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.

2 comments:

  1. Very strong and mature for such a young lady. I'm confident that you will inspire others to join your cause.

    It is ironic that the region of the world that contains the most dolphinariums does the most killing.

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  2. Thank you very much for your comment. I have swam with Belugas at SeaWorld, where I know that their animals are treated good and are rescued (except the ones born there), and I may decide to do a dolphin swim there someday.

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