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Each year
in Japan, approximately 20,000 dolphins and small
whales are butchered horrifically in the biggest
massacre of its kind in the world. These mass
slaughters have taken place for centuries and
systematically decimated many species of small
cetacean. Closest to shore are the drive hunt
fisheries that occur from Fall through Spring in a
few Japanese fishing towns.
Fishermen in Taiji, Futo and elsewhere use boats and
manmade noise to drive pods of dolphins into shallow
bays. A net is then thrown across the bay to trap
them. The dolphins are herded close to the shore as
fishermen tighten the net. The confinement makes the
dolphins panic and thrash around in terror as they
try to escape.
After
being driven to the shore and measured, a few
dolphins from each pod are chosen for the aquarium
industry by trainers. The dolphins are sold for tens
of thousands of dollars each. The growing demand
for live dolphins by the captive marine park
industry is providing financial incentive that
supports and encourages these brutal hunts.
Other
dolphins may be wounded and drown in a frantic chaos
as they try to escape. Mothers try to protect their
dying young. Thousands are butchered with knives
and spears, and the sea turns red with the animals’
blood. Most die after writhing in agony for many
minutes.
Some
of the animals who are killed are also eaten, even
though their meat is highly contaminated from
pollutants such as mercury. Many Japanese
citizens are unaware of the danger or the extent of
the cruelty that takes place on their shores as the
media on this issue within Japan is stringently
controlled. The demand for dolphin meat has been
dwindling so the Japanese government has started
serving the toxic meat to school children in a
desperate attempt to foster an appetite for dolphin
meat despite the threat to the children’s health.
This has continued over the objections from Taiji
City Councilmen to stop.
For the
fourth year in a row, thousands of groups and
citizens around the world are taking collective
action by participating in the annual International
Day of Protest Against the Dolphin Slaughter. We
plan to do this every year until the annual dolphin
slaughters end. Peaceful rallies outside Japanese
embassies and consulates take place on Wednesday,
September 3, 2008 around the world.
To learn more about
the Japanese drive hunts, go to
www.savejapandolphins.org. To find out
about rallies in other cities, go to
www.awionline.org/oceans/whaling/Abolish_the_Dolphin_Slaughter.htm. |
