Fighting Whale Mascot - Cover

Fighting Whale Mascot


Mankind has a long history of referencing the strength and beauty of the animals it admires. This is particularly true here in the US, where animals are used as team symbols in little leagues, high schools, colleges and professional sports organizations.

It makes sense that we would want the wild creatures of the world to represent us. We revere their strength, speed, beauty, and cunning as positive attributes that exceed our own abilities. But it appears as if we respect these animals only in theory, and only on the surface level. We use their likenesses as a vehicle to intimidate other teams, sell products, or build a better uniform. Our reverence does not seem to extend past the interest in what they can give us visually.
We find it funny that people pretend to love these creatures, but do little to protect them in reality. Oftentimes, the animal a high school team is named for may no longer be found in the region, due to human encroachment. The territory of the very species that comes to represent the youth of that area, such as wolves, bears or buffalo, has been paved over. Over and over again, we have taken only what we need from our native species, and discarded the rest. In the case of using animals' likenesses, after we've appropriated these, we seem to care little for the actual creatures themselves.
Sea Shepherd's commitment to marine life often puts their ships directly in the paths of whaling vessels.

This disconnect, along with our reverence for our oceans, is why Noah is donating 10% of the proceeds from our Fighting Whale Hoodie to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. It dawned on us that we'd better put our money where our mouth is if we were going to put a whale on a piece of clothing, and Sea Shepherd had a strong, confrontational record of real activism to protect endangered marine life of all kinds. Wear the Whale with pride.