far exceed those of Japan’s Minamata mercury poisoning disaster of the 1950’s. With international resistance growing and coverage of cetacean slaughter reaching global media sources, the last remaining whaling countries are now faced with growing economic hardships. To quote environmentalist extraordinaire Paul Watson’s thoughts on this year’s Antarctic (operation Mushashi) whale saving quest, “We plan on sinking the whaling industry, financially”.

As Surfers, I believe we share a vested interest in banning together to protect the amazing creatures and overall wellbeing of our seas. We can no longer be kept blinded by the horrific acts of marine animal violence/negligence in the name of turning a quick profit. With many marine species on the brink of extinction, the time to ban together and create lasting change is now!

If you would like to get involved or learn more, check out these online resources…

www.surfersforcetaceans.com Dave Rastovich’s organization
www.seashepherd.org Paul Watson’s organization
www.chile08tour.com our trips traveling blog

Sincerely, Chris Del Moro 111

*Cetacean- are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life. They include whales, dolphins and porpoises.