𝒟𝒾𝓈𝒸𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒥𝑜𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒲𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒜𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇
𝐿𝒶𝓊𝓇𝑒𝓁 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑒 𝒮𝑜𝒷𝑜𝓁!
𝒜 𝒫𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝐻𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝐵𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒥𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝐼𝓃 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒲𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝐵𝓎 𝐿𝒶𝓊𝓇𝑒𝓁 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝒾𝑒 𝒮𝑜𝒷𝑜𝓁 ~𝐼𝓃𝒸𝓁𝓊𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐿𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝑀𝒾𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒥𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓉
𝒷𝓃.𝒸𝑜𝓂
𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔢𝔤𝔞𝔠𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔏𝔞𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔩 𝔖𝔬𝔟𝔬𝔩 𝔟𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔧𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔞𝔩𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔤𝔞𝔫 𝔞𝔱 𝔄𝔪𝔞𝔷𝔬𝔫.𝔠𝔬𝔪 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔞𝔳𝔞𝔦𝔩𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔞𝔱 𝔅𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔰 & 𝔑𝔬𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔟𝔫.𝔠𝔬𝔪 𝔞𝔰 𝔬𝔣 2022.
A number of indigenous leaders across the Pacific have signed a treaty granting all whales legal personhood in an effort to protect whale populations from the effects of climate change, NPR reported Wednesday.
“What we’re trying to achieve here is to provide whales with certain rights,” said Mere Takoko, a conservationist who founded the Hinemoana Halo Ocean Initiative that spearheaded this treaty.
“Those rights include the right to freedom of movement, to natural behavior development, to cultural expression, which includes their language, to a healthy environment, healthy oceans, and, indeed, the restoration of their populations,” she stated.
The agreement is intended as groundwork for legislation to protect whales, which are considered sacred ancestors by some indigenous Polynesians.
“We have very intimate relationships with them, so they’re a huge part of our culture, a huge part of our narrative,” Takoko said, adding that without whales, “the web of all marine life would collapse.”
Among the signers of the treaty were Kiingi Tuheitia and Tou Travel Ariki, head of House Ariki in the Cook Islands.
“The sound of our ancestor’s song has grown weaker, and her habitat is under threat, which is why we must act now, Kiingi Tuheita said at the signing event in Rarotonga, part of the Cook Islands.
“We can no longer turn a blind eye. Whales play a vital role in the health of our entire ocean ecosystem,” echoed Tou Travel Ariki. “We must act with urgency to protect these magnificent creatures before it’s too late.”
Mere Takoko contends that rising ocean temperatures from climate change have disrupted whales’ migratory patterns.
Whales often wander into the paths of ships, said NPR host Steve Inskeep, resulting in the deaths of thousands every year by ship strikes. One benefit of enacting legal protections of personhood for whales would be the creation of an effective economic deterrent to such deaths.
“You hit the whale, you pay $2 million, or you slow down and change direction,” said Ralph Chami, the lead economist behind this initiative.
“It goes into effect immediately. Now, the issue is how to enforce it,” Chami said.
According to the activists, the same tactic has been used elsewhere to protect nature.
“In Costa Rica, they confer personhood on bees. In Panama, they confer personhood on leatherback turtles. In Ecuador, nature has rights,” Chami noted, while both New Zealand and Bangladesh have granted rivers personhood.
“So this whole thing is to make, in this case, the whale visible,” Chami said.
Celebrate whales 🐳
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