SAVING WHALES WITH DNA

Earthtrust's Saving Whales With DNA Project is a strategy for ending the global black market in whale meat through the use of DNA analysis. DNA technology is currently revolutionizing many fields and it is poised to have a huge impact on the illegal trade in endangered and protected species of whales. DNA analysis is the only practical way to verify if a product in the marketplace is a "legitimate" whale species (under IWC regulations) or if it is from a highly endangered species. Earthtrust invented this method protocol and introduced it to the world in dramatic fashion. The success of Earthtrust's efforts to date, which includes peer-reviewed research coupled with assessments of political

This a bold project. It seeks nothing less than the immediate global reform of illegal whaling. To accomplish this end, it enlists internationally-renowned scientists utilizing biotechnology on the cutting edge of what is possible. It "marries" these scientists and research institutions to a professionally-conducted program of "unannounced" international intelligence-gathering which is conducted by skilled investigators. The scientists go "on-site" in the country where the samples were obtained. They use state of the art miniaturized DNA-cloning equipment, to do polymerase chain reaction duplicates of the DNA. The results are analyzed using double-blind checking techniques which establish species identity using two different advanced mathematical models on separate parts of the DNA molecule.

A stepwise strategy of using DNA analysis to see whether the sale of "research whale meat" is masking the poaching of endangered species, was conceived of and developed by Earthtrust and is described in detail below. It involves bringing together a network of non-governmental organizations, research institutions, government representatives, and biotechnology manufacturing firms in a precedent-setting program. This strategy and these techniques have been endorsed by a broad spectrum of conservation experts and organizations. (see document "What the Experts Are Saying" )

This project, endorsed by so many, may well be the only strategy that can truly assure a future for whales. It has already revolutionized the international oversight of whaling infractions, and the IWC itself. In the following pages, we will try to explain how this strategy is meant to affect this complex issue - and why we believe it can work.