The Ultimate Feeling of Hopelessness in Taiji

This blog is more of a reaction to current events than it is an informative blog. For those of you who have seen the documentary, The Cove, you as well as myself are well aware of the brutality that is involved in the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society currently has a team stationed in Taiji, named the Cove Guardians, whose mission it is to document the slaughter and expose it to the world. This year, the Cove Guardians have an incredible weapon on their side, a weapon that whose power I and anyone else with a computer could witness. The weapon is a live feed from Taiji. On Friday, I watched as dolphins were driven into the cove to die a horrific death. Not a single part of the process was humane. First of all the way in which the fisherman drive the dolphins into the cove is basically the equivelent to someone banging on a drum right in your ear. The fisherman literally bang on various objects to horrify the dolphins into shallow waters. The pod that was slaughtered was a pod of Risso dolphins, a protected species in the United States. It was a truly heartbreaking experience seeing those animals driven into that cove. The pod literally fought for over an hour, trying to escape death. The fear that those animals had to be experiencing is probably the same as a person would feel if held at gunpoint for over an hour.

Here we are, the year 2012 and Japan is still insisting on killing dolphins. The pod of Risso dolphins, after being netted into the cove were brutally stabbed to death, with the exception of 3 who were set aside for captivity. Again, for those of you who have seen The Cove, you know what I mean by these animals are brutally stabbed to death. For those who have not seen it... Picture yourself being stabbed in the back until you die with what equates to a simple spear. You feel each and every stab and while that's happening you see the rest of your family experiencing the same thing you are. If that doesn't sound heartbreaking than I really do not know the meaning of the word. The three dolphins that survived will become show dolphins for some dolphinarium. Personally, I feel that there are more than enough dolphins breeding in captivity that there is no real reason to be taking more from the wild.

The live feed itself really brought into perspective that this is still happening. It also brought into perspective the sheer number of people that are against this slaughter. Virtually every second that I was watching the feed there were Twitter updates tagging Sea Shepherd and the Cove Guardians as heroes for what they were doing. Along with those thanks came a ton of people calling for the killing to end. Personally I do not use Twitter, but I don't think I've ever seen so many tweets at once or in one place. The feed made it quite obvious that Japan is very nervous about Sea Shepherd being at the cove. There were several different police forces present at the cove along with the Japanese coast guard. They are very much aware that their dirty truth is once again being exposed to the world and it is very easy to see that they are not happy about it. At the same time though, the feed is enabling the Cove Guardians to get slightly better views as to what is going on because the last thing Japan wants to see is their police going up to and starting problems with peaceful protesters. The Cove Guardians will continue to be on the ground in Taiji through March when this slaughter will come to an end for a few months before starting again in September. Japan seeks to kill some 20,000 dolphins total for this season as the entire world watches in disgust and horror. If you are unaware as to how this slaughter takes place follow this link. Fair warning though... It is absolutely heartbreaking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXyDYt6Y_DU

Dolphins are some of the smartest animals in the world and here is a perfect example of proof on that statement. 9 Japanese fishing boats failed to trap a pod of dolphins in the cove today. The pod managed to escape from under the noses of any sonar equipment and from under the noses of each and every fisherman on those boats. They did this with no technology, just their brains. That is a feat that I seriously doubt any human could achieve, let alone a group of humans.

I applaud each and every one of the Cove Guardians who are on the ground fighting for these amazing animals. Sea Shepherd is truly doing a great thing by having these people documenting and exposing the slaughter to the world. The Cove brought the sadistic slaughter into the light and now Sea Shepherd, with the support of millions of people seek an end to the brutal and unjustifiable slaughter. For more information on the Cove Guardians and Sea Shepherd's campaign in Taiji visit http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/

My next blog will be a return to the world of sharks as Costa Rica bans shark finning......... Again........ Really? Again?

Sharks of Arabia Protected!

In the midst of all the turmoil occurring right now in the middle east, it appears that one Arab nation has decided to step up and help take a stand for sharks! The United Arab Emirates has decided that the time is now to protect sharks in the Persian Gulf. Not much is known about shark populations in the gulf, but many of the Ocean's apex predators have been spotted there. it is also one of the few places where groups of female whale sharks have been observed in groups. With an unknown shark population the gulf saw 20,000 tonnes of shark removed in 2011. UAE has now opened the door for the other GCC nations to follow suite in creating protection for sharks. These countries include Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. If these nations follow UAE the Persian Gulf would become an area of the world where sharks are a priority.

Despite not knowing the populations of the sharks in it's waters, UAE had laid out the following rules in regards to shark fishing in it's waters in 1999...

Article 23: It is illegal to conduct fishing operations using banned fishing gear or equipment

Article 24: Fishing is impermissible during fertilisation or breeding season (January to April)

Article 26: It is prohibited to fishing for sharks using trawling nets, bottom nets, nylon or drift nets

Article 34: It is prohibited to use explosives, crackers or materials that are harmful, toxic or anaesthetic to aquatics

Article 44: It is forbidden to catch living aquatic creatures to extract their eggs, skins, fins and any other parts (catch must be landed wholly at fish markets).

Article 44: It is forbidden to throw the dead fish waste and carcasses of whales and sharks into the water.

— D.B

Source: Ministry of Environment and Water

The following is a 2011 update that adds the following rules. 

Only launch styled vessels can be used to capture sharks in UAE waters

Vessels must be licensed by the ministry

Fishing capture limited to using only hooks style 1 and 2 and hooks must not exc eed 100 per vessel

Shark capture is prohibited from January to end of April during shark breeding season

Capture of whale sharks and saw fishes prohibited

UAE has set an amazing example for the rest of the Arab world as to what a serious protection plan for sharks should look like. Shark fishing in the Persian Gulf does occur and chances are shark fishing will never be illegal in the Gulf, so this is one of the next best things. The last point I kind of highlighted for a special reason. Saw fishes are endangered so the ban on fishing for them is very much so warranted. The banning of catching whale sharks is also an incredible thing to see. Again, the Persian Gulf is one of the only areas in the world where groups of female whale sharks have been observed. It's importance in the research of these animals is incredible because of that fact!

Like in the United States, shark fishing is something that is not going to go away, but if we can limit the number of sharks being killed through means such as the ones listed, we can begin to save these animals in our own waters. Simply banning shark finning isn't enough, time will tell if the restrictions UAE has put on shark fishing will preserve the shark populations in the gulf. If shark populations appear to stabilize, then UAE's plan could be a model for the rest of the world!

The Final Solution in Australia and Ominous Signs in New Jersey

First off, I apologize if the title of this blog has offended anyone, it was not my intention to do so, but it is the topic of this blog.

This past summer sadly saw more shark attacks in one place than any year in recent memory. In Australia, 5 people were killed by sharks off of beaches on the western side of the continent. Since that time there has been an explosion of shark hate and fear, the likes that rival that of the fallout from Jaws. What that means is no good for sharks. In this case, it means that the premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett has issued a final solution for sharks in Western Australia. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term "final solution" I will break it down. The Final Solution was Hitler's master plan to eliminate the Jews from the world in an effort to make a "safer and pure" Germany. The effort would lead to the Holocaust in which millions of Jews and others lost their lives for essentially being who they were. Much like Hitler did to the Jews, Barnett has called for the total destruction of sharks. 

Yes it is a very sad thing that 5 people were killed, but there are many factors that need to be remembered. Factors that Barnett clearly has no intention on remembering. First is the overall odds of a shark attack. Statistically speaking you have a better chance of a vending machine falling on you than a shark attacking you. You have a better chance of being killed by ants, yes ants, than being attacked by a shark. Needless to say, you have a better chance of being struck by lightning, being in a car accident, or drowning in your bathtub than you do of being attacked by a shark. So the question is why the sudden tiny increase of shark attacks off the coast of Australia? Realistically, nobody knows 100% for sure, but there are several reasons that could have caused the increase of shark attacks in the area.

1.) Overfishing: Much like in the United States, fish populations are decreasing. What that means for the sharks in Australia is that their food is vanishing. So, the sharks start to look elsewhere for their food. They move closer to shore and happen to see a surfer on a surfboard. Chances are that shark has never seen a human so it goes in for a curiosity bite. The sharks are not trying to eat people at all in this case as none of the 5 people attacked were eaten. Simply put. Lack of fish in the Ocean does to sharks what massive food shortages do to humans. It makes them desperate and not want to starve so they move in closer to shore since they can't find food in the open Ocean, and sadly wind up accidentally getting themselves involved with people. In the case of people, starving and desperate people have been known to actually eat each other. So the concept of starvation and desperation should not be new. 

2.) Accidental Baiting: Sharks have an incredible sense of smell. They can sense a drop of blood in water from a mile away. Australian fishing boats could very well accidentally be attracting sharks closer to shore. One very popular method of fishing is called chumming. For those who don't know, chumming involves throwing ground up fish into the water to attract larger fish. It makes perfect sense for a fisherman to want to do this, but at the same time, chumming can and does attract sharks. Many charter boats are known to start tossing chum overboard while returning from a trip. Sharks can and do follow the chum into shallow waters near beaches. In this case, it is not the sharks fault some people decided to give it a free meal up to the beach. Where there is food, the shark will generally stay until it's ready to move on. 

3.) The Case of Mistaken Identity: This one is pretty simple to understand too. Picture a great white shark swimming through the water. Now picture what a sea lion would look like from underneath. Long body, two short flippers in front and two short flippers in the back. Keep that image in your head and picture a surfer lying on a board from underneath. Long body, two short flippers in front, and two short flippers in the back. Well what do you know? They look quite similar don't they? Almost every time a shark bites a surfer, the shark leaves and does not return. Simply put. WE ARE NOT ON THE MENU. 

So here is the plan. The plan in Western Australia, if implemented would be simple. Hire people and spend tax dollars on killing every single shark that is seen near a human in the Ocean. Sounds like a joke right? It's not. This plan would see men on beaches with weapons waiting to blow any sharks head off if it is seen near a human. I really have to stress the word any because there are many endangered species of shark that can be found in the waters of Western Australia. One of those is the Great White Shark which is estimated to have a global population of roughly 3,500. In a sense, this call to exterminate sharks would be the same as calling for the extermination of whales or any other endangered animal on land or sea. The ironic thing in this case is that the animal that is being exterminated is responsible for less human deaths than household dogs every year. The basis of the plan is to increase security at beaches for surfers and swimmers. Not for nothing, but if there is a moving shark near me I am not going to want anyone shooting at an animal that is right next to me. The danger of that in itself would be enough to deter me from going into the water. Chances are high that someone will accidentally be shot which will do nothing but cause more problems. 

If this final solution in Australia occurs we could see a drastic change in the local scene out there. Different species of fish will start to take over and local fisheries could easily find themselves with far more problems than a lack of fish. With no sharks the seas simply cannot survive which brings us to an incredibly ominous sign that has started to happen in New Jersey.

There has been much talk about the cost of living going up everywhere. Gas prices are insanely high, food costs more than it did, taxes are up, etc etc. Hidden by the increasing costs of seafood, in this case scallops, a much larger problem lurks. This year, New Jersey saw an increase in the price of scallops. To fisherman the price increase means more profit which makes them happy of course, but the concerning statistic isn't the fact that the price went, it's why. The increase in the price of scallops is not a part of the ever increasing cost of living. The number of scallops caught this year was far less than in years prior. What that means is less supply and a high demand. This caused the prices to go up. There are simply not enough scallops to go around anymore and I have a gut feeling that we will continue to see a decrease in scallop catches over the next few years. Now what does all of this have to do with sharks? The answer is simple, the food chain. Over the last two years New Jersey and other east coast states have seen a sharp rise in ray populations. Naturally rays eat shellfish such as clams, scallops, etc. In New Jersey, a ray has virtually no predators. The majority of sharks that come close to shore in New Jersey generally do not eat rays. These species include sandbar sharks, young sand tiger sharks, dogfish, and others. Naturally, large species of shark keep ray populations in check. Despite so many shark sightings this summer, there were virtually no sightings of sharks that often prey on rays. The one exception was the sighting of a lone hammerhead. Tiger, bull, large sandbar, hammerheads, dusky, and porbeagle sharks all eat rays and are normally seen off of New Jersey during the summer. Over the past few years though this has simply not been the case. 

What we are potentially seeing here is the start of a food chain collapse. Man kills over 70 million sharks every year for various unsustainable and twisted reasons. There are not enough sharks left in the Ocean to effectively keep food chains together anymore. With the lack of sharks in New Jersey, here is what is starting to happen. Ray populations are increasing rapidly as shark populations decrease. As a result, shellfish populations are decreasing rapidly. Shellfish are filter feeders which means that as they vanish, water qualities will begin to change. With no food left the rays will eventually die off and all that will be left is an Ocean in chaos. Not only will this particular food chain collapse, but it will cause the collapse of countless others. Shellfish are so important to the Oceans that in reality, without them there can be no clean Ocean. The only hope the shellfish have is that sharks are saved now. Sharks are the only thing preventing the seas from becoming barren underwater wastelands where nothing will be able to survive. In the end that spells just one thing for life on land... Death...    

The Chess Game in the Southern Ocean Begins

December is just a few short months away and that means that the famous "Whale Wars" will once again be waged in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. As usual the combatants in this war will be the Japanese Whaling Fleet and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Over the past two years, Sea Shepherd has by far held an advantage in the war over the whalers. Last year the Japanese whalers caught less than 25% of what their quota was. Japan has directly pointed the finger at Sea Shepherd for this, which Sea Shepherd sees as a victory. This year though, it appears the pieces are already moving as Japan appears more than desperate to get away from Sea Shepherd in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Japan has continued to divert funds from the tsunami relief effort to buff security on it's whaling ships. Japan has also made public statements stating that the whaling fleet will not be going south this year due to repairs that are needed on the factory ship. Sea Shepherd informants however have discovered the whaling fleet's docking area and sure enough the factory ship is getting loaded and ready to head south as is the rest of the whaling fleet. So Japan claiming that they are not going south this year really mounts to nothing but a really poor attempt at getting Sea Shepherd off of their backs for the year. Last year the Japanese whaling fleet consisted of one factory ship, 2 harpoon vessels, and a security vessel. These vessels were opposed by the Sea Shepherd fleet of 2 ships, one high speed trimaran, several unmanned drones, and a helicopter. Odds are the whaling fleet has not increased in size due to the millions and millions of dollars that Sea Shepherd has cost the industry over the past few years. Sea Shepherd however is now ready to match the whaling fleet ship for ship with the addition of a fourth, unknown vessel. 

What I mean by that is that nobody knows what this boat looks like. Nobody knows where it is. Nobody knows how fast it is. Nobody really knows anything about it with the exception of those close to Sea Shepherd founder, Paul Watson. What role this boat will have in the anti whaling campaign remains to be seen, but chances are it could wind up being the final nail in the coffin for the Japanese Whaling Fleet. So why in the world does this war get waged every year?

Every year from December into the Spring the Japanese Whaling Fleet goes down to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary to perform what they call scientific research. The claim that research is going on down there is part of a loop hole that exists on the moratorium of commercial whaling. The hole states that whales can be killed for scientific research and only in that case can the meat be sold. Japan has fought feverishly to have the moratorium reversed while still killing whales for profit. There has been no research coming from Japan in the Southern Ocean for years, a big sign that chances are there is no research going on. Another issue lies within the whalers hunting grounds themselves. The hunting grounds are located within an Australia controlled whale sanctuary. So in a sense what the whalers are doing is really not different than what poachers do in wildlife reserves around the world. They go down there, they kill, they make profit. Australia has threatened to take Japan to court over the issue, but so far they have not stepped up to the plate. What the Japanese Whaling Fleet is doing is illegal. There is to be know killing of whales in that whale sanctuary, that is Australian rule. There is to be no commercial whaling. That is the rule of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Japan breaks both of these rules, but Australia won't step up to the plate to do something about it and in the IWC other problems exist. Those problems include Japan threatening smaller nations if they do not cooperate in their bid to see the moratorium overturned. Prostitution has entered the IWC with Japanese representatives offering prostitutes to other representatives in exchange for their cooperation. The most common problem though is bribery. Nothing speaks louder in this world than cash. Japan apparently has enough to throw at other countries in order to keep their dying industry alive while it's own people continue to be homeless after the tsunami. 

So the scene is set for what could be the final act in the whale wars. Sea Shepherd has the Japanese whalers against the ropes, but only time will tell if this will truly be the last stand for the whalers. Both Sea Shepherd and the Japanese Whaling Fleet are set to head down to the Southern Ocean in late November/early December. For Sea Shepherd, the Operation is entitled No Compromise. I will be passing on any news I see about the operation here as a part of Operation Sadistic Truths. I will present both sides of any story that I can find information on and weigh in my opinions. So stay tuned here for more info on Operation No Compromise as it becomes available or check out www.seashepherd.org for more information as well. My next blog will be the first shark blog of Operation Sadistic Truths.

PG&E Seeks to Decimate Wildlife Off of California

Pacific Gas and Electric is seeking to do underwater seismic testing off the coast of California to ensure that the operation of a nuclear power plant continues. The plant, named Diablo Canyon, is situated right on an active earthquake fault. What PG&E is seeking to do is unleash seismic shockwaves for 90 miles along central California's coast to help geologists map out the fault. One PG&E representative stated “the proposal calls for a 240-foot ship to tow a quarter-mile wide array of twenty 250 decibel “air cannons,” along a 90-mile stretch of California’s Central Coast. The cannons will shoot deafening underwater explosions once every twenty seconds, day and night, for 42 days and nights." 

What does this all mean to the wildlife off of California. Devastation. Nothing more, nothing less. Any animal that is anywhere near these air cannons will be basically shredded. This includes whales, dolphins, sharks, rays, turtles, otters, sea lions, seals, and fish. What will these tests do to the animals? It's really simple. In the case of sharks, rays, and other animals with gills the air will blast through them causing massive internal bleeding. Seals, sea lions, whales, turtles, and other air breathers with have their lungs basically burst. At the mouth of the air cannons there is going to be a 240dB blast that would easily take away the hearing of any animal, including humans. This is a huge problem for animals such as dolphins and whales that rely so much on their ability to hear each other and other animals. How do we know that this is a sure thing? Other places around the world have used this type of testing and the results of the maps were only moderate, however, the damage to the wildlife was severe. For weeks after the testing marine animals including dolphins, whales, and various fish washed up with blood coming from their ears, eyes, and mouth. These are major signs of severe internal bleeding that were found to be the result of the tests. 

Within the testing area is the Point Buchon State Marine Reserve. Environmentalists suspect that these tests will wipe out the entire reserve which contains many species of  whale including the incredible rare blue whale, humpback whales, pygmy sperm whales, along with a wide variety of other marine mammals and fish. The fear is that every animal, right down to plankton will be destroyed in the reserve. Outside of the reserve, PG&E have virtually admitted that they will wipe out a ton of marine life. They did this by offering local fishing companies compensation for their impending catch losses. 

These tests are a really ill conceived plan to keep a nuclear power plant operating right on top of an active fault. The tests are not going to be able to map out the fault the way PG&E would like them to, which is evidenced by past tests in other regions. In the end, thousands, if not millions of animals could die for a moderately effective test that will do nothing but ensure that the Diablo Canyon power plant continues to operate a little longer. The tests are scheduled to begin in November and run through December. This is a HUGE threat to all forms of Oceanic wildlife living off the coast of California. Please take the time to contact Senator Sam Blakeslee and ask him to reconsider his bill because seismic testing is too destructive to proceed at: senator.blakeslee@senate.ca.gov
Senator Sam Blakeslee
4066 State Capitol
California 95814  

Visit http://www.seashepherd.org/ for more information on this new threat to the wildlife off of California or stay tuned here for updates on the situation as they become available.


Update: 10/3/2012

Time continues to tick down for the wildlife off the coast of California. As if on cue, there have been a few ominous signs appearing about the fate of the wildlife in the area.  In Uruguay, three orcas have washed up on shore, dead. The large dolphins appear to have been the victims of seismic testing. Seismic testing is taking place in an area where a future oil rig will stand and the death toll on the local wildlife is currently unknown. None the less, the fate of the three orcas is evident. Blood coming from their eyes, mouths, and blowholes. Seismic testing will continue in Uruguay for some time, but there is huge questions as to what will happen to the wildlife in the area. Chances are they will suffer the same fate that the animals of California will face if seismic testing begins there. Unlike the United States, there isn't really a large number of people who are aware as to what is going on in Uruguay. The people of the United States can simply not allow the seismic testing off of California to commence. Please contact the above Senator and help countless sea animals including whales, dolphins, seals, sharks, turtles, and countless species of fish.

Visit http://www.seashepherd.org/ for more information on this new threat to the wildlife off of California or stay tuned here for updates on the situation as they become available.

The World's Largest Humpback Whale Nursery to be Destroyed?

Humpback whales have fought back from the brink of extinction, but they still remain one of the world's most endangered species of whale. Humpbacks are amazing creatures with incredible social lives and a ton of secrets that nobody even knows about. Now, their largest nursery ground is being threatened by take a wild guess... Man.

Woodside, the largest gas and oil producer in Australia now wants to see the largest humpback whale nursery in the world turn into an offshore drilling site. In order to get the go ahead from the Australian Government Woodside undertook what is being called the largest study of humpback whales off of James Prince Point. According to the study, the majority of whales were seen more than 30KM off the coast of Australia. In fact, their study claims just 5% of the whales were seen within 8KM of the coast.

In an effort to save the nursery, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society teamed up with the people of Broome and the Australian Greens Leader, Bob Brown to do their own study. The results were quite different than what Woodside has led many to believe. Contrary to the Woodside Study, Sea Shepherd founded that over 100 whales were seen within 8KM of the coast every day. Many of the sightings were as suspected, mother whales and their calves. Some of the whales were actually swimming and nursing less than a mile away from the proposed construction site. Another study conducted by the Kimberly Community Whale Research Project further confirms the falsehood that Woodside has published. This project counted 1423 individual whales seen withing 8KM of the coast. The time of this study was from July 1st and August 7th. Of the 1423, 95 were nursing calves.

Despite both of these conclusive studies Woodside still seeks to turn the world's largest humpback nursery into another gas/oil rig that will do nothing but destroy the surrounding ecosystem. This includes this humpback nursery. Humpbacks have a lot to deal with in the wild. For one, they were hunted to near extinction from many years of overfishing. To this day they still are hunted by Japan in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Now they are dealing with another problem not of their making. For many years the humpback whales have been trying to survive in a world where people clearly do not care enough for the Oceans. We need to protect this nursery or risk sending humpback whale populations plummeting once again.


In the words of Bob Brown “Seeing the whales off James Price Point, mothers, babies, bull whales, seeing the count, going up into the thousands of these whales, the assurance that they will be ok with a mega port, mega ships and a huge factory ashore, is now clearly proven wrong.”

The Dead Cove is Coming to Life

This image looks kinda pretty doesn't it. To the majority of people in the world this is just a pretty cove in Taiji, Japan. They are pretty accurate in that though, I mean the scenery is beautiful. However this cove holds a horrific and one of the most sadistic secrets in the world. Every year, this pristine little cove is the death place of literally hundreds, if not thousands, of dolphins and other small cetaceans. How does this slaughter happen you ask? It occurs in a few simple steps.

1.) The Japanese fishing fleet finds a pod of dolphins near the cove and scares them in.
2.) The cove is netted off preventing the dolphins from escaping.
3.) The dolphins that appear to be in the best shape, along with baby dolphins that appear healthy are brought into a separate holding area.
4.) Aquarium and Dolphinariums send people to inspect the dolphins in the separate holding area. Any dolphin purchased is shipped off to its destination.
5.) Just a day or so later, the slaughter begins. Any dolphins that were not taken are killed along with the rest of the pod. Infant, juvenile, adult, it does not matter they are killed.
6.) The dolphins are processed and sold for food.



<<<WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC CONTENT AHEAD. SORRY BUT PICTURES ARE A MUST>>>














Your might be thinking ok, well at least they're killing them for food, but just how are they killing them? Originally the method used to kill the animals was a simple slit to the throat. That has since changed to what Japan considers a more humane way. That way would be driving a iron spear into the back of the neck of the dolphin. Japanese officials claim this brings almost instant death to the dolphin, but video and images of the slaughter suggests a much different story. The fisherman basically stab these animals to death, cut their throats, or just brutalize them to death. It is far, far from a instantaneous death.
        
(Fisherman "humanely killing a dolphin)      (Dolphins being loaded onto a boat)

Now you may be thinking, ok that's messed up, but Japan has to feed itself. Even the sale of dolphin meat has its own dirty secrets. First of all, much like with whale meat, Japan has stockpiles of dolphin meat from past years. The government of Japan got so desperate to get people to eat dolphin that they introduced it to schools for lunch in Taiji. This practice was short lived as the amount of mercury in the dolphins was discovered to be roughly 10 times the Japanese Health Ministry advised. Of course parents did not want their children getting sick from eating lunch at school, so dolphin meat was removed from school menus. As stockpiles of dolphin increased, more attempts to get rid of the meat were and are still being made today. One of those attempts involves what some would consider a cheap trick. Packing industries have packages dolphin meat, but labeled it as something else such as minkie whale meat that sells for a higher price. Don't let this practice fool you, it does not only happen in Japan, for example, in the United States scallops in some supermarkets on the East Coast have turned out to really be stingray parts cut to look like scallops. Still though, further proof that the dolphin meat was just not moving on its own. What that means is that, contrary to what the Japanese Government wants, the vast majority of Japanese people do not eat dolphin. So why is this allowed to happen? Why aren't the people voicing their concerns?


(Dolphin meat labeled as whale meat)

The answer to those questions are simple. It wasn't until the crew of the award winning documentary, The Cove, was released that the Japanese public were truly informed about what was happening in the cove. In other words, the slaughter was hidden from the public. The entire area around the cove becomes fenced off and heavily guarded so nobody can see the killing. While the dolphins are still alive people can come and see from a distance, but the entire area shuts down until the waters run blue again. Since The Cove was released, the consumption of dolphin has dropped even more and the people are becoming more aware of the situation and are starting to rally against it.


(Sign designed to keep protesters and the public out of the cove)

As I type this blog there are roughly 20-22 pilot whales currently trapped in the cove. As with all other animals brought in, these whales will have to wait for a day or two before being brutally slaughtered. Whales and especially dolphins are incredibly smart animals. They know when they are trapped in an are, and just like us, they do have emotions. The panic and despair that has been recorded of these animals is truly heartbreaking. The slaughter of dolphins in Taiji has no place in the world. The majority of people in Japan do not eat dolphin and with the insanely high mercury levels it contains, no one really should for their own health. If you have never seen The Cove, I strongly suggest watching it. It is a very graphic film, but the message is so clear and powerful that it really drives home the fact that something needs to be done.

Think back to the start of this blog. Remember that beautiful little cove? Here is the truth of that cove. Here lives the horror and brutality unlike anything the marine mammal world has ever known.


(The cove just after a slaughter)



(Dolphins being trapped in the cove)


(Dolphins being taken away for processing)


(Another massacre)


For more information on The Cove visit http://thecovemovie.com/