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# Sixth grade activist sets a course
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/sixth-grade-activist-sets-a-course/
- Published: 2007-05-18T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:47:08.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*School break a chance to make a difference*

SANTA MONICA AIRPORT It’s been a dream school break for one 12-year-old activist and his father, flying from city to city to speak out against commercial whaling.

On May 10, Henry Ramage, a sixth grader at the Barnstable Horace Mann Charter School in Cape Cod, and father Patrick Ramage, the head of the International Fund Animal Welfare (IFAW), embarked on a 13-day, 13-city campaign to “Save the Whale.”

Their mission is one that many have attempted in the past, raising awareness about the threats to the cetacean, but none in the same fashion — traveling aboard a Cessna 402 covered in a mural of the humpback whale. On Thursday, the “Whale Plane” touched down at Santa Monica Airport.

“It’s been fun to migrate with my own little calf across the country on this mission,”

Patrick Ramage said.

The Ramages held a press conference on the tarmac, just a few hours before they were scheduled to take off for San Francisco on Thursday afternoon. It was an event that drew a crew of cameramen from the local television stations, as well as actress and former model Lauren Hutton, who briefly chatted with Henry about the dangers being posed to whales and sharks.

“How stupid are we before the end of the world?” Hutton said.

The father and son duo began their quest at Hyannis in Massachusetts, flying north to Boston before heading to New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, Des Moines and Santa Fe. The Ramages were originally scheduled to stop in Las Vegas before Santa Monica, but could not receive permission from aviation officials to hold a press conference on the tarmac. The rest of their itinerary included planned stops in San Francisco, Newport, Ore. and Vancouver before arriving in Anchorage next week for the 2007 meeting of the International Whaling Commission — the first time in 21 years the annual conference will be held in the United States.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 18, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051807.pdf?ref=smdp.com)