News Archives

January, 2005

Japanese dolphin slaughter continues unabated

The scene is unimaginable. Frightened, writhing dolphins and small whales trying to escape their attackers. The audible shrieks from injured and dying animals. The ocean turning from blue to blood red. And while it is incomprehensible to most of the world that such a barbaric practice is still carried out, the drive fisheries in Japan are again underway. Now more than ever, it is crucial that Japanese authorities know that the eyes of the world are upon them and that concerned citizens will not tolerate this wholesale slaughter any longer.

Given the scale of destruction, one might believe that this is a national practice. But, in reality, it is only a handful of fishermen – fewer than 40 – that undertakes the fisheries. This small group of people causes untold suffering and sullies Japan's reputation with compassionate people around the world.

In the past, thousands of dolphins were killed each year for food. Now, however, a primary motivation of the drive fisheries seems to be the hefty profit guaranteed by the dolphin captivity industry for new specimens. During the drive fisheries, the fishermen select young, unscarred dolphins to be sold to captive marine parks and swim-with-dolphin programs. Regardless of the cruelty and unsustainability of drive hunts, it is this lucrative captive industry that now fuels the need for the killing. Many Japanese fishermen have admitted that they would not continue the drive fisheries if it were not for the high prices offered by the captivity industry for wild dolphins.

During the hunts, fishermen from the Japanese village of Taiji head out to sea in groups aboard small motorcraft. Once a pod of dolphins or false killer whales is located, the fishermen use loud noises such as the boats' engines and banging on pipes to slowly herd the confused and frightened animals into a shallow bay or right up to shore. A few “lucky” dolphins are set aside for the captivity industry and the rest are stabbed, their throats cut on the spot, before being loaded onto trucks, sometimes still conscious, to be processed into meat and fertilizer.

The last thing marine parks and captive dolphin facilities want is for tourists to know that the very animals they claim to love and train to entertain us came to us as the result of such brutality and inhumanity. But despite their best efforts, their bloody secret is out. Let the captivity industry know that you will not be a supporter of the drive fisheries by refusing to purchase a ticket to watch or swim with their dolphins.