Saturday, December 3, 2011

"The Cove" app for Apple products

On Monday, out of curiosity I searched The Cove in the app store on my IPod touch. I was very surprised to see a five star, FREE app for the movie. I downloaded it immediately without hesitation. I didn't have it for five minutes and I fell in love with it. It features addresses to places in Japan where you can send letters to persuade the country to stop the slaughter, a fifteen minute version of the movie, a mercury calculator, and much more! If you have an IPhone, IPod touch, or IPad, you should download it. It won't be hard to find because it's the only app with the name! If you love dolphins and hate the slaughter, you will not be disappointed with the app. I know I wasn't.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Cultures

I have noticed that on both of my animal cruelty awareness blogs I have had some page views from from citizens in Europe, and on They Need A Voice I have even had a page view from somebody in China. MESSAGE TO EUROPEANS: I would very much like it if you could post a comment explaining what role dolphins and sharks play in your culture. I would love to learn from Europeans themselves (not from internet research) how these creatures are viewed in their country and their country's culture.

This post can also be seen on my blog, Sharks Need Help!!!  

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Video Post for both of my Animal Cruelety Awareness Blogs

I know that I give links to videos both my blogs, 'They Need A Voice' and 'Sharks Need Help!!!'. I understand that some people would prefer to avoid them, but it is hard to make a difference when you don't know what's happening. Videos make me terribly sad, but the footage from The Cove was the first thing that I'd ever seen relating to my blogs, and it changed my life. Now, I'm an activist for my ocean friends that I've always loved. If you don't want to watch a video that I post a link to, please really try to gain the courage to do so. I didn't want to watch The Cove because I was worried about it depressing me, but my parents thought is would be inspirational for me. I never thought that it would change me, but it truly did. It made me cry, but sadness it sometimes what it takes to inspire people. I can still not stand to watch those Humane Society and ASPCA commercials, but those animals are getting tons and tons of help.

If you do choose to watch my video links, they will make definitely make you sad if you have a heart unlike all those scums that murder animals. And if they bother you a lot, don't just try to pretend that it's fake (something that I do sometimes) because sadly it is all too real.

This post is also visible on my blog, Sharks Need Help!!! (sharkskatesrays.blogspot.com)

Monday, October 3, 2011

'Dolphin Tale'

Yesterday morning, I went to the movie theaters with my mom and my best friend to see the movie Dolphin Tale. I have to say it was a touching, amazing movie. I'm not just saying that because I love dolphins, but it really was wonderful. My mom actually cried tears of happiness in the end when it showed real footage, and my friend and I both almost did. It is a movie that I am going to have to buy on DVD. I give it five out of five stars, or ten out of ten. In other words, it deserves as high as it can get. I know that my blog is all about not having dolphins in captivity, but in a case like Winter's, it'd be cruel to throw her in the ocean. In the movie, all three of the dolphins in the Clearwater Marine Aquarium are ones that were rescued. One of them is deaf, so she can't find her food. It'd be cruel to throw her in the ocean too. If a dolphin is permanently disabled where it can't survive in the wild, it needs to be in an aquarium or other marine park. If I'm ever close to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, I'd love to see Winter there.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Dolphin Day 2011

I've got horrible news. Dolphin day was September 1st. I know it's almost October and a bit late to be posting this, but I've been busy with my other blog lately. Dolphin day might sound like a good day, but it's not. It's the day that the dolphin hunting season in Taiji starts. I can not believe that I forgot about it! My ocean friends are being killed and they weren't in my thoughts! Lots of people all around the world went out on the streets with signs defending dolphins on Dolphin day. I wish an event could have been planned in my area, but maybe next year I can do something to show my care. Now, I just can't stop thinking about my ocean friends that I forgot about.

Go to this address to see photos of dolphin day:

http://www.globalanimal.org/2011/09/02/dolphin-lovers-unite-on-dolphin-day-photos/50439/

Monday, July 4, 2011

Sonars: The cause of strandings?

As you probably know, navy ships use sonars to find submarines from foreign countries to make sure that they aren't planning an attack on U.S cities. But did you know that these sonars can damage the brains of cetaceans? It can. It can harm their brain, and their sense of direction goes out of whack. This can cause them to swim too close toward the shore and strand themselves. Stranding, also known as beaching, is very dangerous for cetaceans. When mass strandings happen, this is usually the result of sonars. If it is a single whale, it is usually because of illness or injury. When they found out that they were harming whales and dolphins, navy ships began to try to use lower sonars, but there was a problem. Foreign nations began making submarines that could only be detected by powerful sonars. This would hurt the whales even more. Many species that live in pods strand in large numbers, including pilot and beaked whales. A solution must be found, because sonars are hurting whales very much.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Heartlessness

The whole act of murdering innocent creatures is heartless. There are some very heartless acts in the Taiji slaughter. Trainers can do some of the cruel things. Here are some incidents:


Trainers have been seen participating in the brutality.

Once, there was a pilot whale calf that swam over two low placed nets. The pilot whale's mother immediately joined the calf. The two could have easily fled, but stayed close to the their still trapped pod members. A trainer had noticed that they had escaped and alerted the fishermen. Aided by the trainer, the fishermen brought out their boats and chased the pilot whales back into the net. The entire pod was killed and butchered the next morning.

When all of the dolphins are caught, trainers come to the scene to inspect them and help the slaughterers drag them to shore. They only take the ones that are not too old, too young, the wrong sex, or have too many blemishes. The ones who do have flaws are not worth saving to them, even pregnant females, so they let the fishermen kill them. They don't bother to inspect the very young calves either, for they are too young to be put into shows. Using ropes and physical force, the trainers separate the mothers from their babies. They haul the mothers to the rocky beach to inspect and measure them. The calves cry for their mothers, but they are doomed. They will not be spared but killed just as viciously as all of the others, no matter what age. The dolphin trainers don't care about them. But if a mother doesn't meet the expectations, she will die with her calf. If a dolphin breaks or dislocates a pectoral fin, they are worth nothing to dolphinariums. Thus, only the 'perfect' dolphins are worthy of being in shows. A dolphin can't help it if it's in it's senior years, just a baby, or if it has scars on it's body. They don't deserve to be killed because they have 'flaws'. I also feel bad for all of the ones who are taken to dolphinariums. They are taken away from their family and are smart enough to wonder what's happening to them. I'm sure that mothers are worried sick if they're taken from their babies.


Now, I have decided something. Dolphin trainers in Taiji are not trainers because they love dolphins. They are trainers because they love money. If a dolphin makes them money, they like it. But if there's one that isn't worth anything,  they could care less about it.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Hunted or Not?

Here is the conservation status of the six porpoise species:

Harbor Porpoise: Until the end of the 19th century, these porpoises were hunted in Denmark for meat and blubber. In prehistoric times, it was hunted in Sweden. Today, it is hunted for food and Greenland. Fishing nets, overfishing, and pollution are the biggest threat to this species. Fortunately, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUNC Red List.
Harbor Porpoise

Dall's Porpoise: Many of these species are killed as bycatches in fishing nets. They are harpooned each year by Japanese whalers. The number of species killed in 1988 was 40,000. Today, 16,000 are still killed in Japan in hand harpoon hunts, but it is listed as Least Concern on IUNC Red List.

Dall's Porpoise
 Spectacled Porpoise: This species lives in the waters of Antarctica and is not known to be hunted. The total population is not known, and it is listed as Data Deficient on the IUNC Red List.
Spectacled Porpoise
Finless Porpoise: Like other porpoise species, many of this species are killed in fishing nets. They were hunted briefly after World War ll, but have never been widely hunted in Japan. Due to ships in the lakes they live in in China, they sometimes have difficulty finding their food. The IUNC Red List has the species listed as Vulnerable.


Finless Porpoises
 
Vaquita: This species has never been hunted directly. Many are killed in fishing nets each year though. They are said to be the most endangered marine mammal, and is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUNC Red List.
Vanquita
Burmeister's Porpoise: Like all porpoise species, this species is vulnerable to be entangled in fishing nets. This is common in Peru, Chile, and Uraguay. The annual estimated catch of these porpoises is largest in Peru, being 2,000. They are also harpooned deliberately for food and to be used as bait to catch sharks. The number of the animal's population is unknown, and is listed as Date Deficient on the IUNC Red List.
Burmeister's Porpoise

Fishing Nets: Another Threat by man

Slaughter isn't the only threat that we pose towards cetaceans. Fishing nets are very dangerous to dolphins and porpoises. Very often, dolphin or porpoise pods will be chasing a school of fish that fishermen in boats with nets are trying to catch. When the net is drawn up, the dolphins or porpoises will get tangled in the net and drown because they are unable to swim to the surface to breathe. We can not forget that they are mammals and need to breath air!

Fishing nets kill hundreds of dolphins and porpoises every day, and can be just as dangerous to species' populations as slaughter. Sometimes, divers will get in the water and help the pods out before the net is drawn up, but sometimes they won't either. Many other creatures become tangled in these fishing nets, such as seals, sealions, sharks and small whales.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Why no Baleen Whales?

You might be asking why I don't talk about baleen whales on my blog. Well, let me tell you why. Whaling is probably going to be coming to an end soon (according to Whale Wars on Animal Planet). The Taiji slaughters are also probably going to be ending soon, but there are many other slaughters of toothed whales around the world that will probably go on for many more years. Also, many people are aware of whaling. Not very many are aware of narwhal killings, pilot whale massacres, and other killings. I only talk about toothed whales because it as not as well known.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Importance of sharks

        You may think of sharks as monsters. The majority of people think so. Like them or not, they are very important to the ocean. The ocean has a balance, and if one species is taken out, it will put the balance out of whack. Sharks are the “sea vultures”, getting rid of the sick, dead, weak, and dying. They are only second to Orcas as apex predators (followed by dolphins), and are extremely important. If they didn’t exist, fish would eat everything, causing them to go hungry and die. This would affect humans, cetaceans, and all other marine creatures.
        People don’t understand that you are more likely to be killed by a dog, horse, deer, or rabid raccoon or squirrel. We call lion “king of beasts” thinking that they are magnificent. They are no less dangerous than sharks.
       The filter feeding sharks such as Whale sharks, Basking sharks, and Megamouth sharks keep the plankton population balanced. The predatory sharks such as Great White sharks, Shortfin and Longfin Makos, Bull sharks, Tiger sharks, Porbeagles, Salmon sharks, Lemon sharks, Hammerhead sharks, Greenland sharks, Sixgill sharks, Goblin sharks, Blue sharks, Thresher sharks, and Sandtiger sharks keep the fish populations balanced.
       Sharks have been around for 450 million years. Some of the first being the Megaladon, Helicoprion, Orthacanthus, Paleocarcharias, Symmorium, Echinochimaera, Belantsea, Scapanorhynchus (a resembling relative of the goblin shark), Hybodus shark, Stethacanthus, Falcatus, Acrodus, Erquitaia, Cretoxyrhina, Squalicorax, Physogaleus, Otodus, Tristchius, Cobelodus, Anomotodon, Cladoselache, Glikmanius, Akmonistion, Cardabiodon, Wodnika, Triodus, and Dunkleosteus. But since the 1970s, 95% of the ocean’s oldest predators’ populations have decimated.
      In the shark/human relationship, we think that sharks are monsters. In fact, we’re the monsters. We think that killing them for meat and fins is a delicious, tasty decision. Actually, it’s not. Only 8-10 people are attacked and 3-5 killed by sharks each year. We kill 100 million of them a year. As we kill them, we are slowly messing up our world. We need to start thinking before we slaughter them.
       When caught, their dorsal  pectoral, and even caudal fins are sliced off and the mutilated animal is thrown back in the water alive and either drowns, is eaten by another shark, bleeds to death, or starves to death. Shark Fin soup is a delicacy in China, and as the Chinese population grows, the demand for the soup also grows.
       Here’s a fact, shark fins are just cartilage. The soup is about the most tasteless, non-nutritional thing to eat. There is absolutely no use for it. But still, the fins alone as well as canned soup are sold in Asian markets, today. Chinese restaurants all over the world (including the USA) sell the soup, averaging $25.00 a bowl. One pound of sharks fins is worth $200 U.S and whale shark caudal fin can go for as much as $10,000 in China. Scientists estimate that sharks may be all gone in 10-20 years, if we don’t act fast. We need sharks. Sharks need us.


WARNING: THERE IS BLOOD



I have seen pictures with LOTS more fins laying out



Copy pasted from my science project

Another way to make money

As you know, most cetacean killings are because of pure greed. And of course, the killings of narwhals is another way to make money, for many men who kill them are poor. Narwhals are most known for the left incisor that grows out into a 10 ft long ivory tusk in males, which is responsible for unicorn legends. Males may seldom produce a second tusk, where the right incisor grows out. Females have a shorter, straighter tusk. Narwhals are hunted for these tusks(and skin and meat sometimes) in summer in Canada and Greenland. They are known as Tuugaaliks in Canada. When a pod comes near the ice, the news is spread throughout the town. The town has been waiting all winter for this moment. Hunters arrive in snowmobiles with high-powered rifles. They take positions along the ice and wait for the whales to surface near the ice. When they surface close enough, they are shot with the rifles. They then retrieve the narwhal with a grappling hook that is thrown by hand. Each man hopes to land a narwhal with a tusk that can sell for more than a thousand dollars. They also look forward to fresh muktuk, the top layer of blubber and skin, which is a delicacy. Even though many shots are fired over many hours, usually only a few are caught. But to kill the whale, they must be shot in the spine or brain the instant it's filling it's lungs. If it's shot at the wrong moment, it's body will sink. If it's wounded, it will swim away and most likely die later. Many of the whales receive multiple shot wound before they actually die. Even whales that are shot just right usually float beyond reach to be hooked and sink. So many that are killed die for no reason.

Along the west coast of Greenland, narwhal's numbers went from 10,500 in 1986 to 1,500 in 2002. Catch rates in Greenland in the 1990's averaged 750 narwhals a year, many others being killed but not hooked and pulled to shore. In Canada, numbers went from 15,000 in 1984 to 5,000 in 2003. Today in Canada, the number killed each year is around 500, many more going unreported. Killing a narwhal is a badge of honer for a young hunter. Once, there was a 13-year old boy who shot narwhals all day with a rifle, wounding many but landing none.      

A nice male tusk can be can be worth over $9,000, and $25,000 for a skull containing dual tusks. I think that if the narwhal had died naturally, a tusk would be pretty neat to have. If it was killed just for that, I wouldn't want one.

Go to this address for more information:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/08/hunting-narwhals/hunting-narwhals-text

The head of a dead whale on the ice

Pulling a whale up onto the ice

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Another topic

I know that my blog mainly focuses on dolphins, but today, I'm going to talk about sharks. Sharks, the thought of the creatures may send shivers down your spine. Most people think of sharks as gruesome, relentless killers. On several nature television shows, i've seen people swimming beside great whites. Sharks are thought to be very dangerous to people, but you are more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a shark. In reality, sharks kill on average 3-5 people a year. Also, sharks usually take one bite and swim off because it doesn't the way that they expected. The deaths are mainly caused by blood-loss. We kill 100 million sharks a year just for their fins. We kill many more just for meat. The number is shocking the first time you hear it, and I still can hardly believe it after knowing it for a long time. Many species are killed, including Blues, Hammerheads, and Porbeagles. But any animal will be taken, no matter the size, age, or species. They are killed for their dorsal, pectoral, and even caudal fins, which are used in a soup which is a delicacy in China (the soup is about the most tasteless, non-nutritious thing to eat). They are also eaten in other places such as Japan and Australia. The fins are sliced off while the shark is still alive and the mutilated animal is then thrown back in the water, slowly and painfully bleeding to death and drowning (they need to constantly move to keep water running through their gills to breathe). While one animal is killed for fins, another is killed for meat and other uses. Thus, two animals are killed when just one could be killed for both things. May not seem like much, but it adds up. If you hate sharks, think about the small number of people that they kill versus how many of them that we take.  I know that sharks aren't people and people are more important, but millions against less than a dozen is a humongous difference. But whether you like them or not, we need sharks. We need the oceans to survive. The oceans need sharks, whales, and dolphins, and the three creatures need each other. Humans need to start thinking before they kill thousands upon millions of the creatures that we need to survive. In order to save ourselves, we must save the animals that we are slaughtering at rapid, alarming rates. More sharks are killed than dolphins, and probably need help faster.

Hate sharks if you like, but just face the fact that you need them. I completely understand if you dislike them because you or a family member's been attacked, because I probably would too. For a long time, I got nervous in murky waters. Now, It doesn't worry me. I know that they kill very few people, and that they are actually afraid of us.I used to not like sharks until I learned more about them. Now, I love them. Ones think that if an animal causes the deaths of a few people means that they should all be wiped out. I do not believe that because an animal is considered dangerous means that we should kill them. The world has dangerous animals, but humans are the most dangerous creature on the planet. Think different if you want, but understand the point I'm trying to make.

Here are some more facts. Three sharks are killed every second and 10,000 are killed every hour. More sharks are killed in three hours than dolphins in a whole year in Taiji. Sure enough, everybody wants to save the dolphins and cares nothing about the sharks. The dolphins have lots of people helping them, the sharks don't. Animals that need the most help are the ones that are getting the least help. WE NEED PEOPLE WHO CARE!!!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Shame

I have been doing lots of research on Japanese and Denmark dolphin hunts, and I am really starting to hate Taiji and the Faroe Islands. I have images of the slaughters stuck in my head as I try to fall asleep at night, I can't stop thinking about them during the day, and I really don't even like the color red anymore. The words 'Taiji' and 'Faroe' just make me sick. Those two small places have the largest and most gruesome killings of dolphins in the world. Taiji shocks me because most of Japan didn't know about the slaughter until recently, and the Faroese shock me because they are poisoning the minds of children by drilling the killings into their heads. Horrible events take place in both countries, and it is very wrong. Number one, there's so much mercury in the meat. Number two, we need the oceans to survive. Number three, it's just downright cruel. I would very much like to go to these countries right before a hunt starts. I would free all of the dolphins and then give the killers a piece of my mind. I would show them a diagram of the human brain next to a dolphin's brain, to show them how much larger the dolphin's is than the human's. They need education on how dangerous it is to eat them, how intelligent their helpless victims actually are, and the meaning of humanity. I know that the Taiji hunt is slowly but surely coming to a stop, thanks to The Cove, but I am beginning to think that the Grindadrap (the Faroe Pilot whale massacre) will not end anytime soon because less people are aware of it.

This photo was found on walrettung.org. They have full credit for the picture. Me giving you the site address is no different than showing this picture. Besides, the WDG (Whale Defenders of Germany) probably want more people to know about their site. WARNING: CONTAINS BLOOD


If you live in Japan, don't feel offended by this. This is only Taiji! I am not against Tokyo and all of the other Japanese who think that this horrible. The same goes for Denmark. This is only the Faroe Islands (that I know of anyway)!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Trainers having a part in the slaughter

In Taiji, dolphin trainers have been seen assisting in the dolphin killings. They have been seen joking and laughing about it after a large number has been killed. Members of the zoo industry and international aquarium get in the water with the slaughters and tie ropes around the dolphins' tail flukes so that the fishermen could tie the them to their boats. The dolphins are so exhausted at this point, they can't even stay afloat. Many of the them have blood coming from their blowholes. The trainers don't seem to have pity for the dolphins. The fishermen then take the dolphins to the killing cove, with the dolphins' blowholes underwater. The dolphin trainers have tormented the dolphins for hours. Some are in shock, others are seriously injured, and they can't breathe. Now, the dolphins are going to be killed. Even pregnant females and young calves won't be spared. The dolphin trainers, who are supposed to "love" dolphins, don't even make an effort to save any of them.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Laws don't always stop people

It is forbidden under the Peruvian law to kill and eat cetaceans, but a large number of dolphins are illegally killed by fishermen each year. The exact number isn't known, but the organization, Mundo Azul (meaning blue world), states that it is at least a thousand, maybe being as much as 3,000. To do the bloody task, fishermen drive the dolphins together and encircle them in nets. They then harpoon them, drag them into boats, and club to death the ones that are still alive. Many species are killed, including dusky and bottlenose dolphins. Just because a law is made, doesn't mean that everybody will follow it. Especially when it comes to murder, of people and animals.

Go to this address for more information:

http://mundoazul.org/habitats-species/whales-and-dolphins/stop-dolphin-slaughter-in-peru/dolphin-killing-in-peru/

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Don't do a swim unless you know

As you've learned in my other posts, dolphins are slaughtered just to get a few into captivity. The few dolphins whose lives are spared are sold to dolphin interaction programs everywhere, including the Caribbean. Thus, when you swim with dolphins, you never know if they came from Japan. If you do a swim with dolphins from Japan, you might encourage the killers to continue the brutality. It might sound confusing how that doing a swim encourages them, but take a minute to think about it. For every dolphin sold at an outlandish price (150 thousand dollars) to captivity programs, dozens are killed for meat. Now, I'm not trying to make anybody feel bad  for swimming with dolphins because most people don't know anything about Japan's slaughter. However, if you do know, think about the dolphins before you do a swim. It was hard for me to give up my decision to swim with dolphins on a Mexican Cruise. I really wanted to be able to interact with my favorite marine creature, but I decided that the dolphins were more important than my enjoyment. I didn't know how they acquired their dolphins, but I didn't want to risk it. I personally wouldn't do a swim unless the dolphins were rescued, but that's just my opinion. I'm not trying to make you not do something you've dreamed about. I just want people to think about the innocent dolphins that are murdered as a result of capturing a few "lucky" ones for captivity programs.

My decision to not give my money to a captivity program will NOT make a difference. But, if many of us decide not to give our money to captivity programs, we can stop the money machine that drives the killings.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Strange when you think about it

When you think about it, the way that they handle their dolphins in Japan is strange. Even at it's small size, dolphin hunting is most popular in Japan, huge numbers being killed in Taiji every year (although several Pilot whales, Dall's Porpoises, and False Killer whales are caught too). Again at it's small size, Japan has more dolphinariums than anywhere else in the world (the United States has almost as many, but it is much, much larger). Most of these dolphins in these dolphinariums throughout Japan probably come from Taiji. In Taiji, they have a Whale Museum and cute little dolphin statues everywhere, but don't be fooled. Also in Taiji, the town sells whale and dolphin meat under the name of different fish species. Also, many vending machines have what they call 'fish' in them. The team from the The Cove bought some of it and tested (not taste test) it. It wasn't fish at all, but dolphin. All of it. Also, you can find frozen whale bacon in almost every shop. When Tokyo residents first heard about Taiji's secret, they didn't like it. Unfortunately, most of Japan has never heard about this slaughter, and are not anything like the Taiji fishermen. They enjoy to watch dolphins, and do not believe in killing them. But in Taiji, you can eat a dolphin while you watch a dolphin show. If they love dolphins enough to build several dolphinariums around the country and make them home to so many dolphins, then why slaughter them? Why not release the ones that are not chosen for captivity? The meat is extremely harmful to humans, and can even cause children to be born with birth defects and brain problems (due to the mercury).When you swim with dolphins, do you know where they came from? No, you don't. Since 1993, no U.S Marine park has been allowed to import marine mammals from drive fisheries, but I have heard from many sources that they do. I'm not for sure if they own dolphins from Taiji or if they support the trade industry. Many sources are very sure that they do and others are very sure that they don't. Some sources say that even SeaWorld and Discovery Cove get some of their dolphins from Taiji. SeaWorld has breeding programs, but some say that they also have dolphins from Taiji. Dolphin Interaction Programs all over the Caribbean get their dolphins from Taiji. Thus, if you swim with them on a vacation in the Caribbean, you never know if you're playing with a dolphin captured in a Taiji hunt. On a cruise once, two of my friends were doing a dolphin swim in Tortola. I wanted to do it to, but my parents wouldn't let me. I was extremely upset, but that day was still a blast doing what we did. A few months ago, I went on a Mexican cruise and I was going to book a dolphin swim on one of the port stops, Puerto Vallarta. After watching The Cove, my decision changed. How did I know that the dolphins weren't from a Taiji hunt? Just to be safe, I didn't to the interaction. As much I wanted to be able to interact with dolphins, the more people that do those swims, the more it encourages Taiji to kill more and more. Think about it. The whole reason of the killings is to get dolphins in captivity. I did swim with Sealions in Vallarta instead, but they don't slaughter those to get just a few in captivity. I am glad my parents didn't let me do the swim in Tortola, because I didn't know the truth then.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Learn More

Do you like my blog and want to learn more about dolphins and their worst enemy? Then here are a few things that can help you learn more:


You can purchase The Cove at animalplanetstore.com and on amazon.com. The Cove is also available on Netflix.

Another great site to visit is savejapandolphins.org where you can donate and receive gifts for your donation (including a DVD of The Cove), sign petitions, link to the facebook page and much more  

Whale Defenders of Germany (http://www.walrettung.org/html/about_us.html) talks all about the Taiji dolphin hunt and the Faroe Island pilot whale hunt. You don't have to live in Germany to get education from it. It's just located in Germany. It also has a video of the Pilot Whale slaughter.

Go to http://www.thecovemovie.com for information about the film

Go to http://www.takepart.com/cove for lots of interesting information including the movie trailer (the video on the opening page) and blog

Another great website is seashepherd.org

Go to http://www.takepart.com/cove/dolphin-hunting for an introduction and very interesting interactive world map (click on 'hunting hotspots') that shows where all cetacean hunting takes place. Click on 'sign the petition' down towards the bottom for a link to the care2.org petition.

Care2.org and change.org have a lot of great petitions on every topic

Wikipedia has a whole page on dolphin drive hunting around the world, as well as a whole page on Japanese whaling and another page on Faroe Island whaling.

Denmark's Bloodbath


This is how I like to see them. Credit goes to Oceana
    Known as the Grindadrap in the Faroe Islands, annual massacres of long an short-finned pilot whales have been a joyful tradition since as early as 1586. Each year these extremely social, intelligent and sensitive animals are slaughtered extremely brutally by heartless people who believe to prove themselves as "men" by participating in this slaughter. Anywhere from 1,000-3,000 pilot whales alone are killed each year. Occasionally, Northern bottlenose whales, Atlantic white-beaked dolphins, harbor porpoises, and Atlantic white-sided dolphins are caught too, but it is mainly pilot whales. But any species will be taken.

  When a pod is spotted, it is driven into small bay or fjord. They used to be stabbed to death in the blubber with gaff hooks. Now, blunt gaffs are beaten into the blowhole to drag the 20-foot long whale into shallow water as they fight and try to escape. They say that the blunt gaff is more humane than the ordinary gaff, which is now only used to pull dead whales ashore. But the blocking of the airway panics and causes extreme pain to the animal. It would be the same if you shoved a hook down somebody's throat or up their nasal cavity and then dragged them around. Killing evolves clubbing, stabbing, thrashing, and screaming. They slash the arteries and veins that supply blood to the head or cut the spinal cord, all with a large whaling knife called a grindaknivur. As the whales' screams and cries fill the air, the men laugh and curse. The whales are claimed by the Faroese to die within seconds, tops being two minutes (as stated in the Faroese book, Two Minutes). The Sea Shepherd crew have observed the slaughter and say that the whales don't die in two minutes, they die in about ten.

  After they are dead, cranes are used to pull whales out of the water and tractors are used to transport them to the dock. Once on the dock, they cut open all the whales. Sometimes, a fetus will be pulled out of a female. Not caring that they have just killed a pregnant female, the slaughters will cut umbilical cord and the calf will be set beside its mother for show.

  Men teach their sons how to slaughter whales, and most of the slaughterers are young men and teenage boys. In a video, there was a little boy standing by a dead whale with a butter knife in his hands. A woman was holding his hand and teaching him how and where to cut the whale. Later in the video, the same little boy was watching men butcher the whales, and he then turned towards the camera and smiled. Then, it showed three little toddlers sitting around a dead whale, and one was sitting on it's tail. It also showed a picture of a smiling boy sitting by a dead whale with a knife to it's neck. Another picture revealed children standing in the bloody water. All children get a day off school to view the slaughter, and the rest of the town comes to see as well. They just stand there, watching without pity or emotion. I can't even watch dolphin killings on film without getting sick to my stomach, I don't know how anyone can watch in real life and just sit there unemotionally, especially little kids. Any human who does this sort of thing to any animal or any person, is hardly human at all. Even the ones who don't participate and just watch are not normal if they show no emotion. My father once told me that it is normal to get upset when you see cruelty, it is abnormal if you enjoy the site of cruelty.

  If you have the stomach to watch the video I described above, please take a few minutes to watch it, to see for yourself what is actually done to these animals. If what I described of the video bothered you, definitely don't watch it. Even if you think you can watch it, please be warned. I have a pretty strong stomach and I cried watching it. The footage contains a slide show of pictures and actual video. Here's the address:

http://www.walrettung.org/html/walrettung.html  

WARNING: Here are some photos of the slaughter. I suggest that sensitive people should not scroll down any further.
Children happily walk down the aisles of dead whales

The whole down has gathered around the cove to witness the tradition

Notice how people just stare down into the water
Most of the slaughterers are young men


A typical meal of pilot whale meat, blubber, dried fish, and potatoes

Atlantic white-sided dolphins
Northern Bottlenose whales
The blood filled bay
A hook jammed in the blowhole. They call that humane???
An aerial view of a town after a slaughter has just taken place




Saturday, April 23, 2011

Japenese Fishermen in Taiji can't be trusted

Japanese fishermen in Taiji say that The Cove is now factually incorrect. They used to kill dolphins by slitting their throats, but they say that they have a new way of killing dolphins, that they now kill them fast and humanely (similar throat slitting techniques have still been reported in 2006, long after it was banned). But, it is all a lie. Video was shot on January 17th that clearly shows that there is nothing quick and humane about the slaughter. The dolphins even try to jump up on rocks to escape. Fishermen drive metal spikes in the back of the necks behind the blowhole. The Japanese Fisheries Agency say that this kills the dolphins instantly. Many other sources say the same. The footage shows not. It shows dolphins struggling in agony for long minutes. More than forty dolphins were killed that day, and the footage proves that these fishermen cannot be trusted.

Even though that The Cove has been viewed by Japanese audiences and the worldwide pressure to stop the slaughter grows, Japan continues the killings of dolphins.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Great News for dolphins in the Soloman Islands

For the last 450 years, dolphins have been killed in the Soloman Islands. But, none have been killed in the past year, for villagers have agreed to stop the slaughter! Estimated, 2,000 dolphins were killed annually, but this year, they are safe and unharmed. The meat was always eaten and the teeth were used as a form of money. But dolphins are still being captured for dolphinariums, but activists are seeking an end to that as well.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Introduction: Where it happens

Dolphin slaughter happens in many places around the world, but it is most popular in Japan, mainly the town of Taiji (The last known Futo hunt took place in 2004). Japan hunts and kills more cetaceans than all of the other hunting countries combined. The Taiji drive fisheries will take any species, and hunt mainly pacific white-sided, striped, spotted, bottlenose, rough toothed, and risso's dolphins as well as pilot and false killer whales. Cetaceans have a lot of blood in them, and it obvious when they are cut.

The largest hunts take place in Taiji, the Soloman Islands (where they're hunted for teeth as well), the Faroe Islands, and even Peru. They used to be hunted in Kiribati, Taiwan (where some are still killed, but a lot less), and even Hawaii, but no longer takes place. Much smaller, less known harpoon hunts of various toothed whale species such as orcas, pilot and false killer whales, porpoises and other dolphins take place in many other parts of the world, usually only killing a few hundred a year. In 1979, photos were taken on Iki Island of a fisherman stabbing dolphins to death with spears in shallow water. Even though that cetacean meat is polluted with large amounts of mercury poisoning (not dangerous to the animal though), they are hunted mainly for meat. A few of them end up in dolphinariums, but the majority of them are killed. Usually, when a pod is spotted, they are driven into a bay. In Taiji, fishermen bang metal poles with hammers to create sounds underneath the water that confuses the dolphins. The animals sit overnight to calm down, and are harpooned one by one the next day. The Faroe Islands even give children a day off school to come watch the slaughter. Many different species of dolphins such as spinner, dusky, striped, spotted, risso's, and bottlenose as well as pilot and false killer whales and porpoises are killed in different hunts around the world.

I am very sorry if this first post turns people away from my blog. I understand if my blog is too depressing for some of you, but we all need to know. I have decided that if I post pictures on my blog, I will put warnings. They may make some people sick. I just want to help get the word out for those who haven't already seen The Cove, a 2009 award winning documentary about dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan. Even if you have seen it, my blog talks about it other parts of the world too.