Option #4: Donate

For those of us who can't get too involved, there are a multitude of organizations that are working everyday to put an end to this inhumane practice.  These non-profits pool together individuals and resources to intervene in Taiji and raise awareness for the cause worldwide.

These non-profit organizations, while highly passionate, face the same limitations as any other company... they require money to operate.  While it may not seem like much, any donation that one can afford to give will ultimately go to further the cause.  If we are to put a stop to this atrocity, we're going to need all the resources we can get. 

The following is a list of non-profit organizations that are working to end the massacres:

(Simply click on any of the logos to be directed to the organization's respective donations page)

 

 

*Option #3: Become an ACTIVIST

Of the many ways to get involved with this issue, becoming an activist is the most intense, demanding, and rewarding option of them all.  Not only are you standing up for your beliefs, but you are actively and publicly making a difference at the same time. There are many different types of activists, each requiring a different level of exertion and commitment. 

Here are a few ways that you can become an activist:

1. Protest

Perhaps one of the oldest methods of activism, protesting serves as the most public and emotionally contagious way of spreading awareness for a given cause. Since putting an end to the Taiji drive hunts is a worldwide movement, protests are organized annually in all major cities around the world. If you feel strongly enough about this cause, then make a sign, collaborate with others, and protest against the dolphin massacre.

2. Get Friends and Family Involved

If you haven't already spread awareness of this atrocity to your friends and family members, I suggest you share this blog with them immediately. Friends and family are great people to get involved since they are usually supportive of issues that are most important to you. If your passionately contagious attitude isn't enough to get them behind the movement, then the writings and videos on this blog will definitely change their minds. To be honest though, I haven't showed one person this video that didn't immediately feel the urge to do something about this atrocity afterward. 

3. Risk It All for Reward

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is offering a $10,000 cash reward for the person or persons who can best document the annual slaughter of dolphins and small cetaceans in Taiji, Japan. Due to increasing access restrictions by the Taiji government, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is looking to motivate Japanese citizens to intervene and capture footage of the slaughter. The cash prize goes to the person who captures the most graphic images of the hunt. The photos and/or videos will be utilized by the Society to further expose the annual dolphin massacre.

Option #2: Sign the Petition

Seashepherd.org has organized an enormous online petition that includes signatures from supporters around the world. This petition will be presented to the Japanese Prime Minister, the Japanese Minster of Fisheries, as well as Japanese embassies and consulates around the world. 

Option #1: Write to a Government Official

Since the Taiji drive hunt is such a deep-rooted operation, involving a variety of individuals, each with different levels of authority, it means that there are multiple change agents that we as activists need to target in order for our presence to be felt. One of the best ways to connect with these change agents is to send them a letter or an email regarding your feelings on the issue, and demanding that they put a stop to the drive hunts immediately. 

SeaShepherd.org provides a nice sample letter to get you started:

SAMPLE LETTER I am outraged by the annual brutal slaughter of dolphins and whales that takes place in Japan. The images of bloody red water clearly show the world that Japan has little respect for the state of the world’s oceans and for the conservation of the marine resources it claims to support. Many scientific studies show that the oceans are in decline. We must take whatever actions are necessary to stop their over-exploitation and to protect the creatures that live in them. These dolphins do not belong to Japan. The status of the species of dolphins and whales that you kill are either endangered, threatened, or unknown. It is an unthinkable waste that they will likely end up as a meat product or deceptively sold as whale meat, polluted with toxic levels of mercury and cadmium, killing people that eat it. It is tragic and unacceptable that the remaining dolphins that are not killed will end up destined for death in an aquarium, water park, or "swim with dolphins" program. In addition, the methods used to kill these animals are cruel. Corralling the dolphins into bays, then making them suffer a long and painful death by spears, hooks, and drowning is an inhumane way of fishing. This action is disgraceful and has caused much disappointment in the international community. We demand that Japan permanently and immediately renounce and stop this slaughter. We will work diligently to bring this issue to international light until you have ceased your reprehensible violence. Sincerely,

 

Once you finalize your letter, send it out to the following government agents:

 PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
1-6-1 Nagata-cho 1 Chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8968 JAPAN

Fax: +81.3.5511.8855
E-mail form:
http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment.html

MINISTER OF FISHERIES
1-2-1 Ksumigaseki 1 Chrome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8907 JAPAN

Tel:+81-3-5510-3303 (direct) or 3-3502-8111
Fax: +81-3-3502-8220 or +81-3-3502-0794
E-mail: sinsei01densi@nm.maff.go.jp
E-mail form: http://www.voice.maff.go.jp/maff-interactive/people/ShowWebFormAction.do?FORM_NO=5

THE DOLPHIN HUNT IN TAIJI IS CONDUCTED BY TAIJI FISHERY COOPERATIVE
3167-7 Taiji
Wakayama, 649-5171 Japan

Tel: +81.735.59.3517
Fax: +81 735 59 3018

PERMISSION FOR THE DOLPHIN HUNT IS GIVEN BY THE GOVERNOR OF WAKAYAMA
Mr. Yoshiki Kimura
Prefectural Office of Wakayama
1-1 Komatsubaradouri, Wakayama-shi
Wakayama-ken, 640-8269 Japan

Tel: +81-73-441-2034
Fax:+81-73-423-9500
Public comment lines: +81-73-441-2028
Fax: +81-73-431-0462
E-mail: e0006001@pref.wakayama.lg.jp

THERE IS A FISHERY AGENCY POLICY EVALUATION GROUP 
WHICH HAS THREE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN CHARGE:
Kawase, Yoshino and Tokura
Tel: +81-3-3502-8111 ext. 7057 and 7058
OR: +81-3-3591-5613 ( direct)
E-mail: sui_hyoka@nm.maff.go.jp

EMBASSY OF JAPAN IN WASHINGTON D.C.
Ambassador Ryozo Kato
2520 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington D.C. 20008-2869

Tel: (202) 238-6700,
Fax: 202-328-2187
Hours: M-F 9:15-12:30 and 2:00-6:16
E-mail: jicc@embjapan.org 
www.us.emb-japan.go.jp

OR FOR A CONSULATE OR EMBASSY NEAR YOU
visit: http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/consulat.htm 
or http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

*What Can YOU Do to Get Involved?

Throughout this blog, I've covered a multitude of reasons as to why the dolphin massacre must be put to an end.  By now, it should be very clear that this is an atrocity that violates multiple legal and ethical standards. However, it is not enough to merely be upset. 

You must take ACTION

There are a variety of ways to get involved, depending on your level of passion and commitment. There is no "right" choice of involvement; each of these options adds to the momentum of our movement. I will cover this array of options throughout the next few posts.

Danger: Falling Rocks and Failing Cover Ups

Nik Hensey is an animal rights activist who spent several months in Taiji during the drive hunt to try and capture the massacre on film. In his recent interview with the Sea Shepherd News, he talks about his experiences with both the fishermen and the City Hall officials. 

There are some who have called us "terrorists" for saving dolphins here. If we are terrorists for believing that life is more important than property, than what terms does one reserve for those who take life, threaten life, and engage in the wholesale slaughter of innocent life? One must ask her/himself: "What drives someone to the point where s/he feels it necessary to jump into cold waters to save a pod of dolphins?" That pod of dolphins four days ago would have been butchered (except for those that were to be sold into captivity) and the local government, police, and whalers have made it impossible for us to document the slaughter and to educate the public about the massacres of Taiji. We were left no alternative as the Taiji Town Office and local police made it illegal to climb rocks and hillsides, walk near a pod of penned dolphins after 5:30pm, say out overnight in the hills, or go anywhere within eyesight of the blockaded cove as there was a "danger" of "falling rocks" that was only present when a pod was driven in.

It's one thing to deal with the ignorance of the individual fishermen, but going up against them when they have government support and legal backing is painfully discouraging.

The bogus new laws of Taiji and their "Danger: Falling Rocks, No Trespassing" signs are nothing more than a smokescreen for the bloody slaughter that occurs behind those signs and obstructions. Clearly there was no danger of falling rocks, but like their "culture" argument, it is an attempt at a baseless defense for brutality that has no legitimate defense in the 21st century. The fact of the matter is that the dolphin drives of Taiji are big business for a handful of men, and the biggest profit comes not from dolphin and whale meat, but from the live dolphins that are sold into captivity. If aquariums and "swimming with the dolphins" operations are a part of Japanese "culture," than I might stand corrected. But first show me the Kanji scrolls.

Perhaps the danger isn't falling rocks, but a crumbling industry that's bound for extinction. 

It's quite the metaphor, actually.

True Activism from the Sea Shepherds

In November of 2006, Sea Shepherd crew Allison Lance Watson and Alex Cornelissen took it upon themselves to swim out in Taiji Bay and attempt to free a pen of dolphins that were scheduled to be slaughtered later that day.

Although they weren't completely successful in releasing all the dolphins, they gave it their all and rescued a fortunate few. 

*WAZA and JAZA: Violating National Treaties

While the capturing of dolphins for captivity programs is wrong on an ethical standpoint, it is also a violation of international treaties and their codes of ethics. Fully understanding it all can be a bit confusing, so I will explain the situation as simply as possible.

There are two organizations involved, ranked here in hierarchical order:

1. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA)
2. The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA)

With more than 1,300 members , WAZA is the world's largest network of zoos and aquariums, serving as an "umbrella organization" for many of the top animal facilities, veterinarians, and educators in the industry worldwide. Their mission is based on a code of ethics, as follows:

The continued existence of zoological parks and aquariums depends upon recognition thatour profession is based on respect or the dignity of the animals in our care." Furthermore, WAZA officially opposes what it refers to as "Cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild.

Most of the 500 dolphins that are held captive in Japan's 50 dolphinariums were capture violently in a dolphin drive hunt. Many of these dolphinariums are members of JAZA and openly do business with the Taiji fishermen.

One would think, based on the code of ethics alone, plus the given information, that it would be impossible for WAZA to allow JAZA to become a member of their organization. This is not the case. WAZA welcomes JAZA as an association member, giving them credibility with their stamp of approval. 

Quite simply:

WAZA must expel JAZA

*Ric O'Barry - The Man Behind Flipper

Ric O'Barry was a well-known member of the dolphin captivity industry back in the 1960's.  An Ex-Navy diver, he was the dolphin trainer behind five of the cetaceans in the hit movie, Flipper. 

Then, in 1970, he turned around completely and began actively campaigning against dolphin captivity. In a recent interview with David McNeill for the Asia Pacific Journal, O'Barry shared the defining moment that caused his mental and ethical shift...

I captured about 100 dolphins myself, back in the 1960s, including the five that played Flipper. I was the highest-paid animal trainer in the world. If I wanted I could set up one of these dolphin training programs and make 3-4 million dollars a year. I changed when Flipper died in my arms from suicide. I use that word with some trepidation but I don’t know another word that describes self-induced asphyxiation. Dolphins and other whales are not automatic breathers. Every breath that they take is a conscious effort, which is why they don’t sleep. If life becomes miserable, they just don’t take the next breath. Flipper looked me in the eye and stopped breathing. 

Now, O'Barry is one of the world's best known environmentalists, traveling to Japan at least once a year to try and film the massacre. He has stood his ground alone against threats from the Japanese government and held protests in front of Japanese embassies around the world. 

Check out www.savejapandolphins.org to read more about Ric O'Barry and the coalition that he actively supports.

*The Trifecta of Evil

If the Taiji Dolphin Massacre wasn't immoral enough for any of you, I present yet another reason why this atrocity must be put to an end. But first, a recap of what's wrong with this situation...

1. The fishermen of Taiji are killing tens of thousands of dolphins not for food, but as a form of pest control
2. The mercury level in the meat is highly toxic, and unfit for human consumption. However, it's still being fed to the Japanese people. 

Here's another factor to consider:

• Parts of the dolphin captivity industry in Japan, with their waterparks, aquariums, and "swim with the dolphins" work in partnership with the butchers in Taiji, supporting them with large sums of money for live dolphins

The truth of the matter is, dolphin captivity is a multi-billion dollar business, one that is solely responsible for fueling the drive hunts in Taiji, Japan. What's crazy is that five of the dolphins that played Flipper came from this exact origin. 

Makes you look at Flipper in a whole new way, doesn't it...