Revealing the Truth to the World:
Keeping the Pressure on to Stop the Slaughter
The only way to stop the dolphin slaughter is to keep monitoring, advocating, filming, and bringing attention to it.
One of the main reasons that the killing continues is that very few people — in Japan and around the world — even know it is happening.
When the drive is over each day, the bodies of the dolphins are hauled away to the slaughterhouse for processing. Our team tries to photograph the butchering in order to get information out to the Japanese people, but we are constantly blocked by the Taiji dolphin killers.
The fishermen don’t want the public to know about their dirty, little secret, so they spend a lot of time hiding their activities. They know that if Japan and the world learn the truth about this barbaric practice, world opinion will immediately put it to an end.
The fishermen in Taiji told us not to take any photographs. They said that if our photos and video footage get out to the rest of the world, it would pressure the authorities in Tokyo to deny them permits for the annual dolphin slaughter.
We need to continue to return to Taiji to document the dolphin massacres and give the photos and video footage away to the media, free of charge. We will continue to encourage journalists to return to Japan with us. Exposing these crimes against nature to the world is crucial.
One goal of our petition is to initiate legislation that would be a deterrent for this type of activity by foreign countries.
Also, we are calling for a worldwide boycott of all of Japan's products including vehicles, toys, and electronics. We are calling for the boycott to continue until Tokyo stops issuing permits to the dolphin fishermen in Taiji.
We need your help to get the word out quickly.
Click Here to go to the Petition Page.
About the Campaign
Japan Issues Arrest Warrant For Hayden Panettiere
It has been reported that Japanese police have issued an arrest warrant for Heroes star Hayden Panettiere.
The arrest warrant was issued for "obstruction of commerce" after Panettiere participated in a dolphin hunt protest last month.
"I learned that they have an arrest warrant out for me in Japan," Panettiere confirmed to E! News.
"We just found out."
Panettiere, 18, had attempted to block a pod of dolphins from being led into a nearby cove with other activists - including Australian actor Isabel Lucas - in Taiji on October 29.
Hayden Panettiere's involvement in exposing the thousands of dolphins killed each year at the notorious killing cove in Taiji, Japan has sparked our online petition that has a goal of delivering 2,000,000 signatures to the Japanese Embassy in the United States, Congress, the United Nations, among other high profile government and environmental organizations.
An estimated 25,000 dolphins and porpoises each year are slaughtered by Japanese fishermen, either harvested for their meat in annual drives or captured for sale to marine and captive swim parks.
One goal of our petition is to initiate legislation that would be a deterrent for this type of activity by foreign countries.
Also, we are calling for a worldwide boycott of all of Japan's products including vehicles, toys, and electronics. We are calling for the boycott to continue until Tokyo stops issuing permits to the dolphin fishermen in Taiji.
Click Here to go to the Petition Page.
Take Action!
Trafficking in live dolphins is on the upsurge worldwide, as dolphins are captured from the wild and put in popular "swim-with-dolphins" tanks in hotels and in aquariums. But many of these dolphins are taken in horrific drive fisheries (in such places as Taiji, Japan, and the Solomon Islands), where the balance of the dolphin pod is driven ashore and butchered for the meat trade. Only a few of the choice "show dolphins" are spared, but these dolphins will bring the dolphin hunters thousands of dollars more than the butchered dolphin meat, helping to subsidize the inhumane drive hunts. Furthermore, dolphins and other cetaceans often die early in captivity due to the stress of capture and the failure of small tanks to meet the biological and psychological needs of these intelligent animals. And many of the local dolphin populations are depleted by the captures, resulting in local decline and even extinction of dolphin populations. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is an international treaty protecting dolphins and other wildlife from extinction due to over-exploitation and international trade. It is time to protect local dolphin populations and stop the drive fisheries that feed the "swim-with-dolphins" tourist trade.
Send an e-mail to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to help halt the trafficking of live dolphins! Simply Cut & Paste the following letter into the email:
I am deeply concerned about the trafficking in live wild dolphins for "swim-with-dolphins" tourist shows and for-profit aquariums. Many of these dolphins, such as in Japan and in the Solomon Islands, are caught in cruel drive fisheries. The sale of a few live dolphins subsidizes the slaughter of hundreds more. Even those that survive the slaughter often die in captivity. I urge you to do all you can to help stop the Solomon Islands and Japan from continued slaughter and trafficking in these intelligent, vulnerable marine mammals. And please make sure that the governments of the Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates, Panama, and other potential importers understand that dolphin trafficking should end.
Thank you.
Click Here to send the email.
Additional Information
Contact:
Mark J. Palmer
mpalmer@cal.net
Associate Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Wildlife Alive Subproject
Earth Island Institute
300 Broadway, Suite 28
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 788-3666 x139 (SF Office)
(530) 758-6022 (Davis Office)
(415) 788-7324 (fax)
Click Here to go to the Petition Page.
© 2008, Saving Dolphins
Fisherman Defend Japan Dolphin Cull
Japanese fishermen have defended their right to hunt and kill thousands of dolphins as their annual six-month killing season begins.
They say worldwide condemnation is an attack on their culture. In a small cove hidden from view from the twisting coast road the sea lapped red with their blood. The 40 dolphins that had been driven from their migrating route 10 miles out to sea and corralled in the tiny bay were gone. They'd been speared and bludgeoned to death hours earlier, their bodies towed back to Taijie port where they were cut into pieces. The Japanese fisherman toiled behind tarpaulin and hid their work from our cameras. They are sensitive to any intrusion into their annual dolphin hunt and unleashed their fury on the dozen Save The Japan Dolphin campaigners who'd gathered at the shore to protest against this latest slaughter. Shouting verbal abuse, they threatened and intimidated the activists. What came next took them completely by surprise. Half a dozen surfers - among them actress Hayden Panatierre - sprinted down the shingle beach and paddled out on their boards through the bloody water to the last remaining pod of dolphins trapped behind nets awaiting slaughter. They were intercepted by Japanese fishermen in a small boat, who used the propeller of the vessel to prevent the surfers reaching the dolphins. Several of the surfers were struck by a boat hook in an ugly and potentially life-threatening confrontation.
Every year more than 2,000 dolphins are killed at Taijai among the 23,000 mammals slaughtered in a hunt that lasts six months. The dolphins are intercepted along the migration route and driven into a cove by fishermen banging metal rods to frighten and confuse them. Fear is said to affect the quality and taste of the meat - so they are left hanging up by the neck overnight before being butchered the next morning. Ric O'Barry, a former US Navy SEAL, now heads Save The Japan Dolphins. He's been protesting against the hunt for the past five years. "It's hard to believe that this is taking place in this time and age. It's so brutal and cruel, you wonder why the world is not doing something," he said. Many Japanese fishermen believe dolphins should be treated like any other fish. The tradition of the hunt goes back several centuries and the worldwide condemnation of the killings is seen by many in Japan as an attack on their culture.
Click Here to go to the Petition Page.
Negative Feedback By Many People Regarding Dolphin Slaughter
We have been amazed at how many people have responded to this in such an uninformed, ignorant manner. It seems that many people do not even bother to watch the video, and assume that the issue is simply whether it is ok for some cultures to eat dolphin meat. But that is not the issue here. This is a sample response to one of my postings to sign our petition:
______________
Now let me throw a monkeywrench into this topic.
We Americans find it barbaric to slaughter dolphins... even though the Japanese people eat them regularly as part of their diet.
Would we, Americans that is, consider stopping our destruction of cattle if the people of India, who view cows as sacred, petitioned us to do so?
This is a cultural thing that has wider ranging effects than just our own viewpoint.
_______________
And here was my response:
Thanks for your monkey wrench! Please watch the following video and then come back and correct yourself. What you are talking about has nothing to do with what we are dealing with:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,31200-1291065,00.html
Dolphins have been proven to be the second most intelligent creatures on earth besides humans. But after embarking on this campaign, we have realized that dolphins are actually more intelligent that many humans also! Nothing personal here, but you would not believe how many negative hateful comments we have received in the many forums and places we have promoted this petition. Most people don't watch the video, and don't even realize what is being debated here. Thanks again for your personal thoughts, after all we are all entitled to our opinions.
Sincerely,
Alan Baltes
PS One last thing, do we severely torture cows when kill them for market? Like I said, go watch the video. Then maybe you will see how heartless, cowardly, cruel, and evil this event is. THAT is the issue here, NOT whether it is ok to eat dolphin meat.
Click Here to go to the Petition Page.
Hayden Panettiere's Involvement In Dolphin Slaughter Sparks Petition
Hayden Panettiere's involvement in exposing the thousands of dolphins killed each year at the notorious killing cove in Taiji Japan has sparked our online petition that has a goal of delivering 2,000,000 signatures to the Japanese Embassy in the US, the United States Congress, the United Nations, among other high profile government and environmental organizations. Also to the grocery store chain in Japan that is selling the dolphin meat.
An estimated 25,000 dolphins and porpoises each year are slaughtered by Japanese fishermen, either harvested for their meat in annual drives or captured for sale to marine and captive swim parks.
Please view the following video before continuing to the petition:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,31200-1291065,00.html
Click Here to go to the Petition Page.
