GreenWatch

B. McPherson This may be a Japanese tradition but it is not civilized behavior. An estimated 250 dolphins have been slaughtered in “The Cove”. For four days dolphins have been herded into the small bay outside of Taiji Japan. Those looking for dolphins for the captive market have now had their pick and the rest are being slaughtered. The favoured method is to jam a sharp spike into their blowhole to sever their spinal cord or at least, cause them to drown in their blood. Sea Shepherd Society has outed this barbaric practice since 2003 but has been unable to stop it. Their web site gives graphic detail of the bloody destruction of families. I was struck by the fate of an albino calf at the hands of the dolphin slavers who grabbed the youngster for selling to an amusement park. There is widespread speculation that the mother of the albino calf committed suicide after her baby was violently taken from her. Our volunteer Cove Guardians documented and witnessed the grieving mothe...

B. McPherson Warning: Graphic footage. If you've ever thought about attending a dolphin show, then you must witness this. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has started its annual campaign to convince the Japanese to stop the dolphin slaughter in Taiji Japan. The area, better known as The Cove, hit the public’s awareness with the documentary film of the carnage. Hundreds of dolphins are slaughtered annually by herding them into the confined cove and brutally slaughtering these sea mammals. This killing season’s campaign is Operation Infinite Patience by the Cove Guardians. This is the fourth season of the Sea Shepherd’s Society efforts to stop the butchery. They have vowed to return each year until the Japanese cease this practise. Many of the young dolphins orphaned in the killing of their family groups are kept live for sale to various irresponsible aquaria throughout the world. Dolphins that are performing at various venues are brutally ripped from their famili...

B. McPherson This kind of entertainment belongs with bear baiting and bull fighting In a bold move, the Minister of Environment and Forests has issued an edict to ban the captivity of dolphins for public entertainment. It labels the keeping of cetaceans for entertainment as “morally unacceptable” and that they should be considered as non-human persons. In a policy statement released Friday, the ministry advised state governments to reject any proposal to establish a dolphinarium “by any person / persons, organizations, government agencies, private or public enterprises that involves import, capture of cetacean species to establish for commercial entertainment, private or public exhibition and interaction purposes whatsoever.” Environmental News Service Many of the dolphins trapped in Japan at the infamous Cove are not killed, but captured live to sell to dolphinaria. The life of these intelligent, social creatures is often short and beset with constant stress. For...

B. McPherson The following video is in Japanese and as far as I can tell, it taken by one of the group of thugs. Look on the Sea Shepherd page, link below, for video taken from inside the Cove Guardians' car. The Cove Guardians in Taiji Japan were attacked by a mob of right wing nationalists on Monday who pushed and shoved through a police presence and jostled the Sea Shepherd Society Cove Guardians. The Guardians were threatened by the thugs who made rude gestures, shouted using a loud hailer, and spat on the car that the environmentalists locked themselves into. The incident was filmed from inside the car of the activists. At the time they were in the parking lot of the Cove. “The nationalists returned to the cove and the police forced the Cove Guardians into their cars and out of Taiji.  Then things became truly bizarre.  The nationalists started chasing the police cars that were leading and pushing the Cove Guardian vehicles.  At times there were a...

B. McPherson If you have ever participated in a Swim With the Dolphins or Dolphin Show, you have an obligation to watch this brutal video. It will open your eyes to what is happening to these intelligent and social animals. The Sea Shepherd Society received a big boost to their funding today with a donation of 900 000 Euros (about 1.2 million USD) for their anti-poaching campaigns. The Dutch National Postcode Lottery funds many different environmental and humanitarian groups. Since its start in 1989 the lottery has donated the equivalent of 4.6 billion US dollars to these groups. Currently the Sea Shepherd society is fighting whale poaching in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. There are three harpoon vessels and a factory ship in the Antarctic area. Using a loophole in the language, Japanese whalers seek to kill about 1000 whales each hunting season under the guise of scientific research. Good news regarding activist Erwin Vermeulen who was found not guilty of assa...