I know that there are a lot of people out there that know about this but there are still people that don't even know that this is happening and it needs to stop. There are some people that argue that it is the same as killing cows, sheep, pigs and other animals for meat but it isn't as these animals are bred for their meat and dolphins aren't, also the meat off of these animals aren't toxic and dolphin meat contains high levels of mercury so they are willingly poisoning their own people by selling dolphin meant.
Also they are killed in the most inhumane way as the fisherman round them up by using sound barriers, they create these by lowering poles into the water once they have spotted a pod of dolphins and strategically bang the pole, this is done strategically around the pod so that they become disorientated and are then driven in land and into the bay where this is then sealed off with nets and the dolphins are usually left to calm down usually overnight.
Once the dolphins or porpoises have calmed down the fisherman the enter the bay in small boats and select the dolphins that can then be sold onto marine parks around the world. Once these dolphins have been selected the rest of the pod are inhumanely killed and the meat is the sold to sell across Japan. From the slaughter last year there are still dolphins being held in the sea pens in the harbour of Taiji.
During the last slaughter on the 17th January this year a baby albino dolphin was rounded up with it's mother and the rest of the pod into the cove in Taiji, this pod was then netted up in the cove for over 20hrs. As albino bottlenose dolphins are extremely rare and are worth more than other bottlenose dolphins the baby was the first to be selected and taken for his mother. As she was being handled her mother was frantically calling out for her. After 30 minutes the mother swam to the bottom of the cove and never resurfaced, the albino dolphin that has been named Angel is now living in the Taiji Whale Museum where she is seen swimming in circles and she is also bullied by the some of the other dolphins that she is now living with.
The captive dolphin industry is the driving economic force behind the dolphin slaughter in Japan, as this is a big industry all over the world.
There is no international law that provides protection against the killing of dolphins, the International Whaling Commission offers no protection for the majority of cetacean species including dolphins and porpoises this is why japan can legally kill them by the thousands.
There are ways that you can help to stop the slaughtering of these amazing and clever animals, you can donate, sign petitions and get involved in other ways.
http://dolphinproject.org/
http://www.savejapandolphins.org/
http://www.takepart.com/thecove
This is a link to the 'The Cove PSA' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8JC_239vnc
You can also follow the dolphin project on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for updates on what is happening in Taiji.
https://twitter.com/Dolphin_Project
http://instagram.com/dolphin_project
https://www.facebook.com/ricobarrysdolphinproject
Thank you for taking time out to read this. We are their only hope.
Lou
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