Whales and Mitsubishi

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Love your site and check in regularly, but didn't register because I am not
a teacher and didn't want to mess up your data base. My question ---

I check in on the migration patterns for several species, but most often the
gray whales along the California coast. My partner and I actually saw them
at Point Reyes Nat'l Seashore a few weeks ago --- stunning! However, the
breeding grounds of the whales are threatened by Mitsubishi's proposed salt
factory in the San Ignacio Lagoon. A brief description of this threat is
summarized below (from the net; sorry for format errors)and related links
can be found at www.earthisland.org/ei/immp/mmpmits.html.

My question is: do students need to know this? Could this be another
teaching tool? All the activists working on this out there could sure use
informed schoolchildren, and I don't think it hurts for students to learn
how corporate activity without public involvement can destroy resource
sustainability. Could the students get information on writing to the
various actors (see list below) if they are concerned? My bottom line is,
if appropriate, I sure would like to see a mention at minimum, a discussion
if possible, of this on "Journey North."

My other question is can you provide an email address for contacting Laura
Gorodezky, your expert, at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary? I
am surious how NOAA or whoever is working on this.

Your consideration of this suggestion is appreciated. Hope to hear from you
soon. Keep up the great work, and thanks.

Barb Koth

"Mitsubishi Project to Sacrifice Gray Whales for Profits.

The Eastern Pacific gray whale holds great significance in the fight for
endangered species preservation as a symbol of success. Once hunted to
near extinction by commercial whalers, gray whale populations are only
now regenerating to their original numbers. This recovery is a result of
five decades of protective stewardship and joint cooperation by US,
Mexican and Canadian groups and individuals. While many people on the
pacific coast refer to this species as the "California" gray, these
migratory whales are in fact born in the Mexican lagoons of the Baja
Peninsula. It is here where the gray whale species is again threatened
with potential extinction in a plan to destroy the most fertile of its'
habitats.
Mitsubishi Corporation and Mexican government owned Exportadora de Sal
(ES), a salt export company of which Mitsubishi owns 49%, are
threatening to expand salt mining operations in the Vezcaino Desert
Reserve, part of the UN's Biosphere Reserve Program. Specifically this
project would be ecologically devastating to the San Ignacio Lagoon area
, the most pristine of four bays where migrating gray whales spend their
winter months.

The Mitsubishi/ES project would directly sacrifice 21,000 acres of
protected land surrounding the lagoon for an industrial complex. Plans
call for the building of a mile long pier, located 12 miles from mouth
of the lagoon, to facilitate a rotating flotilla of ocean going ships.
Damage to this pier from winter storms and summer hurricanes could
necessitate the dredging of the lagoon itself in order to accommodate
ship traffic. Operation of the saltworks will demand the nonstop pumping
of sea water from the lagoon at the rate of 6,600 gallons per second,
adversely lowering the lagoon's temperature and salinity. The
surrounding network of roads needed to service the saltworks would, by
the company's own admission, have a permanent physical impact on 86,000
acres of the Reserve.

Temporary Stay of Execution
The National Ecology Institute of Mexico recently halted this project by
rejecting the EIA submitted by ES. The rejection cited the saltworks'
incompatibility with the biosphere reserve and its proximity to the
lagoon. This temporary victory is largely a result of pressure from the
Mexican environmental organization Grupo de los Cien (Group of 100).
Juan Ignacio Bremer, director of ES and coincidentally Mexico's
Secretary of Commerce, has filed an appeal with the Mexican government
regarding this decision. This issue will be heavily influenced, if not
decided, by international public opinion. We must take action! This
issue is crucial for gray whale protection as well as a critical test
for the working partnership between the Mexican and US environmental
communities. The decision making powers in Mexico need to hear from you.
Don't let your silence send a counterproductive message!"

Gray Whales
Go to IMMP table of contents.

Then there are some names and addresses for contact, like the President of
Mexico, Ambassador to Mexico, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mexican Minister for
Environment... --------------------------------------------------
Barbara A. Koth
1924 Vermilion Road
Duluth, MN 55803 USA
(218) 724-7260 phone and fax
bkoth@cp.duluth.mn.us

"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you
have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work
together."
- anonymous Aboriginal woman

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