The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has footage of 80 dolphisn that were captured at the Cove in Taiji, Japan.
If you are not familiar with the The Cove, it was made famous by the Oscar winning documentary of the same name, starring Ric O'Barry, activist and dolphin expert who has taking a surprising stand on what he thinks we should do about the future slaughters that might be taking place in the cove.
Every year the Japanese residents, beginning on September first, of the small fishing town of Taiji, round up dolphins and some of them are sold to aquariums around the world and the rest are slaughtered and their meat is sold for human consumption.
The start of the new dolphin season was covered more so than any other year because of the media attention surrounding the documentary and the new mini-series being aired by Animal planet, also staring O'Barry and his son, Lincoln O'Barry, as they attempt to stop the slaughter of more dolphins.
There is a very thurough article at the Huffpost about O'Barry's recent travels to Taiji, Peaceful Warrior Ric O'Barry Speaks Out on Taiji Dolphin Slaughters.
O'Barry further encourages a peaceful non-violent solution to the ordeal. "In order to effect positive change, we have to win the hearts and minds of people," he adds. "We accomplished this recently in the Solomon islands after 450 years of "tradition" -- so this strategy is clearly working." Regarding his steadfast, peaceful warrior approach to the situation, he boldly admits:
I know exactly where the 13 dolphin hunting boats are moored. I know how to sink them without being detected. And if I believed that sinking the boats would end the dolphin slaughter, I would have already done it. But it won't work. It would only work against us. Having worked on this issue for so long, I know that the Japanese media would frame the story in such a way that the 'poor fisherman' would be the victim of terrorists. The government would buy them new boats and they would be hero's. Those of us who are working inside Japan would be banned from Taiji forever.
And I believe he is on the right track. The Japanese know we are watching, the media and even those inside of the Japan, as O'Barry has built bridges with people in Japan who do not support the slaughter.
This is why I have avoided confronting the Japanese dolphin killers or breaking Japanese laws. It is easy to break such laws, but doing so damages your credibility beyond repair among mainstream Japanese. I have worked hard to get the Japanese media to understand that I am not condemning the Japanese people nor Japan’s culture. I am only condemning the slaughter of dolphins, and I believe I have positive alternatives, such as ecotourism, to offer the people of Taiji and other communities in Japan that still slaughter dolphins.
A number of our volunteers this past week in Tokyo, for example, went down to the coastal village of Futo and went dolphin-watching with Mr. Ishi, a former dolphin hunter who now runs an ecotourism business. Futo fishermen used to slaughter thousands of dolphins, but have not caught any since 2004. Mr. Ishi has shown the way for dolphin killers to become dolphin lovers, without anywhere near the labor required to herd and slaughter the mammals.
I hope the Japanese media is beginning to “get it” – Japanese local communities can benefit far more from eco-tourism, sustainable fishing practices, and being open to foreign visitors than they can from running secretive dolphin-killing ventures. And Japan can avoid another Minamata-style disaster with mercury poisoning if it stops the sale of contaminated dolphin meat.
I think Ric is right, but we must put pressure on the Japanese to stop this slaughter.
Here are the dolphins that were most recently capture in Taiji, their fate is unknown.
Want to do something?
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/...
And if you want to learn more, please watch Blood Dolphins, it's not easy but it's important.
I went whale watching just a couple of weeks ago, and to be on a boat and watch these amazing animals swim with us, jump in the water and play, with their babies swimming beside them. It's always an amazing sight.
And one of my favorite videos to watch. Turn down the volume and just enjoy.
And another dog and dolphin video :)
I've been meaning to write about this for a couple of weeks now but just haven't been able to. The thought of these amazingly intelligent, sentient beings being captured to live in small tanks for a lifetime or brutally and inhumanely slaughtered for consumption (which is unfit for people to eat because of their mercury content) is something that is so hard for me to comprehend.
Whole pods are wiped clean when they are slaughtered and when only a handful or taken for marine parks, families are torn apart. These animals form family bonds for life.
But it needs to be covered, we need to speak out for these amazing animals.
Please.