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2000 Dolphins Will Soon Be Slaughtered In This 'Blood Bay' And Nobody Is Talking About It

By
Andrea A.

Taiji is a small village on the South-East coast of Japan with a few thousand inhabitants.The world knows about this village for a tragic reason - it has become known for the massacre of its dolphins.Last week, on September 1st, the boats left the port in search of schools of dolphins.The dolphins were hoarded into the bay where they were trapped. Tangled in nets with no chance of escape or survival, the dolphins were massacred.

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Source : @SeaShepherd

Barbaric execution methods

They leave the port at the crack of dawn in search of dolphins and other sea mammals, such as porpoises and small whales. The boats are equipped with metal tubes and the trawlersknow their migration routes and exactly where to find them.As soon as theyspot a school of dolphins, the trawlers surround it and bang the metal tubes together, making so much noise that they interfere with the mammals' underwater radars. They then swim towards the sides of the nets instead of the open sea and are subsequently trapped in a prison where the majority of them will be slaughtered.

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Source : @SeaShepherd

They kill without discrimination; males, females, babies and old animals are all heaped together in the nets. For a long time, the trawlers used a tried and proved method - harpooning. The water in the bay would gradually turn blood red and it would stay that way for many days.

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Source : @Dauphin Libre

The release of the 2009 documentary The Cove, in which Ric O'Barry, dolphin trainer and conservation activist, appears, put some pressure on the Japanese fishermen. They decided to take on a new method of slaughter: less bloody, but equally cruel.

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Source : @TheDodo

Sea Shepherd talks about the new killing process:

More recently, in an effort to reduce the amount of blood spilled into the water and into the sight of the world, the hunters use a killing technique known as “pithing.” A metal rod is hammered into the spinal cord of the dolphins, causing paralysis.

The still-alive animal is hoisted onto the boat, where he is wiped out and then chopped up.

However, not all of them die on the boats. Ric O'Barry said:

Last year, during the first drive of the season, a Risso’s dolphin attempted escape from the hunters. He landed at my feet, dying. Dolphin Project Cove Monitors caught the tragedy on live stream. Moments like these underscore the extreme cruelty of the hunts. We need to keep showing up and sharing these images with the world. And we can’t do it without you. Please consider donating what you can. Together, we will end it. 

 
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Source : @Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project

Every year, around 2000 dolphins and whales are killed . Even if some of the animals manage to escape the nets and the cove prison, they end up right back there a few weeks or months later - an unenviable destiny.

Destination: captivity

The Japan Fishers Association, the powerful syndicate responsible for the massacre in Taiji, claims to support the consumption of dolphin meat in Japan. This meat can be found in supermarkets, cafeterias and even in dog pellets - sometimes without the consumers even being aware of what they're eating.

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Source : @Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project

Especially distressing as only a tiny minority of Japanese consume dolphin meat on a regular basis as it can have negative effects on one's health. In fact, in a report by the World Health Organisationpublished in August 2008, they advise against eating dolphin meat as it is full of mercury. Even the Japanese Health Minister himself discourages children and pregnant women from eating dolphin meat.

 

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Source : @Dauphin Libre

Therefore the pretext that the dolphins are killed for consumption is laughable and only serves to cover up the true stakes: the extravagant pricespaid for dolphins in animal parks. A dead dolphin is worth $500. A live one... More than $30 000.

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Source : @Sasha Abdolmajid

Some dolphins are also sent to various aquariums around the world, namely China. The WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) has denouncedChinese aquariums for their role in the cruel detention of dolphins in Taiji.

 Japan, the biggest hunter of whales and dolphins

The dolphins in Taiji aren't the only victims of Japan's policy on oceans and seas.Whale hunting, practiced in Japanese research programs, is often criticised. The process started in 1984 in the Antarctic and in 1987 in the Pacific. The program disputes that it serves to further the study of whales in the area, their lifestyles and their biological features.

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Source : @Sea Shepherd

In reality, whales are hunted for their skin - it is sold for elevated prices in Japanese markets for scientific reasons. This commerce cause Australia to press charges against Japan in July 2010, saying that the program was merely a disguise for the money-making scheme.Japanese whale-hunters are often taken in by Sea Shepherd vessels, who try to stop the hunting and risk their lives in the process due to the extremely dangerous actions of the hunters.

A highly criticised practice

The inhabitants of Taiji hold tight to ancestral tradition. Whale- and dolphin-hunting has existed for centuries in this region and has been documented in a historical manner. But hunting by trapping animals in large groups in a closed off area, such as with the dolphins in Taiji, is a new phenomenon. It is a phenomenon that will not cease as long as such large sums of money are involved.There are more and more conflicting voices denouncing this massacre.Every year, Ric O'Barry (who has in the past been arrested and detainedfor 19 days in Japan) goes back to the cove to inform and alert the public alongside Sea Shepherd and their group the Cove Guardians. They do this despite the presence of the Japanese authorities who prevent anyone from entering Taiji.

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Source : @Sea Shepherd

There are various protests organised across the world every year under the common name of Japan Dolphin Day, as well as protests in front of Japanese embassies.You, too, can support Ric O'Barry's organisation and projects on their website, as well as read advice to inform those around you and male a difference.But to identify the true culprit the source has to be acknowledged. The entertainment industry is responsible for these huge massacres. As long as waterparksstill exist and as long as people still pay to enter, Taiji's cove will be covered in corpses year after year.