The first time I ever saw a dolphin in the wild was while sailing along the Na Pali coast in Kauai, Hawaii. A pod of dolphins swam alongside our boat, launching themselves out of the water and spinning in the air before they disappeared again into the crystal blue waters. To the left of the boat, a mother and her calf swam together, the mother jumping and diving and the calf right behind her mimicking her every move. The pod of dolphins kept us company for about fifteen minutes before leaving us for the wide open ocean.
The next time I saw dolphins in the wild they were being driven out of the ocean and into the shoreline of Taiji, Japan where they were stabbed in the spine with a knife, and a block of wood pounded into the wound to conceal the blood. The fishermen in Japan call the annual dolphin slaughter tradition.
I’m not convinced.
Tradition is something people are proud to share with the rest of the world. Tradition and culture is what makes each of our societies unique and special. Tradition isn’t something that’s hidden from the rest of the world with barricades or wooden plugs. Culture isn’t concealed by blue tarps or police surveillance.
But that’s exactly what’s happening in Taiji.
The fishermen have done their best to hide their shameful “tradition” from the rest of the world after a documentary called The Cove exposed their deeds to the masses in 2009. Things in Taiji are different in Taiji today. The fishermen have erected barricades wrapped in barbed-wire to block walking paths in a National Park. They’ve hung fishing nets in the woods around the cove in an effort to keep people from certain vantage points that allow people to witness their actions. The police and Coast Guard are constantly present to make sure no activists step out of line. Sophisticated tarp systems have been employed to prevent activists from photographing the slaughter or transfer of dead dolphins to the butcher house. The dolphins are no longer stabbed with harpoons and left to bleed out, it’s too messy. Instead, they stab them in the spinal cord to paralyze them before plugging the wound with a wooden block. But the dolphins aren’t dead, they’re paralyzed and drown to death instead.
I traveled to Japan last November to become a part of the Cove Guardians, a group of environmental activists tasked with documenting and reporting back to the rest of the world about the events of the day. I’ll be back next season for three months, but I need your help. In an effort to support myself financially while abroad, I’m selling “Save Taiji Dolphins” wristbands for $10 shipped to anywhere in the world!!! Through the month of March, 10% of the proceeds from the “Save Taiji Dolphins” wristband sales will be donated to the Otsuchi Relief Fund via the Fort Bragg Sister City Program!
The wristbands are made of silicon, and the text and dolphin graphics will be embossed into the wristband in the same color as the band (not as shown below.) If you’re interested in making a purchase to help finance my efforts in Taiji, I’m able to accept payments via PayPal, or if you prefer to send a check or money order, please contact me for a mailing address to send payment. Please be sure to include your shipping address in the Notes of your PayPal payment.
If you’d like to learn more about the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, please watch the documentary, The Cove (it’s streaming on Netflix.) If you’d like to follow my personal efforts in Taiji next season, sign up for email updates and check out my blog, Hundred Goals! Thanks for your support!
For the oceans!
Thanks Elle for hosting this. It’s a really important issue and one that not many people are aware of! It’s something I’m incredibly passionate about and hope that others will learn about, so thanks for spreading the message!
Wow, unpleasantly incredible. Thanks for sharing.
@Carola, it is quite unpleasant. The reason I became involved with this issue is that one of my goals was to volunteer with an environmental organization. I’d fallen in love with the TV show Whale Wars, so when I learned of an opportunity to work side by side with them in Japan, I jumped.
Doing it literally changed my life. People often say something changes their life, but this REALLY changed my life. It’s impossible for me to turn away from this issue, as often as sometimes I think it’d be easier, it’s important to stand up for what I believe is the right thing.
I’ve become an opponent of dolphin captivity programs and ever since returning from Japan, have been trying to figure out a way to convince people not to participate in swim with dolphin programs. And since this is something that’s on everyone’s list, I’m asking every lister to pledge to refuse to swim with captive dolphins, but instead, swim with them in the wild, at their will. The experience will be that much more meaningful, and seeing them in their natural habitat is incredible.
You can read more about what I’m hoping for from my fellow listers here:
http://hundredgoals.com/2011/04/01/please-dont-swim-with-dolphins/
Thanks for reading the article and I hope you’ll follow through on some of the recommended resources!
Great post on shedding light on a horrible situation. I’ve had The Cove in my queue for a while, I’ll definitely move it higher in the list.
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