It has been an eventful year, and I can remember each day by the cookies that I made. Some of you have been with me from day one and PATIENTLY waited as I totally erased and SLOWLY reposted my blog.-

You have also watched me get knocked flat on my butt, and cheered me on as I dusted myself off and got back up.  I am grateful to each and every one of you that took the time to encourage me and keep me moving, even on the days when I wonder why the heck I continue with this crazy hobby!  And I especially appreciate those of you who took the time to email me, and give me the little push I needed to get back into blogging gear...I TEND to procrastinate!  I appreciate it more than you will ever know, and hope I can give something back.

Here is my year in cookies. These are my favorites...some of them I've reposted, some never made it back onto the blog, so I am catching up now.  My goal for next year is to improve my skills, produce MORE original designs, and teach others to make gorgeous cookies also! Happy New Year!

There was a major development over the weekend in the case of a US research vessel, RV Marcus Langseth, seeking to conduct seismic testing in Canada's first marine protected area.

Environmentalists are fuming after learning the federal government has given permission to a U.S. research ship to begin controversial seismic testing in Canadian waters, despite an ongoing court challenge.

"The issue at stake here is the fact that by issuing this clearance permit for the vessel, they are valuing American interests above that of the Canadian environment and Canadian species at risk," said spokesman Kori Brus. "They've given no reason; they've simply done it."

A foreign affairs spokesman on Sunday would not confirm the ship has been given clearance to begin its test program. He refused to comment, saying the issue was before the courts.

While the Canadian government is refusing to comment on a decision that threatens blue whales and the integrity of the nation's first marine protected area, environmentalists ARE fuming - and rightfully so. The federal government's own documents demonstrate a full awareness of the impacts this testing will have on endangered whales, and they have allowed this research to go forward regardless of the best science available.

We're in court tomorrow working to have the permit issued to the US vessel stayed. More to come then.

Ecojustice is suing the federal government to stop an American research vessel from conducting seismic blasting in a Canadian waters. The area in question? The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents, Canada's first officially designated marine protected area and a known habitat of endangered blue whales and fin whales.

“A marine protected area is a marine protected area because its supposed to be off limits to harmful activity. And its just completely inappropriate that intrusive or harmful research would happen there,” said Ecojustice lawyer, Lara Tessaro.

According to Ecojustice, the seismic blasts at 180 decibels every 2 or 3 minutes would cause intense acoustic disturbance for the marine animals in the area, most specifically the blue whales in the area.

Ecojustice is scheduled for to be in court on the issue tomorrow. See the media release for more.

Here's a handful of photos from Stephen Fry's TwitPic stream. As well as the graceful moves of live whales, they were sad to discover a dead whale, as Stephen described on Twitter.

OMG to the power of 10! Mother & calf grey whale swam with us, played with us. Astounding, wonderful, joyous experience. Sx

Sad sight of recently dead juvenile gray whale floating in lagoon, gulls pecking at it. 1 creature's ill-luck a blessing to others. I sp

Stephen is worried about his thighs today. Here's his final Tweets from last night ...

Director just casually dropped a bombshell. I have to ride a mule tomorrow. A thousand boiling arses. Two hours up a mountain. Buttery f**k.

Heigh ho - to bed. The morrow will bring weary thighs and much else besides. Till then x

The TV crew are headed for Mexico for the penultimate filming assignment for Last Chance To See. From Stephen Fry's Twitter feed...

Mark Carwardine and the crew are all here. Ready to start tomorrow at 7. I shall pop down and dine with them now. Bis später xx

Arrived at military airport: awaiting Cessna Caravan which will take us to San Ignacio lagoon where grey whales are to be found. We hope!

They are headed to the Sea of Cortez to see endangered whales, as the official BBC map shows. This will be an effective replacement to travelling to China to look in vain for the "extinct" Baiji Dolphin.

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The map page of the BBC's Last Chance To See website reveals where Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry will be headed for the remaining films in the TV series. They filmed in the Amazon in January of 2008, and have been in Africa and Madagascar during October and November 2008.

After a well deserved Christmas break, January 2009 will see them in The Sea of Cortez, Mexico to film endangered whales, an effective replacement to travelling to China to look in vain for the "extinct" Baiji Dolphin.

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February 2009 they head down to New Zealand to see the 90 remaining Kakapo Parrots and other species.

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The final trip will be to Komodo in April 2009. Here be dragons...

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In light of the BBC site's new geographic restrictions on media content, I recommend subscribing to Stephen Fry's site where he continues to post videos from the field, and occasional "blessays" and podcasts. His Twitter feed (see sidebar on the homepage) also features regular photographs of their travels, such as this encounter with a lemur on Madagascar.

Conservationists are celebrating a small victory this week after Iceland announced that it will not issue further commercial whaling quotas after existing permits expire on August 31st. Citing poor market demand, particularly from Japan, government officials see no reason to allow more whaling until "market conditions improve".

Iceland created an international uproar last October by announcing a return to commercial whale hunting. Annual quotas were issued totaling 30 minke whales and 9 endangered fin whales. To date, seven of each have been killed with the resulting whale meat relegated to cold storage, as hunters have been unable to find buyers domestically or in Japan. Chief among buyer concerns is the high levels of toxins in North Atlantic whale meat.

Not surprisingly, this outcome was predicted by conservationists at the outset, and Arni Finnsson from the Iceland Nature Conservation Association is looking like Nostradamus himself thanks to his comments made in October of 2006.

"There is no market for this meat in Iceland, there is no possibility to export it to Japan; the government appears to have listened to fishermen who are blaming whales for eating all the fish. This decision is giving the finger to the international community."

Icelandic whalers continue to insist on the need for continued hunts in order to build up markets. And despite this victory against commercial whaling, Iceland continues to hunt whales under the guise of "scientific research", the meat from which is also ending up unused in Icelandic storage facilities.

In some potential good news for the anti-whaling movement, it appears that Nicaragua will no longer vote for alongside pro-whaling nations at the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

I say "appears" only because the article in question is in Spanish and the Babel Fish translation was nearly incomprehensible.

The pro-whaling camp has been making significant progress in recent years, thanks in large part to the Japanese efforts to stack the international panel in their favour. Japan has been bringing "sympathetic" countries into the IWC by exchanging foreign aid and IWC membership fees for pro-whaling votes.

The pro-whaling camp gained a key victory last June when the IWC voted 33 to 32 in favour of the eventual return of commercial whaling. In highly contested and tight voting environment, Nicaragua's apparent shift in policy will be key for efforts to maintain the commercial whaling ban.

If any Spanish speaking readers would like to give their interpretation, your input in the comments section is more than welcome.

The UK is attempting to turn the tide against pro whaling nations with an all out recruitment drive to bring new countries into the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and reaffirm the international ban on commercial whaling.

Since 1946, the IWC has been charged with the conservation of the world's whale populations after rampant slaughter nearly annihilated many species. However, after implementing a complete ban on commercial fishing in 1986, there has been growing pressure from Japan, Iceland and Norway to resume the practice. To bolster their cause, Japan has been working behind the scenes to bring "sympathetic" countries into the IWC by exchanging foreign aid for pro-whaling votes.

This past June they tipped the scales and two decades after the ban went into effect, the IWC voted 33-32 in favour of the eventual return to commercial whaling. Shortly after that, Iceland announced annual quotas of 30 minke whales and 9 endangered fin whales and harvested their first catch - a 70ft fin - in October.

Its a controversy that will become more heated in the coming years.

As whale populations recover, the debate is slowly shifting from the outright preservation of whales a more subtle moral consideration of their value as unique intelligent creatures. Conservationists have acted for years under the implicit premise that whales should be set apart and afforded special protections that go beyond the mere survival of the species. The primary concern of pro-whaling nations is the management of the species for commercial harvest.

Tony Blair and the British government have embraced the conservationists view and are actively seeking other nations to join in the cause. Canada, despite having the longest coastline of any nation - and being home to 11 endangered whale populations - is not a member of the IWC.

To encourage Canada to join the UK's efforts write the appropriate Ministers below:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper - pm@pm.gc.ca

Environment Minister John Baird - John.Baird@ec.gc.ca

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay - mackap2@parl.gc.ca