Anti-tourism campaign against Iceland

I was checking around online for a detailed map of the park where I would like to hold Palmer's birthday party, and clicking on a promising link called "Park Trails" I saw something that surprised me. An advertisment their boldly declared "I will not visit Iceland" with a picture of a whale, and text stating that Iceland killed 273 endangered fin whales in the last two years. I clicked on the ad, and read about the concerted effort on the part of this group to specifically target high-traffic websites which ecologically minded tourists in the US and UK use to initiate an anti-Icelandic tourism campaign.

Not exactly the way I wanted to observe sjómannadagur.

Comments

Karen said…
Whale sashimi is yummy. I will visit Iceland. In about ...16 days. :)
June 5, 2011 at 10:51 PM
Lissy said…
I know! But still, I was pretty surprised that some of the whales being hunted are listed as endangered. So now I am conflicted. I would not, however, suggest that crippling the tourism industry is the way to deter whale hunting. Seems to me that Icelanders will hunt more whales if their economy is depressed by the lack of tourist dollars. So go to Iceland, spend lots of money, and ask if the whale is endangered or not before you order it off the menu.
June 6, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Karen said…
My theory is if it's on the menu, it's already dead. Whether it was an endangered species or not. I honour the whale's spirit by eating it.

I don't believe that boycotting something after the fact is an effective means of protest. I don't believe that my few tourist dollars make any difference at all.

If I want to protect endangered species, I'll go to the docks to protest there, or join a lobby group petitioning the government, or join the government to help make legislation.
June 7, 2011 at 7:07 PM
Halla said…
Ef þeir eru á lista yfir tegundir í útrýmingarhættu er það einhver sérlisti búinn til af fólki sem er á móti hvalveiðum. Við strendur Íslands hafi hvalir verið taldir undanfarin 30 ár og þeim hefur fjölgað verulega.
June 8, 2011 at 9:54 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow
Read more

Twitterverse

Although this is a function of the specific feeds I have chosen to follow, I have observed that Icelanders are much funnier on Twitter than Americans are. Americans tweet their opinions on political matters in categorical, condemnatory terms, or they use Twitter to bolster their professional expertise, a la LinkedIn. So kudos to the Icelanders for understanding the potential of the medium and maximizing it.
Read more

The sky weeps

For the last few days, the sky here in the San Francisco Bay has been filled with smoke, blown this way from a fire 100 miles away. At least 40 people died in that fire, a whole town destroyed, and many others missing. One reporter described the sky over the town as raining down ash. On this day, the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I, the news in the US is filled with stories of the man who calls himself President, unwilling to step out into the rain to lay a wreath. Unwilling to partake in our communal, world wide weep. And I'm thinking about my trip to Iceland on Thursday, of the carbon dioxide the plane will be spewing into the sky. My third round trip from SF to Iceland this year, and I don't have anyway to make up for my carbon footprint. But in all honesty, I'm also wondering how bad the weather will be, if I'll have to be out braving wind and snow for the shot the documentary film maker wants, of me walking around outside. Will the landscape reme
Read more