(JP) Dolphin Drive Hunt in Futo

[Guest guest]

Below is detailed information on the recent dolphin

drive hunt in Futo, Japan.

 

For photos and more information, please visit:

www.savetaijidolphins.org

 

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Reports from Sakae Hemmi of Elsa Nature Conservancy

 

FUTO, Japan, Nov. 13 EThere still remains some doubt

about the number of released dolphins. Many dolphins

were injured, bled, and struggled from being caught in

the circulating fishing nets.

 

The Fishing Cooperative and newspapers reported that

they released 80 dolphins, but it seemed to me that

they were far less than 80.

 

During the night of Nov. 12, I noticed that a couple

of fishing boats were moving around in the port,

illuminating with spotlights on the water. It

continued for a few hours till 11:30 p.m. It seemed

that fishermen were searching for dead dolphins that

had sank in the port. However, it was too dark and I

could not confirm it from where I was.

 

By the next morning, the " Keep-Out " signs were

removed. I went down to the port, and found that the

slaughter house was sealed with blue sheet so that no

one could see inside.

 

The slaughter of dolphins was done in the tent far

from the slaughterhouse the day before, and it had

already finished. Though I couldn't confirm it, I

surmise that fishermen might be able to retrieve dead

dolphins which had sank in the port and cut them apart

 

into meat in the slaughterhouse.

 

Later, I heard that one adult dolphin and one baby

were found to be floating in the port early in the

morning. They must also have been cut apart into meat.

 

 

While in Futo, I collected newspapers which reported

the drive fishery. All the reports and articles were

in the local edition. One of them reported that many

baby dolphins were included in the driven pod.

Generally, newspaper reports insisted that the Fishing

Coop killed very small number of dolphins for

RESEARCH, captured dolphins ALIVE for aquariums,

educational facilities, and RELEASED as many as 80.

 

To my regret, many people accept this drive fishery

and some people even praise it this time.

 

On my way back home, I visited Dolphin Fantasy in Ito

city, and found they had bought 3 dolphins from Futo

this time. As usual, the water was filthy and the

sea-pen was small. Now Dolphin Fantasy keeps 4

dolphins in the pen, but Nami-chan, the old female,

was less energetic.

 

FUTO, Japan, Nov. 12 —The fishermen started working at

4:00 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2004. Because of heavy rain and

strong wind, I couldn't be sure, but I saw one

fisherman with a bucket filled with what looked like

meat.

 

They started lifting live dolphins at 9:30 a.m., and

finished at around 1:00 p.m. Fourteen bottlenose

dolphins were sold to six aquariums: Enoshima

Aquarium, Awashima Aquarium, Marine Road in Ito (which

is Dolphin Fantasy), Hosaka Marine Project, Shimoda

Floating Aquarium, and Shinagawa Aquarium.

 

One bottlenose dolphin died of shock, three were

slaughtered for research specimens. Their leftovers

are to be used for human consumption.

 

One dolphin was attached with a transmitter on its

dorsal fin and returned to the sea reddish with blood

of dolphins. The transmitter is too big and we wonder

whether it can survive.

 

As usual, many dolphins were panicked and injured and

the sea turned red. We think that at least several

died and sank to the bottom. They released the rest of

the dolphins they had confined, but we don't think

that many of them survived.

 

The price of a dolphin for aquariums is

380,000-400,000 yen (approximately $3,600-$3,800

dollars U.S.) which is said to be much less expensive

than in Taiji.

 

Fishermen, Japan Fisheries Agency and sometimes the

local police tried to stop our videotaping and

photographing many times, saying that the Sea Shepherd

is going to award money to photographers. In the end,

three dolphins - including the one that died of shock

- were slaughtered in a tent. Buckets of meat were

carried away out of the tent.

 

All the paths down to the port were blocked and

fishermen and local police were on guard. No one could

take pictures of even the sea from the street. The

fishermen were angry, and threatened me trying to find

out if I took the sign that said " Keep out. " I didn't,

of course. They seemed to be very nervous.

 

It is said that local media were allowed to enter the

premises of the Fishing Cooperative under the

condition that they would not write ill of the Fishing

Coop, reporting that only two were killed, and as many

as 80 (We doubt it!) were released.

 

FUTO, Japan, Nov. 11 EWe have just received the

following information from Sakae Fujiwara/Hemmi of

Elsa Nature Conservancy:

 

Responding to an order placed by members of the

dolphin captivity industry, the fishermen of Futo,

Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan have driven a pod of about

100 bottlenose dolphins into Futo harbor. The harbor

has been sealed with a net so that the dolphins can't

escape. Divers from at least two Japanese aquariums

will arrive in Futo tomorrow morning to select between

20 and 30 " show-quality " dolphins for their

facilities. Some of the dolphins will be killed for

research. What will happen to the remaining dolphins

is uncertain at this point.

 

 

Photo © Elsa Nature Conservancy; All rights reserved.

With this capture there is a great risk that Futo will

follow in the footsteps of Taiji and become a supplier

of dolphins for Zoos and Aquariums in Japan and

abroad.

 

In order to prevent this, worldwide protests are

needed immediately.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Nov. 5 EThe fishermen went out at

sunrise and at 9 AM we could see their thirteen boats

lined up in the horizon, perfectly evenly spaced. They

had found dolphins and were trying to drive them

toward Taiji. The boats were spread out over a large

area, which told us the fishermen had located a very

large pod of dolphins. They seemed to have difficulty

gaining control over this large pod, and the dolphins

kept breaking away from the boats. Every time the pod

succeeded in swimming around or under the line of

boats, the fishermen chased them down and, by banging

repeatedly on metal poles submerged in the water, were

able to once again trap the dolphins between the

underwater wall of sound and the shoreline. The chase

went on like this for several hours, with the dolphins

constantly escaping the fishermen and the boats

terrorizing them with sound to herd them back toward

the shore. Sound travels much faster in water than in

air, and the sound produced as the fishermen bang on

the metal poles with hammers must be terrifying for

the dolphins. Perhaps this particular pod was simply

too large for the fishermen to control, and for once

the dolphins won. At 4 PM, having been chased for more

than seven hours, the pod finally escaped and swam

back into the open sea.

 

But the following day the dolphins found no such luck.

At 9 AM the fishermen drove a large pod of Risso`s

dolphins into the killing lagoon. The dolphins were

absolutely panic-stricken, racing around in a tight

circle and accidentally crashing into one another as

they tried to find a way out. Immediately after the

fishermen had sealed the mouth of the lagoon with two

nets placed 50 feet apart they headed back out to sea

to look for more dolphins. In the afternoon they drove

another large pod of Risso`s dolphins toward Taiji.

This drive, too, went on for many hours, and by the

time the dolphins were very close to shore they were

simply too tired to swim any further. We knew the

dolphins were doomed. We have witnessed so many of

these drives, we know that once the dolphins get this

close to Taiji harbor, they never get away. It was

heart-breaking to watch as this pod of at least 50

dolphins remained completely motionless in the water,

exhausted and hyper-ventilating. The moment the

dolphins stopped moving, the fishermen ceased banging

on the poles and positioned their boats in a large

circle around the dolphins, preventing them from

making a last-ditch attempt at escaping. As soon as

the pod moved on at a very slow speed, the fishermen

once again started banging their metal poles in order

to make the pod swim in the direction of the awaiting

killing lagoon. Some of the fishermen, working from

two smaller boats, constantly threw hand lead-lines (a

lead-line consists of a long piece of rope with a lead

weight attached to it and a hand-held reel upon which

the rope is wound) into the water. This served the

purpose of frightening and confusing the dolphins,

forcing them to keep moving toward the lagoon. A very

small dolphin and an adult fell behind. They appeared

to be unable to swim any further. The fishermen

working with lead-lines positioned their boats right

behind them, and by repeatedly throwing the lead lines

into the water they forced the two dolphins to keep

moving. The entire pod was herded into the killing

lagoon this way. The fishermen had captured over 100

dolphins in just one day. The two pods were killed and

butchered two days later and, as usual, large signs

were placed by the path that leads to the killing

lagoon. " Keep out. Falling rocks! " one of the signs

read. There were no falling rocks, of course, only the

screams of the dolphins as they were stabbed to death

with butcher knives and fishermen`s hooks ~ the same

tools the fishermen use to kill tuna-fish.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Nov. 2 EThe boats went out again to

search for more dolphins. They returned empty-handed.

The fishermen spent the rest of the day at the

slaughterhouse, making up more signs and large banners

to prevent us from filming: " No photography " and " Keep

out! "

 

We have been questioned by the police twice. We will

try to arrange for a meeting with them and city hall

officials in a few days.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Nov. 1 EAquariums and zoos continue to

fuel the massacre of dolphins in Taiji. The boats went

out but returned with no dolphins. In the evening,

when it was too dark for us to videotape, the

fishermen and trainers helped each other load some of

the dolphins from the steel cages in Taiji harbor into

a large truck. The dolphins were trucked the nearest

airport and sent to an unknown destination.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Oct. 29 EThe boats went out again to

search for more dolphins. They returned empty-handed.

The fishermen spent the rest of the day at the

slaughterhouse, making up more signs and large banners

to prevent us from filming: " No photography " and " Keep

out! "

 

We have been questioned by the police twice. We will

try to arrange for a meeting with them and city hall

officials in a few days. Entire pod of Risso's

dolphins eradicated

 

Today we were able to get a closer look at the

dolphins that were captured yesterday. They are

Risso's dolphins. At sunrise the fishermen and dolphin

trainers forced the dolphins into the killing lagoon.

Most of them were killed. It took the fishermen almost

five hours to kill and butcher this large pod. They

have made it impossible to videotape and photograph

the butchering process. White blinds and large

curtains of blue tarp cover the entire slaughter

house. Some dolphins were selected by the trainers and

brought to the steel cages in Taiji harbor for sale to

zoos and aquaria. The ones selected were very young.

They were no doubt taken from their mothers and their

mothers killed. We saw the logos of all three captive

dolphin facilities located in Taiji during this

capture: Dolphin Base, World Dolphin Resort and Taiji

Whale Museum.

 

The next two days the boats didn't go out due to heavy

rain. We climbed the Tidal Wave Evacuation site from

where one has a view of the killing lagoon. The top of

the mountain looks very different from when we were

here in January. The fishermen have erected a tall

canvas fence, making it impossible to film what goes

on in the lagoon. It looks like the Berlin wall up

here. The fishermen have even placed barbed wire

around the trees that we used to climb. In the killing

lagoon itself, they have made it so that a large piece

of blue tarp can be spread out in a matter of seconds,

completely covering up the bloody scene during a

dolphin massacre. There were signs on every path

leading to the killing lagoon: " Danger, falling

rocks! " and " No photos! "

 

In the afternoon one of the dolphins selected for

aquaria was force-fed by a team of dolphin trainers.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Oct. 28 EThe fishermen went out at

sunrise and at 9 AM drove a pod of about 50 small

whales (they look like false killer whales but we are

not sure) into the killing lagoon. We will return to

the lagoon before sunrise tomorrow morning to document

their fate.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Oct. 27 EWhen we arrived at the lagoon

at 5 AM October 27, many of the fishermen were

gathered there. One fisherman was stationed by the

stairs that lead up to the mountain from where one can

photograph the killing lagoon. He was there to make

sure we did not climb the mountain in an attempt at

obtaining footage of the dolphin massacre. The

fishermen were accompanied by about 20 young people in

wetsuits of which some displayed the logo of the Taiji

Whale Museum, World Dolphin Resort and Dolphin Base.

All these three facilities are located in Taiji. They

were obviously dolphin trainers/handlers. They were

there to select the best-looking dolphins for dolphin

swim programs and dolphin shows.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Oct. 26 EThe 13 boats went out at 6 AM.

Two hours later, banging on metal poles submerged in

the water, they drove a pod of between 30 - 50

bottlenose dolphins into the killing lagoon. They

quickly placed two nets at the mouth of the lagoon,

thereby cutting off the dolphins` escape. There were

many very young dolphins in the pod, and we could see

how mothers and their babies spent the next several

hours desperately trying to find a way of this trap.

 

The whalers have placed several large signs by the

killing lagoon, `Danger, keep out` and `No

photography.` They don`t want us to show the images of

the dolphin massacre to the rest of the world.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Oct. 25 EThe fishermen went out to sea

again, but they were not successful at finding any

dolphins.

 

TAIJI, Japan, Oct. 23 EWe arrived in Taiji and, at

sunrise the next day, about 26 fishermen, oprating

with 13 boats, went out to search for dolphins. But

the weather was too rough for a dolphin hunt and the

boats returned to the harbor a few hours later.

 

MORE WEBLOG INFORMATION FROM JANUARY 2004 TRIP

 

In January 2004, One Voice sent a team to Taiji to

document the methods used in the dolphin massacres. It

turned out, however, that we were going to witness

something far more shocking. Members of the dolphin

captivity industry work side by side with the Japanese

whalers to exploit the dolphins in the most cruel way

imaginable.

 

Early in the morning of January 27, Ric O’Barry

EMarine Mammal Specialist with One Voice Eand I

showed up at the killing lagoon, expecting to witness

the slaughter of about 100 bottlenose dolphins that

had been chased into the lagoon the day before. To our

surprise, there were more than 30 dolphin trainers

gathered by the killing lagoon. When the whalers

discovered us with our cameras, they became very

hostile, and trainers ordered us to stop filming. They

were there to select the best-looking dolphins for

dolphinariums. Security guards were assigned to block

us from getting close to the lagoon. The situation

became increasingly dangerous for us, and when some of

whalers began to make throat-cutting gestures we

retreated to our car and locked ourselves inside for

safety.

 

Om January 29 the whalers drove another pod of more

than 100 bottlenose dolphins into the lagoon. The pod

consisted of dolphins of all ages: adults, juveniles,

several babies, as well as pregnant and nursing

females. They were hyperventilating. Swimming in a

tight circle, they collided forcefully in their

attempt to find a way out. But there was none. The

turbulence created by the dolphins' fear made it look

like they were in a giant washing machine.

 

When we arrived at the lagoon on January 30, dozens of

divers were once again gathered on the beach. Taiji

Fishermen's Union Manager, Mr. Surimori, was also

present. We asked him who all the divers were. He told

us they were dolphin trainers from various

dolphinariums, and that they had come to select the

dolphins they wanted for their facilities. He wouldn't

reveal to us which dolphinariums were involved. We

asked him what would happen to the dolphins that were

not selected. He told us they would be killed. Later,

however, when asked the same question by a reporter

from The London Times, he changed his story and said

the rejects would be released.

 

The dolphins were staying at the far end of the

lagoon, as far away from the divers as possible. At

6:30 AM the whalers began the process of driving the

dolphins toward the beach, in order that the trainers

could drag them ashore. The whalers did this by

pulling one of the nets closer toward the shore. The

dolphins' panic increased as the space they were

confined in got smaller and smaller. As the dolphins

approached the rocky beach, the dolphin trainers got

in the water with pieces of rope. They subdued the

struggling animals, tied ropes around their tail

flukes, and hauled the animals toward the beach.

Mothers and babies were separated with extreme

brutality, but their calls of distress were met with

complete indifference from the trainers. The trainers

and whalers helped each other line the dolphins up

close to the beach. The dolphins had never experienced

gravity before. Helplessly grounded like this, all

their body weight put pressure on their internal

organs: lungs, liver, and heart. This was no doubt

very stressful for them, especially the pregnant

females.

 

The dolphin trainers then began the process of

selecting the dolphins that fit the desired criteria.

The ones that were so young that they still depended

on their mother's milk for survival were rejected. The

yelling and commotion was enormous as the whalers and

trainers forced the selected dolphins into stretchers

and took them to newly erected sea cages in Taiji

harbor, two at a time. The stretchers were hanging

from the side of a boat, and the dolphins were dragged

through the water like this, right next to the

deafening sound of the motor.

 

During the 1960s, Ric made a living capturing and

training dolphins, including the five dolphins that

were used in the American TV-series Flipper about a

dolphin of the same name. As a former dolphin trainer,

he has encountered several cases of animal cruelty.

The dolphin capture in Taiji, however, stands out as

the cruelest thing he has witnessed during his more

than 40 years of working with dolphins.

 

Just a few examples:

 

A dolphin calf, a few months old at the most, had been

separated from its mother in the chaos and was

swimming all by itself in a corner close to shore. We

had noticed how its mother had tried to remain close

to the calf throughout the ordeal, but she couldn't

protect herself or her baby from what happened next:

Two divers got in the water and subdued her. They tied

a piece of rope around her tail flukes and dragged her

ashore. The trainers measured her and inspected her

overall condition. The calf let out frantic cries as

its mother was forced into a stretcher and taken away.

This calf was among the last to be rounded up by the

trainers. But the dolphin was too young to fit the

dolphinarias' criteria and was not among the chosen.

 

Three divers equipped with rope approached a large

dolphin. When the dolphin was within their reach, two

of them reached out for its dorsal fin and, using

their bodyweight, held the dolphin down. At some point

it looked as if the dolphin was going to succeed in

breaking away, and one of the divers, yelling and

screaming hysterically, pulled hard at its pectoral

fin while the other positioned his body halfway across

the dolphin’s back. The third diver, aided by a

whaler, tied a piece of rope around the dolphin’s tail

fluke, and the struggling dolphin was successfully

dragged to shallow water and grounded.

 

On the mural of the local dolphinarium " World Dolphin

Resort, " the words " We Love Dolphins! " are prominently

displayed in bold colors. Divers from this very same

facility were among those who dragged dolphins out of

the water with ropes, separating mothers from their

babies. We know this because some of the divers had

the logo of World Dolphin Resort on their wetsuits.

Other logos we noticed were those of " Marine Park, "

" Taiji Whale Museum " and " Dolphin Base. " Which other

dolphinariums participated in the capture, we don’t

know, but one thing is certain: There was no sign of

'love' for dolphins on this day where whalers and

members of the dolphin captivity industry stranded an

entire pod of dolphins and subsequently, in a process

that can only be described as a display of horror,

dragged more than 20 of them away to be shipped to

various dolphinariums. We kept looking at the dolphin

trainers, hoping to see a sign of some compassion. But

there was none. The trainers that were not chasing

after the dolphins with ropes simply stood by and

watched as some of the dolphins, in a massive effort

to escape, got entangled in the capture nets and,

unable to reach the surface to breathe, died a painful

death of suffocation.

 

During the entire selection process, security guards

were waving giant signs at us, banning photography.

'No photos! No photos!' was their standard line. But

as much as they tried, they couldn't stop us from

filming, and the capture footage obtained by One Voice

is compelling and irrefutable: In their self-serving

endeavor to select dolphins for public display,

dolphin trainers exposed an entire pod of dolphins to

harassment, trauma, injuries, and even death. And this

is the dark side of dolphin captivity that the public

is not supposed to know about.

 

With the help of our interpreter we were able to

establish communication with one of the security

guards who normally works as a fisherman (not a

whaler) in Taiji. He wouldn’t give us his name but was

willing to talk to us. He told us that the whalers had

hired him to prevent One Voice from obtaining

documentation of the capture. He went on to say that

he had once worked as a dolphin trainer at a Japanese

dolphinarium and that, as a former member of the

International Marine Animal Trainers Association

(IMATA), he had attended the IMATA Conference Las

Vegas, Nevada, several years ago. IMATA has members

from captive dolphin facilities all over the world and

the role of the association, according to their

website, is to " provide opportunities through which

marine animal trainers can exchange and disseminate

current knowledge, research and other information

among themselves in professional and social settings.

In addition, IMATA seeks to maintain a positive public

image by preparing its members to act as ambassadors

of the marine animal community. " And again quoting

from their website: " IMATA is dedicated to advancing

the humane care and handling of marine animals. "

 

We asked the former IMATA member how he felt about the

dolphin capture that was taken place right in front of

him. " It’s the only way to get more dolphins for

dolphinariums, " he said. When we asked him how he felt

about the practice of slaughtering dolphins for human

consumption, he said: " I eat whale and dolphin meat

myself. " We went on to ask him if the issue of the

dolphin massacres was ever discussed during any the

IMATA conferences he had attended during his career as

a dolphin trainer. His answer was: " No, never. " " What

kind of marine mammal issues did you talk about? " we

wanted to know. His reply: " We'd talk about new

training methods, and about the problems connected

with people feeding dolphins in the wild. That sort of

thing. " He couldn't see anything wrong with consuming

dolphins. In fact, when confronted with the bizarre

concept of a former dolphin trainer eating dolphins,

his answer was: " They are two different things. When

you train dolphins, you train them. When you eat them,

you eat them. "

 

A similar example of this dual relationship with

dolphins can be observed at the captive dolphin

facility " The Whale Museum " of Taiji, where several

bottlenose dolphins and a killer whale are used in

shows. When the dolphin show is over, the paying

audience is encouraged to visit the dolphinarium’s

souvenir shop. Here, one can purchase various dolphin

and whale trinkets, such as dolphin calendars, dolphin

T-shirts and key rings with the words " I Love

Dolphins! " And in the middle of the souvenir shop,

right next to the display of dolphin soft toys, is a

freezer with a large assortment of Ewhale meat.

 

When the divers had finally selected the dolphins they

wanted, the dolphins had been beached in shallow water

for more than three hours. The ones that were too old,

too young, too big, had the wrong gender, had too many

blemishes, or were injured were hauled back into the

killing lagoon. According to the official records,

four of the dolphins that were not selected were

butchered, and the rest were let go. How many of them

had been inflicted with life-threatening injuries as a

result of the rough treatment, we will never know.

Many had difficulty swimming, showing signs of broken

or dislocated pectoral fins. Others Esuccumbing to

exhaustion, shock, or injuries Esimply sank to the

bottom of the sea, never to surface again.

 

While in Taiji, the One Voice team saw two westerners

at " Dolphin Base. " Dolphin Base is the company that

carries out the actual trade in the dolphins from the

drives. In fact, a truck with the logo of " Dolphin

Base " was parked in the parking lot right next to the

killing lagoon while the selection of dolphins took

place. The westerners were even more paranoid about

being photographed than the whalers, and we have no

doubt that they had come to Taiji to buy dolphins for

dolphinariums. By trading in dolphins from the drives,

they fuel the continued existence of this brutal

practice. Ironically, however, if one were to ask them

how they justify doing business with the dolphin

hunters, they would most likely make the claim that

they were saving them from death and slaughter. But it

became very clear to us that the dolphin pod had been

captured for the sole purpose of supplying

dolphinariums with dolphins. In other words: The

dolphinariums were the direct reason the dolphins had

been captured. Every time we approached the

westerners, they ran away from us, and during the

violent selection process they were hiding in the

shadows.

 

February 6, 2004, divers from the dolphin captivity

industry were once again working side by side with the

Taiji whalers. Using a large crane, they hoisted

several of the selected dolphins into transport boxes

and the dolphins were driven away in two large trucks,

to an unknown destination.

 

For members of the dolphin captivity industry to take

advantage of the dolphin massacres in their quest to

obtain show-quality dolphins for their facilities is

simply deplorable. One Voice is hereby calling on the

dolphin captivity industry to finally take a stand on

this urgent issue. Dolphinariums that do not support

the Japanese dolphin hunt have an obligation to keep

watch over their own industry and call upon their

colleagues to stop sustaining the massacres by doing

business with the Japanese whalers. Rather than

remaining silent about the dolphin blood bath,

dolphinariums worldwide should feel compelled and

obliged to do all in their power to stop it.