Whales worth more alive than dead, New Zealand town finds
From the CBS "Early Show," here's a segment on a New Zealand Maori town that has revitalized its economy by creating a tourism industry around whale-watching.
When Maori participated in the slaughter of whales during the first half of the twentieth century, they also unwittingly helped along the whales' diminishing populations. Now, according to the segment, the town of Kaikoura is hunting whales again - but only in order to introduce tourists to them. Whale-watching has become the basis of an economic revival.
The story is more heartwarming than some ecotourism tales, in which people who own businesses get to profit from tourist bucks while poorer people who used to hunt on that land are out of luck (see: Kenya, India), because in this case, a lot of the businesses that will profit from whale-watching are owned by the Maori who live in the town.
This clip also reminded me of how much I liked the movie "Whale Rider," some footage from which was included in the report. If you haven't seen it, I recommend.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-03-2008 @ 3:01PM
Jerry said...
Do not add video's which start automatically to your blog. They are obnoxious. I load several tabs at once and don't like an ad blaring at me while I'm reading other things I find interesting.
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4-04-2008 @ 2:33PM
Joe said...
Ya, this has driven me crazy all week. Please don't do that again. It is annoying me now as I write this comment!