A Message From Ric O'Barry

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

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

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

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/

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

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

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.