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The Cove killings start again
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Fishermen drive dolphins into the killing cove of
Taji, Japan
The start of Japan's dolphin hunting season came and went with an eerie quiteness last week. There were no fishing boats in the hidden cove of Taji, Japan, and the water remained a rich blue, and not the color of blood.
Various blogs and media outlets have reported that the postponement of Taji, Japan's hunting season was a direct result of the hunt's international exposure via the award-winning documentary film, The Cove.
For the past week famed-dolphin-trainer-turned activist, Ric O'Barry, along with his filmmaker son and a team of activists from Save Japan Dolphins and Earth Island Institute have been in Japan raising awareness about the hunt and the plight of the dolphins. The activists' presence even brought media coverage from around the world - something that the media, particularly the local media, had steered clear of previously. It seemed that as the media coverage grew in Japan, the cove was quiet and the hunt was kept at bay.
But today that has all changed.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning 13 fishing boats left Taji's harbor and began driving dolphins and pilot whales, approximately 50 - 100 of them, into a cove.
“Sadly, this isn’t entirely unexpected,” O'Barry told TakePart in an interview over the phone today. “This campaign is far from over, and there’s still a lot of work to do in Japan. The good news is we’ve made progress and did garner unprecedented coverage while in Taiji. And at least one media in outlet is reporting that the captured dolphins that are not sold will be returned to the sea. Let’s hope that’s the case. If not, we will find out and report it.”
Not only is the slaughter of dolphins in Japan a centuries-old practice which has been vehemently defended by the Japanese as a cultural more, but it also happens to be legal.
To help the Earth Island Institute and Ric O'Barry keep their campaign in Japan going, please sign the Save Japan Dolphins Facebook Cause Petition. So far, more than 180,000 people from around the world have signed the petition. http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/252?m=2b0003e9
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