End Japan’s cruel dolphin hunts
 August 2008
Dolphin advocates around the world will unite for “Japan Dolphin Day”, the 5th annual international day of protest against Japan's bloody drive fisheries. Japan Dolphin Day aims to draw attention to the secretive and violent hunts that take place in Japanese waters and to convince authorities that a change in policy is urgently needed. Most events will take place at 12 noon (local time) on Wednesday, September 3rd at Japanese Embassies and Consulates worldwide.
WSPA's US office will coordinate events in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston protest will be held at noon on Friday, September 5th at the Japanese Consulate, Federal Reserve Plaza located at 600 Atlantic Avenue.
WSPA urges you to speak out for dolphins and show your support by participating in an event near you. For more information on events in other US cities please contact the following groups:
Washington, DC (including Maryland and Virginia) – Animal Welfare Institute, Born Free USA or Humane Society of the US
San Francisco – Earth Island Institute
Los Angeles – In Defense of Animals
Honolulu, Hawaii – Animal Rights Hawaii
Denver – Oceanic Preservation Society
Seattle – Orca Network
New York City (Protest on September 4th) - Cetacean Society International
For a worldwide list please see: http://www.savejapandolphins.org/dolphinday.php
Take Action for Dolphins
Even if you can't make one of the events listed above, you can still take action to help dolphins.
Urge Mr. Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan's Ambassador to the US, and the Japanese government to stop these cruel dolphin drive hunts. Take action now >>
 About Drive Hunts
Every year between September and April thousands of dolphins are brutally killed off the shores of the Japanese coastal towns of Taiji and Futo.
In what are known as "drive" hunts, Japanese fishermen in motorboats encircle pods of dolphins with nets and drive them towards shore. Once the dolphins are trapped in shallow waters, the fishermen kill them using crude, inhumane methods. Sometimes cranes are used to haul animals out of the water by their tails, often while the dolphins are still alive. They are then transported to a nearby slaughterhouse where they are butchered and processed into meat and fertilizer away from public view.
Every aspect of these hunts is extremely cruel and inhumane, from the exhausting drive from the open ocean that can separate family groups, to confinement in a netted cove where the dolphins are trapped and stabbed. Some of the young dolphins are spared this terrible fate, only to be sold into captivity - they spend the rest of their lives in small tanks in aquariums and marine parks where they are used for public display.
The majority of people in Japan and around the world have no idea that the slaughter of so many dolphins and whales continues. Government authorities in Japan know that the world will not tolerate the killing of these beautiful animals, and they go to great lengths to hide these hunts from public view. Fishermen even put up tarps behind which the dolphins are slaughtered, and people are barred from filming and photographing the bloody hunts.
Captivity: The demand for cruelty
With a growing demand from the marine park industry, Japanese fisheries have found a very lucrative business in the live capture of dolphins, and they set aside several live dolphins captured during the hunt to sell to aquaria and marine parks in Asia, the Caribbean and Middle East. Each dolphin caught and sold can eventually bring in tens of thousands of dollars when adapted to captivity and trained to perform. Many fishermen admit that they would not continue the cruelty if it were not for the high prices offered for live wild dolphins.
Sharanya Prasad, WSPA Marine Mammal Program Officer, explains: “The trade in dolphins for captive display is the economic backbone of these hunts - people should seriously consider where their money may be going before visiting a marine park or aquarium that holds dolphins.”
A fate worse than death?
Captive facilities are incapable of meeting the needs of dolphins. Studies suggest that mortality rates of dolphins caught from the wild increase six-fold after capture and that life expectancy is severely reduced.
Those animals that survive capture are subjected to a lifetime of confinement, unable to express normal behaviors or interact socially and subject to diseases and illnesses brought on by their unnatural surroundings.
Life in a tank is no life for creatures that have evolved to exist in the vast and complex ocean.
Read some frequently asked questions on dolphins in captivity >>
© Drive fisheries photo copyright Sea Shepherd Society
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