3 November 2007 – Fight for Fifty Day

3 November 2007 the former whaling town of Albany in Western Australia led 27 communities around the country in demanding action to stop Japan’s so-called ‘scientific’ whaling program.

Coordinated by IFAW, with the departure of the Japanese whaling fleet imminent, 27 communities supported the Fight for Fifty Day - so named because of the whalers’ plans to include 50 Australian humpbacks in their kill
list of more than 1000 whales this season.

Significantly, the Western Australian community of
Albany, a town built on the whaling industry,is now one
of the most vocal anti-whaling communities in Australia
and led the Fight for Fifty Day by hosting an historic
meeting of two former adversaries. 

A focal point for the Albany event was the meeting of a former whaler, Kase van der Gaag, and Jonny Lewis, one of the original anti-whaling campaigners.  The pair first clashed on the Southern Ocean at the height of the whaling protests in the 1970s.  Today they have been reunited on the same side as they have joined with the local community in opposition to Japan’s whaling program.

The story was pushed in national and regional media and
resulted in significant coverage.  In addition to this one of
Australia’s most well known and respected authors, Tim Winton, was recruited to help attract media attention.  Tim Winton credits his school days in Albany during the last days of whaling as deeply influential to both his work as a writer and environmentalist. His second novel, Shallows (1984) winner of the Miles Franklin Award, deals with the confrontation between whalers and conservationists on the high seas.