Ocean Sentry
(From ABC News) Chile has declared the whale a national monument and made Chilean waters an official whale sanctuary.
The declaration was made on the first day of talks at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Santiago. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet made the announcement before a group of environment ministers in a former whaling port called Quintay, south of Santiago.
“That means Chile is committed to the whales and we will do as much as we can to support the fight for the conservation of the whales,” she said.
In the audience was Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who applauded the move to protect the whale.
“They’re going to build an industry of whale-watching, hopefully in time, as we have in Australia,” he said.
This week, he will deliver a report to the IWC calling for the regulatory body to recognise whale-watching as way of bolstering international protection.
