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Annual dolphin hunt commencing in Taiji


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Every year on the first of September, in a small town called Taiji on the southeast coast of Japan's Honshu Island, a new fishing season begins: the dolphin season.

 

Twenty-six fishermen in 13 boats corral a few dozen dolphins into a small cove, where they kill the animals by stabbing them repeatedly with long harpoons and knives. The 50-square-foot (4.6-square-meter) inlet turns crimson, as if filled only with blood.

 

In the course of a six-month season, fishermen kill roughly 2,000 dolphins and sell the meat to local supermarkets for about U.S. $500 a dolphin. The fishermen supplement their income by taking about a hundred dolphins alive and selling them for tens of thousands of dollars each to aquariums in Japan, China, South Korea, Iran, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

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They should pass down the info/warnings more efficiently. Come on dolphins! Communication!

 

But seriously, that image of the bloodbath really is awful. I see again it is getting no or next to no coverage in Japan.

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Well dolphins are hardly endangered or anything as far as I know. A couple of thousand doesn't seem too much especially when you consider how many millions of say sharks are killed every year.

I suppose we're all meant to feel more shocked because it's supposedly so intelligent or something?

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What's your personal take on it Blu?

 

i have mixed feelings about myself. I love dolphins. I surf with them all the time. I hate the idea of them being slain like that but on the other hand who are we to take the moral highground when it comes to environmental issues. Dolphins aren't endangered in that part of the world as far as I know.

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Most Japanese know nothing about it. I have no problem with the consumption I just don't like the way they are killed. I am sure it can be done a bit more dolpin friendly.

I went on a surf trip along the coast of Miyazaki and Kochi and was amazed at the amount of areas promoting whale watching. Obviously big tourism business in Japan which nobody hears about.

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Originally Posted By: TJ OZ
Most Japanese know nothing about it. I have no problem with the consumption I just don't like the way they are killed. I am sure it can be done a bit more dolpin friendly.
I went on a surf trip along the coast of Miyazaki and Kochi and was amazed at the amount of areas promoting whale watching. Obviously big tourism business in Japan which nobody hears about.


sadly enough, most Japanese no F'all about anything regarding their own history. Has anybody else read 日本å²A or 日本å²B before? I have - they have the equivalent of 4 sentences for things they did in China regarding Manchuria and Nanking. Its appalling. Imagine Germany only having 4 sentences about the Holocaust.

They know nothing that goes on (yes wide generalization) but its true. The whole Taiji thing makes me sick. Quite often we, humans, say its inhumane to kill certain animals because of whatever reason(s). Whatever. But the way they do it is BARBARIC.

Just like the way they slaughtered people in China. If you dont know much about Japanese in China, find out more information on Unit 731 and the "scientific experiments" they committed on "logs" aka humans.
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hi Mantas. I'm against it, maybe because of my surf culture background too. I'm with Rasta - he's becoming a bit of an eco warrior. I hope it gets some world media attention. Because somethings been done like that for centuries, doesn't mean it's right (or humane). Maybe it's time for some lateral and analytical thinking.

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Just changing the perspective ...

I wonder how people will feel if we started breeding dogs for food consumption. Or collecting unwanted ones for that ... Surely we can feed the starving doing that.

 

I don't have a need to eat horse, dog, whale, dolphins ...

What bugs me is that it's all for money.

Ahh... we have money swimming into are area. We just have to collect it.

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The thing is Jinxx. Whales are worth a hell of a lot more money alive than dead (around here anyway).

CB- Your opening a can of worms there mate.

Maybe it needs to be opened. I wonder how much is taught to young Japanese about the appalling treatment dealt out to Aussie POW's in WW2? Not that anyone is looking for revenge, retribution or even an apology. Just some formal acknowledgment of what happened is surely what's required.

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They farm dogs in North Korea. Cambodia started promoting the eating of strays as they were becoming a pest. Not sure what the difference is compared to pigs. Cracklin mmmmmm

They have a lot of places in Japan where you can swim with the dolphins.

I don't think I will do it at Taiji though

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Originally Posted By: Mantas

I wonder how much is taught to young Japanese about the appalling treatment dealt out to Aussie POW's in WW2? Not that anyone is looking for revenge, retribution or even an apology. Just some formal acknowledgment of what happened is surely what's required.

Not sure what it would achieve. They come back with the A bomb and how could anybody do such a thing to civilians.
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Originally Posted By: Mantas
The thing is Jinxx. Whales are worth a hell of a lot more money alive than dead (around here anyway).
CB- Your opening a can of worms there mate.
Maybe it needs to be opened. I wonder how much is taught to young Japanese about the appalling treatment dealt out to Aussie POW's in WW2? Not that anyone is looking for revenge, retribution or even an apology. Just some formal acknowledgment of what happened is surely what's required.


I know its a can of worms, but I also wonder how much westerners know about Japanese history, and what Japanese themselves know about their own history.

They arent taught anything about their own history other than what little info Monbusho has put in their books, and it amounts to nothing more than names and dates - no substance.
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Originally Posted By: TJ OZ
Originally Posted By: Mantas

I wonder how much is taught to young Japanese about the appalling treatment dealt out to Aussie POW's in WW2? Not that anyone is looking for revenge, retribution or even an apology. Just some formal acknowledgment of what happened is surely what's required.

Not sure what it would achieve. They come back with the A bomb and how could anybody do such a thing to civilians.


I'm only talking about acknowledgement TJ.
The A bomb and it's devastation is well documented (and taught) in western history.
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I was involved with the filming of a few documentaries in Taiji and have been many times. The biggest problem is the fact that the dolphin meat is so highly contaminated with Mercury it is dangerous to eat. Due tot eh fact it is high up the food chain means that it is far more highly contaminated than other food from the sea. When consumed this can cause a number of illnesses including something called Arctic Baby Syndrome (reversal in normal ratios of male to female births- seen in Arctic and Northern Canada), Autism, as well as Non Hodgkins Lymphomas disease, and cancers.

 

We were actually getting somewhere with our progress in halting the culls a few years ago until the "eco warrior" types turned up and put us back to square one. As with the Whale hunting, too much international pressure can paint Japan into a corner where they feel forced to stand up to it and defend themselves, we need to focus on the science not the emotional arguments to get anywhere.

 

The only way to argue things in Japan like this are on scientific grounds not humane grounds. The fact is that dolphins aren't endangered true, but the way they are killed is barbaric and there are laws on how we slaughter our animals for consumption. Add to that the fact that eating the meat is tantamount to eating toxic waste then it just deosn't make sense. There are wharehouses full of dolphin meat as there is no demand for it and there is no economic value at all. Dolphin watching is a far more sustainable and profitable option. If anyone is interested I have a lot of data and info on this topic and would be happy to provide you with it if wanting to teach about it in schools or just simply know more about it.

 

This isn't confined to Taiji either, also in Kyushu, Izu and Chiba.

 

This is a behind the scenes short video I made while in Taiji during the filming of "The Cove" which I was involved in and you can see some of the crew here.

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