巴黎竖起巨型蓝鲸像呼吁停止捕鲸.docxVIP

巴黎竖起巨型蓝鲸像呼吁停止捕鲸PARIS — A life-size installation of a giant blue whale has been erected on the Left Bank of the Seine, intended as a reminder to negotiators at the international climate conference here that the fate of threatened species is also in their hands.巴黎——一座实物大小的的蓝鲸雕塑被树立在巴黎塞纳河左岸，以提醒那些巴黎国际气候变化会议的与会者们，濒危物种们的命运也掌握在他们的手中。For the teams that built the 110-foot metal sculpture in the image of Bluebelle, as the great beast was named when caught a century ago, the message has also become a timely protest. On Dec. 1, as world leaders gathered here to address the climate conference, Japan’s whaling fleet set sail for its annual hunting season in the Antarctic.对于树立起这座高达110英尺的金属蓝鲸雕塑的组织方来说，在这头大型动物被捕捉并命名的百年之后，这座雕像传递了一个及时的抗议信号。12月1日，正在世界各国领导人齐聚于此，共赏气候变化大计之时，日本的捕鲸船正准备前往南极进行年度捕鲸活动。“People who care about whales have come to us saying, ‘Have you heard the terrible news from Japan?’ ” said Pierre Douay, a wildlife photographer and one of the organizers of the blue whale installation.“关心鲸鱼的人们对我们说，‘你听说日本那边的可怕消息了吗？’”皮埃尔·杜埃（Pierre Douay）说道。他是一位野生动物摄影师，也是这座蓝鲸雕像的活动的组织者之一。Japan is not the only country to ignore public pleas and international conventions by continuing the centuries-old practice of killing whales; Iceland and Norway are among others. But critics say Japan is the only nation that labels its commercial hunt as “research.” And this month, when a factory ship and three fast harpoon vessels left Japan on their way to the Antarctic, the Japanese ignored a ban on this activity issued by the International Court of Justice, the United Nations court in The Hague.一个世纪的捕鲸历史当中，日本并不是唯一忽视公众抗议和国际会议的国家，冰岛和挪威两国也置身其中。但是批评者认为，日本是唯一给商业捕鲸贴上“科研”标签的国家。而本月，当一艘商业船只和三艘捕鲸快艇离开日本前往南极后，日本人忽视了联合国海牙国际法庭下达的捕鲸禁令。Commercial whaling has been banned since 1986, but the International Whaling Commission made an exception for whale hunting for scientific research. However, in a case brought by Australia, the international court ruled in 2014 that, while Japan had killed thousands of whales since 1987 in the nam