Derrick Broze
January 30, 2015
(ANTIMEDIA) Nearly six years after the documentary “The Cove” was released the slaughter of thousands of dolphins continues in Taiji, Japan. The film won an American Academy award for Best Documentary as well as 24 other film awards internationally.
Groups like the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and activist Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project continue to document the deaths. Barry was featured heavily in The Cove. The Sea Shepherd’s are known for their controversial activism of direct action, including blocking whaling boats. The Shepherds also offer a livestream of their activities.
January 2015 marks the one year anniversary of one of the most disturbing capture and kills in recent memory. It began on January 17, 2014 when hunters force five separate pods of bottlenose dolphins into the cove. This is known as a “superpod”. The superpod included a rare albino calf that is worth $500,000, according to some estimates. The calf, named “Shoujo” by Sea Shepherd founder, Captain Paul Watson, was the first one to be separated from family.
Using a heavily coordinated social media campaign and support from celebrities like Yoko Ono, the Sea Shepherd’s were able to capture the worlds attention. Live videos of the capture and kill went out to hundreds of thousands around the world. Just days later the event would come to a close. On January 21, 2014 53 dolphins had been captured, an estimated 41 were killed, and another 130-140 were driven back to sea after suffering abuse at the hands of the fishermen.
The hunting season in Taiji runs from September to April. This past September was no different. The group Whale and Dolphin Conservation estimates that more than 18,000 dolphins from seven different species have been killed or taken into captivity from Taiji since 2000.
Barry and former dolphin hunter Izumi Ishii presented photos of the hunts to the U.S. Embassy in Futo, Japan. Ishii has become a cult hero among the activists for his apparent change of heart from hunter to activist against the hunt.
Although the criticism has grown this has not stopped the fishermen who say they are being unfairly attacked for a practice they have used since the 17th century. Dolphin meat is considered by some to be a local delicacy and the meat is sold across Japan. Still, critics say not only are there growing concerns over mercury levels in dolphin meat, but the dolphins are increasingly being captured for marine parks and aquariums.
The group Whale and Dolphin Conservation tracks numbers of dolphins sold into captivity. According to WDC, 56 live dolphins were sold annually between 2000 and 2005. The numbers doubles to 137 between 2006 and 2012. Recent numbers suggest 247 dolphins sold into captivity for display at marine parks.
Rick O’Barry suggests that documentation points to the Taiji Whale Museum as the main trainer and broker of the deals to sell dolphins from the Taiji hunt internationally. He says the dolphins are sold for as much as $150,000. The WDC estimates the cost to be between $40,000 to $80,000.
The DoDo reported on the changing economics behind the dolphin hunts:
“Now, via a Japanese animal welfare advocate who tracks the dolphin trade, we have some hard numbers. According to official trade figures, in 2013 Japan exported 78 dolphins to five different countries. And the sales price the Taiji Whale Museum got per dolphin was in the range of $41,600-$47,746 (at the current yen/dollar exchange rate) for a trained dolphin, with Chinese buyers getting the best deal (Russian buyers might want to revisit their negotiating strategy). The twenty untrained dolphins that went to Ukraine brought in $10,134 each, less than a quarter of the price of a trained dolphin. Sales of dolphins to Japanese aquariums net slightly less profit, with trained dolphins going for an estimated $20,000-$30,000 each, according to sources in Japan.
According to Ceta-Base and Whale and Dolphin Conservation, 247 Taiji dolphins were sold for display in aquariums over the course of the 2012-2013 drive season. Crunching the numbers, that is an estimated $2 million in revenue for the Taiji Fishery Union, plus whatever they brought in through dead dolphin meat sales. And it means a very rough estimate of $7 million-plus in revenues for Taiji’s dolphin brokers.”
Taking Action
The SeaSheperds, the Dolphin Project, WDC, and other animal rights groups are calling on supporters to put pressure on Japanese authorities. The groups are encouraging activists to call and write authorities in Taiji, Japanese Embassies abroad, the U.S. Embassy to Japan, the U.S. and Japanese Ambassadors to the UN and the U.S. Senate members of the Committee on Foreign Relations. That information can be found in one easy location.
There are also efforts to boycott products from Japan, as well as the Olympics in 2020, which Japan will host.
The defenders of the dolphins are not alone in their fight, however. The hacktivist group OpKillingBay, a part of the Anonymous collective, is organizing a global action beginning Friday January 30th. The Op (short for operation) will include a global “tweetstorm” of tweets calling attention to the situation in Taiji. Another group will launch “OpSeaWorld”, an offshoot of OpKillingBay that is “directly targeting SeaWorld for starting, provoking, and dealing with aquariums that do business with Taiji.” The groups have even made a simple to use page for supporters looking for tweet inspiration.
SeaWorld has seen it’s own share of backlash following the release of the film “Blackfish”. Despite the company stating they are no longer involved or supporting the efforts in Taiji accusations continue. Ceta-Base, which “serves as an informational resource and database of captive held cetaceans around the world”, maintains a list they say shows which dolphins have been captured and found their way to SeaWorld (scroll to the bottom).
Just days ago animal rights activists were handed a victory when Ontario, Canada announced that it would ban the sale and capture of Orca whales, dolphins, belugas, and walruses.
Fishermen in Taiji continue to practice the hunts that they say are important to their culture and way of life. New criticism actually alleges that the dolphin hunts are in violation of Japan’s own laws. In an effort to help the fishermen move towards more sustainable sources of income, the group Save Japan Dolphins offers several suggestions to help the community transition.
However, these suggestions might not be enough to persuade a