The Taiji Dolphin Killing Drives and "Countdown to the Cove"

Sept 1st Marks the Beginning of the Dolphin Hunt Drives in the Cove of Taiji Japan.  It is not unusual for up to 20,000 dolphins and even some whales to lose their lives in these dolphin drives annually.  They are being killed for money... for their meat, and for providing entertainment to the demanding public who want to swim with the dolphins, and watch them do tricks for their own personal entertainment.

But the world is now taking notice, and the pressure is on to stop the killing from these drives, and the sales of selected dolphins for entertainment parks such as Sea World and other Ocean Aquariums.

"For the first time ever, in 2010 -2011, Cove Guardian Activists from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins were in Taiji every single day of the dolphin slaughter, which ran from September to March...yet the tragedy continues..." (from Countdown to the Cove)

People are becoming aware of the dark side of this beautiful sea and fishing port called Taiji.   Here, the fishermen have chosen to hunt dolphins & whales (of the dolphin family), which is misleading, for dolphins are not fish but intelligent sentient ocean mammals.  Also of concern is danger from this practice through ingestion of the dolphin meat which has been found to often contain of a higher than acceptable level of mercury contamination.  This mercury presence is generally not publicized, and when spoken of, lightly put aside as not of concern by the Japanese.  Even the children of Taiji are said to be served this meat in their school menu.

But the word is out, with a jump start from "The Cove Movie" which you can watch for free here @  http://www.ovguide.com/movies_tv/the_cove.htm and concern is now escalating around the world.  The media has picked up the story and there is an increase in the publications and public interest regarding the deaths and captures of the dolphins in Taiji.  Perhaps you too are concerned now that you have become aware of the dolphin plight.  But, what can the average concerned citizen of the world do? 

You can help by spreading the truth, and "Join the protest via Facebook International Day of Awareness for the Dolphins of Taiji @ "The Countdown to the Cove"

For more information on "Countdown to the Cove", and the Taiji Dolphins just follow this Web Link:

"Countdown to the Cove"

Eighty Nine Nations ready for verbal 'Whale Wars' in the Channel Islands

Eighty Nine Nations are ready for verbal 'Whale Wars' in the Channel Islands - Washington DC Animal Advocacy | Examiner.com.

The International Whaling Commission was established following the creation of a 1946 international environmental agreement known as the "International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling".  Although the purpose was to protect whales from over hunting and to preserve whale stocks for future generations, exploitation continues to occur even within it's own IWC realm.

"There are presently 89 member nations of the IWC.  In 1986, the IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling.  Despite the ban, numerous loopholes within IWC regulations and enforcement allow for several nations to continue to hunt whales, Among them are Japan, Norway, Iceland and the Faroes Islands."...  Sandy McElheney ~ (Sandy McElhaney is a member of the writing team at "Save Misty the Dolphin". This group was founded on facebook to raise awareness about the plight...) 

These countries are allowed to hunt with little overseeing by the IWC, and show little concern or regard of the loss of life, and consequences of numerous kills.

In a compiling letter to Dr. Simon Brockington, Secretary of The International Whaling Commission, "Save Misty the Dolphin" calls on the members of the 63rd International Whaling Commission to fully PROTECT all whales and dolphins. This letter also encourages concerned citizens around the world to join in by submitting similar letters.

To view this topic and the letter you may continue reading on Examiner.com Eighty Nine Nations ready for verbal 'Whale Wars' in the Channel Islands - Washington DC Animal Advocacy | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/animal-advocacy-in-washington-dc/eighty-nine-nations-ready-for-verbal-whale-wars-the-channel-islands#ixzz1QUr2ARPG

A Song for the Dolphins and Whales

A captivating song about Captive Dolphins/Whales
Titled: "Captive" 
Written by Holise E Cleveland, and vocal by Jaki Song, with music by John Ming. 
Thank you!

.... Can Smell the Ocean Wind... Can You Hear Me?  Can You Free Me?

Link to the Song with Lyrics Here: "Captive"Jaki Song/Holise E Clevland/John Ming

Please Listen and Share with All You Know and Don't Know... In whatever way you can...

"A Tale of Genocide in the Faroe Islands"

A Family Tradition that horrifies many is allowed to continue in the Faroe Islands.  This is the annual hunt and cull (a softer word for "kill") of whales & other cetaceans that occurs without mercy, and with all family members actively engaged and happily participating.  It is with heavy heart that I strongly say, inhumane ways of the past have no reason in the present.

This revealing post on the "Champions for Cetaceans" website vividly tells us the story and shows us the pictures of a continued bloodbath that must stop.  Please help us educate the World in what continues to happen to the the intelligent mammals of the ocean by also telling this story and advocating against it to the world in any media way you know how.  Even telling your friends gets the word out.  If enough people in the world protest, it will be the needed pressure to stop this barbaric practice and save the remaining whales of the sea.

The Species called "Man" has become the cruel apex predator with a thirst for death that will exterminate all species of the planet if allowed to continue.  Yet, not all of "man" is the insatiable beast described here.  Those of us who are against these practices must make our voices heard to change the wrongs that are done to the creatures of this beloved planet we call earth, and we must do it now ~ for time is quickly slipping by.  The damage to the ocean and it's inhabitants is great.  News of ecological damage to the ocean is an added factor in killing off the inhabitants of the seas, and without the ocean, man is doomed.

Please join us now, by making your voice heard in protest in the best way you know how.  Help us to spread the word... Thank You!

Link to Article on the Faroe Island Hunt mentioned above:  http://championsforcetaceans.com/2011/05/29/220-pilot-whale-genocide-in-the-faroe-islands/

"What Will We Do?"

What Will We Do When the Ocean is No Longer Blue? When the Skies Are Gray & the Trees have Gone Away, What Will We Do?

What Will We Say When there are No More Dolphins Left to Play? When Fish are Dying and the Coral has Eroded Away, What Will We Say?

Who Shall We Blame When the Whole World Seems Insane? When Life is no Longer Held Sacred & the Earth is Stripped Naked, Who will we Blame?

Cheryl E Gordon
5/13/10

Sea World, Bad Management by Holise E Cleveland III

This article from Holise E Cleveland III aka Cyber Whale Warrior, is about the absurdity and ignorance of capturing and keeping animals from the wild for human "education" and enjoyment.  Sea World is specifically targeted in this article.  The videos are also very informative;  the first coming from a very educated man, a PHD and a former Marine Mammal Biologist @ Sea World.  The second is about Orcas stolen from the wild to be sold to a world of Entertainment for the Masses.

How can one Argue with the Truth? My father told me as a child…. “Just because it has always been done that way, does not mean it is right. Follow Your Heart in whatever you do.”  Just because we were brought up to view captured animals in cages for “Education” does not mean it is the right thing to do. We can bring our children to Animal Sanctuaries and they will be educated to them with the goal of releasing them when healed, or protecting them because they need a safe place and can no longer be safe in the wild.

Here is a link to the article for you to see for yourself:


http://holisecleveland.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/swsa-seaworld-bad-management/

Shout Out for the Dolphins of Taiji - What I Believe

"Shout out for the Dolphins of Taiji"

We are Each a Small Voice, but I Believe Our Voices Ring Loud when in Unison. At this time I fear Many do not read what is put before them, but Some do, More are Listening and Concerned and with Time, More Will.

"My Hope Lies in the Faith That Many People from All Corners of the Earth will Feel it in their Hearts to Act and Voice their Opinions taking Stance against the continuing Slaughter of the Dolphins and Whales of the Oceans. The Killing is not for need as food ~ much of the meat is not even liked by the Japanese in their cusine ... Some Say it is their Culture or Tradition, but that does not make it Right.  Others say they are taking their fish, and for that they must die... 

I am Speaking of their Annual Slaughter ~ of Thousands upon Thousands of Entire Pods, the Painful and Horrendous Means of Capture & Death, and the Choosing of a Few Singled Out with Each Entrapment in the Taiji Cove, for High Dollar Sale for Amusement and Entertainment in Sea Aquariums in Far Away Places."

These Magnificent Sea Animals are not fish; they are mammals, and they are no more theirs (the Japanese town of Taiji) than the Ocean Belonging to Them. The Cetaceans (dolphins and whales) are Said to be Second to Human in Intelligence, Yet these Fishermen Continue to Search out and Drive the Pods of Dolphins into their Cove to Kill them and Sell them for Profit.  (revised for further clarification 1/6/10)


When they are No More, and have become Extinct, Will the World then take Notice, and Weep and Wonder Why? This Town is so Proud as to Let their Families Eat the Mercury Tainted Food rather than to Turn to Other Healthy and Humane Ways for a Living. But for Those who Care, We must Continue to Speak until this Atrocity no Longer Happens.

“Shout Out For the Dolphins of Taiji”

Cries of Anguish and Death

Reverberate across the Seas
Originating from Taiji
Taking Me Down to My Knees

Dolphins of the Oceans
What have they done?
They are Taking Your Lives
In the Land of the Rising Sun

From Your Ocean Home to their Cove
In a Death Run For the Kill
Relentlessly Driving Your Pods
For Your Blood they Will Spill

Oh Dolphins of Taiji
My God what they Have Done?
They Stab you in Numbers
And No Mercy is Shown.

Families, Unborn Babies,
It Means Nothing to Them,
The Power of Green Money
The Driving Force from Within.

And they Call You Pests
For that You Must Die
"Stealing Fish from Our Nets
Costs Us Money they Cry"

Your Blood they Do Spill
In the Cove of Taiji
And A Few Spared in Each Run
Are Sent Away for a Fee

To Swim in Concrete Pools
Entertaining the Masses
While their Friends are Cut Up
And Served in School Classes

Fed to the Children
Toxic Mercury from the Kill
Identified only As Meat
To the World from the Spill

Hearing Your Cries Our Sweet Friends
We Tell the World of their Shame
May the Fishermen of Taiji
Find no Pleasure in Their Pain.

The World Does Take Notice
Cove Slaughters Must be Halted
Let the Dolphins Swim Free
And their Defenders be Exalted.

© Cheryl E Gordon 12/25/10



If You wish to Help in Any Way, You can Write a Comment here, Post a Link on your blog or web, write the Japanese Embassy, write to the Japanese Newspaper (links are below).... Even Better, Go to Taiji to Help the Guardians, Be a Guardian, or Just Get the Word Out ... Anything is Better than Doing Nothing... Thank You!


Make Your Voice Heard to the Country of Japan ~ Tell them what You Think About Allowing Dolphin and Whale Hunting to Continue:

Link to the Japan Times Online where you can write your comments about Taiji and the Dolphins Directly: https://form.japantimes.co.jp/info/contact_us.html
Link to US Ambassador Ross on Twitter:
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/p/tp-20101001-74.html
Japanese Embassy Names and Numbers:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=159578037405359&id=150758841615415

"The Whalers Have Been Shut Down"

First of all I must say, that I do not hold the Japanese People responsible for this practice, but the Japanese Fisheries and the Whale Hunters are the offenders, and I am relieved and ecstatic the lives of whales this year, have been spared in this sanctuary from the whale hunters/poachers.

Per Captain Paul Watson, of the Sea Shepherd, "The Japanese Fisheries Agency is saying that the whale hunt (in the Southern Ocean) has been suspended due to the interventions of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society..."

The Sydney Morning Herald @ smh.com.au. reads in part: "The sudden departure has raised hopes Japan may be moving to end its widely opposed, 23-year-old "scientific research" program, which has killed about 10,000 Antarctic whales.... The whaling industry is also suffering at home in Japan, with revenue falling as whale meat sales plummet, and with key figures in the Fisheries Agency of Japan forced to apologize for running a black market in the meat."

The Japanese Whalers have been in a Whale Sanctuary in their annual hunt with the factory ship, the Nisshin Maru, and three harpoon vessels under the auspice of Research since the latter part of last year.  But killing and selling for profit is suspected as their main purpose there. Now that their hunt is suspended, many whales have been saved from the harpoons of the whalers by Sea Shepherd and Sea Shepherd alone, relentlessly chasing their fleets and driving them from the Antarctic Region.

Click on the link below for the full commentary by Captain Paul Watson here:
 The Whalers have Been Shut Down @ http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-110216-1.html

Here is a link as well to a news release & video by The Sydney Morning Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/japan-believed-to-be-quitting-whaling-season-early-20110216-1aw0k.html

"Gambling with Green Peace"

Whale Poaching... Green Peace and Sea Shepherd ~ There is a Difference~
This Explanatory Article Reveals: Gambling With Greenpeace « Cyber Whale Warrior http://ow.ly/3E57M

http://holisecleveland.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/gambling-with-greenpeace/

Marine Mammals in Captivity Short Video Clip via SealAngel

When Culture and Tradition Conflicts with Reason and Compassion

Some Negative Cultural and Traditional Acts:

Witch Hunts
Burning at the Stake
Slavery
Killing by Slow Death Such as Seal Clubbing & Shark Finning 
Deliberate Extermination of any Species
Torture Killing by a Captor Such as
Scalping, Setting the Wife on Fire or Stoning of an Accused
Ritualistic Killing and Sacrifice
Human Consumption of Conquered Victim e.g. Cannibalism
Selling a Family Member for Profit
Killing of Newborn for Population Control
Killing Outside of Necessity for Life/Survival Such as Seen with Majority of the Dolphin and Whale Hunts
Bull, Cock, Dog Fights, Bear Baiting
Or other Risk of Animal Life for "Entertainment"
Killing of or Experimenting on Animals in the Name of Science

And The List Goes On..... Some Specific and some General...

As an Intelligent Human Race We Must Allow Reason and Compassion to Prevail.
Some of these Horrendous Acts Have Been Seen as Inhumane and Abandoned.
Some Have Not. 
Just Because it is Culture, Religion or Tradition, Does Not Make it Right.

Sea Shepherd Confronts Japanese Whalers on the High Seas

Dec 31st Headlines & Introductory Comment ~Sea Shepherd Hunts Down the Japanese Whalers Before a Single Whale is Killed:  

"Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s fleet has found the illegal Japanese whaling vessels on the last day of the calendar year. In the vastness of the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd’s ships have now found the Japanese fleet before they even began killing whales.  This is a momentous victory for the whales and precisely how Sea Shepherd’s President and Founder Captain Paul Watson had hoped to ring in the New Year."  ... continued in link below

http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-101231-1.html

1/2/10  Hey Friends! what Great NEW YEARS NEWS from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Fleet in the South Seas:, The Bob Barker, The Steve Irwin, The Gogira!

Here is More of the Story in the Antartic Sanctuary Frankophone Facebook Report: 

  http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=1654268448160

Spreading the Word

Short Film Contest for Expression of Humans Views on Whaling and Whales via "Whale Like Me"

...  "We have not even announced it officially yet, but we've launched a short film contest... to put together the expression of how humans view whaling and whales in 2011 - there are signs that attempts to provide for rights for cetaceans, via policy, are gaining momentum.  We may well be in that important moment, similar to the inception of real momentum for the abolition of slavery, where voices are rising to describe cetaceans as candidates for official inclusion within our circle of kinship.  We want our short film contest to recognize, and at the same time act as a catalyst in any capacity it can, for this moment."

If you would like to participate, or help us spread the word: check it out here:

http://www.whalelikeme.com/contest/intro

Malcolm  Wright @ "Whale Like Me"