Pirate Whalers Butchering Right Whale in Korea
A classic campaign. In 1985, responding to reports of illegal
whaling activity in Korea. Earthtrust sent an undercover team
to get the goods on them. Two Hawaii housewives posing as Avon
ladies combed the coastal ports and obtained dramatic photographic
evidence of ongoing whaling on even the most endangered whale
species. The campaign hit its most exciting point when members
of a pirate whaling crew, alerted by the flashbulbs of the Avon
ladies taking pictures of a dead fin whale, chased them to get
the camera. This led to a karate battle between the Earthtrust
investigators and the whale pirates (these were particularly tough
Avon ladies, one a former policewoman) which saw the pirates lose,
one being chased up the mast and both later arrested. The dramatic
photo evidence enabled the shutdown of the active coastal whaling
station at Chaingsangpo Harbor and helped step illegal Korean
whaling.
