Stop Japan From Killing Week: Motivation
Photo of the cove. Courtesy of Sea Sheperd.
Here is how Japanese fishermen kill dolphins:
1. Dolphins are sensitive to sound. Many fishing boats get together and bang on pipes that are partially submerged. This causes the dolphins to herd together. When the dolphins are corralled between the boats and the land, the fisherman drop nets that trap the dolphins. They get the dolphins closer and closer to shore.
2. Some of the captured dolphins are selected to sell to dolphinariums. These animals bring the fishermen a LOT of money—often more then $100,000 per animal. These are the dolphins that are imprisoned for the purpose of letting humans touch and swim with them. Dolphins don’t smile, so if you think they are happy being trapped, you’re wrong. (Many countries are banning this practice.)
3. The dolphins that are not sold—which are most of them—are slaughtered. The movie makers had to go undercover to get this footage because the slaughtering cove is hidden from public view. Basically the water turns from blue to red with all the blood spilled. The dolphins thrash wildly trying to escape and as they go through the last throes of death.
4. The meat is often labeled and sold as whale meat . That’s because the Japanese will pay more for whale meat than for dolphin meat. (Yup, the Japanese eat whale meat and refuse to give it up. That’s another story.) It’s also sold as pet food, but likely not labeled as such.
See How They Kill.
What can you do?
Help get the word out:
Send the Official Cove Postcard to your friends and family.
Sign this letter.
February 9th, 2010 at 6:03 am
[...] incredibly high in mercury—toxic levels high. Knowing this, the fishermen shown in The Cove (see yesterday’s post) convinced the local school to serve dolphin for the school lunches. The kids have to eat the [...]
February 9th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
What is wrong with the Japanese that they would do this? How many other societies on this planet think it is OK to slaughter what are clearly highly intelligent and social animals as a food source? The fact that there is no outrage in Japan over this practice shows a real moral deficit. Our domesticated food sources need to be treated with care and respect, but there is no excuse for this terrible imprisonment and slaughter of what are clearly some of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Please boycott Japanese products and restaurants until they cease this despicable practice.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Thanks Wanderer. The Cove movie says that a lot of the Japanese people in big cities like Tokyo don’t have any idea of what’s going on. Let’s hope that getting some publicity on this issue will inform the Japanese public. I think they will help protest what’s going on in the smaller towns.
February 10th, 2010 at 6:05 am
[...] prying eyes from see the killing cove in Japan. Photo courtesy of The Cove.The Cove documentary (see Stop Japan From Killing: Motivation) has one interview in it where an official claims that dolphins are slaughtered humanely, meaning [...]
February 11th, 2010 at 6:03 am
[...] of the incentives for the Japanese slaughter of dolphins is that some of the dolphins they catch can be sold for as much as $100,000 to “Swim With [...]