Of Wine, Whales and Boycotts

Wednesday, 17 June, 2009
Norman McFarlane
The gin-trap of conservation politics is intruding on the normally placid landscape of South African wine, with the militant environmental action group, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) calling for an international boycott of South African wine exports.
The call emerged in a press report last week of an inflammatory email doing the rounds on the Internet, authored by Captain Paul Watson, the founder and leader of SSCS. In his email, originally posted on the SSCS website, Captain Watson called for an international boycott of South African wine exports, until Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) dismisses Mike Meyer, the official who was instrumental in the decision to euthanase the great majority of a pod of pilot whales that beached at Kommetije near Cape Town on Saturday May 30.

The link between whale conservation and wine exports is non-existent to say the least, but Captain Watson seems to think that the wine industry is influential enough to be able to bring sufficient pressure to bear on Government to accede to his demand.

A group of about 55 pilot whales, also known as false killer whales, beached themselves on Kommetjie Beach on the morning of Saturday May 30. In short order, the beach was beset by hundreds of well meaning animal lovers who were desperately trying to return the whales to the water. MCM, the Cape Town SPCA, a South African Navy detachment, the National Sea Rescue Institute and the South African Police Service attempted to co-ordinate and manage the rescue operation but their efforts were hampered by hordes of on-lookers and poor communication, exacerbated by the inclement weather and high seas. After an exhausting but largely futile effort to return the stricken mammals to the ocean, a joint decision was taken by the agencies to euthanase about 34 whales which could not be returned to the ocean.

The call by SSCS has sparked outrage from the local wine industry. Respected wine industry commentator, Michael Fridjhon, speaking from Johannesburg said "This is outrageous. As I understand it they tried several times to get the whales back into the water but were unsuccessful. What were they supposed to do? Leave them to die in agony on the beach?" he asked. "It is the duty of every citizen to take conservation seriously, and the wine industry has impeccable credentials from a conservation point of view. I would suggest that relative to other industries, they are champions." He added that targeting the wine industry was therefore highly inappropriate. "Anybody who wants to pass judgment without due process is asking for an execution without a trial," he said.

Kobus Liebenberg, a dive master from Strand, spent the whole of Saturday in the water trying desperately to return some of the distressed whales to the ocean. After seven or eight exhausting hours, it emerged that the decision had been taken to euthanase the remaining whales. He was heart broken and left the beach, not wanting to witness the shooting of the whales. "The waves were huge," he said, "and that made it all the more difficult. I managed to swim one of the whales out to sea, but the current was so strong that it kept pushing us back to the beach." Whilst he deplored the killing of the whales, he said that there was probably no other alternative. "Calling for a boycott of South African wine makes no sense at all to me, no matter what happened," he said.

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) communications manager Andre Morgenthal also pointed out that it made no sense for the wine industry, which has a significant conservation profile, to be targeted. "We [the wine industry] have our own conservation efforts underway and we stand strongly for the protection of the environment, but it would be particularly difficult for us to try to step in here," he said. "Although we don't condone it, it was a disaster but the wine industry has no bearing on that particular aspect of conservation and marine life. We are distraught about what happened, but this is not our sphere of activity, and as we are not experts in this field, we are not qualified to comment."

Mike Meyer was unavailable for comment, but MCM spokesperson Carol Moses expressed the department's concern over SSCS's stance. "We condemn the statement by the Sea Shepherds calling for a boycott of the wine industry and we have no idea why they decided to target the wine industry," she said. "It is regrettable and we are not in agreement with it." The department earlier released a communiqué expressing its complete support for Mr Meyer's actions during the rescue attempt, including the subsequent decision to euthanase the surviving whales.

In a subsequent development, Herbert Henrich of Franschhoek, the South African representative of SSCS has denied that Captain Paul Watson called for a boycott. "First and foremost, no boycott has been called for by Sea Shepherd at this point in time," he said in an email in response to a local press report, despite the headline on the SSCS website which reads "Boycott South African Wines Until Whale Butcher Mike Meyers (sic) is Sacked" and the following explicit statement "...we are calling for an international boycott of South African wine until Mike Meyers (sic) is removed..." in the body of Captain Watson's post of June 2.

SSCS was approached for comment on the reaction of the South African wine industry to their boycott call, but has yet to respond to telephonic and email media inquiries directed at their Friday Harbour, Washington headquarters ten days ago.

Editor's Note:

Since this article was published, a television debate was broadcast on national SA television. Journalist, Norman McFarlane, reports on the subsequent developments:

Henrich participated in a television debate on this incident on Tuesday night, June 16 in which he said that SSCS had decided to not participate in the rescue attempt because there were no protocols or equipment in place to ensure success. SSCS did not want to be part of a failed rescue where people could point fingers at SSCS and say they had stood by and done nothing.

Noel Ashton, a local cetacean expert, also participated in the TV debate. After noting that he had not been present at Kommetjie on the day, he said that considering the difficult circumstances facing the rescue attempt, the decision taken had been correct. "We had the wrong species [beaching], in the wrong place, at the wrong time... All of those factors came together to produce a scenario that was almost impossible to get right... From what I've heard, and the communication I've had with the different people who made that decision, it looks like they made the right decision at the right time."
subscribe to news
Of Wine, Whales and Boycotts
Of Wine, Whales and Boycotts

more news