In Taiji, Japan, Fishermen in the Cove are Still Not Killing Bottlenose Dolphins, but They are Killing Other Species

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

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

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

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

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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

“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

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

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.