Manning the radar of the MY Steve Irwin as Quartermaster for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society during Operation Zero Tolerance 2012/13. This picture was taken as the Steve Irwin, victorious, headed out of the Antarctic Southern Ocean and toward port, having sent the Japanese whaling fleet home. Sea Shepherd saved 932 whales during OZT.

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Highlighted Campaign: Operation Zero Tolerance
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Photo: Tim Watters/Sea Shepherd

I love this feature from WWF Australia: the Footprint Calculator. It enables us to calculate our carbon footprint, assess how much damage we might be causing the planet and come up with ways to minimise our impact!

Check it out: wwf – Footprint Calculator.

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Photo: WWF Australia

Aerosmith’s Stephen Tyler and Joe Perry on the bridge of the Steve Irwin during their tour of the Sea Shepherd ships in Melbourne. Conservation rocks out!

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Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Almost all the world’s most iconic species are threatened by extinction. Tigers, elephants, lions, panda and polar bears, zebras, sharks, whales, eagles, turtles and more are effected by deforestation, poaching, human impact on the environment and the black market trade in wildlife. Here’s a photo collection of the world’s most endangered species.

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Model Jesinta Campbell and pro-surfer Felicity Palmateer getting ready to snorkel the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve.

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Photo: Felicity Palmateer

Billabong Girls pro-surfer Felicity Palmateer and conservationist Celine Cousteau working for marine conservation in the Galapagos.

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Photo: Felicity Palmateer/Instagram

This year, more than 192 countries participated in the Earth Day Network’s global “Face of Climate Change” by uploading a portrait picture to create a global mosiac. You can participate in the Face of Climate Change mosiac here.

Earth Day is also about raising awareness about the issues affecting all species, with some participants choosing to eat meat-free, participate in charity runs, front beach clean-ups and get active in World Week for Animals in Laboratories.

Here’s a tweet that reflects those principals of Earth Day. Join in:

Join @lc4a and I in asking @airfrance to stop transporting wild animals for animal experiments! Take action: bit.ly/11zZybZ

— Elissa Sursara (@ElissaSursara) April 18, 2013

Air France, the last major European airline to ship non-human primates, transports tens of thousands of primates a year for cruel and invasive animal experimentation. Air France passenger and Air France-KLM cargo planes transport monkeys, often stolen from wild habitats in Vietnam and the Republic of Mauritius. Although United Airlines and China Eastern Airlines stopped transporting primates in early 2013, Air France, Philippine Airlines and Vietnam Airlines continue to transport them.

After the jump: How you can help end the suffering of primates transported by Air France

Discreetly loaded onto the cargo hold of the passenger planes, the monkeys and their babies, jammed in tiny wooden crates measuring 4ft x 1.4ft x 1.6ft, travel for 30 hours or more underneath unsuspecting Air France passengers. Many terrified monkeys die during the grueling international flights, suffering from stress, trauma, dehydration, parasitic worm infestation and intestinal hemorrhaging.

Long-tailed Mauritius macaques	Air France primate cargo (photo courtesy of BUAV)

The majority of monkeys transported for research are long-tailed macaques who have resided on Mauritius for over 400 years when they were brought over by Portuguese sailors. In high demand by the American and European research industries, more than 10,000 macaques priced at $4,000 each are exported from Mauritius each year. Air France is the main commercial airline responsible for the transport.

Hired by trapping and breeding companies in Mauritius such as Noveprim, Ltd. and Bioculture Mauritius, Ltd., trappers kidnap and split these highly intelligent and social monkeys from their families by luring them into cages baited with sugar cane and bananas during the winter when it is more difficult to find food. The monkeys are then kept in large breeding facilities before they are exported to research facilities in the US, UK, Spain and France.

Air France continues to transport primates despite public outcry and pressure from animal advocacy organizations. Air France Board of Directors member, Jean-Francois Dehecq, is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sanofi-Aventis, a French pharmaceutical company.

Baby macaque in research facility (Photo courtesy of Brian Gunn)	Macaque in testing facility (Photo courtesy of Brian Gunn)

Behind the confines of testing facilities, monkeys are victims of torment, torture and inhumane procedures, facing horrors such as mutilation, poisoning, food deprivation, imposed infections from painful diseases, drug addiction and psychological torment. Driven mentally ill by the stress and terror of being locked in barren steel cages, many monkeys are known to exhibit behavior of spinning and rocking incessantly, ripping out their hair and biting into their own flesh.

Captive macaques in a research facility (Photo courtesy of Brian Gunn)

“The public tide is turning against the use of non-human primates in general, and researchers must either find alternatives or convince the public there is a compelling reason to continue such research,” says Paul Root Wolpe, director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which is home to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. “If scientists don’t make a louder, more persuasive public case,” he says, “more companies — not only in transportation — will choose the side of animal-rights advocates.”

What you can do:

1) Contact Air France and tell them you will not fly Air France until they end primate transportation:

Head Office – France
45, rue de Paris F-95747 Roissy CDG Cedex
FRANCE
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 56 78 00
Fax: +33 (0)1 41 56 84 19
French Call Center: +33 (0)892 702 654
Website: www.airfrance.com

United States
Customer Care: 1-800-237-2747
Customer Relations: 1-800-992-3932
Website: www.airfrance.us

2) Sign the petition demanding Air France stop primate transportation:
www.change.org/petitions/air-france-stop-tranporting-primates-bound-for-research-labs

3) Send a personalized and polite email to the French Ambassador François Delattre:
info@ambafrance-us.org (Click here for an example letter)

4) Share LCA’s Air France Monkey Business video on Facebook and Twitter:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA-LI8-b63Y

5) Comment “Please stop the transportation of primates bound for research” on Air France’s Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/airfrance

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Learn more about LCA’s campaign Air Frances’ Monkey Business
Photo Credit: Last Chance for Animals/Various

My fellow Sea Shepherd Conservation Society crew members showing the love for footwear company TOMS One Day Without Shoes, a global day for kids to raise awareness for children’s education and health. Learn more about ODWS at their website and check us out on the TOM’s official Facebook page!

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Photo Credit: Tim Watters/Sea Shepherd