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?
