The Travelling Naturalist and Wildlife Worldwide have added their names to the list of operators in support of the following letter:
FOR THE ATTENTION OF MS KATRIN JAKOBSDOTTIR PRIME MINISTER OF ICELAND
Dear Ms Jakobsdottir,
We are all UK-based tour operators who bring parties of wildlife enthusiasts to your beautiful country.
We have been visiting Iceland for many years and hope to do so for many years to come. We travel from north to south staying in hotels and guest houses, spending our tourist money, we hire vehicles, visit many geological sites, and take boat trips with whale-watching companies. We believe that our economic input into your country is valuable to the Icelandic economy as a whole and especially to some of the more remote parts of your country.
We are aware of course that commercial whaling takes place in Iceland, but to date have supported the view that contributing to your economy helps to oppose what many Icelanders and visitors consider to be a cruel and barbaric practice. However the recent killing of a hybrid Blue/Fin Whale in Icelandic waters has caused international outrage. It has certainly led to an increase in questions to us from some of our customers, and potential customers, about why we continue to operate wildlife tours to a country which allows these magnificent creatures to be hunted.
We understand that your parliament is to review the practice of commercial whaling later this year, and we call upon you not to renew the licence for commercial whaling. Our ability to support Iceland, its international reputation and our contribution to the Icelandic economy now depend upon your policy towards commercial whaling.
Yours sincerely,
Signed by: Heatherlea, Naturetrek, Orcadian Wildlife, Sunbird, The Travelling Naturalist, Wildlife Worldwide
Non-signers: Discover the World, Birdquest [Note added on Sunday 4 August: Birdquest have shared with me this afternoon the contents of their own letter to the Icelandic PM which can be found here].
[registration_form]
Birdquest is listed as a ‘non-signer’ of this letter. To any reasonable person, this listing implies we have not signed this letter because either we are indifferent to this topic or else we are not in favour of asking for the end of whaling in Iceland. Nothing could be further from the truth!
We wrote our own letter to the Prime Minister of Iceland on this subject, on 30 July, several days earlier, and Mark Avery was informed we were doing so. The text of our email can be read in the News section of the Birdquest website, http://www.birdquest-tours.com
Mark Avery, stop misleading your readers!
Mark Beaman
Managing Director
Birdquest Ltd
Mark – it’s good to have your clarification, thank you.
I like your letter to the Icelandic PM, it’s quite good, but you only sent it to me a few moments before you posted this comment didn’t you? Yes you did.
And there is nothing misleading about my post- you were offered the chance to sign a letter and you were very firm in saying you didn’t want to do so.
Look out for an update on who has, and hasn’t, signed up to that letter later today.
Mark
You are well aware that I emailed you on 30 July to tell you that I had decided to write separately to the Prime Minister of Iceland on the issue of whaling. You acknowledged receipt of my email that same day.
I saw no reason to send you a copy of my lketter Mark, but I did so as soon as I saw your blog post, as it could easily mislead.
It is disingenuous of you to list us as a ‘non-signer’ of your letter without any mention that we had informed you we were writing separately.
One has to wonder why you decided to list ‘Non-signers’ at all, and in particular a company that had chosen to write its own letter.
Mark – we can go over this as many times as you like.
You chose not to sign the letter that I posted on my blog whereas other companies decided that they would. I have not criticised you for that but you didn’t sign so your company is a ‘non-signer’.
I told you in an email on Tuesday at 08:15 ‘I’ll add Birdquest as a non-signer this evening. I understand your position and I’m not going to give you any grief over it.’ – that is the email to which you replied today after 1pm.
You did tell me that you would write to the Icelandic PM but until this afternoon I had no knowledge of the contents of that letter. I’m glad you wrote and now, having seen the letter, it’s quite a good letter. It is, obviously, a different letter from the one that several other tour operators have signed.