Increasingly, Taiji, Japan is finding it tougher and tougher to conduct its annual dolphin drive, which officially began yesterday on September 01, 2011. As a typhoon delayed the annual roundup, slaughter and capture of thousands of dolphins, Japanese fishermen in the Wakayama Prefecture are also facing increasing pressure from dolphin activists such as Save Japan Dolphins and the Sea Shepherd organization. But sources say, the hunt is now underway.
Mother Nature protests?
With Typhoon Talas expected to reach western or central Japan either today or Saturday, Taiji fishermen are having to sit tight and wait out the storm. For dolphin activists, it must feel as if Mother Nature herself is stepping in to protest the hunt. But Sep. 01 wasn't a complete washout, at least for the thousands of dolphin supporters who celebrated International Japan Dolphin Day around the world.
Ric O'Barry, campaign director for Save Japan Dolphins – along with volunteers from nine different countries, led a group in prayer on the cove's beach in Taiji, as dolphin lovers around the world, gathered outside Japanese consulates and embassies to peacefully protest the annual slaughter.
From Dallas to New Zealand and Australia to the Philippines, increased awareness has jettisoned Taiji's annual hunt firmly into the spotlight, much to the chagrin of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, who find themselves constantly being forced to defend the dolphin hunt.
As a result, from simply tarping the killing zone to allegedly changing the killing method for one considered "more humane," Taiji fishermen have long argued their compromise. Not so, countered Ric O'Barry, who released disturbing video of the alleged new humane method back in Jan. 2011, calling it, "Worse than what was shown in The Cove."
The movie that opened the eyes of the world
The annual Taiji dolphin drive has a history that dates back over 400 years, but it wasn't until the release of the award-winning documentary, The Cove in 2009, that the rest of the world witnessed the hunt in all of its brutal glory. Whether sharing an affinity with dolphins or not, the horrific clicks and shrieks of trapped dolphins being stabbed to death, along with the visual assault of waters churning red, pierced the hardest of hearts.
Yet The Cove movie served two purposes and wasn't solely centered on the brutal hunt; it also opened the eyes of Japan's citizens to toxic levels of mercury found in dolphin meat packaged and served to Japanese people, including the lunches of school children. The movie not only forced the removal of dolphin meat from school lunch menus, it forced the Japanese government to issue mandatory mercury poisoning testing for all of its citizens. Today, the dolphin activist movement is growing in both awareness and stature.
Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians in Japan for the second year
Fresh off their successful campaign in the Faroe Islands, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) also has volunteers in the Taiji area having launched Operation Infinite Patience: Return of the Cove Guardians, for a second year. SSCS says their goal is, "To non-violently intimidate, intervene, harass, and considerably slow down the dolphin killing." Last year, the organization claimed their operation saved, "An estimated 750 dolphin and pilot whales ... as a result of the pressure applied by the Cove Guardian volunteers."
Save Japan Dolphins and Ric O'Barry use less intrusive methods of operation by attempting to capture the hearts of the Japanese people. They hope to emulate the success they have achieved with the Earth Island Institute in the Solomon Islands, where for the first time in 450 years, no dolphins were killed in the past year.
Laura Bridgeman from the Earth Island Institute, currently volunteering with Barry's crew in Japan, said on Sep. 02, that as they were leaving a local restaurant in Osaka, "We were approached by two locals who recognized us from the evening news." The mother and daughter team told Bridgeman, "that they had been unaware of the dolphin killing in Taiji, and that they were happy we were there. The daughter loved dolphins, and she did not want to see them hurt." It appears changes are continuing to happen, one mind at a time.
Meanwhile, no dolphins have yet been killed this season in Taiji's infamous cove, but Ric O'Barry is pleading with the city of Taiji to release dolphins currently being kept captive in pens within the bay area. As Typhoon Talas bears down, O'Barry said, "The dolphins cannot escape the turbulence of waves and wind or the netting and piers that surround them. They will be beaten up, and likely many will be killed ... this happened before during the March tsunami where many dolphins were drowned."
As the storm worsens in Japan, trainers of the dolphins still refuse to release the creatures. Footage of the worsening storm in Taiji and of the captive dolphins taken from the cove for Dolphin Resort, was captured by Leilani Münter and Ric O'Barry and posted on YouTube. Münter says, "The hurricane is supposed to hit tomorrow ... Ric O'Barry and I recorded what may be the last day of life for the dolphins in the sea pens at Dolphin Resort in Taiji."
Updates Sep. 05-06, 2011: The boats are out
O'Barry, Münter and other volunteers, remain on standby in Taiji to monitor the situation. On Sep. 05, 2011, Münter reported from Taiji, "There are 8 drive boats in the harbor, we think they moved some to a safer harbor to protect them from storm so no boats went out today. A lot of destruction around us. Many lives have been lost. Many people still missing. Appears most dolphins in pens survived, though a few are missing. Due to typhoon during 1st count, it's impossible to confirm any numbers."
There is still no word on the missing dolphins in the pens, but on Sep 06, 2011, Ms Münter reported from Taiji that the drive boats are now out attempting to catch the dolphins, and the net that separates the public beach from the killing cove, is up. "It is it is heartbreaking to watch," Münter wrote on Facebook, "please swim far away from here!!!"
Elizabeth Batt - Elizabeth Batt is a former large animal nurse, certified NREMT, lover of equines and conservationist.
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