The Cove, an Oscar winning Documentary about the annual dolphin wrangling and slaughter in a small Japanese town called Taiji brought a lot of attention to a heart wrenching story. The story still keeps unfolding because it's not just about dolphins that are rounded up daily for a few months each year and sold to aquariums and amusement parks around the world. It's not just about the dolphins that are left over that are killed in a secretive little cove, out of sight from the prying eyes of tourists and activists, disgusted by the thought of killing creatures as intelligent, empathetic and social as dolphins. It's not just about the Japanese culture which refuses to consider the environmental impacts on their diets that have taken an disproportionate toll on the ocean's ecosystem, from whaling, to the overfishing of such species as the blue fin tuna.
This issue is about more than just those shocking details that have been documented, shared and told over and over.
Dolphins are top predators in the ocean, they eat large fish that have eaten smaller fish, etc. Ocean food chains are some of the longest chains in any of our ecosystems and it matters because of biological magnification (or Bioaccumulation & Biomagnification).
Biological Magnification: Refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy metals move up the food chain, work their way into rivers or lakes, and are eaten by aquatic organisms such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals or humans. The substances become concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain.
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We saw this with DDT when large birds of prey began laying eggs that had shells that were too soft to handle the weight of the nesting mothers. The accumulation of the DDT up the food chain had settled in higher concentrations in those highest in the food chain and it was affecting them the most and their ability to reproduce. DDT was no longer as harmless as it's makers had led us to believe.
So, guess what happens when we eat those species that are so high in ocean's food chain? We are going to get the highest concentration of mercury possible and it accumulates and it stores itself in our fat. The Japanese should know well about the affects of mercury poisoning, one of the greatest environmental tragedies on the 20th century took place in Minamata, Japan. It was also one of the greatest lessons of the 20th century when we realized that what we poured into our rivers and streams actually did affect us directly.
Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which when eaten by the local populace resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig and human deaths continued over more than 30 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution.
So, decades later, this tiny fishing village in Japan is still eating dolphin meat, which has been proven to be highly contaminated with mercury. And at the same time, as the world protests the dolphin slaughter and the brutal killing of over 22,000 dolphins a year, they refuse to give up this tradition.
The headline I came across today was one I couldn't pass, 'The Cove''s Dolphin Slaughter Town, Taiji, Japan, Logs Dangerous Mercury Levels In Residents. But the outcome itself is rather disappointing because the Japanese seem to imply that the levels of the residents of Taiji is nothing to be concerned about.
What's most interesting is they don't give any details. Nothing at all about exactly how high their mercury concentration is or the average. There is nothing to put it into perspective and I smell some greenwashing.
Individuals with the highest levels were advised to cut back on large fish and sea mammals. Although it can damage the nervous system permanently, mercury naturally fades from the body over time, halving about every 70 days. A person could flush most of it from their system by completely cutting it out for a year.
At lunch after the town hall meeting, council chief Katsutoshi Mihara rejoiced as he carefully dipped raw slices of a striped dolphin into soy sauce.
"This may seem nonchalant, but I have absolutely no concerns, and I want to be able keep my lifestyle," he said.
As served at "Moby Dick," a hotel run by the local government, the red and pink dolphin sashimi was chewy and faintly fishy, its mammalian consistency more like meat than fish.
Despite the high mercury levels found in the Taiji tests, institute officials said neurological tests on the 182 citizens who wanted them found no problems. Follow-up tests are planned by March of next year, with outside experts possibly invited, and a separte study is under way to track mercury levels in the local catch.
It's about keeping their lifestyle more than anything else, whaling, blue fin tuna, the repeated refusal of the Japanese to recognize their impacts on our oceans is astounding to me.
This one town that is responsible for the death of so many dolphins. And not humanely, not even remotely so. So is this merely publicity to protect a profitable industry for a small town, an industry in trading in live dolphins to a thriving entertainment industry and as food for a town of only 3,500 residents?
Want to learn more? Here is an fifteen minute, unedited clip from the film courtesy of Save Japan Dolphins. Ric O'Barry is working tirelessly for this cause. There has to be more to this than just feeding a small town. It's about money, it's about greed, it's about saving a species, many species that are intelligent and empathetic I can't see standing by and letting them die.
You can do something. We can end this.
- Help support our efforts in Japan to stop the killing of dolphins: With your tax-deductible donation, we'll send you the newly-released DVD of the award-winning film “The Cove”, as well as other great gifts! Click Here to Donate
- Help us get the word out. Send a letter to President Obama, Vice President Biden and the Japanese Ambassador to the US. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/... Help us reach our goal of one-millions signatures on our Petition to stop the dolphin slaughter. http://apps.facebook.com/...
- Press the Zoo and Aquarium Industry to stop the slaughter in Taiji: The Aquarium industry must take responsibility to stop the drive fishery their colleagues exploit. Take action now. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/...
- Sign up to receive our blog to get the latest news on our efforts for dolphins around the world. http://www.savejapandolphins.org/...