Saving lives

It is September 1^st. The water starts turning red. Dolphins are chipping for air, bust disappears under the water surface. The secret has come out: it all happens in “The cove”, in the water, between two mountain sides in Taiji, Japan. As dolphins start migrating along the Japanese coastlines and are caught up by the Japanese fishermen’s nets, they are lead to a horrible destiny. 220 000 dolphins, per year, are killed by Japanese hunters for their meat and to sell them for a fortune to dolphinariums.

This is how it all started...

Ric O’Barry was the man who started to show “Flipper”, and he was the first captivator and trainer of those bottlenose dolphins that played the character in the show. The show got extremely popular and soon; people wanted to experience that human-dolphin interaction themselves. Therefore, aquariums with dolphins were created with dolphin shows and swim-with-the-dolphin programs. Ric worked ten years to build this industry up, but one day he realized how much they suffer of being in captivity when suddenly flipper decided to die in his arms. Since that day, Ric O’barry realized how horrible this industry is for the dolphins, and he has, since that day, spent it by working against the industry that he once built up.

He started “The Dolphin Project”, to spread the awareness of this industry, and to stop the captivity actions. One of the major dolphin captivities happens in Taiji, Japan, where dolphin “recruiters” from water parks all over the world go to pick out the dolphins to have at their aquariums. The hunters captivate thousands of dolphins, in the search for a dolphin that looks as much as “Flipper” as possible, but only a small amount of these captivated animals are sold, while the other once are killed for their meat to be distributed in Japan.

What is blowing my mind is, as shown in interviews with the Taiji citizens, that the Japanese people don’t regularly eat dolphin meat; most citizens actually don’t even know that the dolphin hunt is an on-going yearly procedure. Though, as so many dolphins are killed, it creates an excessive amount of meat and they sell inexpensively to grocery stores – that also mark the meat as other sorts of protein that the Japanese customers wants to buy. Also, the dolphin meat is very high in mercury, 2000 ppm, and the World Health Organization recommends not more than 0.4 ppm Mercury. So, not only are they tricking the customers by mislabeling the meat, but they are also poisoning them. They mark the meat as something else, and also sell it to food courts, like high school kitchens, where they are giving the toxic meat to innocent people.

It is horrible how this annual massacre of thousands of dolphins is happening because of the search of the search for a bottlenose dolphin, “a Flipper”, that is going to entertain us at Sea World and other aquariums. And when they find flipper, it doesn’t end there…

As know, the dolphins use their sonar system as their only system to take them around the water, which is why it is extremely sensitive. They are able to hear other dolphins miles away. Though, in the aquariums, the dolphins are put into small pools and are trained to do acts and jumps, and as highly intelligent animals, it is incredible to see their shows after simple commands from their trainers. While that is entertaining and we clap and scream for an other dolphin jump, the dolphins incredible sensitive sonar system hears every single decibel of these noises and the dolphins get physiologically stressed out. So, to keep the dolphins alive, water parks like Sea World gives them anti-depressants in their food in order for them to be able to do their tricks for us and to play with us in interaction programs, which has evolved to a billion dollar market.

Year 2007; UN started to recognize the problem and that is also when Ric O’barry officially started to recognize the problem with the dolphin massacre in the cove and the issues of captivating dolphins and other sea mammals at for example Sea World, they have spread the word through a documentary called “The Cove”. 

 Since two years ago, the dolphin hunt issue has received more knowledge and has been even more recognized as a problem, and as a problem that has to be solved by the Japanese government. We can’t just sit down and watch this happen, especially if you have seen the documentary that Ric O’Barry created.

It is time to change this relationship with dolphins from being entertainers to be free animals.

This is why “The Dolphin Project” exists. Every year, starting on September 1^st, Ric O’barry and his crew go over to Taiji to protest against the dolphin massacre. The goal with the project is to spread the awareness of how brutal it is for the dolphins in the cove, and try to negotiate an end to the killings, because when they stop buying the dolphins – they will stop killing the dolphins.

In response to the start of the Taiji dolphin-hunting season; citizens across the world stand up and voice their outcries over the annual dolphin slaughter at more than 40 Japanese embassies and consulates.

I was not able to go to Taiji two weeks ago, but I wanted to help. So, as a first time activist, my friend Jennah and I went to the Japanese consulate in Los Angeles to show our anxiety about this issue. It was a life changing experience, and we feel the importance of making every single voice heard in order to improve this issue and as we did this we realized how many people were also worried about arising the issue to the consulate about the dolphin massacre and entertainment system.

September 1st, 2011

Today, as a response to the protests all over the world, arguments for the dolphin slaughter from the Japanese side is that it is: a cultural and traditional aspect. Though, I believe that every country has its traditions that are sometimes unethical, like massacre of dolphins. As stated in this article from New York Times “Consular officials responded late Thursday afternoon with a statement urging “that the most important thing is to recognize … national and cultural differences and to have a mutual understanding of each other.” In Japan, dolphins “are regarded as naturally reproduced marine resources.” As such, “the Japanese government will continue to authorize the use of dolphins at a sustainable level.”

What O’barry points out is that its only few that do this and we shouldn’t blame the country for it, that is true, but as you can see the Japanese government is ignoring this, they should be able to see what is wrong in order to try to prevent it.

O’Barry believes the dolphin-hunt only survives because the Japanese media avoids reporting it. In an interview he states that “This would not survive anywhere else in the free world. It’s amazing to me that the media ignores this. When you go there you’re photographing a cover-up. They’re trying to keep this a secret from the world.” He says the world is ‘gradually waking up’ and hints at a possible UN initiative to stop the hunt. “I honestly believe when the world finds out about this it will be abolished. It can’t possibly survive the light of day.”

This automatically reflects to Sea Worlds and other aquariums. SeaWorld San Diego’s website states that they want to provide visitors with an unforgettable experience. But that experience is placing the dolphins in danger just in order to pleasure the visitors.

Swim-with-the-dolphin programs allow visitors to swim with captive dolphins in shallow pools or interact with them, but it is actually harming the dolphin.

Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the dolphin swimming industry is the misconception we all have about it. Because the swim with dolphin programs present themselves as "educational" and "eco-friendly".  And, they market themselves to people who love dolphins, care about conservation and are looking for an interactive way to express this interest.

That also fooled me. What I and other participants didn't realize is that by buying those tickets to these programs, they are contributing to this industry and we are ensuring that dolphins will continue to be captured from the wild and suffer in captivity.

Dolphin aquariums claim that their mission is to protect dolphins in the wild through research and public education. Those are nice words but facts speak louder. If dolphins are so happy in captivity, why do they die so fast? There would be fewer spectators if people knew how many animals were "dying" to amuse them…

Because, every time you buy a ticket to a dolphin-themed leisure activity, you are creating harm to the dolphins – the dolphins that you love and that you drive miles to go and see.

Let’s not buy those swim-with-the-dolphins tickets and prevent more dolphins from being harmed in Taiji, Japan.