Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke out against whaling before casting the first vote for Sacred Ocean – Global Voices Against the Cruelty of Whaling on Thursday 27 November 2008.

Sacred Ocean, a global campaign to stop whaling by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – http://www.ifaw.org/ ), opened at the Two Oceans Aquarium.

At the heart of the campaign is an iconic 3,4-metre high sculpture named Sacred Ocean by renowned cetacean artist and conservationist Noel Ashton, and which has been given pride of place in the Aquarium’s foyer.

After unveiling the sculpture, Archbishop Tutu cast the first vote to launch the campaign via a “touch-screen” installation which also provides the voter with an opportunity to send a “virtual postcard” to three friends urging them to cast their vote.

The campaign also has its own website at http://www.stopwhaling.org.za/.