In 2003, Taiji, Japan's biggest secret began unraveling in front the whole world: its dolphin slaughtering industry. More footage has been released since then.
Every year, from September to March, fisherman in Taiji gather in a large cove and rally 23,000 dolphins and porpoises. Not very many people are aware of the truth behind the dolphin slaughtering, especially other citizens in Japan.
In the past, animal activists have tried to walk down the cove and document what happens down there. But the fisherman harass the cameramen with signs saying "No photos!" and push them, get into their private space, yell at them, and other rude behavior. They're seemly afraid to bring their secret killing to public media because Taiji doesn't want their slaughter industry to shut down.
Part of the slaughter goes like this: The fishermen use boats to rally the dolphins and porpoises towards the beach. Once near shore, people on the beach pick out dolphins to sell to aquariums and zoos. The rest of them are then carried to a hidden cove on the shoreline and slaughtered for market. Such a cruel act!
Luckily, wildlife organization activists have begun using tactics to document, reveal, and stop the secret killing. Even activists get themselves into risky situations to prevent these slaughters and captures, such as arrest.
The Japanese fishermen say that killing dolphins in a national tradition, but the real reason: they're collecting personal profits! This might matter to the townspeople of Taiji, but money doesn't matter at all to dolphin lovers like me! What matters to us is the freedom of those wonderful creatures! I just so want to get this brutal act of dolphin slaughtering and capturing to an end, once and for all!
I may have sounded mad in the last paragraph, but it's very devastating that these intelligent and beautiful mammals are being killed and sold in market for personal profits. There's even more to this story, but I can't explain it all on this blog post.
If you want to learn more, you can click on these links:
http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/
http://savejapandolphins.org/about-us/
http://www.zvents.com/olympia_wa/events/show/207759765-save-japan-dolphins-day-2011-olympia-wa
The "Save Japan Dolphins" day happens every year on September 1st in Olympia to protest against the dolphin killing. See the link above if you are interested in participating in this protest march.
Until then, you can check out those links above or watch "The Cove", a 2009 documentary about the Taiji dolphins and how their secret slaughter affects the environment and people alone. It may contain kind of disturbing images of the dolphins, but it's worth watching.
Anyone who is an activist, or devotes their love to dolphins is welcome to participate in saving them.
Best,
Guru Bri