Taiji Dolphin Slaughter Begins Again
By Mark J. Palmer
On September 1st , 2022, in Taiji, Japan, dolphin hunters once again began the six-month-long season to chase, net, and capture dolphins for captivity. They will also slaughter the pod mates and family members of those dolphins chosen for the lucrative dolphin trade and life imprisonment. The slaughtered dolphins are “less desirable” for captivity than those chosen for a lifetime in small tanks.
The Taiji dolphin hunts, brought to the world’s notice by the documentary The Cove by Louie Psihoyos and Oceanic Preservation Society, documents the efforts of the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute to end the dolphin slaughter. The Cove received the Oscar for best documentary in 2010 and went on to receive public acclaim.
Sadly, despite worldwide protests and the public’s response to documentaries like The Cove and Blackfish, there is still a strong captive dolphin trade, especially in Japan and China, that purchases dolphins from the Taiji hunters annually.
Efforts by IMMP and others to educate Japanese consumers about the dangers of eating dolphin meat, which is heavily contaminated with mercury and other pollutants, has reduced dolphin deaths in Taiji by about 60% in recent years. Still, today, hundreds are killed and often one to two hundred are captured each year for the aquarium and swim-with-dolphins facilities.
Captive dolphins bring far more money to Taiji dolphin hunters than does dolphins slaughtered for meat, but due to the stress of captivity, only a few dolphins do well enough to survive more than a few years. Female dolphins are chosen over male dolphins as being more tractable. But a few male dolphins are also captured for mating purposes. Younger dolphins are favored, especially ones without blemishes. The rest of the pod is killed in a welter of blood.
Pilot whales desperately seek escape from the Taiji dolphin hunters, but these magnificent animals are doomed to be killed for sushi and other meat products. Photo Credit: Kunito Seko
Kunito Seko, a resident of Taiji and opponent of the hunts, reported that nine Risso’s dolphins were herded into the notorious Cove in Taiji on Sept. 2nd. They died quickly at the hands of the hunters.
A few days later, Kunito recorded the collection of a large pod – about 30 – of pilot whales by the hunters. Reportedly, nine were killed outright, and a baby died, likely from the stress of capture. The hunters released the rest of the pod, but their survival is very doubtful, having been traumatized by the hunt and the slaughter of their pod-mates (including mothers, brothers and sisters) by the Taiji hunters.
Risso’s dolphins and pilot whales are just two of the nine different species of dolphins hunted in Taiji. While the Japanese government sets quotas, the Japanese hunters have had trouble for years in meeting those quotas, suggesting the quotas are set too high to be meaningful.
This season’s quota is for 1,849 dolphins and small whales, including 298 bottlenose dolphins (most of these are either kept for captivity or released by the dolphin hunters to breed more bottlenose dolphins in the ocean), 450 striped dolphins, 300 melon-headed whales, 280 spotted dolphins, and several other species. A quota for 251 Risso’s dolphins is set, along with 101 pilot whales. The season runs six months from September 1st to the end of February, although hunters can harpoon pilot whales through March.
More and more Japanese animal activists like Kunito Seko are showing up in Taiji and other Japanese cities to protest the cruelty of the dolphin hunts.
A pilot whale will be killed and dragged to the meat market in Taiji. Photo Credit: Kunito Seko
What You Can Do:
Sign our Petition and Support our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign!
Whaling Status:
Meanwhile, Japan’s increasingly desperate whaling industry, according to Japanese media giant NHK, is pushing to “hook” Japanese consumers on whale meat. Instead of the usual frozen whale meat, Japan’s whalers are attempting to sell fresh whale meat to a skeptical consumer public. Most polls show that few Japanese people eat whale meat or want to eat whale meat.
****************************
The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute is working to end the slaughter of both dolphins and whales in Japan and other countries. Whale and dolphin meat are not needed to sustain humans, but whales and dolphins are playing critically important roles in sequestering carbon in the ocean and fertilizing phytoplankton blooms that absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide. Please donate to support IMMP’s efforts to protect whales and dolphins and their ocean homes and to benefit the sustainability of life on our remarkable planet.
