March against the slaughter of dolphin in Japan

The slaughter of Dolphin and porpoises in Taiji, Japan, is nothing short of wildlife genocide. There are no other words for it

On the 17th January 2015, I joined over 1200 other passionate campaigners on a march through the busy Saturday morning streets of London . We walked (shouting, whistling and waving banners) from Cavendish Square to Trafalgar Square where we had some impassioned speeches from Dom Dyer, Will Travers and others.

So what was it all about.

To highlight the slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Japan every year

To make people aware that this one small cove in Taiji, supplies part of the insidious “wildlife entertainment” sector, that is, to supply every Seaworld, oceanarium and aquarium, or swim with dolphin programs. After a drive that lasts for hours, a few animals are selected from the doomed pod that is corralled in the cove, and they are sent to the training enclosures to be trained before being shipped all over the world. The rest of the unselected are butchered for human consumption, dog food and fertiliser. Sub adults and little ones are generally taken back out to sea where they are dumped and face little chance of survival without the pod.

To highlight the need to close down all programs where dolphins, porpoises and orcas are captive in order to entertain you or allow you to swim or touch them.

Keep pressure on the flaccid International Whaling Commission (IWC) which refuses to protect Orcas, dolphins and Porpoises – with legislature- as it does the larger Cetaceans like Whales. They all belong to same family, why not protect them.

Please don’t support any of the programs of entertainment whether it be Dolphins doing tricks or you thinking how great it would be to swim with them. They were all wrenched from a wild pod of dolphins in Japan, and you will be funding the practice of wildlife genocide.

P.S Don’t believe the propaganda from Seaworld and the likes, about how they restock using captivity bread individuals. That is still a captive dolphin, that will spend its life in a small tank doing tricks.

Below are some of the images I snapped in-between the wonderful speeches. Further down the post are some shocking images of the actual slaughter.

Taiji, Japan – The place where wild dolphins are taken from the sea. 

I make no apologies for the graphic nature of the following images as they are a reality for dolphins of the tail-end of a dolphin drive, and they depict the nature of the butchering that takes place. I have taken these images from the internet and have credited the photographer where I could. I would be happy to add the photo credits if any of you recognise the images.

If you have not had the chance to view the documentary – “The Cove” I implore you to have a look for it on YouTube, or even by buying it on DVD. It is well worth the watch to get a good understanding of the issue surrounding the slaughter in the cove.

The butchers at work. They say that it is tradition and part of their culture. I say it is the 21st century, so time to leave those shit excuses behind.

Waiting for selection – Years of captivity for a few, death for the rest.

The killing cove. In more recent years the fishermen have strung tarpaulins across the killing area just off the beach. You claim it is not illegal to kill them, so why are you trying to cover it up.

A Red Cove day –  Photographic credit to Peter Carrette

If you are not fully aware of all the facts, here are a few links:

Oceanic Preservation Society (makers of The Cove and the soon to be released Racing Extinction)

Save Japan’s Dolphins (great site to subscribe to)

Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project.