As I type this blog I have my screen split in half. On one half of my screen is this blog. The other is a much more heartbreaking sight. The other half is the live stream that the Cove Guardians are currently airing from Taiji, Japan. http://livestream.seashepherd.org/ What I am watching right now is just horrific, heartbreaking, and some of the most inhumane things that man can do to a creature of mass intelligence. To give you all a brief idea of what my eyes are currently seeing... What I see right now is a pod, no a family of Risso's dolphins netted in the cove. This family is going to be 100% slaughtered. Not a single one of these dolphins are going to be spared. Knowing that these animals are literally swimming together for a final time is beyond heartbreaking. With that being said though, I do encourage you to watch this stream, or visit the livestream archives that can be found towards the bottom of the livestream page.
Now I'm watching skiffs literally plow through the family in an attempt to scare them under the killing tarps. They're using the boats motors to try and scare the dolphins. They are showing no regard at all for the dolphins at this point. They could very well be striking the dolphins with the boats. It's almost too much to bear. The killers are all yelling at each other and the dolphins as they continue to try and scare them into the killing area. One dolphin has managed to get free of one net, but is now blocked by another. Some of you might be thinking "why don't the dolphins fight back?". Well the answer is simple... Dolphins are not violent creatures. They just simply will not fight back. I can't sit here and describe any more of what I am seeing. I literally feel sick over it. So with that being said, I am going to move onto the real point of the blog.
As you can clearly see, the title of this blog is misleading. Or is it? We are all very aware that the slaughter of dolphins is happening as I type this blog. We also know by now that Japan claims that this slaughter is about tradition. Well, this short blog is to show that..... (Sorry killers now laughing at the struggling dolphins and had to take a moment to breathe) the killing of these animals are by no means traditional standards. Let's take a trip back in time shall we. It could be Japan, it could be the United States, some country in Europe, wherever whaling occurred. Let's set the scene. Weapons used to kill the whale was a spear or a harpoon. In some cases one whale or a couple of dolphins would be killed to feed a family for a decent period of time. The means of catching a dolphin or whale back then involved slow moving wooden ships, or hoping that a whale or dolphin came close enough to shore. Basically, for those people, it was kill a couple whales for various reasons (none of which were money really) and that was it. That was the drive. Let's fast forward to 2013...
The weapons have changed. Spears are still used, but so are harpoons with exploding tips. The spears are supposed to be humane and instantly kill the animal. They do not, and the way in which they are killed is far less respectful than it would have been in the days of old. The next difference is the hunts. No more is it ships just hoping to find them. Now it's radar to track them, high speed boats to chase them, and propellers to cut them. Now whaling and dolphin slaughters are strictly for profit. There is no masking this fact. For example. If there was no captive dolphin trade, the dolphins of Taiji would be able to swim freely. Now though, they are netted off and stabbed to death or sold for biiiiig money. Dolphin meat does not sell for much so it really is the act of bringing these animals into captivity that brings in the big bucks. (The slaughter has started..... I can't watch this anymore right now... It's just way too much). The fact is the "tradition" of whaling died the moment technology began to grow. There is no pride or tradition in using all of man's resources to drive defenseless beings into a cove, preventing their escape and stabbing them all over the place.
Interesting enough....... These marine parks who claim to not be present when the dolphins are killed are also lying as I literally just watched a dolphin get dragged into captivity and not even a moment later a skiff goes by with dead dolphins... The killing needs to stop. There is NO tradition. The majority of people in Japan do not even know about the killings let alone think it's tradition. There is no reason in the world that in the year 2013 that I just witnessed a family of Risso's dolphins being killed. Please, I implore all of you to visit the Cove Guardians anywhere. Facebook, Seashepherd.org, Twitter, wherever. Learn the truth about Taiji and join the fight to save these magnificent creatures
