Pacific Explorer Whale and Dolphin Ecotours Articles

Dear Friends,

In less than six weeks my current exhibition at the Monterey Museum of Art will come down and be prepared for shipment to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) Meeting in Santiago, Chile.

The London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) discovered my work late last year and will be sponsoring my exhibit at the IWC. We are working together to fulfill our shared vision of shifting the focus from whaling to whales at the IWC meeting. To learn more about their work I encourage you to visit http://www.whalewatch.org/ . I am very grateful for their support and for this opportunity. Since my return home from my last field season with the whales sixteen months ago I have dedicated my self full-time to exhibiting my work and promoting my mission so that it may continue. Despite my best efforts my work has received little media attention and as a result very few people are aware of my mission and its continuation remains on hold.

We need your support to make our presence as effective as possible at the IWC meeting. Preparations are underway to secure additional computer and digital projector equipment suitable for travel and exhibiting in logistically challenging spaces. My technical support team and I are creating a mobile, multiple projection system that will be able to move to numerous locations during the IWC meetings to maximize our effectiveness. I am currently composing a new large-scale video installation that will be in four languages for the IWC meetings. Your support will not only help to inspire change at the IWC, it will also help my mission to gain the much needed international exposure it needs to continue.

Should my mission receive enough exposure and support, I will begin the next phase of my field work beginning in 2009. It will mark the beginning of forty months of field work with five endangered whale species. This phase will include the Blue Whale, the largest animal ever to exist on Earth. It is my goal to be eye to eye with this creature; to produce a life-size composite photograph measuring up to five by thirty meters and to share these moments in a profoundly touching way. My field work will be funded entirely through the sale of a very small body of work that I've released to collectors who share my vision.

I would be sincerely grateful if you could share my message with anyone you feel who shares our vision for inspiring the preservation of these creatures. To make a tax-deductible donation in support of our exhibit at the IWC I encourage you to visit http://www.mmcta.org . Please feel free to contact me directly should you have any questions or comments. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Warmly,

Bryant Austin

Bryant Austin, President
Marine Mammal Conservation Through the Arts
P.O. Box 66311
Scotts Valley, CA 95067
United States
831.438.3844
www.mmcta.org

It seems that these days, “green” is right up there with “thin” and “anti-aging” as top advertising buzz words. However, the true essence of green is not a marketing ploy; it is about conservation, sustainability, and ultimately peace.

One of the best things you can do to be green is to live a bit more simply. It’s not to say that we should not be grateful and accepting of abundance in our lives. But maybe we need to change our sense of abundance. Rather than a house filled with the latest electronic gadgets or closets full of designer clothes (and the accompanying bills), imagine your life overflowing with good friends, healthy, fresh food, wonderful books and leisure time.

A second component of being green is to ask oneself, “Will this last, and if so what are the impacts?” As the Great Law of the Iroquois wisely states, “In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation." This is the mind set of sustainability. Certainly this is true for environmental issues, such as water use and pollution, but it can also be applied to all areas of your life. Our country would not be in the mortgage crisis that we are in today if borrowers and lenders asked themselves these questions.

Third, and most important, the green movement is rooted in peace. It is about being in harmony with the earth and with each other. If you look around the world, most of the time conflict is due to a lack of resources. It is even starting to happen here during the drought situation, as Georgia senators dispute the border with Tennessee. This was never an issue before the water shortage.

Ultimately, being green is about finding the good that you can do each day to heal the planet. By finding the good in ourselves, in others, and in the daily choices that we make, we play a vital role in creating a more healthy, peaceful and sustainable future.

For more information on Zola and to contact Beth please visit her web site at http://www.zolagoods.com