Updated 09 19 2008 Astral Arts Mendocino About Astral Arts Mendocino Virtual Tours Mendocino Coast Screen Savers Virtual Vacation Views" on DVD Learning Center Links Astral Arts Center Online Store Media Galleries Photo Gallery Astral Arts Mendocino E  mail Offshore Intertidal Zone  and Added Value

Mendocino Whale Festival 2008 Inaugural Cetacean Celebration - Cetacean Cinemas - Whale Of A Day Mendocino Whale Festival Schedule    March 01 2008 Mendocino Art Center Schedule          March 02 2008 Fort Bragg Whale Festival Schedule     March 16 2008 Gualala Whale Festival Schedule           April 05 2008 Embrace the magic that was Mendocino! When the whole village - artists, merchants, restaurants, and the local government came together to boycott Russian and Japanese whaling off the coast of Mendocino. When Byrd Baker, that gifted rascal lit the fires in local peoples hearts and minds, and garnered world attention to Save the Whales. The Save the Whales campaign in Mendocino began with Byrd Baker at the helm in 1976 and was a rallying cry heard througout the world. With his chainsaw, Byrd carved whales from Redwood logs. He'd carve them in the woods, or on Main Street in Mendocino. Save the Whales The history and number of groups that formed worldwide to end the slaughter of these Leviathans is huge and a decades long struggle. Byrd Baker for his part made it to Washington, on the cover of National Geographic, the Congress in Washington D.C., and in Hollywood movies such as "The Boy who Loved Whales". The City of San Francisco now owns the original Whale Bus. Brought from Arizona to Mendocino and painted with ocean scenes by the renowned artists - J.D.Mayhew, George Sumner and others, this bus traveled the country educating and politicizing a nation. Mendocino Whale Festival Is now just a monogram on a stem glass. Still, in 2007 - a local north coast awareness campaign helped lead to the removal from store shelves of Gorton's Seafood products. Gorton's of Gloucester, the US's major seller of fish sticks, fillets, and frozen seafood, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd., or Nissui, a company with a 70-year history of whale hunting. Nissui also owns one-third of the shares of Kyodo Senpaku, the company that conducts the "scientific" whaling program for the Japanese government. Since Gorton's became part of the whaling company in 2001, more than 2,700 whales have been killed by Kyodo Senpaku. CHOOSE YOUR SEAFOOD CAREFULLY  (PDF)  link to the Environmental Defense Fund website. The Law of the Sea  and EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONES: The 200 MILE LIMIT Historical Perspective on Territorial Seas From 1970-1982 there were major changes going on regarding territorial waters of many coastal countries. Canada lobbied the US for over a decade to extend the 12 mile limit. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) enacted an indefinite moratorium on the hunting of whales in 1982 and methods of enforcement by 1986. In the eighteenth century, the so-called "cannon-shot" rule gained wide acceptance in Europe. Coastal States were to exercise dominion over their territorial seas as far as projectiles could be fired from a cannon based on the shore. It is believed that on the basis of this formula developed the traditional three-mile territorial sea limit. In the 1940's and 1950's, submarine fleets and the growth of the factory processing ship industry (begun in earnest circa 1926) posed new threats to offshore waters. By the late 1960s, a trend to a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea had gradually emerged throughout the world. A great majority of nations claiming sovereignty out to that seaward limit. The major maritime and naval powers of Spain, Portugal, and the US clung to a three-nautical-mile limit on territorial seas, primarily because a 12-nautical-mile limit would effectively close off and place under national sovereignty more than 100 straits used for international navigation. In 1977 the 12-nautical-mile fishing limit was extended to a 200-nautical-mile limit to protect fish stocks from overfishing by foreign factory vessels. In 1982 the moratorium became international law. The general populations of countries with shorelines never really had a say in these decisions. They were defined by governments and naval defense, prowess and then the advances in naval warfare technologies more recently. The Mendocino Whale Festival The Mendocino Whale Festival originally celebrated the advent of public participation in Territorial Law of the Sea. Backed by 40 years of science by the IWC, and international conventions at the UN - Save the Whales became a banner that many believe finally led to international acceptance of the 200 mile EEZ and protected territorial waters around the world. Astral Arts Mendocino  Mendocino Whale Festival Calendar Events Schedule 2008 Astral-Arts Mendocino registered as a Mendocino County business in the Spring of 2003. All artwork, media, audio, video, projet series names and individual titles are Copyright Protected ©2004 ©2005 ©2006 ©2007 ©2008 Author:Thomas DiFiore. All business logos and product line artwork, are marks with specific fonts used in the identification of goods/services as used in commerce, and are trademarks of the author or Astral Arts Mendocino.