We tend to have a bit too much fun around here. Lately we’ve been a bit distracted with our focus on music while ignoring the real reason we began this experiment. Our goal is to save the monkeywhale. So, in the coming weeks, while not abandoning our interviews of fantastic musicians we’ll also be focusing much more closely on something truly dear to our hearts. The Monkeywhale.

Here’s a little background.

Since the IWF has allowed limited hunting for culling, or to preserve traditional hunting rights, or for “scientific research,” there has been a dramatic decrease in sightings of the monkeywhale. Many Marine Biologists warn that the species may be on the brink of extinction, but the hunting continues.

One observer of a monkeywhale kill in 1996 said, “it had been stabbed by 14 harpoons and shot with countless bullets before it died (Vlessides 1998). After two days, it rose to the surface and was towed to shore, one of the few of these endangered whales to have been taken in the eastern Canadian Arctic since hunting the species without a license became illegal.”

An amateur environmental activist recorded the carnage with a Nagra in a small boat that ran alongside the bloodbath. He’s promised to send us the recording, and we’ll post it here.

These are tough times for all of us. Save the Monkeywhale.