|
Victory: Japan Dolphins Will Not Go to Dominican Republic The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition spares the Taiji Twelve from life in a marine park The Japanese dolphin slaughter industry was dealt two big blows recently as they kicked off their annual massacre of dolphins and whales. First, the Dominican Republic cancelled the proposed export of twelve live dolphins ("the Taiji Twelve") from Taiji, Japan to Ocean World theme park. The government's decision came after a months-long campaign by the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, of which IDA is a member, to stop the deal. Thank you to all of our members who wrote to the Dominican Republic's leaders in response to our alert in February, and for helping make this victory possible. There is a definite financial connection between Japan's dolphin slaughter industry and the export of live dolphins for marine parks. The slaughter of dolphins for meat is subsidized by the high profit margin fishermen get from selling live dolphins to aquariums and "swim-with-dolphins" programs around the world. A dead dolphin is worth about $600 on the Japanese market for meat, while live dolphins sell for $50,000 or more. The second blow came when Ric O'Barry (Marine Mammal Specialist for the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition and former trainer of TV star Flipper) joined champion pro surfer David Rostovich to lead a group called Surfers For Cetaceans to Taiji for a dramatic confrontation with the slaughterers. Six surfer-activists, among them Rostovich and Hayden Pantierre from the hit TV series "Heroes," paddled into the lagoon to where a pod of about 30 dolphins were held captive in a netted corral awaiting slaughter. Before they could reach the dolphins, they were cut off by fishermen who used their boat's propellers and a long boathook to keep the surfers at bay. Even though the surfers were forced to retreat after about 10 minutes and the dolphins were probably killed, it was the slaughterers who ultimately tasted defeat. That's because producer Louie Psihoyos of the Oceanic Preservation Society captured the entire conflict on film for his documentary "Secret Dolphin Cove," scheduled for release next summer. Segments of his footage, as well as graphic dolphin slaughter, have already aired on major TV networks around the world, exposing the bloody horrors that the drive fisheries are trying desperately to hide from the outside world. Watch some of these videos: |