Friday 13 January 2012

Taiji Cove Dolphin Hunt

This blog entry is essentially a collection of various pieces of information about the Taiji Cove dolphin hunt including videos and links to further information.

For those of you who are unaware of Taji Cove, what it is? Where it is? And finally what the controversy is  about let me start off with a brief summary:

  • Taiji (太地町) is a town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama, Japan. 
  • Taiji has been well known as a whaling town and is considered as the birth place of Japan's modern whaling method. Taiji's annual dolphin hunt is the subject of continued pressure by protest groups
  • The dolphin drive hunt takes place every year from September to April. According to the Japanese Fisheries Research Agency, 1,623 dolphins were caught in Wakayama Prefecture in 2007 for human consumption or resale to dolphinariums, and most of these were caught at Taiji. The annual dolphin hunting provides income for local residents, but has received international criticism for both the cruelty of the dolphin killing and the high mercury levels of the dolphin meat.
Below is youtube video taking from the hunt in January 2011: it does contain graphic scenes of the senseless killing of dolphins:


Please sign the petition at the link below "The Cove: Help Save Japan's Dolphins" 

A documentary film has been made about the hunt by activists who actively campaign to try stop and disrupt the annual hunt, it is called "The Cove" (winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary). A extended clip from the film can be viewed below:



The film can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk (or your countries domain) at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cove-DVD-Louie-Psihoyos/dp/B002UEX132 

There are several key players who actively take part in campaigning against the hunt as well as campaigning for marine conservation in other areas the following links lead to their websites:
You can also follow on Twitter:
  • @SeaShepherd
  • @OmarSeaShepherd
  • @seashepherd_uk
  • @SJDolphins
  • @Oceana





1 comment:

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