Save Taiji Dolphins

The Save Taiji Dolphins Campaign run by One Voice, Earth Island Institute and Elsa Nature Conservancy, highlights the cruel annual dolphin slaughter that takes place in Taiji, Japan. From Save Taiji Dolphins Weblog:

Many festivities took place in Taiji today. The fishermen’s fleet of decorated dolphin drive boats were lined up in the harbor. The whaling boat, too, was part of the celebration, decorated with bamboo greenery and flags. It was an obscene sight: Boats of death and destruction decorated with cheerful colors. It’s like an episode of The X Files.

Local dolphin hunters took turns having their picture taken in front of the harpoon. More than two hundred people had showed up to take part in all the singing, dancing and drumming. Dolphin meat that had been cooking in a large pot over a fire for two days was served.

All the usual dolphin hunters and the local fishermen were there. They seemed to be very upset that we had attended their party with our ever-present cameras.

We need to be here with our cameras during the entire dolphin killing season. We are having an effect on their operation by bearing witness to and documenting everything that takes place in Taiji.

Only if we expose the slaughter to the world will the Japanese Fisheries Agency be pressured into shutting it down.

Japanese fishermen kill the largest number of dolphins anywhere in the world. And in Taiji, the dolphin massacres went largely unnoticed. In the 2003-2004 hunting season alone, 1165 dolphins dolphins were killed. How on earth can such disgusting acts still be practiced today? The Japanese government must act immediately to stop these massacres!