Our whale warrior's Skye Bortoli heads to International Whaling Commission

June 5, 2008

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By Alison Rehn and Neil Keene

June 04, 2008 12:00am

TEENAGE anti-whaling crusader Skye Bortoli is taking her crusade right to the top at this month's International Whaling Commission conference.

The 16-year-old is getting ready to travel to Chile for the annual conference, where she will lobby for a worldwide ban on the slaughter of whales. To get her point across, Skye has sought a one-on-one meeting with IWC chairman Bill Hogarth to put her case.

She also intends to use the June 23-27 conference to present more than 500 pieces of anti-whaling art submitted to her Teens Against Whaling group by children from as far afield as Europe and the United States.

"These kids are the ones who will grow up without whales if whaling is allowed to continue," Skye told The Daily Telegraph.

"Their voices need to be heard because they are the next generation and they will be the ones who have to deal with all the problems."

Visit our Stop the Japanese Whaling Section and sign the new Greenpeace anti-whaling petition. you can make an online origami whale and "launch" your whale at the Japanese Primi Minister Yasuo Fukuda. You can also include your personal online message to Mr Fukuda.

Skye's mission became all the more pressing yesterday with news that Norway and Iceland had resumed whale meat exports to Japan.

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph can reveal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has pledged an extra $1 million to whale research.

Mr Garrett said the funding boost, which would be delivered to the Hobart-based Australian Marine Mammal Centre, demonstrated Australia's commitment to research and conservation and advanced the Government's push for reform of the global whaling body.