Save the Walrus
Contents
Save the Walrus
Both WNBR Brisbane 2007 and Newcastle 2007 in Australia protested to Save the Walrus!
Why Save the Walrus?
The Walrus is under serious threat from Climate Change
Anthropogenic (human made) climate change is caused by deforestation and the burning of fossil carbon fuels which pumps carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which causes the greenhouse effect (also known as global warming). Experts predict that by 2080 or sooner, the Arctic Ocean will be completely free of ice during the summer unless we cut our carbon emissions considerably. Native people and fauna of the Arctic such as the polar bear and walrus are faced with a serious threat to their survival. The Washington Post reports that "the rapid melting of Arctic sea ice appears to be separating walrus young from their mothers, leaving them likely to die at sea". The impact of burning carbon fossil fuels anywhere in the world affects nature in the whole world because we share the atmosphere. Reducing and eliminating the use of carbon fossil fuels is globally important for all of nature and humanity. The walrus is an example and a symbol of the beauty of world nature under threat from a carbon-induced Nemesis.
Lewis Gordon Pugh
This 36 year old lawyer and campaigner for the environment organisation WWF wants to save the walrus by stopping climate change too. He planned to swim the length of the River Thames to draw attention to these issues and he completed the swim! He was the first person to complete this record swim and was recognised with a reception at 10 Downing St at the invitation of the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
WNBR Promotional Material
Both Brisbane and Newcastle have adopted the use of graphics for their flyers and posters using a theme inspired by the Beatles album Magical Mystery Tour released in 1967. The WNBR is a fun, consciousness expanding Magical Mystery Tour particularly when the organisers lead participants on a secret route for hippie happenings. The Magical Mystery Tour album features (among others) the psychedelic song I am the Walrus written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
John Lennon
Musician, artist, author and peace activist, John Lennon held the enlightened view that naked protest can make a difference. In March of 1969 at the Amsterdam Hilton, he and partner Yoko Ono declared their honeymoon a "bed-in for peace," gaining world-wide media attention. In June of 1969, the event was repeated in a Montreal hotel room where they recorded "Give Peace a Chance".
“The main hangup in the world today is hypocrisy and insecurity. If people can’t face up to the fact of other people being naked or smoking pot, or whatever they want to do, then we’re never going to get anywhere. People have got to become aware that it’s none of their business and that being nude is not obscene. Being ourselves is what’s important. If everyone practiced being themselves instead of pretending to be what they aren’t, there would be peace.” - John Lennon from Body Freedom website.
Related Movie
I Met The Walrus
In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon's every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries the terrifyingly genius pen work of James Braithwaite with masterful digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit, and timeless message.
