Reuters/Taiji, Japan
Japanese fishermen yesterday drove a large group of dolphins into the shallows and, hiding from reporters and TV cameras behind a tarpaulin, killed at least 30 as the annual dolphin hunt that sparked protest in the West entered its final stages.
Both the US and British ambassadors to Japan have strongly criticised the “drive killings” of dolphins citing the “terrible suffering” inflicted on the marine mammals.
Every year the fishermen of Taiji, in western Wakayama prefecture, drive hundreds of dolphins into a cove, select some for sale to marine parks, release some and kill the rest for meat.
Yesterday, at least 30 dolphins out of the group of more than 200 held in the cove since Friday were herded by boat engines and nets into a killing area of the Taiji cove.
Fishermen waiting in the shallow waters by the shore, some in wet suits with snorkelling masks on their faces, wrestled the dolphins into submission and tied their tails with ropes to stop them from escaping.
Before the killing began, fishermen pulled a tarpaulin in front of the cove to prevent activists and reporters from seeing the killing. A large pool of blood seeped under the tarpaulin and spread across the cove.
“A metal rod was stabbed into their spinal cord, where they were left to bleed out, suffocate and die. After a traumatic four days held captive in the killing cove, they experienced violent captive selection, being separated from their family, and then eventually were killed today,” Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activist Melissa Sehgal told Reuters.
The annual hunt has long been a source of controversy and was the topic of The Cove, an Oscar-winning documentary that brought Taiji into the international spotlight.
Activists say that out of this year’s group more than 50 dolphins were driven away to be sold to aquariums. Those not killed yesterday were released, they said.
Japan maintains that killing dolphins is not banned under any international treaty and that the animals are not endangered.
Yoshinobu Nisaka, the governor of Wakayama prefecture where Taiji is located, rejected Kennedy’s concerns. “Dietary culture varies and it is the wisdom of civilization to mutually respect other standpoints unless the world faces a lack of resources,” Nisaka was quoted by Kyodo news agency as telling reporters.
The Taiji fishing union rejected Reuters requests for comment.
The dolphin hunting season runs yearly from September to March. Sea Shepherd said around 600 marine mammals had been killed this season before yesterday’s slaughter.
Monitoring is difficult, with fishermen erecting tarpaulins over their killing area and blocking access to the cove.
Australia to go ahead with shark ‘kill’ zones
A controversial policy to catch and kill sharks off popular west coast beaches has got the green light in Australia, in a move the Humane Society yesterday termed a “complete disgrace”.
The federal government granted an exemption from environmental laws to approve Western Australia’s shark mitigation plan, which is aimed at reducing the risks to water users after six fatal attacks in the past two years.
It means baited drum lines with hooks designed to capture large sharks can be set 1km offshore at busy Western Australian beaches from now until April 30.
In granting the exemption, Environment Minister Greg Hunt said individuals must be responsible for their own safety while swimming, surfing and boating in the open sea.
The Humane Society said the decision flew in the face of international obligations to protect the great white shark, Australian federal law and loud public opposition to the policy.
“The exemption of the WA shark policy is a complete disgrace,” said Humane Society International’s Alexia Wellbelove, adding it lacked a scientific approach.
“This exemption demonstrates the complete failure of the federal government to protect our most precious species and fulfil our international environmental obligations, for the price of a policy which we do not believe will have the desired impact of reducing risk for people, which is its stated purpose.”