Stressed, bloody dolphins await slaughter in Japan's Taiji Cove

[SolarStorm]

Not sure where this should be posted, Im not even sure of reaction other than shock. We saw a pod of dolphins on our last dive, just cant imagine this.

Group: Stressed, bloody dolphins await slaughter in Japan's Taiji Cove - CNN.com

I understand the need for food, but I dont think this is in the spirit of the 'traditional hunt'

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It has nothing to do with food. That's just a cover to justify some outdated tradition. Not to mention the so-called "marine parks" that buy the ones that are not nicked up. Savages and barbarians is all they are.

 

[danvolker]

The correct response would be to open up with machine guns and kill the fisherman doing this....The only hard part, would be how to do this without being caught and tried for the homicide( even though clearly justifiable)...In that part of the world, there is NO Justice, so it would be more moral to kill the fisherman, and do whatever possible to elude capture.

I would start my own "war" over this, if I saw it.

 

[divin'dog]

I saw one video a long time ago... Honestly, I couldn't bear to watch another one. You could feel their pain and agony as they were dragged, clubbed, sliced and slaughtered with no mercy. Pups were separated and killed from mothers. Dolphins were crying and screaming. It is one of the most brutal and barbaric things I've ever seen. Anyone participating in those hunts has no conscience or decency or feelings. Unfortunately they are killed because they compete with the fishermen for the same catch. These vids have been out for quite a while and the hunt still goes on. Too bad the dolphins couldn't round up all the hunters and their families into a bait ball out at sea so they would know how it feels...

---------- Post added January 21st, 2014 at 08:52 PM ----------

Just read this from: [h=1]Japanese fishermen kill at least 30 dolphins in controversial Taiji cove hunt [/h]"The annual hunt has long been a source of controversy and was the topic of "The Cove", an Oscar-winning documentary that brought Taiji into the international spotlight.

Activists say that out of this year's group more than 50 dolphins were driven away to be sold to aquariums. "


Who the hell is buying those dolphins being sold to aquariums?!! Those people should be hunted down and their dolphin aquarium shut down!!!

 

[shoredivr]

The argument that they are food is ridiculous...large marine mammals are so full of mercury and heavy metals they qualify as toxic waste. It is as Jim says, greed to sell some dolphins to aquariums. There are lots of links to who buys dolphins for aquariums, starting with SeaWorld, MarineLand and other places where there is dolphin and orca "entertainment". There is nothing traditional about hunting with motorized boats, plastic tarpaulins or GPS/fish finders.

 

[drbill]

Although many cultures (including ours here in the States) have decimated populations of animals for sport, food, oil, etc. (bison, whales, seals and sea lions come to mind immediately along with a host of other species), I draw the line at killing sentient and highly social animals. There is little doubt in my mind as a marine biologist that whales and dolphins possess intelligence and have established social structures that make killing them especially heinous IMHO. I have no problem killing "lesser" animals like fish and invertebrates for food (but not for sport). We belong to the Mutual Eating Society and we all kill to eat whether it is plant or animal life.

 

[danvolker]

If I had to evaluate which lives were of higher value-- who had the most RIGHT to live--Who do we have the greatest DUTY to protect....the fisherman or the Dolphins...I believe I would have to say I would find the dolphins more deserving...more civilized, more intelligent, less destructive to the environment around them...of greater social value to mankind by the contributions they are capable of making...

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

---------- Post added January 30th, 2014 at 11:59 AM ----------

And here we are, in a comparable moment of History, with the "way of the world...and of America at large in the late 1930's"....where the Nazi's were rounding up Jews and killing them, and using cultural and species justifications for the mass murders....and here in America, MOST of the public remained APATHETIC to the mass murders, as it did not directly effect the American public....and it was easier for them to decide it was NOT their responsibility.....

And here is mass murder, all over again, placed directly in front of over 200,000 divers....who will most certainly decide this is NOT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.... Yes, it is a proud moment to be a diver and an American. :-(

 

[divin'dog]

... I draw the line at killing sentient and highly social animals. There is little doubt in my mind as a marine biologist that whales and dolphins possess intelligence and have established social structures that make killing them especially heinous IMHO.

The video that I saw years ago still haunts me. That's how barbaric the killing was. That is why there are "curtains" to try to prevent video recording of the event. No matter whether it is a plant or animal, we all have to eat something that was once alive, but we don't have to kill it in a brutally torturous and barbaric way. The dolphins were dragged by their tails by fork lifts over rough surfaces, then hacked up still alive. Some remained alive for quite some time. Others were lined up like logs while still alive in the sun. Baby dolphins were pulled away from screaming mothers, others were speared indiscriminately. The bay turns COMPLETELY bloody red from the killing. The lack of any feeling and conscience from the hunters is astounding.

 

[danvolker]

Could 280 divers ( Scubaboard viewers of this thread so far) that were not TOTALLY Self-involved and Apathetic to Mass Murders at a Holocaust type level---actually become RESPONSIBLE and MORAL to the point that they would ATTEMPT to bring this issue of the "Dolphin Holocaust" , at the hands of great evil....to become in issue known well to over 200,000 scubaboard divers--a group so far oblivious to the murder and unchecked evil...

...And make no mistake...this is a TRUE EVIL....

If 280 divers could lose their self indulgence, and actively spread the knowledge of this Holocaust, to 200,000 divers...and to their friends and families.....Maybe this could form a critical threshold for Facebook and other forms of Social Media to spread to 20 Million people --and from here reach a threshold where America decides that a Great Evil needs to be addressed....


...And where hopefully Japan's masses will gain the exposure to this mass murder and the inherent evil... With such a level of outrage that the mass murder ought to engender, we might hope that REAL CHANGE would be driven from the highest levels of Government and Military.

 

[shoredivr]

Dan, I've written about ten individual emails to the links on the Sea Shepherd's website - different Japanese embassies - and signed numerous petitions. It seems like different European countries are passing resolutions against the Japanese govt, for what ever that is worth - but the firestorm on social media is giving me hope that there is more than apathy.

People may disagree with SS past tactics, but their live feed from the Cove Guardians is getting a lot of attention. I also like the list of contacts all in one place.

---------- Post added January 31st, 2014 at 01:21 AM ----------

What I do find sad is the lack of participation on this website, for sure. Is the warning "no boycott threads" at the top of one Forum actually preventing any other response than this thread *and some in Jim Lapenta's thread?

i have never been to SeaWorld, for example, and will never go now to dolphin displays.

***Ahem, cough, cough, Attention SBers, how many of you are aware of the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji cove? How many of you are not ok with that? How man of you have dived with dolphins? How many of you will get off your duffs and make some kind of objection to the Japanese government? ***