Be a Dolphin's Friend

People all over the world have greeted the news of the start of the dolphin slaughter in Taiji Japan with sadness, shock and fury. The Cove has highlighted some very gruesome and inhumane practices around dolphin capture and slaughter - a regular event in this Japanese town – and brought it to the centre of international attention.

So instead of the usual blog, I thought I would just do a listing of organisations working to save dolphins and marine mammals so concerned individuals can find further info and get involved in their own way. While we can’t all stand on picket lines or make compelling documentary films, we can support those groups devoted to protecting marine mammals such as dolphins, whales and porpoises. Campaigns depend on individuals to make them a success so I hope you find the info handy and useful (and this is nothing near being an exhaustive or definitive list so if you know of more organisations, please publicise them.

Dolphins in Japan

Save Japan Dolphins
For the latest and info on actions you can take. There is a pledge on swimming with dolphins and captive dolphin shows.

Dolphins in captivity
A cruel aspect of the dolphin hunt highlighted in The Cove is the trade in captured dolphins. It may seem like good ole family fun to take the kids to a dolphin show but the dolphins suffer greatly as a result. Similarly, there are “dolphinariums” where paying customers can swim or snorkel with captured dolphins. The animals may appear content but research has shown detrimental effects on their health and welfare.

Marine Connections – a UK-based charity working for the welfare of dolphins and whales. They have a campaign on captured marine mammals:

Born Free Foundation – an international animal welfare organisation based in the UK – has an informative page on captive dolphins

Humane Society USA’s page on marine mammals in captivity

Marine mammal protection and seafood/preventing by-catch deaths
It’s not just the outright killing but also bycatch (the untargeted and unintentional marine life caught by commercial fishers) to which dolphins fall victim.


Greenpeace’s page on bycatch at sea

Wildlife Trust (UK) has a campaign on dolphin entanglement deaths.

Earth Trust (US) has a project on driftnetting.

Other marine mammal information and campaigns

World Wildlife Fund Protecting river dolphins in South America:

Ocean Conservation Society (US-based) - researching and educating about marine life

Petitions
There are many online. Have a look through Facebook or Twitter.

Here is a fairly well-subscribed one in Facebook titled “Stop the Dolphin and Whale Slaughter in Taiji, Japan”

Another one from Care2: End Dolphin Slaughtering in Japan

Eating greener and losing weight

I must admit that I’ve never been on a conventional “diet” – always hated the notion of regimenting and planning my food. I’d never been overweight and counting calories sounded just daft. Any time a friend or colleague told me about being in some weight loss group or expensive diet, I replied “Why?” or “You’re spending how much to have someone tell you cake is fattening?”

However, age and increasing inactivity had taken their toll on my waisteline. There was the tell-tale signs of a muffin top and I just didn’t feel fit and lean. I wanted to get back into shape and at the same time, to adhere to an ethical/greener eating plan. This was going to be interesting and informative.

I must also confess that I’ve never been a vegetarian (although I don’t ever complain or refuse a good vegetarian meal).

Let the common sense begin
There is some kind of craze about part-time veganism amongst diet-obsessed celebrities. But after trimming away the confusing pseudo-medical/scientific talk by its medical proponents you realise that this just means decreasing your meat and fish intake. Also, having spoken to strict raw vegans, I thought there was something worthwhile there. So I came up with a hybrid and modified version of an eating plan. The rules being:

• No pre-prepared foods
• Less meat, fish and eggs (and the animal products consumed must be free range, organic or ocean-friendly)
• No dairy products
• When it can be eaten raw, eat it raw

So a month ago, I stocked my fridge with more than the usual quantity of fruit and vegetable – did my best to purchase produce labelled “local” from the local grocers. I am trying everything to avoid the big supermarkets these days. The 100 mile radius is a very useful rule or guideline but I have to confess that it’s more guidelines than rules for me at the moment.

Organic is too expensive?
The prices of organic produce used to make my eyes pop but considering how the large operators make their money on volume and scale, it’s more a case of the supermarkets being cheap rather than the small scale organic producers being expensive. Also, I realise now that good food and cheap food are contradiction in terms. If you want to eat healthily and ethically, you have to consider the welfare of the environment, animals and the people who work to produce and deliver the food to our tables.

Even if I wanted to discard “green” eating principles, I still will want to eat the local and organic produce from the farmers’ markets for the simple reason of taste. Fresher local produce just taste better.

Bad food equals empty calories
There are no pre-prepared or quick snack foods in my home now. If I get hungry, it’s a carrot or fruit. It’s good to remind yourself that stuffing yourself silly (the feeling you get after a massive restaurant meal laden with meat, fat and starch) is neither natural nor good.

The reason for the effectiveness of this eating plan is I’ve cut out empty calories. It’s very easy to see why there are very few overweight vegans (and even fewer overweight raw vegans). When your sources of calories are limited, you make the most of them. So by default, I have avoided foods with added sugar and foods high in fat - easy when you make a concerted effort to eat raw produce.

By not consuming packaged and ready-to-eat items, I’ve taken control over what is done to my food. No food is worth being fat for and certainly, no bad food is worth being fat for. The shrinking waistline is a welcome by-product of eating greener. Honestly, it’s no gimmick but a lot of common sense.

The ethical carnivore; eating the entire animal

Maybe not THE ENTIRE animal but if you choose to eat meat, consuming most of the edible parts from the animal. What could be greener? This means eating the organs/offal, utilising the bones and other remnants. Put simply, the parts considered unpleasant in North America.

Travelling and eating in many developing countries has opened my eyes to the “waste not want not” principle. A walk through a food market in Asia will reveal some delicious gems from various parts of the animal (those euphemistically called “variety meat” in North America). Crunchy chicken gizzards charcoal roasted with spicy dips, beef tripe with salad and stewed ox tendons are just some of my highlights. Some not-so-memorable dishes include chicken rear ends on skewers and chewy pig entrails soup. In the Mediterranean, parts such as ox tail, pig trotters, brain and testicles are eaten regularly. Even the not-so-gastronomic British can pull off a good steak and kidney pie. Here is an article from the Bangkok Post – a Thai’s perspective on Westerners’ approach to offal.

Why is eating innards better for the environment?
We can’t deny that meat production takes its toll on the environment. It takes land, feed, water, transportation and production to get the meat to the consumer’s table. As it takes 10 kg of cereal to produce one kilo of beef, then we should not be wasting any part of the animal. Unless you deliberately avoid meat, eating offal is more environmentally friendly.

Is eating offal safe?
People are worried about contamination and organs being storage tanks for harmful pathogens. There’s probably some truths to this as we saw during the BSE/Mad Cow crisis in the UK during the 1990s. In order to reduce the probability of BSE contaminated meats entering the system, there was a ban on beef on the bone and certain types of offal. We are well aware that industrial farming methods gave rise to BSE. If the entire animal has been raised in factory conditions with low hygiene and upkeep, then the organs are bound to contain harmful substances in increased amounts. Therefore, if the animal is raised in humane conditions in an organic setting, the organs are bound to be safer – as well as the muscle meat. Also, a Swedish study conducted in 2003 claimed that raising organic beef on grass rather than feed, reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and consumed 85% less energy.

Better late than never – join the glorious gut eating masses!
There may be a change amongst those who’d originally turned their noses up at offal. I’ve been seeing calves’ brains and various other organs at the more posh delis around town. Perhaps more people are asking themselves why it’s perfectly OK to eat one piece of an animal and not another. And essentially, that is what meat is – a piece of what was once a living animal, muscle and organs. It’s good to look at the animal and its parts and see our food for what it really is rather than as neatly trimmed pieces wrapped in plastic.

Chris Cosentino is a US-based chef who has given offal a central role in his cooking. His “head to tail” cooking approach is an eye-opener as he is a well-known high-end chef – with numerous appearances on popular television programmes. The sight of this man with a handful of entrails and organs may be strange – or even revolting – for some but the importance of such an approach can’t be missed.



A quick glance through google will yield a rich picking in offal recipes. They really are worth a try as there’s more to life than just pork chops and chicken breasts.

More Sushi - the sustainable kind - please

Being a metropolitan city with a sushi restaurant on nearly every street corner, why is Vancouver not full of greener sushi restaurants? Last week, the news about a Seattle sushi restaurant going fully sustainable started a buzz in Twitterland and in blog space. Mashiko has a wonderful looking menu and if they’re doing their bit for the ocean, I would not hesitate to choose this place when I’m next in Seattle. But I have to ask why the sustainable sushi restaurant is not the norm?

What am I REALLY eating?
First, see what’s good and what’s bad. A guide or suggestion list of sustainable seafood is a useful tool to take to the restaurant. In Canada, the Sea Choice Guide is an excellent source of information. In the US, the Monterey Bay aquarium has a well-established Seafood Watch guide. For the UK, there is the Marine Conservation Society information. For Continental Europe WWF has a listing of guides.

Is a tuna a tuna? The confusing issue of labelling
It’s not only the species and types of fish we have to watch but there is a big problem around labelling. According to Ocean Wise, Canada has a rather weak seafood labelling law. A name such as “snapper” is utterly useless as it covers thousands of different types of fish (some may be perfectly good to eat while others may be endangered). The Bluefin Tuna, a species in the news recently, is just one of many types of tuna. When a diner orders “toro” at the sushi restaurant, s/he doesn’t know if it contains Bluefin or another type of tuna. The David Suzuki Foundation is spearheading a campaign to change the law.

Time and again, the customer is always right
The movement is consumer-driven. The Ocean Wise programme by the Vancouver Aquarium is an example of a marine conservation organisation working with restaurants to promote sustainable fish. The programme helps restaurants in making sustainable options available to their clientele. Approved items will have the Ocean Wise logo displayed on the menu and this allows clientele to easily identify the most sustainable options.
Customers/diners enquiring what they’re eating leads to restaurants demanding sustainable fish from their suppliers. This in turn leads to suppliers changing their stock priorities. Diners see positive choices, avoid the non-approved ones and the restaurants don’t find it worth their while to have the unsustainable options. This alters their purchasing choices from their suppliers.

More positive choices please
So what about the lower-end places (the takeaways, eat-all-you-cans and the everyday hole-in-the-wall operations)? Ocean Wise is anticipating a first big mid-cost sushi restaurant on the major massive sushi hub of Robson Street to get on board. Although the programme started with the more high-end restaurants, there is greater demand by the wider sushi-eating public and surely, the restaurants must be taking note.

Below is a video of a demonstration by a famous Japanese sushi chef, very much a fixture here in Vancouver. Chef Tojo shows how to make a sushi that looks mouthwatering but the concept is simple – using fresh, local and sustainable fish.

Making the scuba diving liveaboard memorable

If you really want to really scuba dive on a holiday, the liveaboard is probably the best way to get your dive-for-the-buck.

My first liveaboard was exciting and a bit daunting at the same time. I’d just received my Open Water certification and was really keen on getting out and diving on my own. I made it a bit easier by booking an all-inclusive with a London-based dive school and all I had to do was just turn up at the airport and off I went. As first trips go, it was a rapid learning curve (with some confusion and not wanting to look like a moron.

Boats range from the state of the art with amazing amenities to the most basic. Be prepared and take what you need. If you need rental gear, organise this in advance.

When you don’t know anyone on the boat, it’s nice to break the ice. Don’t hide in your room. Meet your fellow travellers and the crew. The outside deck is a lot nicer anyways. You’re going to be living in small tight surroundings with few other people. Being good neighbours and friends will make the trip more enjoyable and pleasant.

Non-diving companions? Best to leave them behind. A boat trip with a partner or a family member may sound like fun but imagine what it would like being the odd one out: being left out of all the pre-dive excitement and anticipation, not having anything to say at the post-dive huddle, quietly watching the boat companions toasting another great day of diving, hoping for a nice snorkelling opportunity and being seasick for all your efforts.

Before you book
Check immigration requirements about required visas etc.

If you are fairly new to diving or if you’re looking for your first liveaboard, mention this to the travel agent or diveshop. Many sites have certification level requirements. It’s also nice to be with people at a similar level and experience.

Review timing of your flights and sailings. Unless your trip is a package including flight, transfers and the boat, make sure you allow enough time between flight arrival and boarding the boat. A delayed flight can mean you miss the boat. Also, remember the no-flight time required between your last dive of the trip and your return flight home. Generally, the last day of the trip should be a no-dive, no fly day and it can be spent doing nothing by the poolside, sightseeing on land or getting in the last minute shopping.

If you have special dietary requirements, mention this when booking.

Make sure you have adequate dive insurance. Divers Alert Network (DAN) is a membership-based organisation that offers a comprehensive range of dive and travel insurance.

Seasickness

Unless you’ve got sea legs, be prepared and take medication with you. Some motion sickness remedies can make you drowsy so it is always a good idea to ask a doctor who knows a bit about diving.

Once the sickness hits, it will be difficult to keep down the medication so take the tablets BEFORE the journey starts.

A bigger boat is generally more stable. Trip booking sites usually have the specs for the boats. If you aren’t sure, ask the agent or tour operator.

Health and safety
• Limit your diving to what you are allowed under your level of certification (this includes depth maximum, overhead environments, mixed gas diving, decompression diving)
• Listen to the trip briefings
• Listen to the pre-dive briefings
• Stay away from out-of-bound and crew only areas
• Always abide by the instructions of the captain and the crew. Don’t jump in for a swim unless you’ve been told it’s safe
• Consume alcohol in moderation. There is strong evidence linking drinking with diving ailments
• Stay well hydrated. Drink plenty of water. Dehydration contributes to many ills on a holiday
• Because you’re on a boat, you’ll get an opportunity to do a lot of diving. Do not feel compelled to do every single one offered. If you are feeling tired or fatigued, sit it out and nap.
• Getting a good night’s rest is very important - not all that easy if you’re a light sleeper. Anchoring, motors revving and a moving boat make sleeping difficult. This is where the afternoon surface interval comes in handy for a kip

Small things to make life more comfortable
• You never have enough towels on a liveaboard – take few of your own
• Take comfortable boat-appropriate clothing – things that are easy to get in and out of, preferably quick-to-dry
• Waterproof containers and bags will come in handy when you want to keep things dry
• Pack light and small – those cabins are not huge
• Once you’re off, you won’t have a chance to restock on anything – CHECK to make sure you have everything you’ll need for the trip
• Take a good book. Sometimes, you will just want some solitary time to yourself
• Don’t forget your spares kit – containing your basic tools, spare O-rings. Boats usually have the basics but it’s nice to be prepared and able to do your own minor maintenance

Otherwise, bon voyage!

Why I don’t cycle

Two weeks ago, the folk of Vancouver – or the media representing them anyways – were talking about just one thing. Yes, it was the start of the Burrard Bridge cycling lane experiment. The City has implemented a trial of allocating one of the lanes of a multi-lane bridge to bicycle traffic. Sounds like a great idea? If you read and listened to some of what was being spewed in the mainstream press, you would have thought the masses were out after the Mayor’s head. “Overcrowding!” “Congestion!” and “Pandering to the cycling minority” were just some of the headlines.

I really do hope the cycling lanes will be a success and that the entire culture around transportation changes. This can’t happen soon enough. Perhaps in a few years, even road-cowards like myself will take up cycling. But for now, I do not cycle for what I think are very sensible reasons.

I don’t want to get myself killed by an inattentive driver
It may be their lack of timing or spatial perception but there is a breed that should not be driving. It’s very easy to obtain a driver’s licence and unfortunately, very hard to lose it. There are risks I’m willing to take but death at the hands of someone who doesn’t think a solid metal object travelling at high speeds can’t kill a human being? No. If daytimes are frightening, I can’t imagine cycling after dark (even if you are a lit up Christmas tree with all those reflectors and fluorescent clothing.

I don’t want to get myself killed by a criminally reckless driver
Then there are those who will try to jump a green and make a turn where cyclists and pedestrians are crossing. Their line is “might equals right”. And what cyclist would argue with a car? This bully of the roads has killed and injured countless people over the years. In many towns and cities, the authorities have cracked down and started encouraging people to report dangerous and reckless driving to the police.

I don’t want a car to accidently steer off the road and kill me
If a cycle lane means the edge of the car lane then I’ll take the bus instead. There has to be a lane set aside SPECIFICALLY to accommodate bicycles. There is a good video on the whys and hows of bike lanes at:
http://local.theoildrum.com/node/3061


So I return to the main point. Cycle lanes are good and we need more of them.

Take a walk

Last month, I attended a lecture on walking – yes walking – given by a group working to promote walking. Their website states:
“Walk21 exists to champion the development of healthy sustainable and efficient communities where people choose to walk.”
Simple sounding objective but it’s really a task, socially and politically to not just get people to walk but to make our communities walkable. To facilitate walking, the environment has to be safe and walking routes have to be accessible. Easier said than done.

The automobile lobby has done a great deal to obstruct and halt public transportation and to make towns and cities walker-unfriendly. Many US and European cities are perfect examples of how public transportation and road sharing (with cyclists and walkers) have been made the butt of political and civic priorities.

Why is walking important? To for one, walkable places are more civilised places. Imagine a community where no amenities and services exist within walking distance from residential areas. For poorly lit roads, no sidewalks, dangerous crossings – think antisocial behaviour, no social activities, no interactions between neighbours. Think of a lifestyle where everything depends on the motor vehicle, a culture where the out-of-town mega shopping mall is king.

Walking communities are healthier. It’s absolutely no coincidence that obesity and poor health are directly related to walkability. Walking is an activity nearly anyone can engage in – there is no special equipment required, it costs nothing and no special training or skill is needed. A bit of walking will keep most people fit. Or there is the bizarre but commonly done ritual of driving to the gym to walk on the treadmill and driving back home.

Some common reasons cited for people not walking:
• Walking is unsafe because of traffic – circular logic maybe? We can’t walk so we drive.
• There are no places to walk (no crossings, sidewalks or accessible walkways) – a serious shortfall on the part of planners and architects.
• The fear crime – the dangerous streets are those without pedestrians.
• There’s nothing to walk to – no shops, entertainment venues or services. Who would want to open a retail outlet where there are no people about...

What is required in the long term to make communities more walkable is a change of culture and an injection of political will. In the immediate future, there has to be a realisation that walking is an important part of life. In cities and towns where successful changes have been made to enable walking, car drivers have come to accept that they have a part to play (and give up that sense of entitlement). City planners, architects and roads authorities have a vital role to play in making sure walking is put to the fore of their projects. As for the walking members of the public, we have to walk more and become more strident.