Conference "Is there a future for whales?" Dr. Roger Payne President Whale Conservation Institute/Ocean Alliance Organized by: Instituto de Conservacion de Ballenas Guest Speakers Dr. Mariano Sironi, Scientific Director- Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas - Argentina José Truda Palazzo, President - Projeto Baleia Franca Austral - Brazil Tuesday May 27, 2008 7:00 PM Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires Sarmiento 299 - Buenos Aires - Argentina Whales are not safe yet. Our species' actions, and inactions, have driven many populations almost to extinction. This attitude can be reversed if people learn about whales, and through knowledge, learn to love them. There are still many threats. Amongst these the most evident is "scientific whaling" carried out by Japanese fleets that use existing legal gaps to ignore regulations and continue with whale hunting. But whaling is neither the only nor the most lethal threat: a greater number of whales and dolphins are caught each year in fishing nets or die silently from toxic chemicals that accumulate in their food chains and affect their reproductive and nervous systems. These chemicals, mainly produced by humans, also affect our own species. Conservationists have to fight many different and permanent battles to free these animals. Latin American countries play an essential role in the International Whaling Commission, which decides the future of the whale and dolphin populations of the world. The Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas works to strengthen the conservationist block in the Commission. In order to continue with this work we need support. In Dr. Roger Payne´s words: the similarities between the humpback whale and human songs are the impact that they have on human emotions. If we fail to protect whales and they disappear, we will lose not only their physical presence in the oceans, but also the emotion produced by listening to their songs. And we will continue our journey alone.in silence. Pre-registration online: http://www.icb.org.ar/conferencia/conferencia.html Funds raised by this event will be used to strengthen the research, education and conservation projects of the Right Whale Program of the Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas.