Quick update from Anchorage

Well I have been in Anchorage for a few days now for the International Whaling Commission, but it has been pretty hectic finalising all the preparations, so a bit of blog silence!

Today was the first day of the meeting, but it got off to a pretty quiet start. Many of the delegates stressed the need today for "conciliation", "finding common ground", "seeking compromise" etc. This is a strong contrast to recent years where there have usually been a series of bitterly contested votes from the start of the meeting. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds in the coming days. I will provide some more detailed updates as we progress.

Outside of work, I have to say that the small glimpses I have had of Alaska are just magnificent! Just flying in here was stunning. The flight from Amsterdam to Seattle was pretty good with some wonderful views of the north of Canada and the Rocky Mountains, and then Alaska is in another whole league. Flying in over jagged mountains and sweeping glaciers is so good for the soul.

Have managed to escape for a couple of runs - the first time I saw a bald eagle and a moose, and tonight I saw another moose. And the photo above was one I took tonight on the footpath out the front of the hotel. I have a few days off after the meeting, and can't wait to get out of town and take in some real Alaskan wilderness.

Anyway, more soon...
Shane

Preparing to Defend the Whales

It is just a few days now until I leave for the annual International Whaling Commission meeting which this year is being held in Alaska.

Today, Greenpeace activists laid out the bodies of whales and dolphins drowned in nets and killed by ship strike as a stark reminder of the range of threats to cetaceans.

Three hundred thousand whales and dolphins drown in fishing nets each year and it is impossible to calculate how many more fall victim to pollution, ship strikes, the impacts of sonar or climate change. In this contrext it is impossible to justify hunting them as well.

Next week more than seventy nations will gather in Anchorage, Alaska to determine the fate of the great whales, under increasing pressure from whaling nations such as Japan, Iceland and Norway, for a formal resumption of commercial whaling. Later this year in the Southern Ocean, the Japanese government plans to hunt nearly 900 minke whales, increase the take of endangered fin whales to 50 and add 50 threatened humpback whales to the quota.

Governments attending the IWC must make a commitment to defend the whales, not the whaling industry. The drive to resume commercial hunting is one of the most extreme examples of governments’ failure to protect our oceans.

The whales and dolphins laid out today in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin were washed up on European beaches and subsequently collected by Greenpeace activists. The causes of death ranged from drowning in fishing nets, toxic pollution or from underwater noise. Some of them show scars from ship propellers or fishermen knifes. One died as it was giving birth.

What this space for update from Anchorage as the meeting unfolds next week.

Shane

The real cause of climate change?

So this one is borderline bad taste, but it has got a pretty good laugh around the office. With the scientific evidence so strong, and governments still reluctant to take serious steps to tackle climate change, the odd moment of light relief is welcome! At least it is not too late, and there is still time to stop runaway climate change - all we need is an energy revolution.

(Oh, and the original of this is even funnier - it is an animated gif file, and the penguin spins on the rotisserie etc. My technical skills don't seem to be good enough to get that version on to the blog, but I can email it to you if you want, just let me know...)

Shane

Canal Chaos!

Today's photo is another Queen's Day flashback. Believe it or not, there is a canal in this photo somewhere! Somehow our boat driver did manage to navigate his way through all of this, although our crowd on the boat was neither paying attention or in a hurry...

Shane

Queen's Day - the details!

Ok, so it has taken me nearly two weeks to get around to it, but here is the story of Queen's Day 2007. The simple summary - a Queen's Day never to be forgotten!

The big thing for Queen's Day is to get on a boat cruising the canals. We had not got around to it before, but this year some friends Garth and Cath had hired a boat, and managed to squeeze us on board, as well as find space for Dwayne and Lisa, our friends from Canberra who were visiting for the weekend.

We spent the weekend stocking up, and dutifully arrived at the meeting point weighed down with boxes of beer, bottles of wine and a suitable assortment of cheeses, olives, and all the sort of foods you need for an afternoon of cruising (and Dwayne had his hip flask of Bacardi - pure class!) . The weather was fab, and the plan was for six hours on the water.

Fifteen minutes or so after scheduled departure word came around that there was a bit of a delay with the boat. Did not seem surprising, since the canals were already packed, and a traffic jam was not unlikely. We cracked the drinks and got started anyway!

Half an hour later the word got much worse - our boat was not coming, double booked or some other story, but no boat. There we were - 50 of us abandoned on the wharf, more food and drink than you can imagine, dressed up and nowhere to go. Poor Garth and Cath - not their fault, but they were gutted.

But then someone came up with Plan B! Across the way was one of the Amsterdam tourist boats. Soon we had 50 lots of 10 euros, and we were off, piling on board and heading out on the canals. Due to the traffic, our 75 min cruise took a whole lot longer, and by the time we got back, we were having so much fun, we just bought another 50 tickets and went round again!

So we had our afternoon on the canals, partied like crazy, finally spent a Queen's Day on the water, made a bunch of new friends, and survived! Can't wait for next year...

As for the photo, this one is on the boat - you saw the last photo with me wearing the wig - that was not what I left home wearing. This joker hat was my original effort - not sure which was worse, but as you can see, we all had plenty of orange. More Dutch than the Dutch...

Shane

100th post!

According to the admin part of my blog, this is my 100^th blog posting. When I started the blog, I was never sure that it would survive, so that seems like a bit of a milestone for actually sticking with it!

Anyway, earlier in the week, I promised some details of our Queen’s Day exploits. As it often does, the week has got away from me with so much going on at work, so that is a promise that will not be fulfilled for now. Will take the time over the weekend to tell that story. For today, I will let this photo speak for itself. It seems like a nice celebratory photo to go with the 100^th post on the site.

Shane

Whales at the White House

This is just one of those great images that turns up at work from time to time. This photo is actually from Associated Press, and the accompanying caption read:

"A uniformed Secret Service officer, back to camera, talks with Greenpeace activists, two dressed as humpback whales, at at the northwest gate of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 8, 2007, as they unsuccessfully attempt to deliver over 30,000 petitions to President Bush urging him to help end Japan, and other nation's, commercial whaling ahead of the International Whaling Commission's meeting later this month."

Shane

It hasn't actually been that quiet...

Although I have not managed to make a post for two weeks now, it has been anything but dull here in Amsterdam. In fact, it has been just the opposite, with a busy social agenda keeping us out until the wee hours of many of the balmy spring evenings here in Amsterdam.

It started on Anzac Day, when I made my first trip to Coco's Outback Bar, the Australian bar on Rembrandtplein that I have managed to avoid for more than three years. It turns out to be a pretty good bar. We joined a small Anzac service led by our friend Mick, then caught the World Cup Cricket semi-final against South Africa.

Friday night, we had a bar night on the roof terrace at work, and welcomed our friends Dwayne and Lisa from Australia. They picked the perfect weekend to be in town, both in terms of weather and parties!

Saturday night was back to Coco's for the World Cup final, and despite the chaos in the cricket, it was a good time that finished some time after 2am. Sunday was playing tourist with Dwayne and Lisa (including taking in the outdoors cafes, see photo above), then taking in the World Press Photo exhibition. This is a powerful exhibition of news media photos taken during 2006, and the exhibition displays the best entries. With a world at war in so many places, many of the images are very distressing, yet at the same time important. The winning image, taking during the war in Lebanon during the northern summer, told a story of what a contradictory world we live in.

Sunday night began the Queen's Day festivities. We spent most of the evening on the Reguliersdwarsstraat, an area known for it's gay bars. It was a hell of a party down there, with the entire street turned in to one big night club.

As for Queen's Day - it was definitely the best one I have had here - watch this space for the photos and the stories in the coming days...

Shane