Day 1 - IWC Sunday 20th June

Today I arrived in the seaside town of Agadir, on the west coast of Morocco, after a 42 hour journey from Sydney. This week, it plays host to people from all over the globe, who have come here to discuss the future of whaling.

It was great to meet the WSPA reps from the UK and New Zealand. At dinner I also met the WSPA reps from Costa Rica and Norway. This once again reminded me that this is a truly international issue, which is of great concern to people all over the world.

I had a fascinating chat to the Norwegian Society for the Protection of Animals. They say the whaling industry in Norway is very content to stay hidden in the shadow of Japan. And why wouldn't they be? Japan continues to take the media spotlight and most of the heat, while Norway can continue slaughtering innocent whales, with very little attention or condemnation.

The big topic of discussion at dinner was the alarming rumour that has been circulating today. It’s believed the plenary will open tomorrow as normal, but then the delegates will move into closed door meetings from 11am ... where they will and stay until Wednesday! This has all of the NGOs (non-government organisations) extremely worried - because that would mean we won’t be able to hear what’s being discussed.

Although we don't have any information about their agenda; we understand it will possibly focus on a compromise deal to phase out whaling in the Southern Ocean over a ten year period. If this is only directed at Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, the concern is that higher quotas may be given to the other two whaling nations.

We won't know anything more until tomorrow. If they do go into closed door meetings, we'll just have to sit tight and hope for any snippets of information we can get from any of the delegates - until they all re-emerge on Wednesday. I'll let you know ...

Sami Lukis

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