Dolphin slaughter in Japan `most shocking thing I've seen'

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Oct. 30, 2003. 01:00 AM

 

Dolphin slaughter in Japan `most shocking thing I've

seen'

Hunt in Taiji captured on video

 

Nets, sonar used to confuse mammals

 

STEVE KRAVITZ

STAFF REPORTER

 

A Canadian photographer describes the slaughter of

dolphins for food in Japan as " shocking " and

" surreal. "

 

Brooke McDonald was volunteering with the Sea Shepherd

Conservation Society when she took the photos in

Taiji, Japan, three weeks ago.

 

The controversial anti-whaling group released the

images of bloodstained inlets and speared dolphins in

a bid to embarrass the Japanese government into

stopping the hunt.

 

The hunt, locals say, has been part of Taiji's culture

for at least 400 years.

 

Using nets and sonar to confuse the animals, fishermen

corral pods of striped dolphins into sheltered bays.

They are then speared before being hauled aboard small

boats.

 

McDonald, 29, and her British colleague, cameraman

Morgan Whorwood, spent five nights hiding in the woods

above one of the Taiji bays, waiting for their chance

to photograph the hunt in which 60 dolphins were

killed on Oct. 6.

 

" It was the most shocking thing I've ever seen in my

life, " McDonald, a native of Vancouver, said yesterday

in a telephone interview from Britain.

 

The pair spent 20 minutes taking pictures and shooting

video before fishermen spotted them. Following a

scuffle, the pair used a radio to call for police for

help and ended up arrested.

 

Worried their film might be seized, McDonald hid eight

rolls in her long underwear, and Whorwood stashed a

videotape in the cliffface for later retrieval.

 

McDonald said that she, Whorwood and a third Sea

Shepherd activist were fingerprinted and photographed

before being released after nine hours. They were not

charged.

 

McDonald then had her film developed in a lab next to

the police station. When McDonald she saw the results

she thought the pictures were " surreal. "

 

" They really did represent very well what we'd seen

with our own eyes that day. I just experienced the

same shock all over again " looking at the processed

photos, she said.

 

" And that colour is 100 per cent accurate and true, "

McDonald said. " It was just as horrifying as it looks.

It truly is the same most unnatural colour I have ever

seen. It was one of the most deep crimson reds I had

ever seen & #12539;and to realize that it came from a

living organic being was shocking. "

 

Associated Press photo editor Chikako Yatabe told the

Star from Tokyo that she had compared McDonald's

photos to video of the hunt in Taiji and the colour is

realistic.

 

Hunting dolphins is legal in Japan, and it is not

banned by the International Whaling Commission. Aware

of the potential for adverse publicity, the local

government has passed a law blocking access to the

cliffs above the bay to prevent people from witnessing

the hunt, McDonald said.

 

Requests for comment from town officials were denied,

Associated Press said from Tokyo. A fisherman's union

representative, who demanded anonymity, told AP the

hunt is conducted as humanely as possible.

 

" The Japanese government has been very sensitive about

this and they told fishermen they didn't want anybody

filming what they're doing, " said Sea Shepherd founder

Paul Watson, who was born in New Brunswick.

 

 

 

 

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