Dolphin Killing

Japanese kill many dolphins and whales every year. They herd then together by slamming metal rods together under the waters surface. This causes the dolphins to panic and flee as well as forming a barrier which the dolphins can physically not cross, as the pain that this would inflict would be far too horrible. The animals are then driven into a bay, and slaughtered. Before they are killed some of the dolphins are chosen by dolphin trainers that work for Japan and then let the captured dolphins perform in Aquariums.


11 Facts about Dolphin Hunting:

1. Approximately 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed legally each year in Japan. The majority are killed at sea, but thousands are killed in dolphin hunts along coastal lagoons and coves. Dolphin hunts also occur in coastal island areas of the South Pacific and North Atlantic but they are nowhere near as large as those in Taiji.
2. The world outlawed commercial whaling in 1986. And yet, dolphin hunts remain legal because, although dolphins and whales are members of the same family and share similar traits of intelligence and self-awareness, so far the members of the International Whaling Commission have not agreed to protect so-called “small cetaceans.”
3. Dolphin hunts take place both to capture live dolphins for marine parks and aquariums and to kill dolphins for their meat, despite the fact that the meat often contains toxins, including mercury and PCBs at unhealthy levels, and sells at a very low price.
4. A live dolphin captured for a marine park show can fetch up to $150,000. A dolphin killed for meat draws about $600.
5. In coastal areas, dolphins are hunted by “drive-fishing” techniques, in which the dolphins are herded and corralled into net cages by loud banging sounds that disrupt their sensitive sonar, causing them to panic. Once trapped in the nets, their fate is decided by veterinarians and animal trainers who choose which dolphins they will purchase.
6. Once a live dolphin is selected for a marine park, aquarium or swim-with-dolphins program, it is separated from its close-knit family unit, hoisted in trucks and planes and transported from the ocean to a far-away pool where it will face stiff odds of survival.
7. Over half of all captured dolphins will die within 2 years of their captivity. They must rapidly adjust to a new environment where they can no longer swim their customary 40 miles a day in open waters, engage with their social group or use their sonar properly.
8. Dolphins not selected for marine parks are then “sitting ducks” for local fishermen who kill them for the price their meat will fetch. They are typically killed at close quarters with spears, knives and hooks. In the open ocean, they are usually killed with harpoons.
9. The primary economic driver of dolphin hunting is the multi-million dollar marine park business, which allows fishermen the resources to undertake additional slaughter for meat.
10. Most citizens in Japan are unaware of the dolphin hunts and unaware of the serious toxicity of dolphin meat. However, the Japanese government continues to support dolphin hunting and has successfully lobbied to keep the International Whaling Commission from acting on behalf of small cetaceans.
11. International attention and protest has helped to halt some dolphin hunts in the past but has not stopped the practice from continuing in the 21st Century.