The Brutality at the Cove is not Limited to Dolphins...

Disturbing and shocking images have come out from Taiji Japan of a pod of pilot whales being slaughtered in the cove. The images are beyond heartbreaking and truly envelop what goes on in Japan's worst kept secret. From September 10th, 2013- September 12th, 2013 Japanese fisherman in Taiji, Japan held a pod of 18 pilot whales in the cove and ultimately slaughtered them. Japan, using a loophole in the moratorium that is in place against commercial whaling, claims to kill whales for scientific research which is why these whales were brought in for slaughter as opposed to being brought in to be sold to marine parks like the dolphins. So let's take a look at this horrific slaughter. All photo credit goes to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society who has men and women on the ground keeping track of what is going on at the cove. They are the Cove Guardians.


In this picture, the killing boats are seen intimidating a pod of pilot whales. Using loud noises, including banging lead pipes underwater, the boats drive the whales towards the cove.


In the cove, the pilot whales are frightened until the are forced close enough to shore.


The large whales get caught in the nets and are dragged into the shallow waters.


Some of the whales that didn't get caught in the nets were literally tied by their tails and dragged to shore.


One whale managed to escape the cove, but beached itself on a public beach nearby and was dragged back.


Meanwhile the remaining whales all clung together in a desperate attempt at survival.


After bearing witness to the slaughter of it's family, this whale began to swim upside down at a very slow pace. Being forced to swim in the blood of it's family. It simply couldn't handle what was going on.


Baby and young whales who were too small to meet any kind of quota swam near their dying mothers until the were dragged away.


Some of the whales thrashed against rocks in a desperate attempt at escaping their deaths.

These two photos are all that need to be shown to grasp the magnitude of what took place. Following the killing, the baby whales were chased out of the cove by the same techniques that the Japanese used to force them in. These whales were lucky to avoid the slaughter, but at such a young age, chances are that they will not survive the loss of their mothers. 

It's bad enough that the Japanese slaughter dolphins in the cove, but to continue to defy international law is a travesty in itself. Of course nobody is going to question the Japanese on this since it took place in their waters. As sad as it is that those whales were slaughtered, it is even more sad to think about those babies who were released. Whales have an incredible memory, and even if these babies do survive, they will be haunted by their time in the cove. These animals are highly reliant on their mothers like a certain other species of animal I can think of, and much like that other animal, their chances of survival without their mothers is naturally cut down.