[originaltext] About 20,000 whales have been slaughtered since a ban on comm

About 20,000 whales have been slaughtered since a ban on commercial whaling was introduced in 1986 and the death toll is rising each year. Norway and Japan killed over 1,000 whales in 1999 and they plan to kill even more. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has failed to stop the killing and a compromise deal may relax the ban allowing coastal whaling condemning many thousands more whales to a cruel death. In 1994, the IWC created a whale refuge in Antarctic waters and many believed the battle to save the whales had been won. But Japan has ignored the refuge and along with Norway continues to defy the whaling ban. As the environmental concerns increase whaling is no longer the issue it was or deserves to be. With little public awareness of the increasing whale slaughter, there has been no pressure to stop it. Consequently, the political will to confront the whalers and enforce the whaling ban has slipped away. Commercial whaling has ruined whale populations worldwide, pushing the entire species to the brink of extinction. There is still great scientific uncertainty about the size and status of remaining whale populations. Whales are facing increasing threats to their survival including increasing toxic pollution, massive over-fishing, boat collisions, habitat loss, ozone exhaustion and climate change. They need to be protected, not hunted. Commercial whaling is surprisingly cruel and unnecessary. It is morally indefensible. It should be condemned to history, to a time when sadly we knew no better!