Save Japan Dolphins

A Message From Ric O'Barry

2010-12-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe the year is drawing to an end, and what a year it has been!

Your support has led to some of our most important successes - things that just two years ago I wasn't sure would be possible: Here are just a few of the highlights:

We opened "The Cove" in Japan despite intense opposition, and received unprecedented coverage of the issue. Before "The Cove" came out, I was beating down the doors of media in Japan begging them to cover the story. After "The Cove," they met me at the airport and followed us to almost every location. Our press conference was attended by over 100 media representatives, including every major broadcast outlet. We still have a lot of work to do, but the secret is now out!

Japan is one of three nations hunting dolphins. The other two are The Faroe Islands and The Solomon Islands. Because of your support, we were able to negotiate a deal that ENDS the majority of hunting in The Solomon Islands. We estimate that around 2000 dolphins will be saved each year.

You all took unprecedented actions. Almost 100 of you went back to Japan with me at the beginning of the hunting season to present our petition signatures (1.7 million at the time.) More still called or showed up at Japanese Embassies and Consulate offices in Miami, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, New York, London, Toronto, Ottawa, Dublin, Cape Town, the Philippines, Canberra, Hong Kong, and more. Activists from all over the world and many different organizations are now on the ground monitoring the fisherman daily.

We were called to Egypt, where we found four dolphins from Taiji languishing in someone's backyard pool. Working with local activists from HEPCA we were able to get them moved and the city passed a ban on all imports from Taiji.

Again, and I can't say this enough, we couldn't do any of this without YOU. And we still have a long way to go - in Japan especially - but know that with your continued support we'll be able to do much more.

Thank you for all that you do!

Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins

An Open Letter To The Mayor of Taiji

2010-12-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

December 1, 2010

Mayor Kazutaka Sangen

Taiji-cho Town Hall
3767-1 Taiji-cho
Higashimuro-gun
Wakayama Prefecture
649-5171 Japan

I hope you and the people of Taiji are doing well.

As you know, I chose not to take part in your meeting in Taiji on November 2nd, because I felt the restrictions placed on participants and media were unfair and restricted the dialog that we both are seeking.

I would, as an alternative, propose that you and I meet in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club for an open meeting without restrictions on either the participants or the media.

I would like to come in the spirit of mutual understanding and free flow of discussion.

I and my organization have a long history of engaging in peaceful efforts to save dolphins around the world. We believe hunts of this nature are not good for dolphins or humans. We have long expressed our concerns for people who eat dolphin meat, including those in Taiji, the Faroe Islands, and the Solomon Islands.

We have great respect for the people of Taiji and the people of Japan, and we have never broken any laws. Nor do we support a boycott of Japan, unlike other organizations.

We believe open discussion and finding alternatives for the hunts is the best way to address these issues.

We still believe that it would be constructive at this time to have a dialogue.Thank you for your consideration of having a meeting with me in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club at a time we can mutually agree on.

With respect and humility,

Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

〒649-5171

和歌山県東牟婁郡太地町３７６７－１

太地町役場　

町長　三軒一高殿

拝啓　寒冷の候　町長殿及び太地町民の皆様には益々ご清祥のことと存じ上げます。

さて、ご存知の通り、去る１１月２日に行われた意見交換会への参加を勝手ながら見合わせましたのは、参加者と報道陣に課された規制が不当なものであると判断し、双方が望んでいる対話に制約が生じたためでございます。

代わりに、以下の提案をさせていただきたく存じます。町長殿と私が東京の外国人記者クラブにおいて、参加者と報道陣に規制をかけずに、オープンな形で会合を持つことは可能でしょうか？

相互理解の姿勢をもって、自由な雰囲気のもとに、会合に臨みたいと存じます。

私および私共の団体は、世界中のイルカを救うために長い間平和的努力を重ねてまいりました。太地町で行われているようなイルカ漁は、イルカにとっても人間にとっても望ましくないと信じております。太地町、フェロー諸島、ソロモン諸島等の住民でイルカ肉を食する人々に対し、これまで長い間懸念を示してまいりました。

私共は、太地町の住民および日本国民の皆様に対し敬意を払っており、これまで法に反することは行っておりません。他の団体と異なり、日本国や日本製品をボイコットするようなことは支持しておりません。オープンな形で話し合いを持つこと、及びイルカ漁に代わる産業をみつけることがこの問題に関する最善策であると信じております。

現時点で対話の機会が持てれば、建設的であろうと未だ信じております。是非とも、町長殿と私にとって都合が良いタイミングで東京の外国人記者クラブにて会合を持てることをご検討頂けますように、お願い申し上げます。

敬具

2010年12月１日

アース・アイランド研究所「日本のイルカを救おう」

キャンペーン・ディレクター　リチャード・オバリー

太地町長　三軒一高殿

President Obama can Help Save Whales and Dolphins

2010-11-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Today is Worldwide Anti-Whaling Day, and President Barack Obama just left for a trip to Asia, which will include a stop in Japan. Earth Island Institute/Save Japan Dolphins, In Defense of Animals, the Animal Welfare Institute, and several other environmental and animal welfare organizations sent him a letter that began:

“…the undersigned organizations, representing 2½ million members and petition signers, urge you to request that the Japanese government expeditiously and permanently end its slaughter of dolphins and whales.”

You can send a message to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

President Obama is scheduled to be in Japan the 13th and 14th of November, to include a meeting with the new Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The full text of our letter:

Earth Island Institute
Animal Welfare Institute
World Society for the Protection of Animals
American Cetacean Society
Cetacean Society International
In Defense of Animals
Nantucket Marine Mammal Conservation Program
Orgami Whales Project
Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales
The Whaleman Foundation/Save the Whales Again! Campaign

November 4, 2010

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, DC 20500

VIA E-mail, FAX, and Regular Mail

Dear President Obama:

On the eve of your upcoming trip to Japan to meet with Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the undersigned organizations, representing 2 ½ million members and online petition signers, urge you to request that the Japanese government expeditiously and permanently end its slaughter of dolphins and whales.

More than 2 million people from 151 countries have signed online petitions urging an end to the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, as depicted by the Academy Award-winning documentary, The Cove, and the Animal Planet television series, Blood Dolphin$. Considering that mercury and other toxic materials poison much of the dolphin meat, this issue is more than about protecting dolphins and whales but is also necessary to protect human health.

The Japanese delegation to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), comprised mainly of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), has been completely uncooperative and disruptive within the body, continuing to defend killing whales in defiance of the moratorium on commercial whaling, including within the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary, and trading in whale products in violation of spirit and intent of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The MAFF’s bogus scientific research is an illegal front for commercial whaling, this illegal whaling is conducted in direct defiance of international law, and MAFF’s pursuits within the IWC represent a breach of accepted diplomatic behavior and practices. Furthermore, it has been documented that the MAFF has engaged in bribery of delegates to the IWC, including providing funds for travel, entertainment, prostitutes, and cash. MAFF staff and its IWC delegation are paid for through controversial taxpayer subsidies and the sale of whale meat obtained from so-called “scientific” whaling, which is a direct conflict of interest.

For these reasons, continued negotiations at the IWC in an attempt to find a compromise with Japan and other whaling nations are simply useless. The MAFF has demonstrated for years that it has no incentives to compromise or cooperate. Furthermore, if the United States were to continue to pursue such a compromise that allows the resumption of commercial whaling or legitimizes “scientific” whaling, as it has done for the past three years, it will not be acting in accordance with the needs and demands of the American people. Instead, the United States must work cooperatively with other like-minded IWC member-countries to continue to advance protections for all cetaceans, large and small, and their habitats through IWC resolutions, multi-national demarches against the whaling countries, and by using all other legal, diplomatic, and administrative tools to compel these countries to end commercial/scientific whaling.

The MAFF authorizes and legitimizes the slaughter of intelligent dolphins and whales in the cruelest ways imaginable. These dolphin and whale hunts are inhumane and unnecessary. Dolphins and whales are harpooned at sea, while in Taiji, Japan, dolphins are herded into a shallow cove and then harpooned or have their throats slit in a welter of blood.

Killing dolphins and whales hurts the government of Japan’s reputation and likely the economy of Japan due to adverse global publicity. The MAFF also promotes a distortion of the truth about whaling and dolphin killing to the people of Japan, who consequently tend to be oblivious to the suffering of the animals, the potential toxicity of the meat, as well as the implications for the sustainability of cetacean populations.

Your personal intervention at the highest levels of the Japanese government is needed to help change this dynamic. Otherwise, the MAFF will continue to permit the unnecessary slaughter of whales and dolphins, practice the politics of disruption within the IWC, and deceive the Japanese public. Many Japanese do not even know that their Fisheries Agency allows the killing of dolphins and endangered species of whales.

It is high time that Japan’s failure to join the rest of the world in protecting cetaceans comes to an end, and that the government rehabilitate its image that has been so badly damaged by the MAFF and their machinations to promote whaling and the slaughter of dolphins at any cost.

You can convey these facts to the new Prime Minister better than anyone else.

We thank you for your consideration of our request. Please feel free to contact any of us if you or your office needs additional information.

Sincerely,

David Phillips
Executive Director
Earth Island Institute

Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Susan Millward
Executive Director
Animal Welfare Institute

Silla Smith
Interim Executive Director US
World Society for the Protection of Animals

Cheryl McCormick, Ph.D.
Executive Director
American Cetacean Society

William W. Rossiter
President
Cetacean Society International

Melissa Gonzalez
Wildlife Campaigns Manager
In Defense of Animals

Scott Leonard
Director of Operations
Nantucket Marine Mammal Conservation Program

Peggy Oki
Founder and Director
Origami Whales Project

Chuck Owens
President
Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales

Jeff Pantukopff
President and Founder
The Whaleman Foundation
Executive Director
Save the Whales Again! Campaign

Cc:

Vice President Joe Biden
Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
CEQ Chairperson Nancy Sutley
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco
United States IWC Commissioner Monica Medina
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator John Kerry
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Representative Nick Rahall
Representative George Miller

Taiji Ground Zero Detonates on Nov. 2nd

2010-11-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

By Leah Lemieux
Volunteer
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute
Author: Rekindling the Waters

I think this has been the longest and most insane, dangerous and fraught day of my life.

At the appointed time this morning, Ric O’Barry arrived at the Taiji community center where he would be joining a number of other people representing the interests and protection of the dolphins (and all the innocent people unknowingly eating mercury tainted dolphin meat) for a meeting with the Taiji Mayor and the fishermen’s union.

But suddenly everything detonated as Ric announced at the door that he was refusing to participate in the Taiji meeting, because the Mayor had placed such heavy restrictions on the media, going so far as to bar any media from participating that might ask unwanted questions of the Mayor and fishermen’s union. Ric also stated the Mayor had been holding secret meetings with the extreme nationalist groups that opposed screening of The Cove movie in Japan. To everyone’s astonishment, Ric announced that he would be hosting his own free dialogue open to all questions and press at the cove, where the Taiji Mayor would not muzzle discussion. Chaos ensued immediately.

Ric and Media crush at the cove on November 2nd.

Photography by Leah Lemieux.

Outraged officials began screaming, as Ric headed off to the cove followed by a divided media hoard. I’ve never been in something like this before – a media riot, where cameramen were actually trampling each other to get close to Ric! I was washed and squashed embedded amid this sudden unruly tide, keeping close to Ric, to try and lend the support of a friendly face in a place where dangerous hostility could erupt from any direction at any time.

At the cove, Ric addressed the press about the issues so close to our hearts and unrolled a banner representing the signatures of two million people around the world who oppose the killing and capture of dolphins in Taiji.

Ric at the cove with the scroll representing 2 million online signatures against the killing and capture of dolphins in Japan.

Photography by Leah Lemieux.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest… Inside the Taiji community center the other half of the press (those who weren't barred by the Mayor) were attending the meeting. On one side were the Taiji town Mayor and representatives of the Taiji fishermen’s union, the people who slaughter dolphins. And among those in the other corner were representatives of organizations speaking for the dolphins and the oceans.

Taiji Mayor Sangen (far right) and other representatives of the dolphin killers at Nov. 2nd meeting.

Photography by Leah Lemieux.

Many media representatives were present, but the questions they were allowed to ask were very tightly controlled, and no dolphin sympathies were allowed to be voiced by press – those had already been weeded out and barred from the meeting!

Despite the orchestrated attempts to bias the meeting in strong favor of dolphin hunting, the press heard our voices. Various representatives and volunteers for the dolphins spoke with calm assurance and never lost their cool.

After this meeting, everyone who was not there already headed to the cove, and that’s when it got really crazy.

Death threats were uttered, and the local police were out in force to protect Ric, who had earned the wrath of officials he had defied by refusing to participate in their jury-rigged meeting.

Later this evening, Ric got on a train out of here heading to Tokyo. We had a heavy police escort. There were some very VERY angry characters about, tons of media, and there were loud public threats made against Ric's life and Lincoln O’Barry’s life, too. Police everywhere--thankfully. There were some VERY scary moments!

With the different groups and individuals here, there are many different approaches to this issue. Nature shows us there is strength in diversity. Today was an event – a crazy event that threatened to get out of hand. But stopping the dolphin kills is a process that will take time. Despite the chaos, much good came of this by bringing the issues and opinions of those who value dolphins alive and free to so much Japanese media. Ric O’Barry and other representatives and volunteers present gave the Japanese people much to think about, and that can only be for the good.

The issues in Taiji are complex, to say the least. It is of course important to find ways for the dolphin hunters to work and feed their families, but not by killing dolphins.

For additional Taiji blogs by Leah: http://www.rekindlingthewaters.com/

2010-11-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

To whom it may concern

関係各位

Statement of Non-Participation

不参加についての声明文

リチャード・オバリー　

RICHARD O’BARRY

The reasons I will not participate are:

私は、「対話集会」には参加いたしません。その理由は、次の通りです：

Mayor Sangen has broken his promise by trying to interfere with the Japanese and international media representativeｓ right to report to the Japanese public.　He has ordered severe restrictions on the Japanese and international media representatives ability to freely cover this event。

三軒市長は約束を違えました。

市長は、日本と国際メデイアが有している権利、即ち、日本の社会に対して正しい報道を行う権利を妨げようとしています。市長は、このイベントについての内外メデイアの自由な取材活動に対し、厳しい規制をかけるよう、命じています。

I want to make it absolutely clear that I do not support any organization which is calling for boycotting Japan to save the Taiji dolphins. I am opposed to any such boycott. My being here has been an “anti-boycott”.

加えて私は、三軒市長により招待された参加団体――この団体は太地のイルカを守るために日本をボイコットする運動を呼び掛けています――を一切支持しないことを、明確にしておきたいと思います。

私は、このようなボイコット運動には絶対反対です。私が今回太地に参りましたこと自体が、「ボイコットに反対する意志」の表明です。

The reason I came here to Taiji this time was that I was promised to be able to have an honest and freewheeling discussion with Mayor Sangen, with full, free, and unfettered accessibility for all interested Japanese and international media people. I was expecting and looking forward to a frank dialogue on how the dolphin hunt and the sale of toxic mercury-contaminated dolphin meat to the Japanese public can be terminated, while guaranteeing the financial livelihoods of the Taiji dolphin fishermen and their families.

この度、私が太地に参りました理由は、この問題に関心を寄せる全ての日本と国際メデイアの方々が自由に参加し、取材活動を行える環境の下で、三軒市長と忌憚のない率直な話し合いが出来る、という約束を頂いたからです。私は今回の対話について大きな期待を抱いておりました。太地の漁師とそのご家族の財務的な生活基盤を確保しながら、イルカ漁と水銀汚染されたイルカ肉の日本での販売を、どのように停止できるか等について、前向きで活発な話し合いを出来ることを楽しみにしておりました。

Mayor Sagen tried to stop “The Cove” from being shown in Japanese movie theaters. He did everything possible to stop the Japanese people from having a chance to learn about what is happening in Taiji.

三軒市長は、「ザ・コーブ」の日本の映画館での上映を、阻止しようとしました。市長は、太地で起こっている事態が日本の人々に知られないように、あらゆる手立てを講じました。

I just learned that Mayor Sangen has repeatedly met secretly with representatives of one of the organizations that tried to stop Japanese people from having a chance to see “The Cove” by threatening Japanese movie theater owners and the Japanese distributor of “The Cove”. These are the very same people who tried and are still trying to stifle free speech.

最近、判明したことですが、三軒市長は、日本の人々が「ザ・コーブ」を見れないようにするために日本の映画館オーナーや配給会社を脅していた団体の一つの代表者達と、複数回に渡り、密かに会っていました。この団体のメンバーは、表現の自由を押しつぶそうとしていた人達であり、今でもその活動を続けています。

This “Conference” has turned out to be a total sham. I will not take part in it in any way. I will “boycott” this whole disgraceful set-up.

この「対話集会」は、今や、全くの偽りだらけのイベントと化してしまいました。私はこの集会には、いかなる形式にせよ、参加しません。私はこの恥じるべき八百長こそを、ボイコットします。

My statement speaks for itself.

この声明文が私の意見の全てです。

I am now leaving this farce and going over to the place that brought me to Taiji in the first place, the Cove.

私は、これからこの茶番劇を離れ、もともと私が太地を訪れる理由となった場所に向かいます。

つまり、私は「ザ・コーブ」(入江)に参ります。
―以上―

Earth Island Institute’s Position on Dolphin Killing In Japan.
Earth Island Instituteの日本でのイルカ殺害に関する見解

It is important that we state our views clearly and firmly.

私達が我々の見解をしっかりと明らかに述べることはとても重要です。

Earth Island Institute (EII) and I do not believe in breaking the laws in Taiji and will not conduct illegal activities.

Earth Island Institute (EII) と私は、太地町の法律を破るようなことはしていないと認識しており、今後も違法な活動は断じて行いません。

EII and I do not support a boycott of Japan. We feel a boycott is counter-productive.

EIIと私は日本でのボイコット（日本否定）をサポートしていません。また私達はボイコットが生産的ではないと考えています。

EII and I have always addressed and will continue to address these issues with respect for the people of Japan and will work with them to solve these problems.

EIIと私は、日本の人達に対して敬意を持って常にこれらの問題に取り組んでおり、これからも彼らと共に、この問題を解決するために取り組み続けていきます。

The media and government have tried to link us with other organizations, a linkage which we reject as unfair and inaccurate. We speak for our organization and ourselves only.

メディアと政府は、私達と不当で不明瞭な別の団体とをひとまとめにしようとしてきました。私達は我々の組織のためだけに話します。

From the beginning, I have sought to bring the truth to the people of Japan, truth which
cannot be denied or covered up anymore.

当初から、私は真実を日本の人々へ伝えるため模索し続けてきました。これ以上真実は、否定されることも隠ぺいされることもあってはなりません。

The Japanese people must be made aware of the killing of dolphins, which has been covered up by their government. The dolphin slaughter cannot be a Japanese “cultural” practice if the vast majority of the Japanese people don’t even know it is happening.

日本の人々は、政府によって隠されているイルカ殺害の事実を知るべきです。日本が事実を知らないようなイルカの虐殺は、日本の文化としてこれ以上実施されてはなりません。

The Japanese people must not be subjected to poisoning by mercury contamination found in dolphin meat, which is unsafe for human consumption.

日本人がイルカの肉を食用で消費することによる、危険な水銀汚染中毒をこれ以上増やすべきではありません。

Westerners are not the original source of these concerns. Japanese researchers have done extensive testing on contamination of dolphin meat with mercury - in Japan, and Taiji specifically - proving that the mercury levels present a serious danger to the health of the public. Taiji City Council members have echoed these concerns as well. Mercury poisoning should concern all of us.

これらのリサーチ結果は欧米でのものではありません。日本の研究者が太地町で売られている食用のイルカの肉に限定して大規模な調査を行い、その結果、人体に重大な危険を及ぼすレベルの水銀が含まれていることが証明されたのです。太地町議会のメンバーも同様に、これらの懸念について繰り返し言及しています。水銀中毒に関してもっと取り上げられるべきであると考えます。

I am here not solely to express concerns for dolphins, but also for the health of the people of Japan and to see that the truth of what happens in Taiji is made public to the people of Japan.

私はイルカに関する懸念について述べるためだけにいるのではなく、日本の人々の健康についても言及したいと考えているのです。また太地町で何が起こっているのか、その真実を日本の人々へ伝えたいのです。

There is a bright future for Taiji without the killing of dolphins. Earth Island Institute are willing to meet with Mayor Sangen in private or at a public meeting that is truly an open forum. ”

太地町にはイルカを殺さずとも明るい未来があります。EIIは三軒町長に個人的にお会いするか、または開かれた市民集会でお会い出来ることをとても嬉しく思っています。

Thank you.

ありがとうございました。

Additional resources:

参考文献：

For mercury contamination research results, go to:
http://www.savejapandolphins.org/pdf/MercuryReport.pdf.

食用イルカに含まれる水銀濃度リサーチ結果：

Taiji officials’ statement warning about mercury poisoning:

水銀中毒に関する太地町の公式勧告：

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/pdf/Taiji_City_Council.pdf

Shortened version of The Cove:

The Coveダイジェストムービー：

http://www.youtube.com/takepart#p/u/19/szBxUQHtVkg

Statement by Ric OBarry, Earth Island Institute

2010-10-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

Participating in a Public Dialog with Mayor of Taiji about Dolphin Hunts on Nov. 2, 2010

Ric overlooking the cove in Taiji.

Photo by Leah Lemieux.

Ric OBarry, long-time dolphin activist for Earth Island Institute (EII) and subject of the Oscar-Winning THE COVE, makes this statement as a participant in a public discussion about dolphin hunting with Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen and members of the fisheries union:

"I want to thank Mayor Sangen today for arranging this meeting. We at Earth Island Institute support dialog on the subject of the dolphin killing."

"It is important that we state our views clearly and firmly:"

EII and I do not believe in breaking the laws in Taiji and will not conduct illegal activities.
EII and I do not support a boycott of Japan. We feel a boycott is counter-productive.
EII and I have always addressed and will continue to address these issues with respect for the people of Japan and will work with them to solve these problems.
The media and government have tried to link us with other organizations, a linkage which we reject as unfair and inaccurate. We speak for our organization and ourselves only.

"From the beginning, I have sought to bring the truth to the people of Japan, truth which cannot be denied or covered up anymore:"

The Japanese people must be made aware of the killing of dolphins, which has been covered up by their government. The dolphin slaughter cannot be a Japanese cultural practice if the vast majority of the Japanese people dont even know it is happening.
The Japanese people must not be subjected to poisoning by mercury contamination found in dolphin meat, which is unsafe for human consumption.

"Westerners are not the original source of these concerns. Japanese researchers have done extensive testing on contamination of dolphin meat with mercury - in Japan, and Taiji specifically - proving that the mercury levels present a serious danger to the health of the public. Taiji City Council members have echoed these concerns as well. Mercury poisoning should concern all of us. "

For mercury contamination research results, go to: http://www.savejapandolphins.org/pdf/MercuryReport.pdf.

"I am here not solely to express concerns for dolphins, but also for the health of the people of Japan and to see that the truth of what happens in Taiji is made public to the people of Japan."

"There is a bright future for Taiji without the killing of dolphins. Earth Island Institute and I hope Mayor Sangen has an open mind during this meeting and will see that we can work together for a better future for the dolphins and the people of Taiji."

I’m Back in Taiji

2010-10-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Lincoln and I have returned to Taiji on short notice, planning to attend an interesting (to say the least) meeting with the Mayor of Taiji and the fishermen next week. The meeting is not open to the public, but will be open to the media.

A local activist and nationalist in Wakayama Prefecture organized the meeting, persuading Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen that dialog was important with Westerners. We have sought a meeting with the Mayor for several years, most recently when I returned to Japan on September 1st of this year. The Mayor has continually turned us down.

On one of our first visits to Taiji back in 2004, my wife Helene and I held a meeting with the fishermen (this meeting is alluded to in the film The Cove). We had an open discussion about the dolphin slaughter – I even asked the fishermen to tell us what it would cost us to pay them to stop killing dolphins. They came back with the astonishing answer that they were engaged in “pest” control, convinced by the notorious Japanese Fisheries Agency that the dolphins were eating all their fish! It is remarkably sad when the Japanese fishermen start believing their own propaganda to be true.

Now we will need to convince the skeptical Mayor and fishermen of Taiji and the Japanese media, which is sympathetic to the fishermen, that we want to help, that we are not here to confront the fishermen, and that we believe the people of Taiji will benefit from stopping the dolphin killing.

Joining me in Taiji is author Leah Lemieux and her filmmaker friend, Suzanne Chisholm, visiting Taiji for the first time as volunteer observers and chroniclers. Leah is the author of Rekindling the Waters, a description of what it is like to be with dolphins in captivity and an indictment of the captive industry. I highly recommend it. She has also gone around Canada and the United Kingdom giving talks about The Cove and her efforts to protect dolphins. Now she is here at the proverbial ground zero – I quote from her first two blogs:

“Oct. 27th: I arrived in Taiji today with film maker Suzanne Chisholm around noon. Only a few hours earlier, nearly 60 pacific spotted, bottlenose and Risso’s dolphins, including tiny babies, were murdered by the infamous Taiji dolphin killers. Today was their last sunrise. The dolphin killers have been going to increasing lengths to hide this profane practice behind tarps and closed doors trying to keep the blue waters from obviously running red.

Bloody chunks of cetacean meat for sale.

Photography by Leah Lemieux.

“Over and over it strikes you, how beautiful this place is and how the killing of dolphins stains this beautiful place. Our tour ended with a visit to the Dolphin Resort Hotel. We arrived just in time to see a group of school kids, who had all paid to play at ‘being a trainer for a day’. We stood, over-looking the floating pens where around 22 dolphins taken from the cove are held captive to perform and for tourists to swim with.

“Today these dolphins had to listen as others of their marine community were murdered… I was shaking and struck silent, looking at these dolphins, restlessly pacing and circling in the tiny pens and watching all these school children, being fed lies. These dolphin trainers know full well that the families of all these captives were cruelly killed a stone’s throw away. And they must know it’s the money coming from the pockets of tourists that goes straight into the pockets of the dolphin killers and thus perpetuates the dolphin slaughter. Yet with smiles on their faces, surrounded by cartoonish depictions of ‘happy happy dolphins’, they ignore their essential part in this chain of pain and death.

Wild Taiji dolphins condemned to captivity for the rest of their lives.

Photography by Leah Lemieux.

“This natural beauty is shamed and stained and marred by what happens here. This place represents a microcosm of the same battle being fought all over this Earth by those who value life and the living world and those who kill and destroy and turn living beings into dead blood money. 

“If there is any hope for the future of all and any of us, this has to change. If we cannot change what happens here, what hope is there?”

Leah and Suzanne and many others are making a difference for dolphins by their volunteer efforts. They deserve our grateful thanks. You can read more of Leah’s eloquent Blogs on her website:

http://www.rekindlingthewaters.com/

The good news is that the weather today and yesterday is preventing the dolphin-killing boats from going out to sea. Bad weather is good news for dolphins off the coast of Taiji.

There is more to come as we prepare for our meeting next week with the fishermen of Taiji.

Ric O’Barry Of Earth Island Institute to Participate in Public Discussion with Mayor of Taiji about Dolphin Hunts

2010-10-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

MEDIA RELEASE * MEDIA RELEASE

October 27, 2010

Ric O’Barry Of Earth Island Institute to Participate in Public Discussion with Mayor of Taiji about Dolphin Hunts

Ric O’Barry, long-time dolphin activist for Earth Island Institute and subject of the Oscar-Winning THE COVE, has accepted an invitation to participate in a public discussion about dolphin hunting with Taiji Mayor Kazutaka Sangen, members of the fisheries union and other anti-dolphin hunting groups.

The event, which will take place at 10 a.m., Nov. 2 at the Taiji Community Center, is being organized by a leader in the conservative Nihon Yonaoshikai and founder of the newly formed Association to Contemplate Taiji’s Dolphin Hunt. The purpose is to bring together city officials and the groups who oppose dolphin hunting with the hopes that they can find common ground. The event is open to the media.

Earth Island has a long track record of working with local communities to develop viable alternatives to killing dolphins. Most recently the Earth Island team, led by O’Barry, worked with tribes in the Solomon Islands to end their drive hunts. Primitive and remote, dolphin teeth are so engrained in the local culture there that their teeth are used as currency. But now, after 450 years, the majority of tribes have agreed to stop.

“When we first went to the Solomons, we didn’t know what to expect. For so many years, these local villagers have subsisted on dolphin meat,” explained David Phillips, Executive Director of Earth Island Institute. “Many people there didn’t know how toxic the meat was. After all, it’s a relatively new phenomena brought on by industrial pollution. Much like Taiji, the meat they were eating just 50 years ago didn’t contain the same levels of mercury.”

In fact, its Japanese researchers who have done extensive testing on this issue - in Japan, and Taiji specifically - showing that the mercury levels present a serious danger to the health of the public. For research results, go to: http://www.savejapandolphins.org/pdf/MercuryReport.pdf.

“However, in the Solomon’s they don’t just rely on dolphins for sustenance, they are significant part of their traditions and economy,” continued Phillips. “So we talked, we listened, and in time – working hand in hand with the villagers – we came up with solutions that are not only workable, but enable them to thrive. For instance, we are helping them develop an artisanal fishery and other steps for clean water and power for their villages.”

It’s Earth Island’s hope that we can find a similar spirit of collaboration in Taiji.

“There is a bright future for Taiji without the killing of dolphins,” Ric O’Barry added. “We hope Mayor Sangen has an open mind during this meeting and will see that we can work together for a better future for the dolphins and the people of Taiji.”

Another Dolphin Slaughter in the Cove

2010-10-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Leilani Münter has been hanging in there in Taiji, following the dolphin killers. While many days have resulted in the drive hunt boats returning empty-handed to the harbor or not going out at all, on Oct. 16th, Leilani witnessed another heart-breaking slaughter of eight Risso’s dolphins in the Cove.

You can see her YouTube video report here:

On October 14th in Taiji, Leilani was not going to pass up an opportunity to recognize the international Save Japan Dolphin Day demonstrations that were going on all around the planet.

So, she got a bunch of roses and spread them on the Cove in honor of the many dolphins whose blood was shed in these waters through the years.

But the local policemen intervened. They said she was littering with her roses!

Leilani had to wade out into the Cove with another volunteer, Elora Malama, to retrieve the terrible roses. Leilani offered the soggy roses to the police and the Japanese Coastguard personnel there, but they refused to take them from her.

Leilani Münter (right) and Elora Malama gather back up the roses they had scattered in the Cove in remembrance of the dolphins – the police insisted roses are litter and pollution, but dolphin blood appears to be OK.

See her YouTube video of this act of defiance with roses:

Leilani is on her way back home now, having done double-duty in Taiji. I thank her for her efforts for the dolphins – she and many others are making a real difference! Leilani says she is coming back to the Cove soon. Like our Save Japan Dolphins Team and me, Leilani is not going to give up until the killing stops.

Around the World, Millions of People Want to Save Japan Dolphins!

2010-10-19T21:10:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

On October 14th, demonstrations were held in dozens of cities around the world, in front of Japanese Embassies and Consulate offices, urging the government of Japan to “Save Japan Dolphins”!

I want to thank each and every one of the people who helped organize and who showed up at these events. The turnout was higher than any previous Save Japan Dolphins Day.

A fun time was had by all. Here are some photos:

MIAMI

A hundred demonstrators joined Ric in Miami to protest the dolphin slaughter.

TORONTO

Toronto’s event went on, despite the rain.

ISRAEL

Jacob (center of photo, behind photographer) organized his first demonstration ever in Israel. (Jacob has also just completed a website for Save Japan Dolphins in Russian and is working on one for Israel.)

A young demonstrator in Israel and her sign.

THE PHILIPPINES

Led by Earth Island’s Trixie Concepcion, demonstrators in Manila were covered by several newspapers and television stations.

PORTLAND

Cars in Portland honk for demonstrators:

VIENNA

Japanese Embassy protest in Vienna, Austria. Copyright Meik Ahmadian.

OTTAWA

Geisha girls with tears of blood led the march in Ottawa to the Japanese Embassy.

DENVER

Enthusiastic demonstrators in the mile-high city.

MELBOURNE

The Aussies demonstrating in Melbourne.

A homemade sign in Australia for the Japanese government.

SEATTLE

Where else but in Seattle would protestors decorate umbrellas? A big turnout, with representatives of the Japanese Consulate coming out to view the protest.

CAPETOWN

A nice PSA was produced from the interesting Capetown demo:

PHOENIX

Arizona dolphin-lovers gather to protest at the Japanese Friendship Park.

Red roses for the dolphins in Phoenix.

EDINBURGH

The Scots make up for small numbers with BIG signs.

HONOLULU

Demonstrators at the gates in Honolulu on Oct. 14th.

DETROIT

The Motor City shows how it’s done!

ROTTERDAM

Our friends in Holland outside the Japan Consulate in Rotterdam.

SWITZERLAND

Our friend Hans Peter Roth, recently in Taiji, demonstrates in Switzerland with a few friends.

JAKARTA

Simple signs, but profound message in Indonesia.

SAN FRANCISCO

Earth Island’s big blue inflatable dolphin makes its annual appearance in downtown San Francisco. Photo by Michael Reppy.

Young Adam presents a scroll to the Japanese Counsel in San Francisco representing 1.8 million signatures on our petition.

You can see more video of the San Francisco event (thanks to Melissa Gonzalez of In Defense of Animals) here:

Once again, a big THANK YOU to all!

A First: Japan Dolphin Day in Tokyo

2010-10-15T21:20:00.001-07:00

By Kyoko Tanaka
Tokyo, Japan

In Tokyo, my colleague Tosh and I visited Nagata-cho, the national government office area in Tokyo, Japan, to submit petitions to the Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. In a short time, we collected 163 people's names. The important thing is that 150 of them are from the Wakayama region, which includes the town of Taiji. One Wakayama local is helping us. He will hand in this petition to the Governor of Wakayama Prefecture later this week. (The Governor approves local dolphin catching permits for Taiji.)

After we handed in our petition to the Japan Fisheries Agency, Tosh and I were curious to check with the Whaling Department to ask the number for dolphins captured in Taiji this year. As soon as I said the word "Taiji", the whole floor's atmosphere changed immediately.

We were soon escorted to a guest room. We had intended to ask question casually – Tosh and I have been gathering information on the numbers of dolphins involved in the drive hunts – but the staff prepared thick books of records and all the research papers.

One person showed up whose name was Mr. Takaya -- he is the successor of Mr. Moronuki of the Fisheries Agency. He questioned us about why dolphins are so special, and started in again on the cows and pigs issue...sigh...(I have heard this argument a zillion times already...).

But we had a good discussion with him for about an hour. We were surprised how much time he spent with us despite that fact that we did not make any appointment.

Although the Fisheries Agency people have so much knowledge, their stance is strictly pro-whale hunting. They have already decided their stance.

Kyoko (Kiki) Tanaka hands in her petition to save Japan dolphins to the Cabinet Office for the government of Japan in Tokyo, Oct. 14, 2010.

Photo by Tosh.

The only thing we can do is to educate people who have the potential to understand. Mr. Takaya said if there is no demand for dolphin meat, then the dolphin hunt will go extinct.

To see that come true, we have to keep educating people here in Japan and around the world.

Ric O’Barry Comments:

This is great work by Kiki (as we know Kyoko), Tosh and her friends in Japan. This could be the start of a grass-roots movement in Japan!

We do not have to persuade government officials or anybody else. The cow and pig/cultural argument is a non-starter. It's a diversion from the one and only issue: The scientific FACT that the dolphin meat is contaminated and not fit for consumption cancels out all excuses for killing dolphins and other whales for their meat.

The meat is poison and it's being sold to Japanese people. End of argument.

Kiki has been a great help to our campaign in Japan for some time, often keeping a low profile but being very industrious. Her insights into Japanese culture have been extremely useful, and we consider her a good friend.

We are proud of Kiki and the many Japanese people who are willing to oppose the dolphin slaughter under very difficult conditions.

From Leilani: Up Close at the Slaughterhouse in Taiji

2010-10-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

See Leilani’s YouTube video and stills:

Leilani Münter, race car driver and volunteer for the dolphins, called me yesterday. She is in Taiji with a camera crew, checking out the Cove in Taiji as well as promoting eco-tourism in Japan. She is my personal representative for the dolphins at the Cove this week.

By helping the local economy, we can help end the slaughter of dolphins – no one will want to visit Taiji if dolphins continue to be subject to the drive fishery. Taiji can be notorious for its dolphin slaughter, or it can be world renowned for the protection of dolphins and their ocean environment. It should be an easy choice.

I spoke with Leilani via Skype on camera. We discussed the current status of the Cove and what Leilani was planning to do. We discussed the dolphins – the Taiji Four -- sent from Taiji to Egypt, and the horrible conditions under which they were kept there. I urged Leilani to go to the Taiji Whale Museum (which brokers the wild-caught dolphins) with her laptop to show the Museum the conditions under which these dolphins are now languishing, and how shameful the leadership of the Taiji Whale Museum should feel about being a party to this inhumane action. No self-respecting animal organization would ever let these kinds of conditions prevail, yet they are typical for Taiji’s dolphins!

The Japan Times quoted the Taiji Whale Museum’s Hiromitsu Nambu, who arranges exports of live dolphins from Taiji: "Dolphins in Taiji are popular around the world because they are smart, and I personally think they have cute faces."

The Taiji Four dolphins were sold to Egypt for $300,000 each! And they wound up in a filthy swimming pool that came close to killing them in Hurghada. For more on the story, go to:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101008x2.html

Did I mention that Leilani is fearless? On Monday, the fishermen of Taiji herded a small pod of Risso’s dolphins into the Cove. They were slaughtered the next morning. Leilani braved the local slaughterhouse in Taiji to get some remarkable photos of these poor Risso’s dolphins. Let her tell the story:

“I just got close up photos of them cutting up the dolphins inside the slaughterhouse,” Leilani reports. “They left a door slightly open, and I stuck my camera under it. One of the fishermen eventually spotted me from the grocery store across the street and shut me down, but I got them cutting off the dolphins’ fins and chopping up the torsos. Was one of the hardest things I have ever seen.”

See Leilani’s YouTube video and stills:

“It was absolutely horrific; I will never be the same,” Leilani concluded.

Leilani is planning on being in Taiji for the rest of the week. You can follow her blog on her website:

http://carbonfreegirl.com/index2.html

We will be posting her reports here, too.

Leilani is working to make a difference in the world. We can all help her and help the dolphins. Not everyone can go to Taiji, but everyone can watch The Cove movie, share it with their friends, and bring friends to our website to take action:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

What: October 14th: International Save Japan Dolphins Day

2010-10-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

A worldwide peaceful and lawful protest of the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan, as depicted in the Academy Award winning documentary The Cove and the Animal Planet series Blood Dolphins. The Japanese government issues 23,000 permits annually to coastal communities to kill dolphins of several species. A few are sold, at great profit, to aquariums and swim-with-dolphins programs around the world. The captive dolphin industry subsidizes the slaughter. The majority of the pod is then slaughtered for meat. But the meat is contaminated with outrageous amounts of mercury and other pollutants, exceeding the Japanese government’s own health limits. This is a human rights issue as much as an animal welfare issue.

Demonstrations will be going on throughout the world in front of Japanese embassies and consulates on October 14th. Please join your fellow environmentalists and animal activists in protesting the hunts and urging Japan to switch to more sustainable and benign methods of profit, such as eco-tourism and dolphin-watching cruises.

When: Thursday, October 14th, Noon to 2 PM.

Where: In front of Embassies and Consulates of the Government of Japan around the world. Below is a list of cities where events are planned along with contact information. If you don’t see your city, start your own event! Contact Shelby Proie, Shelby@savelolita.com, for more information.

If you can’t attend, please consider calling. Here is a list of all Embassies and Consulates with phone numbers:

http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

Participating Cities and nonprofit organizations::

UNITED STATES:

Anchorage

Margaret -maggiekvet2b@aol.com

Atlanta

David Drolet-http://rescuedolphins.wordpress.com/ rescuedolphins@comcast.net

Boston

Lisa Yee, pagan_kitty05@yahoo.com

(NOTE: Boston will be having an alternate Japan Dolphin Day rally on 10/7 sponsored by WDCS, WSPA, CSI, and MARC from 12-2PM in front of the Japanese consulate)

Chicago:

Allie Presas, alpresas@sbcglobal.net; Cynthia Perez, kivrosdalai@yahoo.com

Detroit

jylforsyth@gmail.com

Denver:

Animal Rights Action Network and Emily Wolf

Contact: ann@animalrightsactionnetwork.org, newfylove@yahoo.com

Honolulu

Courtney Vail, courtney.vail@wdcs.org

Wild Dolphin Foundation: keikibeachbungalows@gmail.com

Houston

Houston Animal Rights Team (H.A.R.T.), vegan world radio

Contacts: Kara, amandalouisepetrie@gmail.com, port.ashley0@gmail.com

Los Angeles

Contact: Julia Ramsey, ramseyjulia@gmail.com

Miami:

Save Japan Dolphins and Oceanic Defense

Mary Jo Rice, mjrice@earthisland.org

New York City

NY4Whales

Contact: tlwilliams@optonline.net

San Diego

Daniela, danielaj_94@yahoo.com

San Francisco:

Earth Island Institute, In Defense of Animals, Orca Network,

Contact: Mary Jo Rice, mjrice@earthisland.org

Seattle:

SaveJapanDolphins, EcoElements

Contact: orcaspirits@msn.com

Philadelphia

Kevin Starbard, kstarbard@earthlink.net

Portland

Rae Wilson-raemarie.wilson@comcast.net

Tempe, AZ

Rockstar Rescue; For The Whale Of It

Contact: jamezblonde@gmail.com

Washington DC:

Animal Welfare Institute and Humane Society of the United States/Humane Society International

CONTACT

CANADA:

Calgary

Joanne Clarke joanne.clarke@gmail.com

Ottawa

Ottawa Animal Defense League

Contact: Sue Manns, ottawaanimaldefenseleague@hotmail.com

Toronto

Ocean Activists United

Contact: Sarah Patrick, little-fizzle@hotmail.com

Vancouver

tammara443777@hotmail.com

EUROPE:

Barcelona, Spain

Coordinadora Proyecto Cetaceo Libre

Contact: Diana Morales, dmorales@hgt.es

Berlin, Germany

Tom Hernan, Elisa Brongers

hernan@gmx.de

Croatia:

Ocean Activists United - Zagreb Chapter

Mariana – Prijatelji zivotinja

mariana@prijatelji-zivotinja.hr

Edinburgh, Scotland

lucas@ruzowitzky.dk

London, England

Marine Connection and Karen Page, karen.4page@ntlworld.com

Libson, Portugal

Natalie & Nori in conjunction with: www.chickswithsticks.org.uk, www.s4cglobal.org, www.beasonefoundation.org, www.soulsurfers.org

Contact: natalievfox@hotmail.com

Paris, France

Vivamar Society-Ljubljana and Slovenija

vivamar.society@gmail.com

aurore.d.f@free.fr

Rome, Italy

Ente Nazionale Protezione Animali

Rotterdam, Netherlands

EDEV – Een DIER Een VRIEND, elisa.brongers@edev.nl

Stockholm, Sweden

Izabelle Maelan, izabelle_91@hotmail.com

Vienna, Austria

“Resistance for Peace” and Angelique Hackl

office@resistanceforpeace.org and angelique.hackl@gmx.at

MIDDLE EAST:

Israel

SaveJapanDolphins.ru

Jacob Berelman, jacob@savejapandolphins.ru

ASIA PACIFIC:

Taiji, Japan

Save Japan Dolphins

Leilani Munter, leilani@leilanimunter.com

Auckland, New Zealand

Joshua Walker-Joshuawalker@timelesshost.com

Bangkok, Thailand

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156971054323777

dolphindaydemo@gmail.com

Brisbane, Australia

Robyn Price mokie485@optusnet.com.au

Christchurch, New Zealand

Aaron Nolan, az.nolan@windowslive.com

Canberra, Australia

Karin Klaus, karinklaus@hotmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=132020196847829

Hong Kong, China

Jess Chan, jesstychan@gmail.com

Indonesia

Femke, jakartaanimalaid@gmail.com

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Dave, russellbanfield@sbcglobal.net

Melbourne, Australia

Haans Silver, hsiver72@bigpond.com

Perth, Australia

Melinda Reilly, melindareilly@iprimus.com.au

Philippines

Trixie (EII)-, eiiphils@gmail.com

Sydney, Australia

Naomi Wong, creamriceking@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123220707732441

Wellington, New Zealand

Jarna Hamilton, j_arna@hotmail.com

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN:

Argentina

Wild Earth Foundation

Bahamas

EARTHCARE

sam@reearth.org

Mexico City

SophreEarth-ie Cortina-sophiecortina@mac.com

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Jorge Perez and Aliança International do Animal ”AILA”-jorge@g3turismo.com.br and amadu10@terra.com.br

AFRICA:

Cape Town, South Africa

Bahia Fitchen- bahiafitchen@yahoo.com

Nigeria, Africa

Nigeria SPCA (Emmanuel Eyoh), nigveganimal@yahoo.com

Egypt’s Taiji Four in a New Tank; Fight Continues Against the Dolphinarium

2010-10-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry

Campaign Director

Save Japan Dolphins

Earth Island Institute

Wagby Saad, the owner of the four dolphins imported from Taiji (“The Taiji Four”) to Hurghada, Egypt, has finally transferred them to a somewhat bigger new tank (as opposed to his backyard swimming pool). It remains to be seen whether they will survive, as we believe they are not very healthy. The new tank is literally in the middle of the Eastern Sahara desert, open to dust, heat and UV radiation.

New dolphin tank in the Egyptian desert, under construction.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson.

Lincoln O’Barry and photographer Kate Tomlinson stayed up all night on the roof of a villa near the dolphin owner’s home, to capture the transfer of the dolphins to the new tank (and make sure the owner did not pull some trick). I was allowed inside the owner’s home to observe and represent HEPCA. Besides two disgruntled Mexican dolphin trainers and a vet, there was an ex-military Russian dolphin trainer (who seemed to be in charge) and a Russian vet. Dolphin trafficking is truly an international scam.

The three thugs who attacked us on two separate occasions were also present. Their attack pit bull was missing. When I asked about the dog, they all insisted that they never had a pit bull! I was banned from taking photos inside the dolphin owner’s villa.

One of the Taiji Four in a swimming pool in Hurghada, Egypt. It’s fate and the fate of its pool mates is unknown.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson.

At the same time, new construction in the desert suggests that the owner is now building his new dolphinarium, which we strongly oppose.

HEPCA, the local Egyptian environmental organization that has been in the forefront of efforts to stop the dolphin imports and the dolphinarium, is working hard to see if they can get local authorities to halt the construction. The Taiji Four should be the last dolphins ever shipped to Hurghada, given the very strong opposition from the local community, the mayor, and the governor of the Red Sea.

Amr Ali, Executive Director of HEPCA, gave me a Red Sea Defender award for my help to them in opposing the dolphinarium and looking to the welfare of the Taiji Four.

Amr Ali, ED of HEPCA, gives Ric an award for his dolphin work in Egypt.

You can see my speech to HEPCA on YouTube:

I have to leave for now, but HEPCA will continue the fight in Egypt. They have done a tremendous job for the dolphins. As I noted in a earlier blog, they have already gained a decree by the local government banning further imports of wild-caught dolphins to this area. If you would like to help the effort, you can sign their online petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/16/stop-dolphin-captivity-in-Egypt/

This will be an ongoing story, as we do not know the fate of the Taiji Four who are now part of the Sahara desert landscape. Our hope is to see them returned to Japan and set free one day. Not in Taiji, but in a place where dolphins are respected such as Mikurajima Island.

And finally, SHAME on WAZA, (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) for not policing their own industry. You can sign on to the WAZA petition here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/stop-the-dolphin-slaughter/

Thanks for all your support. Your donations to our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign helps me go to places all around the world, including Japan and the Solomon Islands, to fight for the protection of dolphins and whales.

Good News and Not So Good News in Egypt

2010-10-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

The local Hurghada Environment Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) and I have scored a great victory here in Egypt, but the fate of four captive dolphins is still up in the air.

The good news is that the Governor of The Red Sea district of Egypt has issued a ban on all future import of dolphins, cutting off the expected import of five more Taiji dolphins to a local business building a new dolphinarium here.

Four dolphins from Taiji in small backyard swimming pool in Hurghada, Egypt.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson.

He also issued an ultimatum to the owner of four dolphins that had been imported from Taiji back in August: the dolphins must be moved to a new location that complies with national and international standards for care. We had hoped, of course, to somehow help these dolphins that are in poor health back into the wild, but so far that does not seem to be possible. The owner is now busily building a new dolphin pool in the middle of the desert to accommodate these dolphins. He has 48 hours to comply with the governor’s directive.

Ric and Lincoln O’Barry in Hurghada, Egypt.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson.

My son Lincoln and I, and our Animal Planet cameras, have been checking out the construction site. We also tried to check up on the health of the dolphins, but were stymied by the owner and his cronies. HEPCA, Lincoln, photographer Kate Tomlinson, and I were subject to threats by hired thugs – they even tried to steal our camera and set a pit bull on us!

A thug reaches for our camera in front of the home of the owner of four dolphins from Taiji.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson.

A pit bull is set on Ric in front of the home of the owner of the four dolphins from Taiji.

Photography by Lincoln O’Barry.

Ric O’Barry inspects the new dolphin pool construction in Hurghada, Egypt.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson.

HEPCA received similar treatment when they tried to visit the dolphins to have them inspected and diagnosed by Dr. Pierre Gallego. When let in alone without HEPCA support, Dr. Gallego was unable to see the dolphins in the turbid swimming pool water (essentially these dolphins are swimming in their own excrement), nor could the dolphins be caught for blood samples. HEPCA’s representatives in their cars were surrounded by the thugs and threatened with violence.

Ric O’Barry diving in the Red Sea, Egypt, checking out a potential site for dolphins with clean sea water – unfortunately, the dolphinarium company rejected it.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson.

Things are changing rapidly here, so who knows what will happen next? One thing for sure, I will file a formal complaint with the local police. We cannot allow the dolphinarium thugs to get away with these violent attacks!

HEPCA continues the fight against a long-term dolphinarium, enlisting the support of the local community, hotels, dive shops, and other tourism businesses along the Red Sea, a premier dive area. Their grassroots activism is a good model for other places around the world fighting back against keeping dolphins in captivity. I salute them and thank them for their efforts.

Tell your friends, family and neighbors to join the effort! As HEPCA has shown, the local governments can be made to listen to the public, and that is what our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign is all about – bringing grassroots pressure and education to bear against the government agencies that allow these travesties to happen.

The dolphins depend on us to protect them! I hope you will join me in supporting our Campaign efforts.

Ric In Egypt to Help Dolphins Exported from Taiji

2010-09-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry

Campaign Director

Save Japan Dolphins

Earth Island Institute

I am in Hurghada, Egypt, where four dolphins from Taiji were sent to populate a new oceanarium being built here. Unfortunately, five more dolphins have been ordered from Taiji. These dolphins are still in Taiji, and there is a chance that we can stop the export.

Ric in Egypt.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson, Sept. 2010.

The four dolphins here in the desert are in depressing conditions. They are in a small backyard swimming pool. We need to get them out of there, but it is not easy. A local organization HEPCA, that opposes all dolphinariums in Egypt, is working to block the opening of the new facility and to stop the import of wild dolphins from Taiji.

You can see a short video clip from HEPCA on this issue in Egypt in this Youtube video:

Ric checking out new excavation for a dolphin pool in Egypt.

Photography by Kate Tomlinson, Sept. 2010.

I am here to help. I have meetings with many local government officials to urge them to write to the Mayor of Taiji to stop the imports of dolphins.

More details to follow.

Divers Attempt to Free Captive Dolphins in Taiji

2010-09-29T19:58:00.001-07:00

By Ric O’Barry

Save Japan Dolphins

Earth Island Institute

An organization called “The Black Fish”, based in Germany, is claiming responsibility for cutting nets in six holding pens in Taiji harbor, attempting to free the captive dolphins being held for aquariums. Local Shingu police claim the cuts in the nets were too small for any dolphins to actually escape.

We are working to verify the situation. The Japan Fisheries Agency will certainly try to portray the dolphin killers as sympathetic characters being harassed and violated by “extremist” Westerners.

We have no connection to “The Black Fish”, and we intend to continue our job of reaching the Japanese public with the message that the dolphin killing and related captures must stop. Based on this incident, it is likely that the situation in Taiji will get more dangerous.

Hans Peter Roth with our Save Japan Dolphins Team at the Cove in Taiji, Sept. 27, 2010.

Meanwhile our Save Japan Dolphins team member Hans Peter Roth reports from Taiji that due to stormy weather, no dolphin hunts have taken place for the past week. For now, the infamous Cove remains free of any dolphins. But we cannot depend on the weather, or rare incidents of cutting nets, to keep the Cove empty of dolphins for good.

That is up to you and me and our continuing efforts in Japan. We won’t quit until we succeed.

Hans Peter Roth at the Cove in Taiji, Sept. 27, 2010.

Defiance In Japan -- first dolphin kill at Taiji

2010-09-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

by Ric O’Barry

Campaign Director

Save Japan Dolphins

Earth Island Institute

It’s with a heavy heart that I write today’s post. Despite all our efforts and despite the worldwide condemnation of the cruel dolphin slaughter, the Japanese government remains defiant and has allowed the first dolphin kill of this season at Taiji.

This defies all logic, both because of the brutal inhumane abuse of dolphins and because it is now proved that the dolphin meat is poison -- containing dangerous levels of mercury.

Throughout the first month of the season several captures have taken place with select dolphins retained for export to zoos and aquariums. The rest of the pod were released back into the wild. However, a few days ago one group of 15 Risso's dolphins was brutally killed and taken to the slaughterhouse.

I can't tell you how angry this makes me. And I know it makes you angry, too. Many of you will be frustrated, but I don’t want you to lose hope. I also am more convinced than ever that our campaign to generate worldwide pressure for an end to the slaughter is right and must succeed.

We must be vigilant and turn up the heat. The Japan government's defiance must not be allowed to stand.

Change does not happen overnight, and we have only just started to get the word out to the Japanese people.

We are working to keep people on the ground in Taiji to monitor the Cove and report back to the world. Take a look at this video done by one of our dedicated volunteers, Leilani Münter:

We are also ramping up efforts with our Japanese distributor to get thousands of copies of the Japanese version of the movie The Cove into the hands of the Japanese public so that they can build pressure internally.

Recently several Japanese people who have seen The Cove or heard about our work have begun coming to Taiji for the first time ever – our Save Japan Dolphins Team members there have been talking with them. They want to understand just what is happening there, and this is a very positive step. The Japanese people themselves can end the slaughter, especially if the Japan government can no longer hide the killing from them.

One of our volunteers in Tokyo recently interviewed several people about The Cove and the dolphin slaughter – she found all of them had now heard about the issue, quite a change from just a few months ago when nobody knew anything about the dolphin hunts.

US President Barack Obama is going to Japan in November. We are moving quickly to get him and his administration to urge attention to this matter. We'll provide more details on this in the days ahead.

If you can donate to help this work continue, it is most appreciated. Go to:

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/donate.php

Check out our blog for more details of the Save Japan Dolphin Day activities on October 14th and other updates.

Thanks for your help and continued effort to make the waters safe for dolphins.

Thanks!

Leilani Münter’s Youtube Japan Dolphins Trip

2010-09-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry

Campaign Director

Save Japan Dolphins

Earth Island Institute

One of the participants in our recent week of great events in Tokyo was Leilani Münter. Leilani is part Japanese, part German, and one of our most enthusiastic and delightful volunteers. She also races NASCAR, using only green companies as sponsors, and is involved in developing a new TV series.

Leilani and her husband, Craig (who we learned is called “Kiwi” for his New Zealand homeland), have put together a great Youtube slide show about their experiences in Tokyo and Taiji with Save Japan Dolphins. She used a new song, “Whales Can Sing”, by Duncan Walsh and the Watanabes, a music group based in Japan who is also helping us out. Check out this great show:

You can watch Leilani race her car (and spot our Save Japan Dolphins logo on her car and her racing suit) in the US at the Kansas Speedway on the SPEED Channel on Sept 30 at 4pm EST. She will be driving the #59 Operation Free racecar in the ARCA race (it will be the only car with decals of wind turbines and solar panels on it!).

And she will be, by the way, the only woman in that race.

We met many wonderful people from around the world during these events in Japan, and we will be introducing more of them to you in future Blogs. We also hope many of you will join us for upcoming events.

Ric O’Barry flanked by Leilani Münter and Craig “Kiwi” Davidson in Tokyo.

Photo by Mark J. Palmer.

For more on Leilani, go to: http://leilanimunter.com/EcoDreamNeverKnow

Join Us for the Dolphins on October 14th!

2010-09-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

This is a special invitation for you to join our worldwide Save Japan Dolphins Day rallies around the world in front of Embassies and Consulates of the government of Japan.

When: Thursday, October 14th, Noon to 2 PM.

Where: In front of Embassies and Consulates of the Government of Japan around the world.

Go to this link to find the nearest rally, or start one of your own. E-mail the contact person to get information about the event and to see how you can help:

http://www.savelolita.com/2010/09/07/japan-dolphin-day-miami-protest-for-whales-and-dolphins/

Here are the locations of International Japanese Embassies & Consulates:

http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

If you would like to host a rally in your city, contact:

Shelby Proie, Shelby@savelolita.com

What: Save Japan Dolphins Day

A worldwide peaceful and lawful protest of the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan, as depicted in the Academy Award winning documentary The Cove and the Animal Planet series Blood Dolphins. The Japanese government issues 23,000 permits annually to coastal communities to kill dolphins of several species. A few are sold, at great profit, to aquariums and swim-with-dolphins programs around the world. The captive dolphin industry subsidizes the slaughter. The majority of the pod is then slaughtered for meat. But the meat is contaminated with outrageous amounts of mercury and other pollutants, exceeding the Japanese government’s own health limits. This is a human rights issue as much as an animal welfare issue.

Demonstrations will be going on throughout the world in front of Japanese embassies and consulates on October 14th. Please join your fellow environmentalists and animal activists in protesting the hunts and urging Japan to switch to more sustainable and benign methods of profit, such as eco-tourism and dolphin-watching cruises (ironically becoming more popular in Japan every year).

Please join us in protesting the dolphin slaughter.

Please pass this information on to your own network of friends and relatives. Spread the word!

For more information on the issue, you can go to our website:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

Thanks for coming out and supporting Save Japan Dolphins Day!

The Latest from Taiji: More Dolphins Released

2010-09-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Hans Peter Roth and Kyoko Tanaka, members of our Save Japan Dolphins Team from, respectively, Switzerland and Japan, are in Taiji now, checking the activity in the infamous Cove.

Hans Peter Roth at the Cove in Taiji.

Photo by Kyoko Tanaka, Sept. 12, 2010.

Three days ago, they watched as a pod of nine Risso’s dolphins were herded into the Cove. Once again, five were kept for captivity purposes and transferred to pens at the Taiji Whale Museum, and four were released back. The “no-kill” policy we have seen so far this season, since Sept. 1st, has held. But will it continue to hold?

Hans Peter reports:

“There is no Sunday holiday for dolphin hunters. If the weather is right and the sea is calm, out they go in their thirteen boats for the hunt. Just like yesterday, the 12th of September. Banging on pipes they thrust into the water, they drove about fifty-to-sixty bottlenose dolphins into the Cove. This is by far the largest catch of dolphins this season up to now. So far, at least a dozen or more dolphins have been pulled from their families to be put in captivity.

“Kyoko and I have been on location to document and count. So have other organizations, and so have the police to watch over things. (Ric talked with the police via my computer on Skype from Miami: He offered to show them his passport, which got a laugh from the police.)

Police at the Cove in Taiji.

Photo by Hans Peter Roth, Sept. 13, 2010.

“Yesterday, we were also joined by a new group of the ultra-nationalists in their black cars, so things are tense with all the crowd on the beach watching the dolphin trainers and the dolphin killers at work. The nationalists have been blasting us with their loudspeakers, complaining about us (like “Americans should apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki” and claims “The Cove” movie is “anti-Japanese”). But the police presence should be enough to avoid problems – they are as always very professional and fair. They escorted us to our rental car when we temporarily left to re-charge batteries.”

Bottlenose dolphins behind nets in the Cove at Taiji. About 15 were kept for captivity; the rest were released and herded back to sea.

Photo by Kyoko Tanaka, September 12, 2010.

Late on Monday afternoon, Hans Peter and Kyoko reported that the remaining dolphins in the pod, held since Sunday, were finally released back into the wild. About fifteen of their family members – mostly young females – will spend the rest of their lives in small aquariums and/or swim-with-dolphins programs.

Hans Peter reports:

“I returned alone to the cove about 2 pm. Things had completely quieted down. The nationalists had gone. But still five police cars were parked there. I had come not a moment too soon. Fishermen were just about to open the last, outermost net that had sealed off the Cove, as I unpacked the camera. Six hunting boats took position outside the cove. At first the bottlenose dolphins did not realize that they were free. Then they did and started taking off slowly, then ever faster. The hunting boats started driving them out to sea in a sort of reverse drive hunt, but not as violently as they had driven them in the day before. In the end the dolphins were just literally flying towards the open ocean, thrashing up a lot of white water. This could be seen for miles before they disappeared towards the horizon.“

The “no-kill” policy continues to be in effect in Taiji.

You can help by signing our online petitions, and getting your friends and family to sign as well. We are already at 1.8 million signatures and counting. If you are on Facebook, you can sign:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/252

For those who have trouble signing on Facebook, we have another petition at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/724/210/624/

Thanks to all of you for your support of our Campaign. Your donations help us field people like Kyoko and Hans Peter at the Cove to report to us the status of the dolphin hunts. We are also planning our next rounds of events and media activities to spread the truth in Japan about the dolphin hunts.

I’ll be going back to Japan soon, as will other members of our Save Japan Dolphins Team, so stay tuned here to find out the latest on our continuing efforts to end the dolphin slaughter.

Update from Taiji and a Talk to the Media in Tokyo

2010-09-07T22:08:00.001-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

According to our volunteers in Taiji, on Sunday the dolphin drive boats went out and found ten bottlenose dolphins, which were herded into the Bay near Taiji. One major change from previous trips (an alternative which some of our people observed towards the end of last year’s season in March 2010): There is a floating dock with sea pens in the middle of the Bay, well away from the Cove depicted in the documentary. It appears that the fishermen, in order to elude hidden cameras, are now using this floating dock for dolphins.

On Monday morning, reportedly five dolphins were kept for captivity and the remaining five were released back into freedom, a partial victory for us as the “no kill” policy appears to remain in effect.

But as we saw last year, this “no kill” policy is unlikely to remain in place. We must continue our efforts to keep the pressure on the dolphin killers and the Japanese government to end the slaughters and all of the dolphin captures once and for all.

A Good Showing at the FCCJ:

I was made an honorary member of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan when I was in Tokyo last year. So on Monday, I addressed a luncheon there of foreign and Japanese correspondents about the dolphin slaughter and our efforts last week, and gave them a peek at the new Animal Planet TV series, “Blood Dolphins”, produced and directed by my son, Lincoln O’Barry.

I was pleased by the reaction in the Japanese media. Stories about my talk were accurate and gave me a good forum for talking to the Japanese people about the slaughter. There were tough questions, but apparently the Japanese media liked my responses. The “confrontation” approach of “Us vs. Them” of previous media stories was gone.

Ric O’Barry addresses the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan on Sept. 6th.
Photo by Miyuki Takamatsu.

Here is a good example in English on the “Japan Today” website.

This is why I have avoided confronting the Japanese dolphin killers or breaking Japanese laws. It is easy to break such laws, but doing so damages your credibility beyond repair among mainstream Japanese. I have worked hard to get the Japanese media to understand that I am not condemning the Japanese people nor Japan’s culture. I am only condemning the slaughter of dolphins, and I believe I have positive alternatives, such as ecotourism, to offer the people of Taiji and other communities in Japan that still slaughter dolphins.

A number of our volunteers this past week in Tokyo, for example, went down to the coastal village of Futo and went dolphin-watching with Mr. Ishi, a former dolphin hunter who now runs an ecotourism business. Futo fishermen used to slaughter thousands of dolphins, but have not caught any since 2004. Mr. Ishi has shown the way for dolphin killers to become dolphin lovers, without anywhere near the labor required to herd and slaughter the mammals.

I hope the Japanese media is beginning to “get it” – Japanese local communities can benefit far more from eco-tourism, sustainable fishing practices, and being open to foreign visitors than they can from running secretive dolphin-killing ventures. And Japan can avoid another Minamata-style disaster with mercury poisoning if it stops the sale of contaminated dolphin meat.

Phone Calls Jam Japan Embassy Lines:

Last week, while I was leading our volunteers and talking to the Japanese media about the dolphin hunts and presenting 1.7 million signatures to the US Embassy in Tokyo, our Save Japan Dolphins Team launched an online campaign for our Facebook supporters, urging them to call the Japanese Embassy in Washington DC and other countries.

They flooded the US Embassy and also called Embassies and Consulates in New York, Seattle, Ottawa, London, Nashville and Denmark, and others I'm sure. Our team stressed that they be polite and respectful, and some reported that they had nice conversations - at least one person at a Japanese Embassy had no idea of the hunts and was appalled to hear about it!

This is the kind of combined outside pressure and inside pressure that will, together, end the dolphin hunts in Japan. No government can long withstand this level of opposition to their basic policies that hurt their own people. We can end this dolphin slaughter by pledging to remain active until it stops and never give up.

Ric’s autograph.
Photo by Miyuki Takamatsu.

My thanks and the thanks of our whole Save Japan Dolphins Team to all those who called the Embassies and Consulates. If you have not done so yet, I urge you to do so now and politely ask them to end the dolphin hunts in Japan.

Earth Island Volunteers in Taiji -- Dolphins Released; None Slaughtered!

2010-09-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

by Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

We have several small, but I think, significant victories today to report.

I chose not to go to Taiji this trip in order not to inflame an intense situation and give the Japan media an excuse to focus on the controversy rather than the true issues. The first part of our mission was to make the world and especially the Japanese people aware that the annual dolphin slaughter has begun once again. After all, the media is based here in Tokyo, not in Taiji. It is very difficult to get the media, especially Japanese media, to travel to the remote, isolated location of Wakayama Prefecture, about a 7-hour train ride from Tokyo.

Ric at a Shinto Shrine near Tokyo.
Photo (c) Mark J. Palmer

Our strategy has proven extremely successful, as our efforts in Tokyo have been featured on international wire services. Every major media outlet in Japan covered our presentation of 1.7 million signatures to the US Embassy on Thursday. Just as important, the Japanese media reported our work as respectful of the Japanese people, building the foundations for our Campaign's success. In the past, they have emphasized confrontation rather than our very careful approach to the issues. Our fight is not with the people of Japan. We have turned up the heat in Japan and turned another corner in getting positive media coverage, thwarting the Japan Fisheries Agency's efforts to paint us as the enemy.

Now, millions of people in Japan are hearing, most for the first time, about the dolphin slaughter, precisely what the Japan Fisheries Agency has successfully covered up in this country for decades. (But we are still having trouble conveying the dangers of mercury poisoning, which is a major part of our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign opposing the dolphin killing in Japan. So far, the media in Japan has done little to convey this important information to Japanese consumers.)

Impromptu demonstration to Save Japan Dolphins at Shibuya Station, Tokyo.
Photo (c) Mark J. Palmer

If enough people around the world and in Japan learn about this barbaric and anachronistic dolphin slaughter, we can stop it once and for all.

Canned whale meat in our hotel vending machine in Tokyo.
Photo(c) Mark J. Palmer

But, despite our Tokyo focus, we have not neglected the dolphins in Taiji. On Sept. 1st, the first day of the hunt season, the dolphin drive boats went out, but returned without any dolphins. On Sept. 2nd, though, the fishermen herded 20 dolphins into Taiji. It looked like another tragedy was unfolding.

Fourteen of our volunteers here with us in Tokyo went down to Taiji, and are still there on the ground, watching and walking around town. The decision was their's to go -- we did not encourage them and informed them of the dangers and advised them of their best steps. We will have other watchers down in Taiji during the seven-month hunt season this year.

Once our volunteers arrived on the afternoon of Sept. 3rd, Taiji was oddly like a ghost town. At the notorious Cove, several of our volunteers were questioned by police who showed up in minutes. But, as usual, the police were very professional and, once questions were answered and they warned against breaking any laws, they left our volunteers alone. Several volunteers asked if they could go up to Tsunami Park, which overlooks the killing Cove from the movie. At first the police said no, but finally agreed to let them go. Our volunteers, up on the overlook of the killing Cove, saw no dolphins nor was there any blood around. Several friends arrived a bit later and reported the same thing -- polite police, no dolphin killers, and no dolphins.

What happened to the dolphins caught the day before?

We learned later that apparently our Campaign and the intense media scrutiny was too much. Several dolphins were kept by the fishermen and the Taiji Whale Museum for captive purposes. They will be condemned to a life of imprisonment away from their families. But the fishermen released the majority of the dolphins on Sept. 3rd.

There was no dolphin slaughter, and no blood was shed in the Cove.

The drive boats went out this morning, but again came back without any dolphins.

If you wil recall, the Taiji fishermen did the same thing last year in the two months or so of the dolphin-hunting season. Our Save Japan Dolphins Team were in Taiji, and the fishermen caught a large number of bottlenose dolphins and then released them, after keeping several for captivity.

Now, we know that last year the fishermen eventually returned to killing and butchering other species, such as pilot whales, Risso's dolphins, false killer whales, and others, including some bottlenose dolphins. We believe our Campaign pressure reduced the total number of dolphins killed in the Cove that year, but we are not sure. The kill statistics are held closely by the Japanese Fisheries Agency, which has so far refused to release them to our Japanese partners. But the killing still continued last year, and we believe the killing will continue again this season, likely once the interest of the media dies down.

We also had a nice little victory for whales yesterday. One of our volunteers, Craig Davidson (whom we all call "Kiwi" from New Zealand and husband of the lovely NASCAR driver Leilani Munter), found canned whale meat for sale in the vending machines in our hotel lobby. On Thursday night, we bought two cans and gave them to Boyd Harnell, a reporter with "The Japan Times", to have them tested. Then on Friday morning, Mark Berman of our Save Japan Dolphins Team went to the hotel management to tell them about the whale meat, complain about its presence, and that it was a potential problem if American visitors tried to bring some back to the US (a violation of the US Endangered Species Act). A bit to our surprise, the hotel management immediately took out all the remaining cans of whale meat in the machine and said they would talk to the vendor who owned the machine. Hopefully, the meat will be rejected in the future by the hotel! One of our volunteers here in Japan will be checking back periodically to make sure the whale meat stays out.

It is a small step, but shows that individuals can have an impact, even in whale-eating Japan!

My deepest thanks to all our volunteers, including those who went down to Taiji under difficult and potentially dangerous conditions. They are a brave bunch, and I love them all.

And thanks again to all our donors who made this trip possible. You have really helped with these crucial next steps in our Campaign. We have a couple of small victories here in Japan -- we hope you share our joy in them, and that you are with us in seeing this Campaign through to the end.

You can help: Click Here to Donate

Major Media Coverage of 1.7 Million Signatures in Tokyo!

2010-09-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

by Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Today was our big day to make a splash in the media in Tokyo about protecting dolphins. And we succeeded.

We have kept our presence fairly quiet up until yesterday, Sept. 1st, the start of the bloody dolphin hunting season. We needed to keep a low profile in order to avoid pulling out the extreme nationalist groups in protest. While the threat of violence is very low here in Tokyo, the major problem would be us all getting kicked out of our hotel. The nationalist groups make a lot of noise with bullhorns and trucks with loudspeakers, and they basically make life unlivable for Japanese people. They could cause a lot of grief to our hotel, and the hotel would in turn blame us. (Indeed, we already have run into several problems with our hotel. For example, we had planned on having interviews with media in my room, but that was canceled when the hotel staff found out what we were doing. Now I have to go to TV studios or do press interviews in coffee shops around the area, rather than stay in my hotel)

So today, we began by bringing all our international volunteers to a plaza near the US Embassy. The Japanese police, charged with protecting the Embassy, would not let us get too close with our crowd, but we had TV cameras and print journalists from all the major Tokyo media outlets, so our message went out nationally today to the people of Japan. Our volunteers from around the world, holding flags representing the 151 countries from which we garnered 1.7 million signatures on our online petitions, were lined up. Several held strands of origami dolphins prepared by artist Peggy Oki, and we also had several inflated dolphin balloons for the cameras. I unfurled our long petition -- about 15 feet long -- for the cameras.

I told the dozens of reporters that we were here to ask the Obama Administration to help end the killing of dolphins. The Obama folks can talk to their counterparts in the Japanese government, telling them just how damaging the dolphin hunt is. I urged President Obama, when he comes to Japan in November, to talk to the new Japanese Prime Minister about dolphins and mercury. The government of Japan must take care of its natural biological heritage as well as the health of its people.

(The government in Japan is in flux now with elections coming in two short weeks. For this reason, our partner organizations in Japan advised us to hold off trying to present our petition to the Japanese Ministry of Health (which handles issues of food contamination) and the Ministry of Fisheries. We will go to them when the time is right, and we will have many more signers on our petitions by then.)

I was then escorted by the Tokyo Police, with media following along across the street, up to the US Embassy, along with volunteers Alyson Richards and Melissa Carbonne (who work with Hollywood celebrities in support of environmental issues), NASCAR driver Leilani Munter (who only accepts green sponsors for her winning race cars), and my colleague from Earth Island, Mark J. Palmer, with his ever-present camera.

With me went our beautiful "nobori" (a traditional Japanese banner) with dolphins and the name of our campaign in Japanese. It really stood out. Earlier we had asked supporters to help us come to Japan and get their name printed on the nobori so they could come with me in spirit. For all of you who donated, I thank you for your support and wanted you to know that your names went with me up to the gates of the US Embassy in Tokyo. Someday, hopefully soon, your names will go with me to Japan in celebration of the end of the dolphin hunts.

In front of the gates of the embassy, I met Mr. Bruce Howard, Counselor for Science, Environment and Health, representing the American Ambassador. He accepted our petition, as I urged him to see that it gets to the President. (We plan to follow up with a similar ceremony in Washington DC, to present the petitions to the White House and the Japan Embassy.)

Our three volunteers each then talked with Mr. Howard. telling him their own story of why they had come half-way around the world to be here with me in Tokyo. We are here to protect the lives of dolphins and to protect the lives of the people of Japan from mercury poisoning.

Afterwards, I was whisked away by a cab to do an hour interview with CBS News.

Was it worth it? I think it was. We educated millions of Japanese people who read the papers and watch the television news. With "The Cove" still showing in theaters in Japan, more and more people are learning the truth about the dolphin hunts.

There's more. We just heard from our Japanese friends that the extreme nationalist groups, that had been building up to confront us in Taiji this year and who almost blocked "The Cove" movie from being screened in Japan, have announced on their web page that they will no longer actively protest "The Cove" or Ric O'Barry in order to focus on other priorities in Japan.

And while the dolphin hunters of Taiji failed to find any dolphins yesterday, they did reportedly find 20 bottlenose dolphins offshore and herded them into the Cove this morning. But we further heard that, while they kept several (as many as ten?) for the aquarium trade, they released the rest as they did last year. None were butchered for meat. We are working to confirm this claim.

We of course do not want to get our hopes too high -- we do expect dolphins and small whales to be butchered in the Cove, and the process of chasing and netting-in the dolphins is extremely damaging to dolphins (they die of capture stress and get entangled in the nets and drown), the news that once again the dolphin hunters decided, in the glare of publicity, to release some dolphins is a good sign for us.

But we cannot give up. This kind of victory is fleeting, and we will not rest until the killing stops for good.

Again, my thanks to all our volunteers who traveled here to be with me on behalf of the dolphins. Thanks especially to Leilani, Alyson and Melissa, who spoke to the US Embassy from their hearts today on behalf of dolphins. We cannot ignore their message -- 1.7 million people, so far, have supported their message. Our campaign to Save Japan Dolphins will only grow and grow, and we will stop the killing, that I guarantee.

Our Japanese Partners' Heartfelt Support for Dolphins

2010-09-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

by Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

We know what is bad about the dolphin killing going on in Japan. But today, we heard a lot about the good side. Here in Tokyo with our Save Japan Dolphins Team and 70 volunteers from the US, England, Hong Kong, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, Japan, and Australia, we met this evening with our partners in Japan. And we were overwhelmed by their love of dolphins and their concern for protection of dolphins.

Our volunteers are here to represent the 1.7 million people around the world, including from Japan, who have signed our online petitions to save the dolphins. It is a message we heard loud and clear in Tokyo.

One of our keynote speakers was my friend and colleague, Masato Sakano of Circlet, Japan's leading film expert on dolphins and whales. He was also a key production person on our "Blood Dolphin$" TV series shoot in Japan. He showed us some beautiful underwater footage of swimming with wild dolphins in Japan's waters, just a short distance from Tokyo. He encouraged us all to go dolphin-watching while we are here in Japan. Masato-san said, "When we capture dolphins, we deprive them of two important things. One is their family. The other is their sense of hearing." I could not have said it better myself. We owe a great deal to the people of Japan like Masato, who treasure dolphins and whales as much as we do. He has worked hard for many years under very difficult conditions to document and publicize the plight of dolphins here.

Also attending was my new friend Mr. Kunio Suzuki, who is a leader of the conservative movement in Japan. He was one of the first people in Japan to speak out against those who criticized "The Cove" movie without first seeing it. He spoke to us tonight about Japanese culture -- if killing dolphins in Taiji is part of Japanese culture, how come he knew nothing about it? He thanked me and "The Cove" for bringing this important issue to the attention of the people of Japan. I responded by stating that if Mr. Suzuki and I can reach common ground on this issue, then there is truly hope for the dolphins.

Today was the first day of the dolphin hunting season in Taiji. We understand the boats went out, but were unable to see any dolphins to drive into the Cove. Over the next six months, the dolphin hunts may go on, but we will not rest -- Japanese and Westerners alike -- until the dolphin hunts end once and for all.

Thank you, one and all, for being a part of this effort. Special thanks to our many supporters who left behind their lives, their loved ones, and spent their own money to join me in Tokyo on behalf of the dolphins. They are very special people!

Event at US Embassy in Tokyo for the Dolphins 9/2/2010 at 9 AM

2010-08-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

by Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

I am here in Tokyo on Sept. 1st, the official start of the dolphin hunting season.

Tomorrow, Sept. 2nd, at 9 AM in the morning, myself and 50 volunteers from around the world will go to the US Embassy here in Tokyo to symbolically present 1.7 million signatures from 151 countries to the Ambassador of the United States in Japan.

We are representing you -- all the people who signed on our Facebook and Take Part petitions for the dolphins over the past few months.

We have people here from Toronto, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Switzerland, the UK, Hong Kong, and Australia. They all have a passion to protect dolphins and to stop the dolphin slaughter. That is our message to the US Ambassador, and that is the message to the media here in Japan.

Thank you all, especially our volunteers here in Tokyo with me, for being here with us today!

We Are Canceling Our Plans in Taiji for Sept. 1st

2010-08-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

For several important reasons, we have decided to cancel our plans in Taiji, Japan for Sept. 1st.

Most importantly, we received word that extreme nationalist groups are set to confront us in Taiji. Our work in Japan has never been about confrontation. We believe we are making progress by bringing the truth to the people of Japan about the dolphin slaughter and about mercury-poisoned dolphin meat in markets. We will not play the game that the nationalist groups want us to play – we will not have it become “us versus them”, a battle between dolphin hunters with their militant nationalist supporters and the foreigners who want to ruin Japan’s culture.

The militant nationalist groups may gather as they like in Taiji; we will be elsewhere in Japan, talking to the media, explaining the problem, and making sure the public understands that we are not there to fight, but to heal. Most of the Japanese people will be sympathetic to our message.

"We" are now more than 1.6 million people from 153 countries. Our Save Japan Dolphins Team will be on the ground in Japan on September 1st to voice our opposition to the annual dolphin slaughter, and we will do that in a peaceful and respectful manner.

I know some will be disappointed, but I really think we can do better elsewhere than Taiji at this time. Please know that I’m not concerned about my own safety; however many supporters are planning to join us, and I won’t risk their well being.

We will not abandon the dolphins in trouble in Taiji and other fishing villages. In fact, moving the event will allow us to show the full scope of the problem. Several other communities along the coast of Japan have dolphin kills, although most have abandoned the drive fishery that was depicted in The Cove. Most dolphins in Japan are harpooned offshore from small boats. And there is also the broader issue of captivity. We would like to discuss these issues in a neutral, conflict-fee environment.

Thanks for your understanding. To follow our next steps in Japan, I invite you to check my blog.

Watch Ric & Lincoln O’Barry on Animal Planet’s Blood Dolphins

2010-08-04T23:35:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

I’m pleased to announce that a new television series, Blood Dolphins, will start on August 27th on Animal Planet. My son Lincoln is the director of this mini-series on the efforts of Earth Island Institute and me around the world to protect dolphins.

The first show airs on Animal Planet on Friday, August 27th at 11 PM EST/PST, following the season finale of Paul Watson’s Whale Wars.

Lincoln and I and our small Save Japan Dolphins crew go back to Taiji for the first time since the release of The Cove movie. At first, the mission appears to work – the hunt is delayed, and a covert swim to the Cove itself shows no apparent preparations to resume the slaughter. But after we leave, we hear that dolphins have again been herded into the killing cove, and we return, this time undercover, to see what is happening in Taiji, the little town with the big secret.

On August 29th, The Cove movie itself will be shown on Animal Planet for the first TV screening in the US. This will be a chance for many to see The Cove for the first time. It airs at 9 PM EST/PST.

On Fridays, Sept. 3rd and 10th, Blood Dolphins will air at 9 PM. These next two shows feature our efforts in the Solomon Islands to protect dolphins and stop trafficking in wild dolphins.

In recent years, the Solomon Islands has emerged as a major crossroads in the blood trade in wild dolphins. Dolphin dealing is legal there and has sparked a gold rush among poverty stricken indigenous tribes who have hunted dolphins for centuries and who use dolphin teeth as a form of currency. For Lincoln and I, a mission to The Solomon Islands brings intrigue and danger, as well as high hopes. The most prominent dealer in the islands – a long time dolphin nemesis named Chris Porter – has made overtures to Earth Island, claiming he is ready to quit the business. It could be the opening we need to shut down the captive trade. But to make it pay off, our Save Japan Dolphins team must face down a rival dealer and broker a deal with the native dolphin hunters to stop killing dolphins.

Part Two continues in the Solomon Islands, where our delicate negotiations with the dolphin hunting villages are nearly derailed when a letter signed by several chiefs and parliament members is made public. The letter contains a clear warning that Lincoln and I and our entire team should stay away from the island of Malaita. Soon, however, Lincoln and I discover the letter is a hoax. We proceed to the island and finally enter into an historic agreement with one of the villages to stop hunting dolphins. It is a rare, tangible victory in the fight to save dolphins.

Of course, these showings will also be repeated on Animal Planet later in the year.

This will be an exciting series, and will showcase our work to protect dolphins to the whole world.

Dolphins at the Fuji Rock Festival

2010-07-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Campaign
Earth Island Institute

Thousands of Japanese young people attending the Fuji Rock Festival in the mountains near Tokyo will learn about the plight of Japan’s dolphins, thanks to our Japanese friends.

You see, the young in Japan are the key to protecting dolphins and whales in the future. The new generation knows dolphins from TV and movies (including ironically, my “Flipper” TV show, which is still very popular in Japan), and they support a growing whale- and dolphin-watching tourism industry along the coast of Japan. Most do not even know that dolphins are being killed in Japan.

An estimated crowd of 120,000+ will attend the Fuji Rock Festival, July 30th, 31st and August 1st, with eight stages over several acres at a ski resort on the slopes of Mt. Fuji, featuring bands like Roxie Music, John Fogarty, Ken Yokoyama, Massive Attack, and a long list of other bands, large and small, Japanese and American. The largest stage can accommodate 40,000 people.

Our friends in Japan are organizing a Peace March in Taiji for the weekend of Sept. 4th, and, thanks to your support, they will have a booth at the Fuji Rock Festival and will be handing out 2,000 copies of the edited Cove DVD (the 15-minute subtitled version you can find on our home page at the bottom). They will also have thousands of leaflets to invite people to the Sept. Peace March to Taiji. Many of us will be joining that March as part of our stay in Taiji beginning on Sept. 1st, the start of the six-month dolphin hunt season.

For further information on the Fuji Rock Festival, go to the Festival website:

It has been very difficult for people in Japan to stand up publicly against the dolphin killing. Both the government and extreme Nationalist groups make taking a public stand an intimidating prospect. We are proud that we have friends in Japan who are willing to work with us to seek a solution to the dolphin hunts, once and for all. At the same time, they agree with us that our presence in Taiji in September will emphasize the positive alternatives for eco-tourism and dolphin-watching opportunities for visitors.

Your donations make our efforts to protect the dolphins and whales of Japan possible. We are making tremendous in-roads into Japan, thanks to your help. But we still have a long way to go. Please consider making a donation today.

And thank you, one and all, for all your help! We really appreciate it.

CELEBRATE JAPAN DOLPHINS DAY IN TAIJI, JAPAN SEPTEMBER 1st, 2010

2010-07-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

Earth Island Institute and the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign are heading back to Taiji, Japan Wednesday Sept. 1st, 2010 to celebrate “Dolphin Day”.

September 1st marks the beginning of the annual six-month dolphin kill and Save Japan Dolphins Campaign Director Ric O’Barry has made a pledge to return to Taiji to keep our eyes on this tragic situation. Rather than protest, our goal is to deliver a positive message of support for the many good things that are possible in Taiji. We support efforts to develop sustainable eco-tourism for Taiji and the surrounding area. Eco-tourism provides jobs, and in many places around the world there is a growing recognition of the value and importance of living dolphins and whales offshore. Imagine if instead of allowing a small group of Taiji fisherman to continue the dolphin kill, Taiji residents took the public on dolphin and whale watching cruises.

Nantucket in America’s New England was once a whaling town, but now thrives as a vacation resort that attracts people from all over the US. We hope Taiji can find alternatives to end the annual drive hunts for dolphins and the sale of mercury-laden dolphin meat to the public.

So pack your bags! Taiji is beautiful at this time of year. Plan to spend some time in this coastal resort town and countryside. Bring your family and your friends to share this experience. There are plenty of opportunities for walking and hiking, boating, several historic temples and religious shrines nearby.

Logistics:

We have no specific plans for the day, except to show up and enjoy the National Park at the Cove. Bring a picnic lunch and expect to spend the day on the gravel beach. As emphasized above, there is no protest and we will avoid any confrontations.

We are also working on plans for a Peace March to be conducted over the historic pilgrims trail into Taiji. This is a very strenuous walk that will require advance preparation. More details will be available soon about this event.

Travel:

Please contact us if you think you will be able to join us. We will try to assist with information on travel directions and options. Emails should be sent to mjrice@earthisland.org.

Also, if you know of anyone in Japan who you think should learn about our activities in Japan, please let us know!

There are many daily flights into the Japanese airports of Tokyo (Narita Airport) and Osaka. Tokyo is about 6-7 hours by train to Taiji. Osaka is about 5-6 hours by train to Taiji. You might want to arrive early in Japan for a few days before September. 1st to get over your jet lag and adjust to local time.

You can check train schedules here.

Maps of Japan and other tourist information here.

A Note of Caution:

We are gathering in Taiji to express support for the many people in Japan and throughout the world who want to see an end to the dolphin slaughter and trade. This will be a peaceful, quiet celebration of nature. We will be not be demonstrating or displaying signs of protest. It has been reported that Nationalist groups supporting a continuation of the dolphin kill will show up in Taiji on September 1st. They have been active against The Cove movie, intimidating theaters and film distributors. We do not intend any confrontation whatsoever. The Wakayama police have always acted in a professional manner and will be on hand.

We cannot be responsible for your travel, accommodations, or safety due to all of the unknown factors in this situation.

We look forward to your help and support for the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign.

MEDIA RELEASE

2010-07-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

International Marine Mammal Project

Earth Island Institute

The David Brower Center

2150 Allston Way, Suite 460

Berkeley, CA 94704

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July , 2010

CONTACTS:

Richard O’Barry, Marine Mammal Specialist

(786) 973-8618 (cell)

ricobarry@bellsouth.net

David Phillips, Director

(415) 788-3666 x145

davep@earthisland.org

BP OIL SPILL IMMINENTLY ENDANGERS

BELOVED CAPTIVE ORCA, LOLITA

AND OTHER FLORIDA CAPTIVE MARINE MAMMALS

The Gulf oil spill caused by oil giant BP is now threatening captive marine mammals, including the orca Lolita, in the Miami Seaquarium of Florida.

Recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that there was a “61%-80% chance” of the BP oil spill reaching the Florida Keys, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami by mid-August. Large clumps of weathered tar balls followed by oil-laden currents may be fast approaching, especially due to warmer winds, as a result of Hurricane Alex, among other storms.

Richard O’Barry, former dolphin and orca trainer turned marine mammal activist, and Earth Island Institute expressed deep concern about NOAA’s report, as the quickly advancing pollution may harm and even kill the dozens of captive marine creatures at the Miami Seaquarium.

O’Barry stated: “The spill is a disaster for wild dolphins and whales and now a real threat to captive ones as well.”

The Seaquarium, where O’Barry worked in the 1960’s, uses an open water system, which feeds directly from Biscayne Bay filling its numerous performing animal tanks, including that of Lolita the killer whale (orca). Opponents of captivity for marine mammals have called for Lolita’s retirement and release from her pool at the Seaquarium for years. Captured on August 8, 1970, from Penn Cove, Washington state, and sent down to Florida to perform tricks for tourists, Lolita has resided in what is the smallest and oldest orca tank in the United States. The tank is merely one-and-a-half-times her size, has garnered numerous safety violations, and does not meet US Department of Agriculture regulations.

O’Barry stated: “If the oil enters her pool through the Seaquarium’s aging filtration system from the Bay and makes contact with her sensitive skin, eyes, or enters her blowhole, it would be certain death to her and the other animals in the facility.”

Richard O’Barry, along with Earth Island Institute and many other environmental and animal welfare organizations, are formally requesting the Seaquarium to implement a rescue plan to retire a majority of their animals, including Lolita immediately.

Detailed plans have been in the works for a safe, privately funded retirement plan for Lolita since the 1990s. However, the Seaquarium has repeatedly refused to relinquish Lolita because she was a valuable asset to their park.

While the Seaquarium has already applied for a “3-5 million dollar” claim against BP to install a closed-filtration system, it is unlikely that any new system could be constructed in time for the eight large pools and tanks that would need a new filtration system. General manager Andrew Hertz realizes the situation at hand, telling JustNews Miami, "If I have damages, I've got dead animals that are irreplaceable. I need help on the front end to keep that from happening.”

While environmentalists are offering a humane, quick rescue for the Seaquarium’s animals, it is not clear that the Seaquarium will act in time to protect and save the marine mammals threatened by the approaching oil spill.

* * * * * *

Earth Island Institute works to conserve, protect and restore the Earth’s biological and cultural diversity.

The International Marine Mammal Project works to protect whales, dolphins, and their ocean habitats.

The Cove Goes Public in Japan!

2010-07-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

We did it. The Cove opened in several theaters in Japan last week! And while we are still under constant attack from extremist whose goal is to shut down theaters, the film actually sold out many showings.

A huge thank you to each one of you who helped us so much! There were countless times over the last year when I feared we’d never see the film open in Japan. It’s your support that made it possible. At almost every turn in this campaign we’ve come up against incredible obstacles, but you all got us through it. Many of you came forward - donating time, money and creative expertise. You shared your thoughts and spread the word. At absolutely every turn people not only did what they were asked, they went above and beyond.

We still have a lot to do, but together we have reached a major milestone, and I can’t thank you enough for getting us there.

My friend and a great friend of the dolphins, Louie Psihoyos, Director of The Cove, had this to say:

“Only in my wildest dreams did I believe The Cove would be screened in Japan. And I certainly never thought it would spark a nationwide debate over free speech.

“Now, the film is selling out theaters there and nearly everyone seems to know about it. I'm hopeful that once people in Japan see the movie they will understand that it is not just about saving dolphins but also humans, because all dolphin meat is toxic from what we humans are dumping into the oceans. This is not just a Japanese problem, but a worldwide problem. The bigger issue is that we are poisoning the oceans not only for the wild, but for ourselves and future generations.

“The biggest benefit of “The Cove” may be that it opened up doors for other points of view that could not be heard up until now. In that way, the film is already a great success. And for that, I can’t thank you enough. Every one of you has helped to make my dreams come true.”

My thanks go to Louie and the entire Cove Team who worked so hard for so long to get this film made and out to the public!

Read more about The Cove opening here, further proof that we are at last breaking through the blackout maintained by the news media for so many years in Japan.

OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK: A meeting of minds

2010-07-04T13:06:00.001-07:00

By C.W. NICOL
From: THE JAPAN TIMES

Last month, dolphin-welfare campaigner Ric O'Barry visited me in the Nagano hills, where we discussed the Taiji dolphin cull and what's happening to marine mammals worldwide.

Photo: Slow deaths: When C.W. Nicol observed the Taiji dolphin cull, he was horrified to see dolphins speared randomly and left to die slowly. Here, two dolphins with spear wounds lie on the Taiji market floor, ready to be gutted before sale.

C.W. NICOL PHOTO

In 1958, just before my 18th birthday, I went along on an Inuit hunt for seals in the Canadian Arctic. That was the first time I tasted that rich, dark red — almost black — meat, and it was like nothing else I had eaten before. I loved it.

Photo Above: Nicol and dolphin-welfare campaigner Ric O'Barry talk about the welfare and future of marine mammals.

KENJI MINAMI PHOTO

Gutted dolphins are lined up to be sold at Taiji fish market in this 1978 photo taken by C.W. Nicol.

C.W. NICOL PHOTO

Inuit hunters still used kayaks back then (and so did I) and I felt nothing but admiration for those men who went out into icy waters in such a flimsy craft, risking their lives to bring back food, fuel and the raw material for boots and clothing. In the many trips I have made to the Arctic since then, that feeling has never changed.

Then, in 1966, I first sailed aboard a whale-catcher, with a mixed Canadian and Japanese crew, hunting for sei and sperm whales off the west coast of Canada. Whale meat was on sale in pretty well every fish shop in Tokyo in the early 1960s when I first came to this country, so I had already come to appreciate its taste. Since then I have been on many marine mammal hunts — for seals, beluga, walrus and whales — and I retain enormous respect for the courage, skill and seamanship of those who take food from the sea.

That, however, is a stance that has made me unpopular with many anti-whaling folk around the world.

Nonetheless, in October 1978 I went to Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture to live in the town for a year and research the history and culture of Japanese whaling for a book I aimed to write — a book that turned out to be my novel, "Harpoon." The anti-whaling movement was beginning to display some nasty anti-Japanese tendencies just then, and I thought it might be mollified by some understanding, through my book, of the whalers' long background. As well, in some small way, I wanted to repay the friendship that Japanese whalers had shown me over the years.

Like many who have spent time at sea, I have a special feeling for dolphins, and would never think of trying to harm one. Anybody who has been on a ship, especially a sailing ship, and who has seen them race toward you to ride the bow waves must have felt a kind of elation and wonder. So, when the American television series "Flipper" was running during the 1960s, with a dolphin outsmarting the bad guys and invariably saving the day, I watched every episode I could, both awestruck and fascinated at the notion of people working and playing with those marvelous mammals of the sea.

As I sat glued to my black-and-white TV back then, though, I had no idea that the trainer of those dolphin stars, Richard "Ric" O'Barry, was to have something so tragic happen to him as to change his whole life. As he explained to me last month while we sat chatting in our Afan woods in the hills outside Kurohime, one of his dolphins swam into his arms, then deliberately stopped breathing and died. (Cetaceans do not breath involuntarily like us humans and most other mammals; they decide when and when not to breathe.) By not breathing, as Ric said, the desperate captive animal consciously committed suicide.

Since that terrible event more than three decades ago, Ric has devoted his life to the welfare and freedom of dolphins — making himself a lot of friends, and enemies, along the way.

It wasn't long after I arrived in Taiji in 1968 that I witnessed my first dolphin drive there, and it profoundly shocked and horrified me. Not that I was against the capture of dolphins for aquariums — I was a "Flipper" fan, right? As for killing them for food, well that was logically no different from taking seals or beluga.

What horrified me in Taiji was that the dolphins were not harpooned, and thus secured to be quickly dispatched. Instead, the hunters were simply throwing spears into a melee of the animals swimming in a small inlet they had sealed off from the sea, hitting them here and there. Then they'd retrieve the spear by hauling in a rope tied to it and hurl it again or use it close up to stab with. This was a far cry from the efficiency — and respect for life, and death — of an Inuit hunter or a whaler at sea.

That first time I witnessed the Taiji killings, I saw a dolphin take 25 minutes to die, while on another hunt I saw one that thrashed and bled for a horrible 45 minutes before it succumbed to its wounds. Killing, if justified and necessary, should surely be merciful and quick — yet I even saw an old grandmother laughing at a dolphin's death throes and pointing out the animal to the small child with her as if it was some kind of joke. That really hurt and shook my belief in people.

In addition to this catalog of horrors, though, as a former marine mammal research technician in Canada, it shocked me that all those dolphins were being captured and killed with no government inspector or fisheries biologist on hand to take data and monitor the kill. I protested about what was going on to the fishermen, and to Town Hall officials in Taiji. I even went to Tokyo and protested to a senior official in the Fisheries Agency, but he just sneered and said, "What does it matter, they die anyway."

I have written and spoken about this many, many times and a few years ago I personally warned the governor of Wakayama Prefecture that the world was now very aware of this dolphin hunt and the cruel way it is carried out. Surely, I argued, something at least should be done to monitor the number of dolphins taken and the methods of the kill. The only reaction was to try to shield everything from sight by closing off public footpaths and putting up those ugly blue sheets used all over Japan to shroud construction sites and crimes scenes.

Now we have the 2010 Academy Award-winning documentary "The Cove," in which Ric stars. In Japan, many right-wingers and nationalists are in a furor over the film, and they are doing their best to stop it being shown in this country. However, as the old Japanese saying goes, "You cannot keep the lid on a smelly pot."

The debate must be brought into the open, and preferably by people who have witnessed what's going on, felt their own reactions and thought about whether or not it is right to use marine mammals for human food. It's also necessary to consider the cruelty involved — and how cruelty can change the way a person views the world. For me, the old Japanese justifications citing tradition and culture don't cut much ice when the tradition involved is inhumane — like burning eccentric old ladies at the stake or binding up young girls' feet.

The other great question on my mind is whether the meat of dolphins, whales and large, older sea creatures is so badly polluted as to be toxic for human consumption.

When Ric came to spend a day with me at my home in Kurohime, we talked quietly for several hours about all these and other issues. We found that we agreed about most things, most emphatically about cruelty, but, understandably, he does not want to see any cetaceans killed or captured or harmed in any way, while I still tend to support traditional hunting. Whatever, the most important thing is that we could talk to each other; we could debate without rancor and seek a middle ground. Indeed, I am confident we have begun a friendship, and that Ric — who has been betrayed and deceived all too many times over the years of his campaigning — could truly trust me.

Ric feels no animosity toward the people of Taiji and sincerely wants to help the town to prosper without those awful dolphin drive hunts. Indeed, our talks in Kurohime — which were taped for the record — ranged all over the topics of marine mammals and humans, as we together tried to seek a fitting future for us all on this planet.

Despite all our talk of history, tradition, culture and the need for humans to take food from the sea, though, the one deadly nail that consistently stood out above the rest was the question of pollution. If cetacean meat, and especially the meat and blubber of dolphins taken off the coasts of Japan, is as seriously contaminated with mercury and other harmful chemicals as the evidence indicates, then surely the Japanese government must address this issue and bring it out into the open — either banning sales altogether or insisting on warning labels, depending on the degree of danger to humans.

As for me, having talked to Ric and read his book To Free a Dolphin, I am convinced enough to never watch a captive dolphin show again, and I will also avoid aquariums where they are kept. If I want to see dolphins I shall go to sea.

My old dad, James Nelson Nicol, who served many years in the Royal Navy, once said to me: "They talk about 'the seven seas,' but I think that's wrong. There is only one sea. They all join up."

Indeed, and so do all our futures.

The Cove Opens Tomorrow, but the Extremists Are Not Giving Up

2010-07-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

by Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Last week we had some important successes in Japan -- several theater owners came forward and committed to show The Cove movie despite threats from extreme nationalists, and we also won a key injunction in a Yokohama court against the group protesting the film – an almost unheard of injunction.

Unfortunately, the extremists are again ramping up, employing their worst tactics to date.

This week they moved to the Yokohama theater owner’s home, and when that didn’t work, they moved on to his mother’s home:

As you can see from the video, the woman is elderly. She has nothing to do with the distribution of the film. This harassment with loud speakers outside her home is intimidation of the lowest order.

We have repeatedly tried to engage our critics –- inviting them to participate in open forums, but they refused. Rather than discuss the issues they employ highly aggressive bullying tactics to shut down the film. I personally believe they are being paid to protest and don’t really have a point of view. I don’t even think they care about Taiji. Their only goal is to keep people from knowing the truth, no matter what it takes. As we know, corruption is endemic on this issue, with many people making money off trafficking in live dolphins for oceanariums and selling poisoned dolphin and whale meat on the open market with no health warnings to protect the people of Japan.

To this end it is clear the extreme nationalists - and whoever is funding them - aren’t giving up, and our Japanese distributor is small with a very limited budget. Earth Island has been helping with promotion and security, but much more will be needed if we want to expand beyond these six theaters. We have 17 theaters on hold right now that want to screen the film, but are fearful of the consequences.

Can you help by making a donation today? Your donation will help us reach out to the Japanese people and the Japanese media to show the truth about the dolphin slaughter:

Click Here to Donate

We will get The Cove screened wherever and whenever we can. I’ll be returning soon to Japan along with the Save Japan Dolphins Team who are in Japan now or will be coming back with me. And we won’t give up until we end the slaughter of dolphins in Japan.

Please help us Save Japan Dolphins:

Click Here to Donate

Thank you all for your continuing support for saving the dolphins!

It's official, The Cove will open in Japan!

2010-06-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

I’m back in Miami now. I can’t tell you all how tumultuous the last few weeks have been. Once people see The Cove in Japan, they will have such a better understanding of the captivity issue, the IWC and more importantly, the senselessness and brutality with which these dolphins are dying. Once that happens, the Save Japan Dolphins Team and I can help the Japanese people end the slaughter of dolphins once and for all!

So when theaters started cancelling their bookings, I got very worried. When nationalist extremists managed to shut down several campus screenings, I was convinced that this film would never make it into theaters. I started to really question Japan’s resolve as a democracy.

But sometimes it only takes one person to stand up and say something is wrong. In this case, Unplugged’s CEO Takeshi Kato would not rest. Kato-san has traveled from city to city – Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, to name a few – meeting with theater owners. He was able to convince several theaters to not only keep the film but to come forward and stand up for the right to show it. If you ask me the nationalists picked the wrong door to knock on when they went to Kato-san's house to protest.

PHOTO: Unplugged CEO Takeshi Kato

He gathered others that are concerned about freedom of expression, and we put together a symposium at the Tokyo Bar Association. Four of the theater owners came forward, along with notable journalists, film directors and pundits. In all, the following people participated in this large press event:

Mr. Shinodo, Editor in Chief of Tsukura Publishing
Kei ishizaka, popular cartoonist
Kunio Suzuki, former leader of the nationalist group Issuikai
Soichiro Tahara, renowned journalist
Yoichi Sai, film director
Mr. Matsumara, theater owner, Osaka
Ms. Kamiya, theater owner, Kyoto
Mr. Hirano, theater owner, Nagoya
Mr. Nagasawa, representative, Forum Theaters

PHOTO: Renowned journalist Soichiro Tahara and film director Yoichi Sai

More than 100 Japanese media representatives attended with 11 camera crews, including the majors, TBS and NHK.

Each theater owner spoke to the fact that they felt threatened, but that they deeply felt it is important to stand up. Kato-san announced that six theaters will open the film on July 3, with 16 more the following week.

I can’t thank Kato-san and his team enough. Especially Miyuki Takamatsu, who has been running all the press and has been our rock since we got to Japan.

Without doubt, this is the best outcome of my many weeks in Japan. When I arrived, The Cove movie was relatively unknown, with protestors dominating the media against it, and theater owners backing out. In a very short time, Kato-san and his team, as well as our Earth Island Save Japan Dolphins Team, turned the issue completely around. The Japanese people are now discussing free speech and important Democratic issues, all because of the dolphins!

Domo Arigato!

A Meeting of Minds and a Close Encounter with the Dalai Lama

2010-06-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

By Mark McBennett
Guest Blogger
Founder of Japan Zone

It is hard to think of anyone more respected and influential in the Japanese environmental scene than C.W. Nicol. The author of more than 120 books, a seventh-dan blackbelt in karate and a naturalized Japanese citizen, he has been a bridge between the west and his adopted country for decades. But he is also widely known as someone who has spoken and written in support of Japan's whaling industry. So while he and Ric O'Barry are very close in age, could "Uncle Nic" possibly have anything in common with a dolphin conservationist?

Ric O’Barry of Save Japan Dolphins with C.W. Nicol in Japan.

And so it was with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation that I worked to set up a meeting between the two. They both knew of each other's work and were keen to discuss it face to face. Once the logistics of a visit to the mountains of Nagano had been organized, things went smoothly. Nic proudly gave us a tour of his serene and beautiful Afan woodland (HRH Prince Charles was the most recent VIP guest from overseas), which helped build a good appetite for lunch.

That was followed by a long discussion on a wide range of topics, including some amazing stories from the rich and eventful pasts of these two men of action, and they found that they did in fact share some common ground.

Though as expected there were also things they would agree to disagree on, they did so in the spirit of mutual respect and friendship. And I think that this is a friendship that will continue. I would like to again thank Nic and his manager and staff for their generous hospitality.

The following morning, after a wonderful evening meal and the best night's sleep Ric says he's had on this trip, we headed back to Tokyo. While changing trains at Nagano, who should we see blocking our path but the Dalai Lama and his entourage? Before we knew it, he had been ushered down a side corridor, enveloped in a scrum of aides and security people. I've no idea whether the Dalai Lama would know who Ric is or whether we might have had a chance for a photo together, but we took the close encounter as a good sign, and we wish his Holiness the very best with the rest of his tour in Japan.

C.W. Nicol and Nai-atsu
By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Nic is totally educated on the dolphin issue as it stands now, and he's going to step up and get all his friends involved to some degree. I showed him the package of (dolphin) meat that we had tested, and I told Nic that if he did nothing more than get a warning label on the package, that would be huge.

I reminded Nic that if this package had been imported from China or the US or Australia -- as in Chinese dumplings -- this product would not be in the markets. It would have been gone a long time ago.

Note: C.W. Nicol, the renowned environmentalist, author, whaling expert, and Japan Times columnist, several years ago made an M.B.E. (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II and witnessed the Taiji dolphin slaughter while living there in 1978. He told me: "It's been a cancer in my gut ever since."

Later, I understand Nicol said he likes me very much and read one of my books prior to our meeting to try to understand where I was coming from. Nicol questioned me about all the issues surrounding the dolphin problem, and I tried my best to respond patiently and with extreme clarity. Nic also added very generously that I can consider his place a refuge anytime I want to visit.

Nicol added that he vehemently opposes the dolphin slaughter. It was a real honor to meet him, and he will be very welcome to join our efforts.

On Monday and Tuesday, I continued the relentless round of media interviews. On Monday, I went through a round of hectic interviews starting with a CBS Radio gig in the morning, then a conference with the Tokyo Bar Association in the early evening comprised of four theatre owners; one Japanese journalist, Soichiro Tahara; a film director and cartoonist, Yoichiro Sai and Kei Ishizaka respectively; chief editor of a major publication, Hiroyuki Shinoda; and one lawyer. There were over 100 mass media reps there and Unplugged/Medallion officials distributing The Cove emphasized, "We are not afraid of any attack, and we're ready to release this film in Japan.”

On Tuesday, my interviews were highlighted by a radio interview with Peter Barakan, and I call this blog with him, nai-atsu (Internal pressure).

Ric O’Barry in the studio with the popular radio host, Peter Barakan,
practising nai-atsu (internal pressure).

Barakan is a very popular national TV and radio show host and currently co-hosts the Japanese edition of the renowned American news magazine program 60 Minutes, on TBS TV (Channel 6), and his radio shows are aired over NHK FM. I brought a friend who was with me on the show, Hiroshi Asada, a popular musician who participated with me in a music festival in Tokyo in 1976 called the "Rolling Coconut Review." We talked about why we did the festival---we were trying to stop the "Save the Whales, Boycott Japan" movement. While we supported the “Save the Whales” part, we felt a Boycott of Japan was unfair and not at all effective.

Ric and Japanese musician Hiroshi Asada, who toured Japan together in 1976.

We also talked about the first time I traveled to Taiji -- Hiroshi was there with me. We also talked about The Cove movie and how important it is that people fight back against the assault on freedom of expression. The movie is an important form of freedom of expression.

We played my friend Fred Neil's dolphin song and commented on another one of our mutual friends, a very popular musician by the name of Harry Hosano, who was also featured in our 1976 benefit. This was a half-hour show, it was fun, it was light, and we were able to get the issues out about Taiji, and keep it in the news before an enormous audience. This was a good example of another opportunity to spread the word, as the Save Japan Dolphins Team and I have been doing all along.

Our strategy for the last several years has been all about gai-atsu. Gai-atsu is Japanese for external pressure. It's the thing that has brought about more change in Japan than anything else, according to our Japanese colleagues. The Cove movie and all of the related publicity has bee a form of gai-atsu on a massive international scale. The radio show and all of the other media attention inside Japan is nai-atsu: internal pressure.

The Save Japan Dolphins Campaign has now moved into a new strategy to abolish the annual dolphin slaughter: Nai-atsu!

Canada's CBC had started off today's interviews, and then I went off in the evening to appear at a debate with a journalism class at Waseda University in Tokyo -- Waseda's well known for its journalism and political science courses. The students were very inspired by The Cove film, and the event went smoothly without any nationalist attacks. Three print media reps and one TV journalist attended the debate with students fielding such questions as: "Can this film be considered a documentary or just entertainment?"; "People in Taiji should make their own documentary if they are against of The Cove"; "Everything seems very promotional, even for this debate we are somehow promoting this film."

Later that evening we were to attend a meeting with a "green" group comprising very important business leaders and professionals, but the venue was changed many times to avoid the militant nationalists, and so activist Fonda Bersolini of our Team and I went on a wild cab ride from hell to find the place. The cab driver was totally confused with directions I gave him (as was I!) that were given to me by the group's organizer, and so I ended up spending $250 on a stressful and not so scenic tour through some narrow Tokyo streets, ending up finally returning to the hotel and disappointing some 60 people expecting me to show up. I relaxed most of the following day that culminated with a great dinner with Japan Times journalist, Boyd Harnell, another good friend and supporter in Japan.

Our greatest hope has always been to open The Cove movie in Japan. It's the most powerful tool we have in ending the dolphin slaughter. I’ve spent my life trying to explain what is wrong with the dolphins, the oceans, and our attitudes and actions. Now that we have The Cove, all I have to do is show it! Once people see it, they have such a better understanding of the captivity issue, the IWC and more importantly, the senselessness and brutality with which these dolphins are dying in the dolphin hunts. People in Japan need to see this film.

Please help us spread the word:

It is because of your support and love of the dolphins that the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign has come so far. Now, we are spreading the word throughout Japan, and I know the people of Japan will respond and help save Japan dolphins! Thank you for your support!

Sneaking Out

2010-06-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

We were able to slip out last week and screen The Cove film for an adult audience at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center. Our close friends and colleagues at Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan set it up. Nationalist protestors found out and showed up at the center, but the building we were in was far from the street, and police blocked them from passing the main gate.

I love getting out and talking to people one on one, and this audience had many excellent questions. At the end of the day it’s really up to the Japanese people what happens in Taiji, so I’m always ready to do what’s necessary to reach them. A lot of the people asked what they could do. I asked them to call theaters and ask that The Cove be shown, and to go to our website in Japan, and send a letter to the Prime Minister and the Health Minister. It’s really up to Japanese people to stand up for their rights. I hope they will!

And once the Japanese people see The Cove, they will understand what is happening and start to question their government. We can help them by setting up online petitions and other opportunities to contact their government and ask the politicians to shun the extremists and stop the Japan Fisheries Agency from issuing around 20,000 permits annually to kill dolphins and small whales.

A Media Frenzy and The Other Side of the Line

2010-06-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry

Campaign Director

Save Japan Dolphins

Earth Island Institute

Three years ago our Save Japan Dolphins Team and I traveled to every possible media outlet I could in Japan to try to get them to write about what’s happening in Taiji. Nobody was interested in doing a story. Now everything has changed! Over the last week I’ve done almost 50 interviews. And the Japanese media have all come to us!

The team at Unplugged/Medallion, our Japanese distributor for The Cove, has been working tirelessly to get media to meet with me, and they’ve done a great job. I really can’t thank them enough for sticking with us. Their offices were targeted five times and now they are losing theaters in their efforts to screen The Cove. Some companies would just walk away, but Unplugged is fighting back.

And I have to say it’s an odd fight – for me anyway. I’m not used to being on this side of a protest line. I see the protestors and a big part of me relates to them. It’s their right to express themselves. It’s just very strange to me when a group is using their right to freedom of speech to shut down someone else’s. After the Asahi Newspaper (one of Japan’s largest) printed an opinion piece Sunday saying that they believed The Cove should be seen and discussed (LINK: http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201006140426.html), the protestors came to their offices!

That might be fine on the surface, but the nationalists’ facts are horribly distorted. I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again: The Save Japan Dolphins Campaign and I are in no way anti-Japanese. In fact, I came to Japan the first time in the 70s to help end the “Save the Whales boycott of Japan” movement. At that time several of my musician friends – Jackson Browne, John Sebastian, Warren Zevon, Richie Havens, and Paul Winter – joined with Japanese musicians for a concert calling for an end to the boycott and to whaling.

The protestors are also complaining about how the film was shot and edited. They decry the use of secret cameras and lack of inclusion of the Taiji point of view. I reminded every journalist who asked me that the mayor and fisherman were invited to participate (as is depicted in the film). On the occasion, which I witnessed, they declined. In terms of the “secret” filming, I asked: “Why is it illegal to video tape in a national park?? Shouldn’t someone be asking why the dolphin hunters put up barbed wire and signs in a public park? Technically, they are blocking tsunami access roads.“ (In case of a tsunami hitting Taiji, the park high points around the cove are kept free of buildings to provide high ground for the local residents to escape the floodwaters. The closures with barbed wire to protect the secrecy of the cove killing grounds impede these paths to safety in the event of a tsunami.)

Finally, every journalist brought up that dolphin hunting in Taiji is a tradition, as it is in places like the Faroe Islands and Solomon Islands.

I made it clear that what is happening today in Taiji is not tradition. This method has only been used for the last 50 years. More significantly, the actual tradition in Taiji is to protect mothers and calves. Ancient hunters believed it was bad luck to kill them. As we see very plainly in The Cove, today’s dolphin hunters have no regard for that particular tradition.

I also made sure that every reporter knew that as of last April, tribes in the Solomon Islands met with our Save Japan Dolphins Team and me and agreed to stop killing dolphins. Unlike Taiji, the Solomon Islands are actually very primitive. Isolated and remote, they trade dolphin teeth as a form of currency. This is more of a tradition than what is happening in Taiji, yet they are ready to embrace change. Shouldn’t more be expected in a modern day Japan, the second largest economy in the world?

Below is a copy of a statement, which we translated and gave to every media outlet we met with. I hope it makes our intentions clear.

STATEMENT:

I’m here in Japan not as a cultural imperialist, but as someone who just loves dolphins. My passion is about stopping what’s happening at Taiji. I am quite proud of the movie The Cove, not because of the tactics, but because it shows the world what is happening. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have used secret cameras. If it were up to me, I would simply tell the story. Many of you in the media have made fun of the tactics. But the truth wouldn’t have come out without those tactics. If certain people feel offended, I offer my apologies. But I make no apologies for my cause.

Many of my friends love the country of Japan, and they all ask the same question. Why do you need to slaughter dolphins? We have worked with other nations in the world to stop the practice, and to jointly find ways so that the economic impact will be minimal. We would like to have that discussion with the government of Japan, with the fisheries industry, and most importantly, with the people of Taiji. But it is difficult to start the dialog when we call each other names.

I am not a Japan basher. The film does not bash Japan. The cause we have is very specific. We believe strongly in our cause. But we understand that many in Japan feel that this isn’t something that foreigners should be telling to the people in Japan. I ask that we start the dialog today. I ask that we start this dialog so that we can ultimately reach the goal of stopping the slaughter.

I hope that by watching this film, the people of Japan will see what is happening, regardless of the tactics that were used. You can make your own judgment, and then you can choose what you want to do. Some of you will side with our beliefs. Others may feel that the fishermen are right. Still others may not know what to do. However, we want to start the dialog.

On September 1, the killing will start again in Taiji. We have started a movement around the globe that will not stop. The world is with us. We hope that we can reach an amicable solution with our friends in Japan. But so long as one dolphin is slaughtered needlessly, we will keep spreading the truth.

EDITORIAL: Pressure on 'The Cove'

2010-06-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

The Asahi Shimbun, June 14
2010/06/15

Yet another grave incident has occurred that threatens freedom of speech and expression.

Three movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka have canceled their scheduled screenings of "The Cove," a U.S. documentary about the dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

Those theaters said they have "voluntarily refrained" from showing the film for fear of causing problems for their neighbors because groups decrying the film as "anti-Japanese" had warned they would hold demonstrations against the screenings.

We must isolate this issue from the actual merits of the film, whether the content is appropriate or whether it is of high quality.

Despite the controversial nature of a film or widespread objections to the opinions presented, the right to show that film or to express those views must be protected. That is what freedom of speech and expression is all about. And that is what a free society is based upon.

We can understand why cinemas would be worried about their customers' safety, but in a free, democratic society, we cannot stand by idly while a film screening is canceled in such a manner.

The film portrays the dolphin hunt practiced in Taiji, and the filming was done with hidden cameras. Although the film won this year's Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, residents of Taiji are extremely critical of the film, including its filming methods.

The town government and the local fishing cooperative have asked the distributor to stop screenings, saying the film violates the residents' privacy rights and depicts untruths as facts. The distributor complied by blurring out the residents' faces and showing Taiji's side of the argument in subtitles at the end of the film.

At the climax, the film shows fishermen killing the dolphins and the sea turning red. It is obvious the filmmakers, from their standpoint of protecting the dolphins, sought to portray this as a cruel, savage scene.

Taiji has a long tradition of dolphin hunting. It is, of course, legal. Many Japanese, even those not from the Taiji area, may feel rather awkward watching the film.

But it is understandable that other people feel differently about hunting dolphins. Why are their views different? Why was this film so acclaimed that it won an Oscar?

Despite the strong objections, people need to come face to face with sets of values drastically different from their own. And while doing so, they should reconsider why they are so critical of this piece of work.

These endeavors will provide an opportunity to relativize their own values and contemplate the kinds of prejudice and misperceptions that hinder cross-cultural understanding.

That is exactly why we must thwart any attempts to prevent people from learning about the opinions of others.

A similar thing happened two years ago with the documentary "Yasukuni" by a Chinese director. Many screenings were also canceled in response to pressure at the time.

There are concerns that another chain reaction of screening cancellations will occur for "The Cove." But we hope the 20 or so cinemas around the country stick to their guns and their screening schedules. If any action disrupts their business, then police should take severe measures against the perpetrators.

This continuous habit of "self-restraint" in film screenings is shameful if Japan considers itself a free society. We must raise our voices and not leave the movie theaters out in the cold.

A Brave Theater Owner and a Guest Blog

2010-06-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Osaka, June 12: This blog focuses on the very brave decision of Mr. Atsushi Matsumura, owner of the Dai Nana Geijutsu Gekijo theatre in Osaka, who canceled his scheduled screening of The Cove in the wake of harsh intimidation by radical right wing groups, but reversed his position and decided to screen The Cove in his theatre on July 3rd. Mr. Matsumura had formerly joined two other theatre owners in Tokyo who scrubbed the controversial, Academy-Award-winning documentary, but explained his reversal to a press conference held at his theatre.

We were in the theatre, and the owner, Mr. Matsumura, and I were sitting at a table on the stage with microphones in front of us with about 30 journalists in the audience from major dailies and TV outlets. They asked Matsumura-san if he was afraid to screen the film. He said, yes, I'm afraid, but “I have to do this! This (intimidation) is treading on my freedom of expression, and it could possibly take many theatre owners out of business if these militants dictate what we can say and what we can do.” He added, “Yeah, I'm afraid, but I have to do this, and we're going to do this July 3rd."

A Day With the Nagoya Dolphins By Mark McBennett
Guest Blogger, Founder of Japan Zone

http://www.japan-zone.com/features/the-cove/

Today was, for me personally, a good day. The occasion was Ric's visit this morning to Nagoya International School (NIS), where my daughter is a second-grader. To have Ric actually visit the school in person was, as you can imagine, a great thrill and a wonderful learning opportunity for the students. We also had a good number of administrators, teachers and even one or two parents present for what was to be an enjoyable but thought-provoking discussion with Ric about the dolphin Campaign.

Ric O’Barry at Nagoya International School.
Photo by Chiho McBennett.

I've only known Ric for a matter of months, but, like anyone who knows him or indeed knows about his decades of activism, I have the utmost respect for him and have spent the last few months working to support that activism. So when he asked me to post something as a guest blogger today, I was more than happy to oblige.

So how did Ric end up at NIS today anyway? The connection goes back to the beginning of this year when I was sent a copy of The Cove on DVD for review on Japan Zone. That led to my doing a couple of interviews via Skype, with director Louie Psihoyos and Ric himself. Later we talked about what could be done to help get the message of The Cove out to the Japanese people, and what could be done that would lead to ending the slaughter in Taiji. There were, and still are, no easy answers.

But it was clear that one important step is to reach out to those people who are interested in knowing more and are maybe looking for a way to get involved. For the most part, that means people who have seen the movie and have discussed the issues in an informed way. So I approached NIS to see if the school would be interested in seeing a copy of the movie, only to find that some students had already completed a unit called "Talk to the Animals" which had included watching it. We looked at building on that, maybe doing a Q&A session with Ric or Louie on Skype, but when I learned that Ric was going to visit Japan in June, an actual visit to the school seemed a much better idea. And as the school's mascot is none other than the dolphin, well, it all seemed like it was just meant to be.

We managed to keep a couple of days open in Ric's hectic schedule. We got him into a quiet, out-of-the-way hotel in Nagoya away from nationalists and reporters where he could get a few hours to himself and decompress. Then this morning we took him and the Save Japan Dolphins Team along to NIS. The school library was set up nicely for the event, and there was an eighth-grader manning the computer for a screening of a short video that served as an introduction.
Seventh/eighth-grade teacher Todd McKeown then gave an eloquent rendition of the journey he and his students had taken to this point. It really is inspiring to hear how they have embraced this topic, difficult and controversial as it is. They have done a wide variety of research and project work and wrote more extensively on this topic than any other they had studied. They welcomed Ric with warm and sincere applause, but had a wide variety of questions ranging from the predictable to ones he had never considered.

Even as we went half-an-hour over time, the students’ questions kept coming. They ranged from things like "Do you work on dolphin issues in other countries besides Japan?" (Enter a copy of the Solomon Star newspaper about Earth Island’s efforts there for dolphins) to "If Flipper hadn't committed suicide, would you have become an activist?" (After a bit of thought Ric's answer was yes, that event was basically a "tipping point" in his work with dolphins). Japan's food tradition is often mentioned as a defense of whaling and the dolphin hunt, and one student asked Ric if he had any traditions that were important to him. Momentarily stumped, he conceded that apart from things like Mother's Day or birthdays, tradition was less important to him than the fact that there is always change, times change, and sometimes things that are considered tradition have to change, too.

Ric talked about his plans, still taking shape, for there to be a major gathering in Taiji on September 1st. There was enthusiasm and support for the idea and hopefully some of the NIS student body and faculty will be able to be there in person.

I hope that some of them will take what they have learned at school, and from their encounter with Ric, and find a way to put that knowledge and experience to good use.

I think that the students who took part in today's event should be rightfully proud of the courage and inquisitiveness they showed. Through their questions they set an example for others in this country and beyond, showing that the ability and the desire to see things from more than one perspective is vital to any true understanding of a complex issue.

A Dedicated Japanese Policeman and a Media-Friendly Lecture at Wakayama University

2010-06-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry

Campaign Director

Save Japan Dolphins Campaign

International Marine Mammal Project

Wakayama City, Japan, June 10: This blog is dedicated to the memory of one of the finest police officers I've ever had contact with in Japan. Sadly, I got the news from his son during a routine courtesy call at the local police office that I usually make before going down to nearby Taiji that he had died two days ago.

Officer Toshiyuki Yamamoto was with the Shingu Police Department in Wakayama prefecture and would sometimes meet me at the Katsuura train station, close to Taiji, where during routine meetings I would discuss my agenda with him before monitoring the dolphin drive hunts. He liked to call me the “samurai dolphin man.” During our conversations he was always polite and treated me with the utmost respect. He was sympathetic with my feelings towards the dolphin hunts and the related health issues and was always objective when interacting with the Taiji dolphin hunters and me. Every time we reported the dolphin hunters for physically attacking us, he would go and give them hell and get them in line. He was great, and I'm really going to miss him. In his memory, my appearance today at Wakayama University was also dedicated to Officer Yamamoto. I opened my speech to the students there in honor of his professionalism and kindness extended toward me through the years.

I’ve said this repeatedly – the dolphin slaughter should not be blamed on Japan or the Japanese people. It is only a small number of dolphin hunters and bloated bureaucrats in the Japan Fisheries Agency who are responsible for continuing the dolphin hunts, despite widespread opposition when you tell the Japanese people the ugly truth about these annual slaughters. To overturn the hunts, we have to get the truth out and help the Japanese public take action with their own government.

Ric O'Barry talks with Wakayama University students in Wakayama City, Japan, following a recentscreening of The Cove documentary at the university. (June 10, 2010)

Photo credit: Miyuki Takamatsu

Our Save Japan Dolphins Team began our trip on Thursday, bound for Wakayama City to address students at Wakayama University. They had already seen The Cove documentary at the university and were eager to discuss the multi-faceted issues of the dolphin slaughter, including the serious health concerns faced by consumers of toxic dolphin meat and the issues fueling the captive dolphin industry. I received a very good reception from more than 250 students who attended the symposium, which, as a bonus, was also covered by Japan's most prominent print and broadcast media such as NHK-TV, Fuji-TV, TBS-TV and all of the highest circulating dailies; the Yomiuri Shinbun, Asahi Shinbun and Mainichi Shinbun.

Our Save Japan Dolphins Team and I have been meeting with media for YEARS about the dolphin slaughter in Japan, but now the Japanese media is coming to us!

Although security was tight at the venue, a black van with a loudspeaker mounted on its roof was seen parked nearby the university, but police monitored the vehicle and no incidents from nationalist groups, which loudly support the dolphin slaughter, occurred. (Of course, before The Cove came out, one never heard a peep from nationalist groups in Japan about the dolphin slaughter!)

The discussions between the students and I went very well with some students saying that although they didn't necessarily agree with all areas of the film, it was important to raise the awareness of the different issues involved. I urged students, who questioned whether there were high mercury levels in dolphin meat, to go to Taiji, buy the meat and have it tested themselves. I mentioned that some of the toxic dolphin meat is processed into pet food and fertilizer, and that studies made in the Faroe Islands show toxic effects to consumers of dolphins and pilot whales there. The media representatives were given a translated version of The Japan Times article

Tomorrow, I head back to Tokyo for further interviews.

Interviews and Surprising Support

2010-06-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Campaign
Earth Island Institute

Tokyo, June 9, "Keep the motor running" is the theme of today's events that started off in the morning with a grueling round of more interviews capped by an unexpected turn of events in the evening.

I was warned by The Cove's distributor to scrap an appearance at a scheduled screening of the documentary that night due to security concerns. The special venue was held at a large theatre in Tokyo attended by some 600 Japanese, including 60 of Japan's top journalists. The event was organized by a Japanese editor who felt their civil liberties were being trampled on, and, since they couldn't provide security, I was told I wouldn't be allowed to go. I told them I'm going anyhow and I did. They ushered me in the back door, and I went on stage after the film, which was very well received by the journalists and others that were there, and I held up our sign about Japan's constitutional article 21, about freedom of the press, and I read it slowly, emphasizing the last line which reads "and all other forms of expression." And I said therefore you have the right to see The Cove, and they applauded that.

There was a panel of five or six people sitting on the stage, and they were going to have a panel discussion after I left, so I reminded them that while they're having their discussion to consider article 21. I also told the audience that the movie will do what the Japanese media so far has failed to do, and that is, to inform the people. There were people in the room from the extreme nationalists, and since I surprised the audience (because I wasn't on the agenda) they didn't have time to send in their loud protestors. I was able to get in there within five minutes, and get out of there and into the car, which had the motor running, and Unplugged got me quickly back to the hotel! Whew!

There's so much media attention now, and many of the journalists will be going down to cover the Wakayama University event tomorrow, where I’m talking to students. So what the nationalist militants did by calling the theatres and threatening them to drop out seems to be backfiring on them, because their protests against the film have generated a lot more interest in the movie throughout the country.

I'm all over the news now, and the same extremist who targeted the distributor know I'm here. I stay in the hotel and don't walk around!

I wanted to personally thank all of you who have contributed to Save Japan Dolphins for your support! We are finally making major inroads into Japan, with The Cove movie and our message of hope for the dolphins. Your support has meant a lot! Thank you!

Arrival in Japan

2010-06-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Campaign
Earth Island Institute

Tokyo, Tuesday, June 8: Just back from a film festival in Italy and still on jet lag, I hopped another flight to Tokyo, arriving tired and hungry, and afraid I might be turned away by immigration.

But surprisingly, they escorted me through a single lane away from everyone else and, after passing me through the biometric fingerprint and retinal scan, I was met by a horde of 30 police and a Japanese media blitz that surrounded me in a frenzy of TV and still cameras, lit up by scores of portable lights. Onlookers must have thought I was some kind of film celebrity, although in the past the Japanese media always ignored me. When asked about The Cove movie, I only said it was just entertainment, but I also mentioned that Japan's constitutional article 21 prohibits the censorship of an issue where the people have the right to know. After that I was quickly rescued by officials of Unplugged Inc, distributors of the Oscar-winning Cove documentary, who whisked me to their car bound for my hotel in Tokyo.

The officials told me that on Monday a total of 55 Japanese people, including journalists and filmmakers, harshly criticized theatre owners in Tokyo and Osaka for giving in to the demands of the nationalist activists to cancel screenings of the award-winning Cove documentary. The outraged group said the cancellations threaten freedom of expression.

Read the article here:

The Cove is still scheduled to be opened in more than 20 theatres later this month.

Tomorrow, June 9th, more media interviews are scheduled and the following day I'll be going to Wakayama University to get the reactions from many of the students there who viewed The Cove. Taiji is in Wakayama Prefecture, so their reaction will be very interesting.

All in all, we are off to a very good start in getting the truth out to the people of Japan about the dolphin slaughter. This will be the first chance the general public in Japan have the opportunity to view The Cove.

A Setback In Japan for The Cove Movie

2010-06-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Campaign
Earth Island Institute

I’m leaving shortly for Japan to help promote the opening of The Cove in more than 20 theaters, but already, the powerful forces that oppose our efforts to protect dolphins are at work. It was just announced that the Tokyo theater N. Shibuya will not screen The Cove, bowing to pressure from Nationalists and fishermen’s unions who have inundated the theater owners with threats and phone calls. So far, two additional theaters have canceled, another one in Tokyo and one in Osaka.

Of course, we’ve known from the beginning that the Japan Fisheries Agency would likely get the Nationalist thugs and unions involved in the Taiji dolphin issue, just as they have done so for years for their illegal and immoral whaling operations. By threatening loud demonstrations in front of theaters, they can intimidate theater owners.

The Cove won every major international film award including the Academy Award. These awards are given for "entertainment value". The Japanese people have a right to see it if they want to. Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution guarantees them the right. It's not right that a small minority of extremists could take this right away from them. To do so is a clear threat to democracy.

The opponents of screening The Cove claim the film is “anti-Japanese,” but the film and we have always made it clear that neither the people of Japan nor the country is at fault in the dolphin slaughter. The slaughter is only supported by the Japan Fisheries Agency and a handful of fishermen, who are keeping the truth secret from the people of Japan.

Right-wing extremists demonstrated at the home in Japan of Medallion's CEO, Mr. Kato, whose company is distributing The Cove. You can see the out-of-contral demonstration in the link below. Among the many things they are chanting as they beat on his door: “Criminal, Terrorist, Traitor.” Mr. Kato had to sneak his family out a backdoor.

Watch Video on YouTube

In response to these brazen attempts at intimidation, Mr. Kato's stated: “Since The Cove won the Oscar, our office and my house has been relentlessly attacked by propaganda activities. Now these attacks have begun on theaters. Theater N Shibuya made a tough decision. The Cove is not an anti-Japanese film. We need to debate the content in constructive way. We lament that we are losing the opportunities to see the film about Japan, in Japan.

Why are they so scared about the truth of the dolphin slaughter getting out? The answer is obvious: Because they know that the massive dolphin slaughter is indefensible — tragically cruel — scientifically unsupportable. Dolphin meat is laced with poisonous mercury and should not be eaten by anyone. And anyone who sees The Cove knows that the hunts are not justified.

We can get around the threats and pressure by standing behind the distribution company Unplugged/Medallion trying to show The Cove, by having me and the Save Japan Dolphins Team in Japan presenting The Cove movie, and by making the opposition a story in itself in Japan, so the public knows the government, the unions and the Nationalists are trying to hide the truth from the people of Japan.

I know the Japanese people will press for an end to the dolphin slaughter once they know the truth.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

If you speak Japanese, or have friends or family that live there, please show your support by:

Sharing these Japanese language materials: http://www.takepart.com/node/135442

If you have a blog, please post messages of support. Keep it positive – this is about people’s right to see the film and make up their own minds.

If you’re on twitter, please follow and tweet out http://www.twitter.com/thecovejapan

Look for The Cove and/or Medallion/Unplugged on Mixi and Gree, and please post messages of support.

Visit our website http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org to see the 15-minute Japanese version of The Cove. In Japan, ask you friends to go to: http://www.savejapandolphins.jp/

Your donations will help us spread the word in Japan about The Cove, the movie the dolphin killers and right wing don’t want the Japanese people to see. Please help if you can: Donate Here

Your support will help me on this trip to Japan to meet with Japanese media to break through the blackout; screen The Cove throughout Japan; and stand up for the official movie opening at more than 20 theaters.

Thanks again for all your help and support. While I’m in Japan, it helps a lot for me to remember the many dolphin supporters around the world who are with Earth Island and me for this Campaign to Save Japan Dolphins. I really appreciate it!

Experts fear Taiji mercury tests are fatally flawed

2010-06-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

THE JAPAN TIMES

By BOYD HARNELL

Special to The Japan Times

Sunday, May 23, 2010

On May 10, in a front-page lead story headlined "Taiji locals test high for mercury," The Japan Times reported the results of tests by the National Institute of Minamata Disease (NIMD) that found "extremely high methyl-mercury (MeHg) concentrations in the hair of some residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, where people have a tradition of eating whale and dolphin."

Specifically, the tests of 1,137 Taiji residents last year revealed that average MeHg levels were 11.00 parts per million (ppm) for men and 6.63 ppm for women — compared with an average of 2.47 ppm for men and 1,64 ppm for women at 14 other locations in Japan.

However, the May 10 report stated that "experts were at a loss to explain why none of Taiji's residents have mercury-related health problems" and that the NIMD would "continue to research" why no symptoms were observed, according to NMID Director General Koji Okamoto.

Such continuing research will perhaps intensify in light of further tests by Masaaki Nakamura, chief of the NIMD's Clinical Medicine Section, on 182 surveyed Taiji residents having the highest mercury levels. Dr. Nakamura's results found that 43 residents tested above 50 ppm of MeHg, with one showing a level of 139 ppm.

Nonetheless, all those tested were declared healthy at an NIMD-sponsored press conference in Taiji on May 9, at which the institute didn't give the 43 residents any dietary advice, with Okamoto noting, according to media reports, that, "It's important that they decide what they should eat."

Okamoto's comments have drawn scorn from respected medical authorities on three continents regarding those afflicted residents of the village of Taiji, where the 2010 Oscar-winning docudrama film "The Cove" was made about the annual slaughter of dolphins there. Before the NIMD report on Taiji residents was issued, The Japan Times interviewed Okamoto. Asked his opinion whether mercury ingestion was dangerous, he said, "At this time we don't find people problematic (from consuming dolphin meat)."

Asked about the standard two-point "discrimination protocol" used in detecting neural damage, Okamoto said, "Neurology experts do not consider this (sensory) test routine in Japan."

Japan's Supreme Court in 2006, however, upheld that protocol as the standard for determining compensation to survivors of the world's worst mercury-pollution disaster, which occurred in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, on the island of Kyushu in the 1950s. There, and in surrounding villages, a known 1,787 victims died from methyl-mercury poisoning after their consumption of contaminated seafood from Minamata Bay, and thousands more were affected by what became known as Minamata Disease.

That two-point "discriminatory protocol" test of sensory functions certified by Japan's top court is the clinical protocol that detects mercury-related brain damage. It is also the test applied by Shigeo Ekino in a joint study to diagnose the neurotoxic effect of MeHg on the cerebral cortex (brain) and neurons (the nervous system).

Ekino, a professor at the Graduate School of Medical Sciences at Kumamoto University, in Kumamoto, Kyushu is known for his studies of mercury- damaged brain specimens from Minamata victims. He has also published reports revealing how even low levels of MeHg can cause irreversible brain damage.

Ekino employs the two-point test to ascertain mental disability. This involves a subject lying on their back with their eyes closed while one or two compass points are applied to their thumb, forefinger or lip. If the subject feels only one compass point when two points are applied, that points to probable damage to the somatosensory cortex (where the sense of touch is located). Ekino is famous for his breakthrough studies of mercury- damaged brain specimens from Minamata victims, revealing how even low levels of MeHg can cause irreversible damage.

Meanwhile, commenting on Okamoto's advice for Taiji residents that it is "important that they decide what they should eat," Dr. Pal Wiehe, chief physician in the Department of Occupational Medicine, Public Health in the Danish-controlled Faroe Islands, said, "This is inappropriate advice . . . We have seen over a period of time that there were negative impacts at all levels in our neurological, physiological and psychological tests that were irreversible."

Wiehe said he conducted pediatric studies, starting in 1986 with newborns, then the same subjects at the ages of 7, 14 and, last year, at the age of 23. The tests involved a doctor specializing in occupational medicine and neurology, two psychologists and a pediatrician specializing in neuro-pediatrics.

Wiehe cited a wide range of symptoms emerging from this study, including attention-deficit problems, memory- retention disorders and other neurological symptoms that remained permanent at every age level. "We have also seen an impact on the cardiovascular system, such as heart-rate variations from MeHg, and also a negative impact on the immune system from ingesting whale blubber that contains significant levels of organochlorines such as PCBs and DDT, and other pollutants. . . . We have not seen . . . that selenium (Se) gives protection (against MeHg toxicity) . . . and claims by the NIMD that Se gives some protection . . . are questionable."

A joint study on prenatal exposure to MeHg, involving Japanese experts including Mineshi Sakamoto, an NIMD toxicologist, corraborates Wiehe's findings. The study, titled "Mercury and Heavy Metal Profiles of Maternal and Umbilical RBCs [Red Blood Cells] in the Japanese Population," revealed that Se had little effect as a protective barrier against placental transfer of MeHg to a fetus.

Regarding Ekino's study of the neurotoxic effects of mercury on the cerebral cortex, Wiehe said, "Absolutely, that's what we have been studying for years . . . and what we have seen in Minamata we have seen in the Faroes due to lower doses of MeHg."

Commenting on the high concentration of mercury in Taiji dolphin meat in 10 certified lab tests conducted on different dolphin species, which found the highest level, at 14.3 ppm, was almost 36 times over Japan's advisory level of 0.4 ppm, Wiehe said, " That to me, without any doubt, is dangerous to consumers' health . . . our average concentration (in pilot whales, which are oceanic dolphins) is 2 ppm."

He added, "We don't consider pilot whale meat proper human food." In fact, despite some harsh local opposition, on Dec. 1, 2008 Wiehe successfully recommended to the government of the Faroe Islands that residents discontinue the consumption of pilot whale meat.

But Wiehe is no ecoterrorist. Coming from the Faroes, where — as in Taiji — there is an ancient local culture of hunting and consuming cetaceans, in his youth he took part in the hunts, ate the meat of pilot whales and still says he respects that tradition. But he stresses, "Health issues are more important than tradition."

The NIMD report declaring Taiji residents free of mercury damage also drew flak from one of Japan's top medical researchers, who requested anonymity. He commented, "It is a miracle if no one has symptoms and, if true, it contradicts all scientific studies — or maybe Japanese people are supermen."

Just as the researcher said that fears of intimidation (and the withdrawal of research funding) prompted him to request his name be withheld, the Taiji dolphin-cull story and the toxic meat it produces is mostly ignored in Japan's vernacular media. Indeed, this writer has repeatedly been told by editors that the whole subject is "too sensitive" for them to cover.

Whatever the attempts in Japan to ignore questions surrounding the NIMD's approval for Japanese citizens to continue eating toxic dolphin, however, one of America's leading neurologists, Florida-based Dr. David Permutter — a recipient of the prestigious Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Award for his research into brain disease — was far less inhibited.

In a recent telephone interview, Permutter said, "To me, these (MeHg) levels found in dolphin meat are absolutely dangerous. A study was just published demonstrating that even low levels of mercury profoundly disrupt the blood- brain barrier and increase the presence of inflammatory reactivity in the brain . . . "

He continued: "These levels (of MeHg) are dramatically elevated. This practice of serving dolphin meat is tantamount to poisoning people; they may as well serve them arsenic, it would be no less harmful! What they're doing is wrong on every count; it's the wrong thing to do for the people and the wrong thing to do for the dolphins. No matter how you look at this, it's perverse — it's a tragedy and it should be condemned. If the role of government is to protect the people, then they're failing miserably in their role." Meanwhile, Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research has cited mortality figures in Taiji, for 2007, at 67 deaths from a population of some 3,500 residents — putting the town's overall mortality rate more than 50 percent above other villages nationwide of roughly the same population. However Kozagawa, west of Taiji, where dolphin meat is also consumed, showed an even higher rate — with 82 deaths from a population of 3,426 people in 2007.

Comparable villages of almost similar populations were Hiiezuson, Tottori Prefecture, which posted 31 deaths from a population of 3,110; Akamura, Fukishima, with 29 deaths among 3,387 people; Minamiyamashiromura in Kyoto with 37 deaths among 3,369 residents; Kitoshiobara in Fukishima Prefecture with 38 deaths among 3,307 residents, and Yomogitamura, Aomori Prefecture, with 35 deaths among 3,370 people.

Although age-related data and cause of deaths were not available from the research center, the balance of probability may point to some early mortality, mercury-related deaths, based on the effects of long term consumption of food containg high levels of MeHg.This, of course, is inconclusive and just an assumption based on the above scientificc studies related to the long term effects of mercury on suppression of theimmune system, damage to the cardiovascular and central nervous system, and severely diminished neurological function.

Chiho M. Jingu and Mark McBennett contributed vital research for this article. Stephen Hesse is taking a well-earned break, but his column, "Our Planet Earth," will return to the Nature page as normal next month.

Mercury toxicity gets short shrift

2010-05-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

THE JAPAN TIMES
Sunday, May 23, 2010

READERS IN COUNCIL

By CHISA HIDAKA, M.D.
New York

Regarding the May 10 article "Most Taiji residents rest easy, refuse to change diet." I am dismayed that the Japanese media's coverage of mercury levels detected in the citizens of Taiji (Wakayama Prefecture) has not included several important points about mercury testing and the effects of toxicity, particularly for women and children.

First, the effects of mercury toxicity are most apparent and most devastating in the pre- and perinatal period — when the nervous system is still developing. Certainly, this was the case in the Minamata cases of the 1950s. A 2007 study comparing levels of maternal-hair mercury and infant IQ in New Zealand and the Faroe Islands showed that every part per million of mercury correlated with a decrease of 0.18 point in IQ. The levels of mercury reported in the hair of Taiji women are four times Japan's national average.

Children should be tested systematically. More important, women should be warned that if they are pregnant or plan to get pregnant, they should have the level of mercury in their bodies tested. Mercury exists in breast milk at about half the level it does in the blood. So, it would be wise for any nursing mothers to have their blood levels tested as well.

Another point that should be mentioned is that mercury levels in hair are used to measure the disease burden in populations, not individuals. The World Health Organization recommends testing the hair of women only; in this regard, though, mercury levels are not a good predictor of anything besides infant IQ. If people want an accurate measure of their personal level of risk and exposure, they should have the mercury levels in their blood tested.

Effects of mercury toxicity in adults are subtle and may not become severe for a long time, particularly if exposure is gradual. On the other hand, effects of prenatal exposure can be devastating and occur at much lower levels than those that lead to problems for adults. As a service to its citizens, newspapers reporting this story should warn the women of Taiji that those of childbearing age should be very concerned about the recent findings.

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

Why President Obama Needs to Block the Backroom Deal on International Whaling

2010-04-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

By Mark J. Palmer and Timothy Feder
Earth Island Institute

Plans are underway to gut the international whaling moratorium first approved in 1982 by the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

The secret IWC deal, originally negotiated by the Bush administration, would allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to continue their slaughter of whales despite the existing IWC moratorium on commercial whaling. In fact, the deal would allow those countries to continue their illegal whale slaughter for commercial gain under the approval of the IWC, including whaling in the southern Antarctic Ocean whale sanctuary designated by the IWC.

Japan has been flaunting the IWC treaty by issuing “scientific” permits as a cover for their ongoing commercial whaling operations. Norway and Iceland objected to the moratorium and have continued their whaling operations despite the international whaling moratorium.

A large coalition of international environmental and animal welfare organizations recently completed an analysis of the newly proposed IWC deal and are uniformly opposing it.1 The deal, as currently formulated, would legitimize commercial whaling practices, allows continued illegal trade in whale products, and would undermine historic efforts to end international whaling. These quotas would be approved for ten years. Other nations, such as South Korea, are already complaining that the deal does not include their country returning to commercial whaling.

While the proposed deal reputedly includes safeguards in the form of quotas for whaling nations, the sham “quotas” actually do nothing to protect potentially endangered species of whales and are based on commercial demands by the whaling nations, not scientific analysis of how many whales can be killed without detriment to the population.

A recent scientific study published in Marine Mammal Science indicates that most “precipitous declines” in populations of whales (a decline of 50% or more in 15 years) would not be detected.

In fact, there would be a 75% chance that precipitous declines in large whales would not be detected.

To anyone concerned about protecting our environment and the world’s oceans, this proposal is a chilling indictment of IWC’s backroom politics and a failure of U.S. leadership in efforts to protect whales and marine mammals.

The devastating impact of this new proposal would seriously undermine efforts to protect endangered whale populations. This cynical deal would lift current restrictions and encourage other nations to begin whaling operations.

The IWC will meet in Morocco in June to vote on the secret deal, although the final wording of the agreement is still under wraps (especially the number of whales Japan, Norway and Iceland will get to kill).

The Obama administration needs to know that this deal is unacceptable and a sell-out to all who are concerned about marine conservation and protecting our environment.

While the U.S. IWC representatives profess not to officially support the proposed deal until they see the final wording, insiders have knowledge that they in fact helped write the deal and are actively supporting it behind the scenes with other countries.

This duplicity undercuts the historic U.S. position of support for the moratorium on all commercial whaling.

(On the positive side, the Obama Administration recently submitted comments requesting a ban on trade in whale meat as part of the IWC Deal.)

It is not clear why the Obama Administration would risk its environmental reputation by lending its support for such a dangerous and disingenuous international agreement.

We call on the Obama Administration to reject the proposed deal and instruct our U.S. IWC representative Monica Medina to block any agreement or administrative efforts to gut or limit the current international moratorium on commercial whaling.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

You can contact President Obama at www.whitehouse.gov/contact or phone the White House comment line: 202-456-1111 or contact your Congressional representatives at www.congress.org.

Urge them to oppose the IWC Deal allowing commercial whaling for ten years. The US position should be that Japan, Norway and Iceland must end their illegal whaling activities NOW. Thank you.

1 List of environmental and marine conservation organizations supporting the NGO analysis of the proposed IWC agreement includes: American Cetacean Society, Animal Welfare Institute, Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, Asociación do Biologia Marina Guatemala, Australians for Animals, California Gray Whale Coalition, Campaign Whale, Campaigns Against the Cruelty to Animals, Centro De Conservacion Cetacea, Cetacean Society International, Comite Ballena Azul Nicaragua, The Cousteau Society, Dolphin Connection, Environmental Investigation Agency, Equilibrio Azul,, Fundacion Promar, Fundacion Yubarta, Global Ocean, Humane Society International, The Humane Society of the United States, In Defense of Animals, Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas, International Fund for Animal Welfare, International League for Protection of Cetaceans, Irish Seal Sanctuary, LegaSeas International, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ocean Care, Ocean Sentry

Busting the LA Sushi Restaurant Serving Whale Meat

2010-04-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

By Crystal Galbraith

While “The Cove” movie was in theaters this past summer, I was a Cove Captain for the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign in Los Angeles, facilitating question-and-answer sessions and helping spread the word about the movie and the issue.

While attending the screenings, I met and befriended Associate Producer Charles Hambleton. He informed me one day that there was a sushi restaurant in Santa Monica that was serving whale meat. We then decided to go undercover and try to get samples of the whale meat for testing. The first operation involved a small team of people that included Charles and I.

We called ahead and made a reservation for October 1, 2009, and on that date, a friend of mine and I went to The Hump restaurant to eat dinner. My purse was wired with a hidden camera that had its own audio, but we also had a separate audio device inside the purse. I am vegan; my friend however, is not, so this was definitely a sacrifice for me! We went in and ordered the Omakase, which translates to “it’s up to you” and basically means you put your meal in the hands of the sushi chef. This is usually the most expensive dining experience you can have at a sushi restaurant, and at this particular restaurant it usually costs about $150. We wound up spending quite a bit more.

“Crystal Galbraith tabling for Save Japan Dolphins and The Cove movie in Los Angeles.”

We went in and sat down, and I placed my purse on the table in order to get a shot of the plate of whale when they brought it out. We then began eating; they brought us out plate after plate of high quality sashimi. We told them that we like the most exotic items and that we would try anything, along with eating as much as we possibly could so that they could see we were willing to spend a lot of money. Over the course of about 3 hours of eating, they kept asking us if we were full and how two petit girls could eat so much food, but we just said it was so good that we couldn’t stop.

We then asked for the whale, which we ordered in Japanese, ‘kujira’. The waitress said she needed to ask the chef if they had it -- we think she was really asking the chef it he thought he could trust us. She came back and told us that they only give this to their VIP customers and that they don’t just give it to anyone, but that they were willing to serve it to us. At this point our bill was probably at about $650, which is significantly more than most people spend on Omakase at The Hump.

This was the point where I felt the most nervous; I was pretty shocked that they even agreed to serve it to us having never seen us there before this evening. Since I had the camera and audio equipment in my purse, I had my friend’s purse on the chair next to me and inside it there were Ziploc bags and paper napkins so that I could discreetly take samples. After the waitress brought out the plate of whale sashimi, the chefs and waiters were watching us; I think just to see if we liked it, not because they were suspicious. After we both took a piece and ate it, they went back to whatever they were doing and stopped watching. I told my friend to touch her leg to mine under the table when they weren’t looking and then to take her leg away when they looked so that I would know when it was safe to sneak the samples. She complied, and, while they weren’t looking, I put a couple pieces of whale sashimi on a paper napkin next to my plate and then grabbed it and stuffed it into the Ziploc bag in her purse that was next to me on the chair.

After we finished eating, we paid the bill, which came to about $900, and left the restaurant. Charles and our team were in a car in the parking lot, waiting with ice packs to preserve the whale meat. We then sent the samples off to Dr. Scott Baker for testing, and the results came back stating that it was Sei whale, an endangered species that Japan still hunts as part of its so-called “scientific” program. This is when we brought in Louie Psihoyos of Oceanic Preservation Society and decided to also bring in federal agents.

“Crystal Galbraith (left) with The Cove’s Louie and Vicki Psihoyos at the Genesis Awards, March 2010.”

We did the same exact thing two more times in February with Louie and the crew in the car parking lot listening on a transmitter to everything going on. I would also use my phone to communicate with Louie via text message. The federal agents were also in the parking lot waiting in another car and, during those next two trips, we came out with the evidence and passed it along to the feds. They then got it tested by a federal government lab and also concluded that it was Sei whale meat.

Now The Hump restaurant has closed with an online apology about serving endangered whale meat in violation of US federal law. We understand OPS and other groups are looking at other potential sushi restaurants that may be selling illegal whale meat.

This goes to show what just a few people can do to make a real difference!

Taiji of the North Atlantic

2010-03-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

By Helene O'Barry

On May 23rd 2009, a pod of pilot whales was hunted down with motorized fishing vessels off the coast of Hvalvik, a small town in the Faroe Islands located in the northern Atlantic. Local hunters chased the pilot whales ashore and butchered them with knives and iron hooks. The entire pod was killed, including pregnant females and young offspring. Three such drive hunts, known as grinds, took place in the Faroe Islands in 2009, killing a total of 310 pilot whales. An e-mail has circulated for several years on the Internet about the Faroe Islands hunt, often mislabeled as a hunt in Denmark, complete with graphic photos of the slaughter.

There are two species of pilot whale: the short-finned and the long-finned pilot whale. The pilot whales found in the northeast Atlantic are of the long-finned species (Globicephala melas) and are also known as Calderon Dolphins. Belonging to the dolphin family, pilot whales are second only to the Orca in size. Established by researchers as highly intelligent marine mammals, pilot whales live in extremely cohesive groups that typically consist of adult males and females, as well as related juveniles and calves. A pod of pilot whales is closely united by social and family ties, and females remain with the pod they were born into their entire lives.

The drive hunts in the Faroe Islands usually take place in the summer months when pods approach the islands. It has been met with criticism from animal welfare and environmental organizations worldwide due to the hunting and slaughter methods. These methods exploit the pilot whales’ tight social structure and may involve several hours of chase at sea. When pilot whales are spotted, local fishing vessels gather in a semi-circle behind them and drive the pilot whales toward the shore. As the chase progresses, the hunters throw stones attached to lines into the water just behind the whales. The goal is to force the pilot whales to keep moving forward toward a designated beach until they become stranded. In Taiji of Japan, we have seen how this hunting method sets the dolphins into a state of panic and disorientation whereby the hunters can drive them in whichever direction they want. Oftentimes, however, several pilot whales do not become grounded, and it has been common practice to secure them for slaughter by slamming iron hooks, known as gaffs, into their flesh. It sometimes involves several tries until the iron hook, which is attached to a rope, penetrates deep enough that the hunters can haul the still living and thrashing mammals onto the beach where they are killed, one by one. According to various sources in the Faroe Islands, a newly developed so-called blunt hook, by which the pilot whales are hauled ashore by their super-sensitive blowhole, is being tested. 2 During the slaughter, the sea turns a deep red from injured and dying whales. Pilot whales share a sophisticated communication system and are often heard calling out for one another. Despite all indications that they experience severe physical and psychological suffering, Faroese authorities have made this astounding statement: "... the Faroese whale drive has over the years successfully adapted to modern standards of resource management and animal welfare." 3

The Faroe Islands is an autonomous region of Denmark , and the pilot whale drive hunts have taken place there since the tenth century or earlier. Faroese authorities defend the drive hunts by arguing its tradition and maintaining that the pilot whales are taken for their meat and blubber. The fact remains, however, that the health of the islanders could be in grave danger due to the consumption of pilot whale meat. What is particularly alarming about the drive hunts that took place in 2009 is the fact that they came less than one year after two medical experts of the Faroe Islands warned of the dangers of consumption. In August of 2008, Chief Physician Pál Weihe and Chief Medical Officer Høgni Debes Joensen issued a joint press statement in which they announced that pilot whale blubber and meat are contaminated with dangerously high levels of mercury and the slowly degradable PCBs as well as DDE, a by-product of the insecticide DDT. The high levels of toxins in the whales’ meat and blubber have been linked to serious health threats, such as increased incidents of Parkinson’s disease in adults, damage to fetal neural development and impaired immunity in children. Weihe and Joensen conclude that "pilot whales today contain contaminants to a degree that neither meat nor blubber would comply with current limits for acceptable concentrations of toxic contaminants." They recommend that "pilot whale [should be] no longer used for human consumption."

The pilot whale hunts of 2009 subjected entire families of pilot whales to tremendous stress, anguish and physical pain. As a result of the hunts, households in the Faroe Islands were infiltrated with tons of toxic whale meat. It is incomprehensible that the Faroese government would jeopardize the health of their own people by rejecting the recommendations of their two medical experts. The Save Japan Dolphins campaign hereby calls on the Faroese Government to suspend the pilot whale drive hunts with immediate effect.

Faroe Islands Quick Facts:

The Faroe Islands, or Faeroes, consists of 18 islands located between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Scotland and halfway between Iceland and Norway. They have a population of about 48,000 on 17 islands.

The Faroe Islands is an autonomous region of Denmark and has its own parliament, language and flag.

According to the Home-Rule Act of 1948, the Faroe Islands constitutes a self-governing community within the Danish Kingdom . A long list of items specified in the Home-Rule Act is regarded as special Faroese concerns. Among them are "territorial hunting" and "protection of animals." 4

The Faroe Islands, unlike Denmark , is not a member of the EU.

According to the Faroe Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an average of 685 pilot whales were caught annually during the ten year period of 1998-2007. For reasons unknown to us, no pilot whales were killed from August 2007 to January 2009. Three drive hunts took place in 2009, killing 310 pilot whales.

Pilot Whale Quick Facts:

Long-finned pilot whales live in close-knit social groups of related individuals. Family pods of pilot whales sometimes congregate into larger groups, and often groups of several hundred mammals are seen swimming together. Some researchers believe that the pilot whales’ strong social bonds explain why this dolphin species is seen in mass standings more frequently than any other.

The pilot whales’ tight family bonds work against them during the drive hunt. As phrased by the Faroe Islands Department of Fisheries in 1993: "A school of pilot whales keeps close together, and for this reason the entire school is usually taken."

References:

1. Home page of "Statistics Faroe Islands:"

2. NAMMCO recommendations – Workshop on Hunting Methods for Marine Mammals.

3. "Whales and Whaling in the Faroe Islands:"

4. Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands, No. 137 of March 23, 1948, List A, Item 13.

Killer Whales: When Nature Fights Back

2010-03-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

By Helene O'Barry

Horrified parents and children, who had come to SeaWorld's Orlando amusement park to watch the killer whales perform, were quickly ushered out of the killer whale show area by SeaWorld staff. On February 24th 2010, the 6-ton killer whale Tilikum pulled his trainer, Dawn Brancheau, underwater and dragged her around his tank until she drowned. This was the third time in the last 20 years that Tilikum had been involved in the death of a person. In fact, there have been several other incidents in which captive killer whales have caused injury to humans. In December 2009, another SeaWorld killer whale killed a trainer, 29-year-old Alexis Martínez.

These attacks by captive killer whales on humans, I believe, should be seen as nature's way of telling us that something is wrong. Terribly wrong -- not with Tilikum or any of the other captive killer whales who have attacked humans -- but with the ways in which these animals are treated in captivity.

In nature, killer whales are opportunistic foragers that travel many miles every day. They can dive down to 300 feet and are among the fastest swimming whales in the world, reaching speeds of 30 miles per hour or more. Studies have shown that killer whales are highly social and family-oriented marine mammals that possess cognitive abilities and carry out several variations of learning-based foraging. These large-brained animals demonstrate amazingly complex communication skills and social structures. Forming lasting bonds with their relatives and other pod members, a killer whale remains with its pod its entire life.

Only two events will make a killer whale leave its pod: death and capture. Tilikum was about two years old when he was yanked out of the ocean in 1983, near Iceland . Ever since, he has been kept in small concrete tanks, and finally ending up in Sea World’s Orlando amusement park where, according to an anonymous account by a former SeaWorld contractor, Tilikum spent much of his time alone in a 15-foot deep pool.

Confined for nearly three decades in a minuscule and artificial concrete environment, the diversity and challenges of his life in nature were replaced with the monotony and boredom of captivity. Whereas killer whales in the wild can make complex decisions regarding the details of their lives, captive killer whales lose all control. Something as basic as fulfilling their hunger is controlled by their human keepers, and food, in the form of dead fish, is used as rewards for tricks well-done.

Incidents of aggression, as shown by Tilikum, should be expected when free-ranging and sonic marine mammals experience lifelong confinement in a barren and highly controlling environment where their natural abilities can find no expression. These powerful animals become powerless in captivity. Captive killer whales live in constant conflict between their true identity as a wild animal and their forced role as a performing pet. The stress and anxiety they endure must become enormous over time. And this, I believe, is the reason why we see captive killer whales attack humans: their attacks are a normal reaction to the profound abnormality of their lives in captivity, coupled with the strict oppression of self-expression that is imposed on them.

Since Tilikum's capture, his family and pod members have engaged in natural activities of wild killer whales, such as traveling long distances, as well as foraging and nourishing their strong social bonds. Meanwhile, Tilikum has been used for splashing audiences. I believe that Tilikum's fatal attack happened because of a deeply felt frustration at having to suppress who he really is and become something that he is not.

SeaWorld currently confines 21 killer whales in three theme parks. While not all of them are viable candidates for release, they could all be relocated to a natural sea pen. In a fenced-off area in the ocean, the killer whales would once again be able to enjoy the natural rhythm of the sea, the tides and the currents and be free from human exploitation. This would drastically improve the quality of their lives, thus preventing any further attacks on humans.

The Cove Wins the Oscar!

2010-03-08T00:45:00.000-08:00

All Eyes Turn To Japan
An Important Message from Ric O'Barry and the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign:

If you watched the Oscars, you saw me, Producer Fisher Stevens, and Director Louie Psihoyos accept the Best Documentary awarded by the Academy. Wow, what an incredible moment!

Without your support, this would never have happened. So, even though I wasn't able to thank you all at the podium, I thank you all now.

But this has never been about winning awards. Our job is to end the slaughter and stop the poisoning. And now our work in Japan begins anew. We must focus like a laser on getting The Cove and our message to the Japanese people.

But there are threats on the horizon. Officials in Japan are threatening repercussions against university and community groups that dare to show The Cove. Dolphin-killing fishermen's unions are threatening lawsuits against theaters that show the film. There are even some signs that I could face arrest in Japan, even though I've broken no laws whatsoever.

We wont give in to this pressure. Instead, I am making plans to spend months in Japan with our Save Japan Dolphins Team. I want to be wherever we can find an audience. Our message will particularly resonate with young people, to whom we need to reach out with the dangers of mercury-contaminated dolphin meat and the slaughter of dolphins they love as much as we do.

If you can help me, it will make a world of difference.

DONATE NOW:

The Oscar telecast is the most-watched TV show in Japan! And they, and more than a billion other viewers, saw The Cove movie win!

But now I also need your help in sending a clear message to Japan's Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, that the sale of mercury-laden dolphin meat must end now: Sign and send the petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/ban-the-sale-of-dolphin-meat

We need help in promoting the Japanese version of The Cove in the next weeks before The Cove opens at Japanese theaters. We need help for travel, video promotion, website outreach, legal defense, and screening The Cove outside of theaters in libraries, universities, and town halls in Japan.

Japan has 126 million people; only 600 have seen The Cove so far. Those who saw it were shocked and dismayed that this slaughter was happening in their country. We need to enlist their help and the help of millions of their fellow citizens to stop the Japanese government from issuing 23,000 permits annually to slaughter dolphins. We need to seize on the momentum now to pursue an end to the slaughter, once and for all!

Will you help us get the truth out?

DONATE NOW:

Thank you for your generous support of our efforts!

Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Campaign

P.S. The Save Japan Dolphins Campaign and Earth Island Institute do not get any funds from The Cove movie sales. (Those funds go to the OPS, which made the film, and their investors to reimburse them for their considerable costs in making The Cove.)

P.P.S. If you think there is any possibility that you might be able to come over to Taiji on September 1st to celebrate the beauty of Taiji and let them know that the killing of dolphins shouldn't start again, please note that on the comment field on the donation form.

DONATE NOW:

Save Japan Dolphins Coalition: Earth Island Institute, Animal Welfare Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, In Defense of Animals,
Campaign Whale of the UK, and OceanCare of Switzerland
www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

Time for a Federal Investigation into SeaWorld's Negligence in Death of Trainer

2010-02-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

Posted by David Phillips
Executive Director
Earth Island Institute

Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins

Dear Friends,

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Dawn Brancheau, who by all accounts was a loving and talented caretaker for Tilikum (Tilly), the killer whale who took her life at SeaWorld Orlando just days ago.

Along with sadness of this tragic event we can’t help feeling anger toward those who insist upon exhibiting these wild creatures in habitats that can drive them to violence. Dependent on sonar/sound to navigate their vast ocean homes, dolphins and whales are in constant state of distress living in cramped pools, bombarded by noise, stressed by food deprivation and forced to perform.

We understand the love these trainers must feel for the orcas they train, but make no mistake - this wasn’t just a terrible accident, it was a calculated risk on the part of a billion dollar captive dolphin and whale industry. Facts suggest that SeaWorld was well aware of Tilicum’s deadly attacks on trainers.

Captivity is Cruel; Don't Go To A Show

Sign on the attached petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/stop-dolphin-captivity

SeaWorld allowed public and trainer contact with an orca that was a known risk, and after 3 deaths they’re suggesting that it actually continue. SeaWorld has been admonished in the past by an official with the US National Marine Fisheries Service for failure to take prudent and precautionary steps with Tilicum’s health and welfare.

The latest claims that Tilicum was distracted by the trainer’s ponytail are absurd and force us to infer that SeaWorld is guilty of negligence and that it is now trying to cover up repeated deadly orca attacks by resorting to outrageous and disingenuous claims.

We believe this situation warrants the immediate initiation of a federal investigation into SeaWorld’s possible negligence and violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Further information suggests that SeaWorld has covered up additional acts of orca attacks in order to protect its multi-million dollar investment in these creatures and the millions more they make on the backs of their performances.

Finally, we find their claims about conservation and education shallow. If these shows are meant to encourage people to help save these precious creatures then why aren’t they doing more to end the brutal slaughter of thousands and thousands of dolphins and whales off the coast of Japan, Norway and the Southern Seas. Instead, they turn a blind eye, when they could dedicate significant resources to stopping it.

Overall, we believe the conduct of SeaWorld in this matter is reprehensible. SeaWorld’s actions are a gross threat to dolphins, whales, and people and should not be allowed to stand.

These animals belong in the wild.

We support efforts to stop the dolphin slaughter and capture in Japan as well as to educate the public about these magnificent mammals. In the past they led the effort to rescue, rehab and release the killer whale Keiko, made famous in the movie “Free Willy.” Keiko went from languishing in small pool in Mexico City to swimming with wild whales in his native waters in Iceland. He ended up swimming to Norway and living there in a bay with some human care until he died.

After many years training dolphins (including, "Hugo" the very first killer whale in captivity in the Eastern USA), Ric O’Barry came to understand the cruelty that these mammals endure for our entertainment. After the loss of the dolphin “Cathy”, one of the famous Flipper dolphins, O’Barry became an advocate of marine wildlife, working to ensure the safety of all dolphins including killer whales. The Oscar nominated documentary “The Cove” shows, through O’Barry’s eyes, the capture of these graceful creatures under terrible conditions, as well as the wholesale slaughter of dolphins in Japan.

Captivity is Cruel; Don't Go To A Show

Sign on the attached petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/stop-dolphin-captivity

Thanks for your help!

Ric O'Barry
David Phillips
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

Cove Movie Dolphins Die in Turkey

2010-02-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

By Susan Millward, Executive Director
Animal Welfare Institute

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition is outraged by the deaths of four dolphins at the Sealanya Dolphin Park in Turkey. The dolphins were captured from the wild in Taiji, Japan in 2008 as part of a notorious annual dolphin drive hunt.

"These dolphins were captured in Taiji in the killing cove as depicted in the documentary The Cove, where they were ripped from their families," stated Ric O'Barry, Campaign Director for Save Japan Dolphins. "Their families were then butchered for meat -- the sale of the live dolphins subsidizes the killing for the fishermen. Under these conditions of extreme stress, the deaths of these dolphins in Turkey's Sealanya Dolphin Park were inevitable. Dolphins die an early death in aquarium tanks due to boredom, disease, and stress."

Their short lives in captivity were a stark contrast to their lives in the wild before they were unlucky enough to stray into the path of Taiji dolphin killers. After being spotted with their podmates, they were chased with boats and driven to shore by the fishermen using noise. In panic they were herded into a shallow bay, cut off from the ocean and their former life. These four were then handpicked for a life in captivity in far off Turkey, while their podmates were horrifically butchered for meat, fertilizer or pet food. The Taiji dolphin hunts are the cruel reality of modern day aquariums and “swim-with-dolphins” tourist programs that source from the wild. The money paid by Sealanya Dolphin park for the dolphins is a direct incentive for the Japanese fishermen to continue the hunts that result in the deaths of thousands of additional dolphins a year.

The Taiji dolphin hunts are the subject of an Oscar-nominated film The Cove which features our Coalition’s campaign director Ric O'Barry, who has spent almost half his life trying to shut down the hunts. The hunts run from September through March and in all around 1000 dolphins are killed or captured in the hunts every year. Later this year The Cove, which received a slew of audience awards during its US run, will open across Japan, and, for the first time, the Japanese public will be exposed to the truth that lies on their shores. A media blackout has prevented the story from reaching the Japanese people, who know little about the dolphin killing operation.

Susan Millward, Executive Director of the Washington DC-based Animal Welfare Institute, stated: "The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) refuses to step in and monitor their members and colleagues: The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) who are directly involved in the Taiji dolphin captures. The Taiji Whale Museum is one of several dolphin brokers in Taiji and a member of JAZA. So long as the aquarium industry has paying customers who want to see dolphins, they will provide a market for wild-caught Taiji dolphins, and the hunts will continue."

Eight other Taiji dolphins who were captured with those who died remain at the Sealanya Dolphin Park.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition was formed in November 2006 to combat the killing and capture of dolphins and other small whales in Japanese waters.

Music Industry supports Save Japan Dolphins

2010-02-23T13:09:00.001-08:00

Already nominated for an Oscar, the environmental thriller THE COVE brings to light the machinations of the Japanese dolphin hunters. More than 1,000 dolphins are brutally killed each year in the fishing village of Taiji. In protest of this crime against marine mammals, Ocean Care and the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition have also received support from the music industry.

"I will never be able to rid my mind of those horrific pictures," recalls musician and composer Rick Laine. "It was back in 1993 when I first saw films on how dolphins are butchered in
Japan and I was appalled." The native Englishman then worked his way through the negative emotions experienced through that event by writing the song "Cruel Heart."

Together with the Swiss music producer Hape Schuwey, Laine revised the catchy song and donated it to Ocean Care for its campaign against dolphin drives. The Swiss organization then produced a video clip to the song that includes some exclusive film material of wild dolphins which it received as a donation from the renowned American video artist, Diana Thater.

Written and composed by Rick Laine, featuring M.G. Grace, "Cruel Heart" can be procured as a song and ring tone over iTunes. The proceeds flow completely into the campaign against the Japanese dolphin drive.

For further information:

Photo CD Cover - Cruel Heart

Download Cruel Heart on iTunes.

Watch video clip on YouTube.

"The Cove" Goes to the Oscars

2010-02-02T21:03:00.001-08:00

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Great news! The award-winning documentary “The Cove” is now in the official running for an Oscar for Best Documentary, along with four other documentaries. The next month will see unprecedented publicity for “The Cove” and our Campaign.

While an Oscar nomination is a tremendous testament to the skill and art of the filmmakers of “The Cove,” it also sheds a welcome light on the actions of the government of Japan in trying to cover up the dolphin slaughter and the poisoning of Japanese people by mercury-laced dolphin meat.

Big thanks go to all “The Cove” filmmaking Team, especially to Director Louie Psihoyos, Executive Producer Jim Clark, Producer Fisher Stevens, and all the team at the Oceanic Preservation Society.

They took big risks and worked hard to make a brave film, and we at Save Japan Dolphins honor them for their well-earned awards including this nomination!

The March 7^th broadcast of the Oscar presentations will reach nearly a billion people around the world! People will see “The Cove,” and will be hearing about “The Cove” over the next month.

Our Save Japan Dolphins Team will be working with the media around the world to highlight our ongoing Campaign to educate the Japanese people and end the slaughter of dolphins, once and for all.

I also want to thank all of you who have volunteered your time and given us donations – your support has meant a lot to all our Save Japan Dolphins Coalition Team and me. Without your support, “The Cove” movie would never have been made. Without your support, all the film festivals and honors gleaned by “The Cove” would never have happened. And without your support, the annual slaughter of the dolphins would still be a big secret.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

It is time now for a big push for our cause, especially in Japan, where the lies and blackouts by the Japan Fisheries Agency and the dolphin killers can at last be pierced.

And we must ensure that “The Cove” shows throughout Japan all spring and summer, working to stop the next killing season throughout 2010.

Thanks for your help and support! If you would like to donate to our efforts to get the word out and keep the pressure on in Japan, please

Click Here to Donate

We are also asking you and your friends and neighbors to sign our petition to end the killing of dolphins. We are seeking 1 million signatures, and now have more that 659,000 online. Go to:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/252

Thanks for all your efforts for the dolphins! I know we can end the slaughter, if we work together and get the people of Japan to see “The Cove”.

Ric O’Barry

Japanese Scientist Reveals Study Showing That Taiji Residents have 10 Times Higher Mercury Levels Than Average Japanese Citizens

2010-01-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

BREAKING NEWS:
Japanese Scientist Reveals Study Showing That Taiji Residents have 10 Times Higher Mercury Levels Than Average Japanese Citizens.

University of Hokkaido Professor Tetsuya Endo expresses alarm at the high levels of contamination among residents of Taiji, site of the killing of dolphins featured in “The Cove”. Dr. Endo is calling for “efforts to curb consumption of whale meat which is highly contaminated with mercury.”

Message From Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins

The dirty secret of the largest slaughter of dolphins on Earth is that the dolphin meat being sold to an unsuspecting public in Japan is poisoned by mercury contamination.

We have brought this to public attention since we began our campaign four years ago. More recently our testing of dolphin meat and the mercury contamination issue (including the Japan government’s cover-up with a compliant media) is receiving global attention in the award-winning documentary “The Cove.”

In Taiji, Japan, the little town that slaughters a thousand dolphins a year and sells the meat in markets around Japan, one brave town council member, Mr. Yamashita, objected to the inclusion of mercury-laden dolphin meat in the town’s school lunch program, a PR gimmick by the dolphin-killers to get another young generation hooked on poisoned dolphin meat. Taiji dropped the school lunches, but unfortunately Mr. Yamashita has been shunned and left Taiji.

However, one of his legacies was a decision by the town council to test the mercury levels in Japanese citizens in Taiji. The results have been held up for months, but now enterprising reporters in Japan are bringing out the story.

The Japan-wide news service, Kyodo News, just published this story, picked up here by The Japan Times, which has been bravely printing the story of the dolphin slaughter and our Coalition work for several years.

The story states that Taiji residents, who eat dolphin meat, are showing mercury levels ten times higher than average Japanese.

The Japan media is finally getting out the story of mercury contamination in dolphin meat. As more stories appear, more reporters and editors will feel safe in investigating further.

Mercury-laden dolphin meat is a crisis that should bring an end to the dolphin slaughter in Japan, and not just in Taiji, but all across Japan.

We still have a long way to go to get this story out to the Japanese public and help organize the protest to their government to end the cover-up and the sale of dolphin meat.

I believe we are getting closer! And we will not stop until the dolphin slaughter ends, period.

Ric O’Barry

Here’s how you can help immediately:

Join our Call to Action to Ban the sale of dolphin meat immediately!
Take action at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/ban-the-sale-of-dolphin-meat
Help us with a donation to get the word out in Japan. When the Japanese public sees The Cove, and realizes that the dolphin meat is poison, the killing will end. Click here to Donate
Go to www.savejapandolphins.org where you can sign up to be informed of the latest updates.
Read the full text of the Mercury Poisoning story at:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/mercury-levels-of-whale-eating-towns-residents-10-times-japan-average

KYODO NEWS/THE JAPAN TIMES
Mercury levels of whale-eating town's residents 10 times average
Friday 22nd January, 06:40 AM JST

TOKYO —
Levels of mercury in hair samples of residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, which is known for customarily eating small whales caught by coastal whaling, are about 10 times the average in Japan, possibly due to consumption of whale meat with high concentration of mercury, one of researchers who conducted the survey said Thursday.

Hair samples were collected from 30 men and 20 women living in the whaling town with a population of about 3,400 through local collaborators between December 2007 and July 2008 for testing, Tetsuya Endo, an associate professor at Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, said.

The survey showed the average total mercury levels in the men’s and women’s hair samples were 21.6 parts per million and 11.9 ppm, respectively, while the levels of average Japanese men and women are 2.55 ppm and 1.43 ppm, he said.

The highest concentration level discovered in the survey was 67.2 ppm in a male aged in his 50s, as a total of three people exceeded the level of 50 ppm for no observed adverse effect set by the World Health Organization, Endo said.

Endo expressed alarm that contamination levels among some of the residents appeared to be high enough to develop health problems according to oversea standards.

‘‘It’s necessary to conduct more detailed research on their health conditions and the current status of contamination,’’ he said. ‘‘We should also make efforts to curb consumption of whale meat which is highly contaminated with mercury.’‘

The researchers, also including Koichi Haraguchi at Daiichi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Fukuoka, will publish the survey result in an international science magazine on oceanic pollution.

According to Endo, the researchers also discovered high levels of mercury in products made from local marine mammals and fishes, such as pilot whales, dolphins, tunas and skipjack, distributed in and around the community.

In particular, the total contamination levels in the red meat from 22 samples of pilot whales, a cetacean commonly consumed in the town, averaged 9.6 ppm, with the level for methyl mercury alone coming to 5.9 ppm, both well beyond the tentative national regulation figures of 0.4 ppm and 0.3 ppm, respectively.

Among the 50 residents tested, the average total mercury level in those who eat pilot whale once a month or more was 24.6 ppm, while the levels in those who eat it only once every several months or not at all were 15.5 ppm and 4.3 ppm, respectively.

No epidemiologic survey has been conducted in Taiji although health hazards to the residents from the consumption of whale products are suspected, according to Endo.

© 2010 Kyodo News. All rights reserved.

What is happening in Taiji now?

2010-01-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

By Helene O’Barry

Since the showing of the documentary The Cove, which exposes the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, many rumors have swirled around one question: Did The Cove stop the killing of dolphins in Taiji? Some media outlets have publicized statements that would lead the public to believe that dolphins are no longer being hunted there. Sadly, this is not the case. The killing of many dolphins, including bottlenose dolphins, still continues in Taiji. The policy of no killing of bottlenose dolphins apparently did not last long and was most likely nothing but a strategic short-term publicity stunt, aimed at reassuring the international media that bottlenose dolphins would no longer be killed. Bottlenose dolphins are being hunted and killed in Taiji again, along with many other species of dolphin.

It is important to remember that this is the world’s largest dolphin slaughter. Japan issues 23,000 permits annually to fishermen around its shores; in Taiji alone, 1,500 or more dolphins are slaughtered every year. It has been going on for more than 400 years, although the drive fishery has only gone on for the past 70 years or so, and of course the capturing of dolphins for aquariums and swim-with-dolphins programs is a modern, very lucrative addition.

It is not realistic to think that we, or anyone else, can shut it down before this year’s hunting season ends in March 2010. In order to once and for all stop the dolphin slaughter in Japan, The Cove must be viewed by the Japanese people. So far, it has not been. There are 126 million people in Japan. Less than 300 of them have seen the documentary so far. The work, therefore, is now about launching an effort within Japan to ensure that as many Japanese people as possible see The Cove.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition is leading that effort, and we are currently finishing up the Japanese translations for The Cove and making copies to distribute around the country, particularly to decision-makers in Tokyo. Additionally, our Coalition will be screening copies around the major cities shortly. We are getting e-mails from people in Japan eager to help us spread the word.

Your donations help our efforts. We want to thank you for all your support. Help us reach those 126 million people in Japan by donating today:

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/donate.php

Working together with our friends in Japan and from all around the world, we can stop the killing. We are already seeing stories in the Japanese media that would never have appeared without our Save Japan Dolphins Campaign. The Japan Times, for example, recently printed a story listing ten important human rights issues in Japan — the Japan dolphin slaughter was number 9! Go to: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/fl20100105ad.html

We don’t know how long this campaign is going to take, but we are in it to win protection for all the dolphins and whales. You can count on that.

Save Japan Dolphins Coalition:
Earth Island Institute, Animal Welfare Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale of the UK, and OceanCare of Switzerland

In Taiji, Japan, Fishermen in the Cove are Still Not Killing Bottlenose Dolphins, but They are Killing Other Species

2009-12-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

By Ric OBarry, Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition
http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

Ive been here in Taiji, the small coastal town in Japan with the big secret, for several days now. I wanted to get a good idea of what is happening in the Cove, made infamous by the movie The Cove, recently released on DVD. It is imperative that I and my colleagues from Save Japan Dolphins Coalition are here on the ground regularly to judge what is happening and to document the truth that the Taiji dolphin killers and the Japanese government want to hide from the Japanese people and the world.

Ric O’Barry and his son, Lincoln O’Barry, are at the Cove in Taiji, Japan.
Photo by Kate Tomlinson.

The Taiji dolphin-killers, so far as we can tell, are still not catching any bottlenose dolphins for slaughter. Thats the good news. But obviously, this is largely a PR effort on the part of the fishermen to deny the truth shown in The Cove. They can say they are not killing Flipper, but they are butchering many of his dolphin cousins as many as they can get.

And the dolphin-killers are angry, too. They have physically assaulted several of us, although fortunately there have been no injuries. I was assaulted yesterday, but I got the assault on video. Tomorrow I will bring a copy to the police station and file a complaint against the dolphin killers. They will not intimidate me or our Save Japan Dolphins team that is here on site.

As depicted in the award-wining documentary The Cove, Japan issues 23,000 permits annually to slaughter dolphins. Here in Taiji, boats go out to sea and herd dolphin pods into a local cove, where nets are arrayed across the entrance to keep them captive. The dolphin killers work with aquariums from all over the world to pick out the best show quality dolphins for captivity. The rest are killed in the most horrible way imaginable, caught on hidden cameras in The Cove Movie. Roughly two to three thousand dolphins are killed here during the dolphin-hunting season, which runs from September to March.

Ric O’Barry at the Cove in Taiji, Japan.
Photo by Kate Tomlinson.

Sadly, in the Cove itself, I have found it is business as usual, despite the worldwide publicity against the dolphin slaughter. On Sunday, several False killer whales (a large dolphin) were captured and a few were taken by boat around the corner of the bay to the notorious Taiji Whale Museums floating holding cages on the other side. These whales will be trained and then sold for extremely high prices (as much as $150,000US each or more) to other aquariums for their captive dolphin shows. The rest of the pod, their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers, will be slaughtered tomorrow at dawn. There are also Rissos dolphins and Pacific white-sided dolphins in the Cove today as well, and they will die too tomorrow. My son Lincoln and I will be on hand to record it. My son and I are working on a new TV project, so we will have a way to show the world the reality here in Taiji.

We will continue to show our presence here, and we will continue to witness and record the brutal dolphin slaughters. We will also show The Cove Movie throughout Japan. We will spread the truth that the government has tried so long to cover up.

One of my goals here this week is to change some hearts and minds here in Taiji. It seems to me that this is ground zero for the fight to change the hearts and minds of all Japan. We know there are people here in town that object to the dolphin slaughter, and this week, I will have a chance to meet them. We have a Japanese version of The Cove DVD with us, and we plan to screen it discretely for as many local people as we can find who want to know the truth.

I want to thank all our supporters for their efforts to contact President Obama and other opinion leaders throughout the world, to contact the Japanese Embassies, and to give donations to our cause to help us with our expenses here in Japan. Your support means a lot to me and the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

Dolphins and small whales are still being killed in the Cove in Taiji, Japan.
Photo by Kate Tomlinson.

For further information about the Campaign to Save Japan Dolphins and to take action, go to our website:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

To donate to the Campaign, click here:

Thanks for all your help! We will stop the slaughter of dolphins in Japan -- I believe it is only a matter of time.

Save Japan Dolphins Coalition:
Earth Island Institute, Animal Welfare Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale of the UK, and OceanCare of Switzerland

Cruelty in the Name of Tradition

2009-12-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

By Helene O’Barry

A popular argument used by the dolphin hunters in Taiji when asked why they kill dolphins by the thousands every year is: “We’ve been doing this for hundreds of years; it’s our tradition.” Some people immediately accept this explanation and back off without asking any further questions. “If killing dolphins is their tradition, then it must be OK,” seems to be their line of reasoning, and it is a dangerous one -- it makes it too easy for those who inflict pain on others to continue doing it unchallenged.

The term “traditional dolphin hunt” glorifies the dolphin slaughter, creating images of proud men carrying out courageous deeds to ensure the survival of their tribes. But the dolphin hunters of Japan are part of modern society. They do not live in tribes, what they do requires no bravery, and they certainly are not proud of what they do, which is illustrated by the tremendous amount of time they spend hiding their activities from the world. Any person capable of forcing large groups of marine mammals into a tight space, from which there is no escape, can do this job. We have heard the dolphin hunters’ laughter as they held up their tools before turning to finish their work concealed behind tarp, barbed wire and chain link fences.

The dolphin hunters’ argument that the hunt is justified by being “traditional” illustrates a fundamental hypocrisy: While the dolphin hunters apparently want to waste time standing still and refusing to accept today’s knowledge about dolphins as an intelligent, self-aware and highly evolved species, they are not against progress as long as they can benefit from it. They use modern technology to carry out their so-called “traditional dolphin hunt,” thereby turning it into something entirely different from what it was hundreds of years ago. Taking advantage of high-speed motorized boats, radios and walkie-talkies, they are able quickly to locate and hunt down thousands of dolphins and other small whales during the six-month-long hunting season. But as soon as anyone questions the justification of the hunt, they immediately revert back to their argument of keeping things the way they have been for hundreds of years. So while the dolphin hunters hide behind “tradition,” their modern dolphin killing machine marches on, eradicating entire dolphin schools in its destructive path.

We urge everyone never to accept the term “tradition” as valid reason for any action. Tradition is no excuse for cruelty.

Toxic Dolphin Meat -- A Human Rights Issue

2009-11-30T18:53:00.000-08:00

By Helene O’Barry

Much has changed since 2003 when Ric and I travelled to Taiji, Japan for the first time. Back then, dangerous confrontations with the Japanese dolphin hunters were common. Their aggression and hostility were enormous. Every day at sunrise when we showed up at the dolphin killing cove with our cameras and video recorders to film and expose the dolphin slaughter, the dolphin hunters would push us around and threaten to harm us. “Go home, or we’ll kill you,” they would say. It was easy for them to harass us: There were no witnesses to their actions. We pleaded with the media in Japan and other countries to come to Taiji and cover the story of the dolphin slaughter, but no one was interested. Sometimes it seemed as if we were the only ones who knew about the dolphin slaughter that goes on six months out of the year in this remote fishing village.

Ric O’Barry holds a package of dolphin meat purchased in a Japanese market.
Photo by Boyd Harnell.

We would campaign in Taiji and Futo for weeks at a time, and those were weeks filled with anguish and sleepless nights. It seemed impossible that we would ever be able to generate any interest for this issue on an international level. At that time, the issue of the dolphin slaughter was primarily one of animal cruelty, and the dolphin hunters loved it. They loved it because it was an approach they could argue against with relative ease. “You eat cows and pigs in the Western world. We eat dolphins, what’s the difference?” they would say.

Turning the dolphin slaughter into an issue of food culture gave them an argument that seemed valid to some. But that is not the case anymore. Things have changed. The keyword to that change is “poison.” The dolphin meat sold to an unsuspecting Japanese public is poisoned, contaminated with mercury, metylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other toxins that accumulate up the food chain. It is only a matter of time before the Japanese public realizes that the dolphin hunters, supported by their government, have been selling them poison to eat. How much mercury have the Japanese coastal populations consumed without knowing it? And how many more people will be poisoned before a ban on the sale of toxic dolphin meat is implemented? Now that science has proven the presence of high levels of toxins in dolphin meat, through the efforts of environmental groups including the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, the entire world will be watching and waiting for a reaction from the Japanese government.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Japan has a new Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Ms. Mizuho Fukushima. At a press conference held in Tokyo, Ms. Fukushima agreed to investigate the mercury issue. This gives us hope that the Japanese public will finally be told the truth about the poisonous dolphin meat, and that the meat will be pulled from shelves in supermarkets and never again be served in schools and workplaces. You can help our campaign by sending a message to Ms. Fukushima. Your letter can be short:

“Dear Ms. Mizuho Fukushima:

Scientific studies have demonstrated that dolphin and whale meat is highly toxic and not fit for human consumption, due to contamination from methylmercury, mercury, PCBs, and other poisons. Please prevent any further damage to the health of the Japanese people by banning the sale of dolphin and whale meat immediately.

Sincerely,

Your name and contact information.”

Please send your letter to:
Minister of the Consumer Affairs Agency
Ms. Mizuho Fukushima
Sanno Park Tower
2-11-1 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Japan 100-6178
Fax: +81-3-3500-4640
Keiko Ueda, legislative Aide to Ms. Mizuho Fukushima, Member of the House of Councillors, Social Democratic Party
E-mail:ukgo@jca.apc.org

The Cove Exposed - Issue 7

2009-11-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Dolphin Savers,

I hope you will tune in this Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) to Larry King on CNN, 8 PM Eastern / 5 PM Pacific. Actor Ben Stiller and I will be Larry’s special guests to talk about the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign.

This is a real thrill for me, and a crucial way to spread the word. CNN will be broadcasting this story in 122 countries!

Also, The Cove movie has made the short list of 15 films being considered for an Oscar nomination (see "More Publicity" below).

Shortly after this Thanksgiving weekend in the US, I will be leaving my family once again to travel to Japan with the Save Japan Dolphins Team to screen The Cove in cities around the country and to bring copies of The Cove to Japanese decision-makers.

Thank you for your generous donations to help me and the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign fund these key trips.

In September elections, the Japanese voted in a new political party to replace the long-reigning LDP, which had run Japan since the 1940’s.

It is unclear whether the new Japan PM and his party will stop the slaughter of dolphins and whales. They are said to be opposed to government subsidies, which certainly SHOULD put Japan’s whaling scheme on the chopping block! Millions of taxpayer yen are wasted each year on sending the whaling ships to Antarctica for phony “scientific” research whaling, as well as millions more in bribes to small nations in return for their voting for whaling at the International Whaling Commission meetings.

Finally, the new party is very interested in protecting the environment. The threat of mercury poisoning should therefore resonate with them.

Recently, at a press conference, reporter Boyd Harnell confronted the new Minister of Public Health, Mizuho Fukushima, with the dangers of mercury-contaminated dolphin meat. He presented her with copies of some of his pioneer articles for The Japan Times and several scientific reports, including several provided by our Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

So we feel the time is right for Japan to finally end the slaughter of dolphins and whales, once and for all.

Once the people of Japan learn the truth about the dolphin slaughter through viewing The Cove and getting the scientific and educational information we provide, they will stop the slaughter – I am sure of it.

It won’t be easy, but you can rest assured that I will not give up, nor will my colleagues with the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

Thank you again for your support of our efforts to protect dolphins and whales in Japan. With your kind help, I know we will succeed.

Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

If you can help, please consider a tax-deductible donation: http://www.savejapandolphins.org/donate.php

SPECIAL OFFERS:

The upcoming issue of Earth Island Journal features an exclusive story about Ric O’Barry and the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign. To receive a PDF electronic copy, click here:

One of our friends made me a beautiful nobori (a traditional Japanese banner) that says in Japanese "Save Japan's Dolphins." I'm bringing it with me to Japan to display all over the country. For those of you who are able to donate $100 or more, I will have your name inscribed on the banner as a sponsor of my trip. Thanks for being part of this growing list!

The upcoming issue of Earth Island Journal features exclusive interviews and in-depth stories about the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign. For a donation of $35, (or $100 for nobori sponsors) we will send you a copy of the Journal, and a full year's subscription.

TAKE ACTION:

Taiji fishermen have – quite amazingly – not killed dolphins yet this year. However, they are still killing pilot whales for meat and netting bottlenose dolphins for the international dolphin trafficking industry. We need to stop all killing of dolphins and whales, and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) must take action to stop their members from subsidizing the slaughter by buying choice specimens at outrageous prices for captivity and “swim-with-dolphins” programs. Go to our website and take action.

Want to do more? Get your friends and family to go to the website, host a house party, or Cove movie showing for the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

MORE PUBLICITY FOR OUR CAMPAIGN:

The Cove movie has made the short list of 15 documentaries being considered for final nomination for an Academy Award as Best Documentary next March. We salute Louie Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society for their incredible support for dolphins and their artistic achievement.

The British newspaper The Guardian did this wonderful editorial about The Cove.

Tokyo Press Conference Confronts Japan’s Food Safety Minister With Toxic Dolphin Meat

2009-11-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

“Japan Minister Mizuho Fukushima at a Tokyo Press Conference.”
Photo by Boyd Harnell.

Journalist Boyd Harnell, who has covered the killing of dolphins in Japan for the Japan Times, recently confronted Japan’s new Food Safety Minister Fukushima, with the support of Sky TV’s Pio d’Emilia, with detailed evidence, some supplied by the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, on the poisoning of dolphin and whale meat on sale in Japanese supermarkets.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) held a press conference Wednesday, November 11th, to welcome Japanese politician Mizuho Fukushima, the new minister of food safety and general affairs, social affairs, and gender equality. Mainstream Japanese and foreign journalists with the print and broadcast media fielded questions related to her new position, including an interview by reporter Harnell related to the serious health issues revolving around the ongoing sale of highly toxic, mercury-tainted dolphin meat at retail outlets in Japan.

Mr. Harnell told Fukushima that the Japan Health Ministry has so far failed to mandate warnings on the labels of small cetacean meat, adding that mislabeling of dolphin meat as being whale meat was endemic throughout Japan. He also told Fukushima that two Taiji government officials condemned dolphin meat as toxic waste after they had conducted certified lab tests showing Taiji dolphin meat to be extremely high in mercury and methyl mercury
and said it had been formerly served at government-sponsored Taiji lunches for school children.

Harnell went on to point out that top Japanese medical researchers, Dr. Shigeo Ekino and Dr. Tetsuya Endo, also condemned the sale of dolphin meat for human consumption. He mentioned the high levels of mercury found in 50 Taiji residents that tested at ten times the national average for this toxic substance. The Japan Times contributing correspondent turned over ten certified lab reports of dolphin meat showing ballistic levels of mercury along with in-depth studies made by environmental organizations and scientific reports detailing the various toxins found in Japan's coastal dolphins sold for food to Japanese consumers.

Harnell asked if she would ban the sale of dolphin meat forever. Fukushima said she was aware of the high levels of mercury in Japan's dolphins and said she would address the issue and investigate studies made by scientists and environmental groups.

Ric O’Barry, Campaign Director for the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, stated: “Boyd Harnell’s efforts to bring the story of dolphin meat poisoning to the attention of Japanese officials has been outstanding. We really owe him and other brave journalists a great deal for challenging the media blackout in Japan over stories about dolphins and whales. Dolphin meat should not be eaten by anyone, and Japan must ban the slaughter of dolphins and whales to protect public health and preserve their ocean heritage.”

* * * * *

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition to stop dolphin and whale slaughter and stop dolphin trafficking consists of Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute, In Defense of Animals, Animal Welfare Institute, OceanCare of Switzerland, and Campaign Whale of the UK.

Award for a lifetime of saving dolphins

2009-11-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

By Helene O’Barry

Our Campaign Director Richard O’Barry was named the winner of the Lifetime AchievementAward presented by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

"The ASPCA is proud to honor those who have demonstrated extraordinary compassion, bravery and commitment to furthering the human-animal bond," said ASPCA President & CEO Edwin Sayres.

O’Barry was chosen as recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for his tireless efforts to end cruelty against dolphins and educate the world about the plight of dolphins in captivity. Among his most outstanding achievements in recent years are the rescue and release of captive dolphins in Colombia, Guatemala, Brazil, Nicaragua and Haiti. The significance of his work has been further highlighted with the award-winning film documentary The Cove, which features his efforts to expose and stop the slaughter of dolphins in Japan.

Joining us at the banquet ceremony in New York on October 29th were Save Japan Dolphins Coalition supporters Sara Rosen and Casey Burgess with the Regina Frankenberg Foundation, artist Temple St. Clair Carr with her son Archer and dolphin protector Taffy Williams.

"I am truly honored to receive the ASPCA award and accept it on behalf of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, my wife Helene O'Barry who participated in the dolphin rescue and release projects, and all other individuals I have worked with over the years," said O’Barry.

Ric O’Barry addresses the ASPCA awards luncheon in New York.
Photography by Patrick McMullan.

Richard O’Barry with ASPCA President and Chief Executive Officer Edwin Sayres.
Photography by Patrick McMullan.

The Cove Exposed - Issue 6

2009-11-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Dolphin Savers:

I need your help immediately to broaden and strengthen our campaign to save dolphins and stop the mercury poisoning in Japan.

-- Your support has kept the dolphin-killers in check so far. Two months into the dolphin-killing season, the "non-slaughter" policy on the primary dolphin species remains in place.

-- Shocking new evidence has just been reported by a credible Japanese journalist on the dangerously high mercury levels in residents of Taiji as a direct result of their consumption of poison dolphin and whale meat.

-- The first public showing of The Cove in Japan was a huge success, stunning Japanese citizens who have had no idea the dolphin slaughter was taking place. Take a look at some of the quotes from viewers, as reported in the New York Times:

"I was outraged. The footage of the sea turning bloody red was especially shocking," said Yukiko Ishizawa, 18, a college student in Tokyo.

"I'm never going to eat dolphin again now that I know about the pollution," said Mutsuko Otake, 55, a Tokyo homemaker. "But I was most shocked to find out that Japan has been getting a bad name, without us knowing about it," she added.

I need to get back to Japan as quickly as possible, and we need to mobilize the entire Save Japan Dolphins Team to help. We need to spread the word about the Japanese-language version of The Cove. We need to keep the pressure on to end the killing, and press the new Japanese Minister of Consumer Affairs and Food Safety to immediately prohibit sale of poisonous dolphin meat.

This is not going to be cheap or easy, but we must do it. I hope you will give as generously as possible to keep this remarkable progress moving forward.

Click here to make a tax-deductible donation:

We have to act quickly. While the Taiji fishermen have not slaughtered any small dolphins for meat this season, they have continued to kill pilot whales and occasionally other species. These species have even more mercury than the smaller dolphins. And of course, as I have been telling the media, pilot whales ARE dolphins.

We must also get copies of the Japanese version of The Cove to government contacts, leaders of grassroots environmental and food safety groups, and the Japanese media. When enough people in Japan see this movie, the pressure to end the killing will be overwhelming.

For every donation of $100 or more, your name will be printed on a beautiful new nobori banner, which says "Save Japan's Dolphins" in Japanese. I plan on flying this banner wherever I go in Japan on this trip so the Japanese can see that your worldwide support travels with me.

I promise to keep you posted on key developments as I return to Japan, and thank you in advance for your continued commitment and contributions.

We need to keep the pressure on and get the truth out to stop the killing!

Thank you,

Ric O'Barry

Special Offers:

One of our friends made me a beautiful nobori (a traditional Japanese banner) that says in Japanese "Save Japan's Dolphins." I'm bringing it with me to Japan to display all over the country. Now, you can help me by donating $100 to the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition effort in Japan. And I will have your name attached to the nobori as a sponsor of my trip. Please help us with a generous donation.

The upcoming issue of Earth Island Journal features exclusive interviews and in-depth stories about the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign. For a donation of $35 (or $100 for nobori sponsors), we will send you a copy of the Journal, and a full year's subscription: Click here to donate.

Take Action:

While the Taiji fishermen are not slaughtering any dolphins right now, thanks to our efforts, they are still catching pilot whales for meat and catching bottlenose dolphins for the international dolphin trafficking industry. We need to get them to stop all killing of dolphins and whales, and we need the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to take action to stop their members from subsidizing the slaughter of dolphins by buying choice specimens at outrageous prices for captivity and "swim-with-dolphins" programs. Go to our website and take action: http://www.savejapandolphins.org.

Want to do more? Get your friends and family to go to the website, and host a fundraising party for the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

More Publicity for Our Campaign:

A great CNN story tells of suppression efforts in Japan during the screening of The Cove at the Tokyo International Film Festival:

And go here to read the full New York Times story giving the reaction of ordinary Japanese who saw The Cove.

You can also hear my recent interview on BBC Radio.

The truth about toxic Dolphin meat is finally being reported by mainstream Japanese media. Go here to read an English translation of this shocking article.

“The Cove” Screened in Tokyo

2009-10-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

by Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

The Tokyo International Film Festival tried very hard to bury “The Cove” Movie, but I think their efforts backfired on them. By trying to keep the media away from the film and the audience, they made the story much bigger than it might have been.

“The Cove”, as you know, was originally passed over by the Festival board in favor of much safer, non-controversial movies, such as Disney’s “Oceans” movie, which opened the Festival. However, thanks to pressure from the US, including our friend actor Ben Stiller and the Festival’s Jury President Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Festival relented and agreed to screen “The Cove.” This was the first screening of “The Cove” in Japan where the general public could buy tickets.

The Festival then scheduled the screening in the morning on a workday, but “The Cove” sold out within an hour of tickets being made available! The Festival refused to schedule a second screening to accommodate the many who could not get tickets (including, incidentally, the town Council of Taiji). The audience actually applauded at the end of the film – one critic said it was the ONLY film where the audience applauded during the Festival.

The many reporters and camera operators who showed up were told by the Festival not to ask questions and not to interview filmgoers. They were allowed only briefly into the auditorium during a short question & answer session with Director Louie Psihoyos. Then they were apparently kicked off the property!

A great CNN story tells this sad tale of suppression:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2009/10/21/lah.japan.dolphin.cove.cnn?iref=videosearch

And here is a New York Times story giving the reaction of ordinary Japanese who saw “The Cove”. So often, we only hear from government officials or the fishermen who kill the dolphins. Clearly, we are on the right track in getting “The Cove” out to the public in Japan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/world/asia/23dolphin.html

Louie was the real hero of the day. He and his crew worked long and hard on putting together an excellent dub in Japanese of “The Cove.”

He also decided he would go to Tokyo personally to screen “The Cove” and answer questions. He was risking arrest, but felt he had to go to present his film and to talk with the Japanese. Fortunately, there was no arrest, and the screening went very well indeed. While several of the protagonists (including the Taiji mayor and the gentleman known in the film as “Private Space”) were in the room, none spoke, and Louie fielded questions like a pro. Generally, the questions were all pretty supportive, and even questions that could have been very hostile were asked in a polite manner.

Special thanks are owed to our Coalition team in Japan, including David Kubiak, Michael Bailey, Kyoko Tanaka, and to the amazing work done by Louie Psihoyos of OPS and Carl Clifton of The Works.

What happens now? This is the big question.

There is some interest after the screening from some Japanese distributors, so a wider audience may see “The Cove” in theaters.

I’m convinced we need, when appropriate, to get it out to the Japanese people in many ways – online, as DVDs, and in special screenings that our campaign pays for around cities in Japan. “The Cove” is a powerful statement and getting it out will go a long way towards ending the killing of dolphins and whales. But it will take a lot of money to get it out and seen in Japan.

Louie, acting on a suggestion by my son Lincoln, offered to screen “The Cove” in Taiji for the town Council and the people, but has not received any reply. Lincoln and I are working on following up for a screening in Taiji. Louie further generously offered to give the profits from “The Cove” screenings in Japan to the town of Taiji if they agreed to stop killing dolphins. “The Cove” also opens this coming Friday, October 23rd, in Europe.

There are many other things we need to do for the campaign beyond the movie, too. We need to continue to get the word out about mercury contamination, and help conduct more research on the dolphin fishery and the health threat it represents to the people of Japan. We need to push the Japanese media especially to look into the mercury issue.

I plan to go back to Japan soon, to continue to keep the pressure on and bring reporters and TV cameras with me. We have been willing to work from the beginning with the people of Taiji to encourage tourism and dolphin-watching as a replacement for killing and capturing dolphins, but they need to know we will not go away until this issue gets solved.

Your support has helped us enormously during these hectic days! Please consider giving a donation to help me and the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition crew go back to Japan and Taiji:

Click Here to Donate

Thanks again for all your support!