The pinball hype
It starts innocently enough: the films and series about Flipper the dolphin, which appeared between 1964 and 1967, delighted the masses. Also involved was Richard O’Barry, who trained the five pinball actors during the first TV season and won the hearts of the viewers. At the time, he could not have imagined the dolphin hype the series would generate. Within a very short time, dolphinariums and dolphin shows were being built in the US to satisfy people’s urge to see “pinball” in real life.
But many visitors do not know where these dolphins actually come from.
The previously nondescript Japanese fishing village of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture benefited from the dolphin craze in the 1970s. While the village was always engaged in catching whales and dolphins to sell their meat, suddenly a new business opened up for them – selling live dolphins to dolphinariums.
An extremely lucrative business: according to experts, dolphin meat only yields about $ 500, while Japanese fisheries can collect between $ 8,000 and $ 10,000 for a live bottlenose dolphin. If he is still trained, they can ask even more than $ 40,000, writes the Washington Post.
The hunt
And so every year from September 1, the hunters go on a dolphin hunt for six months. During this period, 1849 dolphins of 9 different species can be captured or killed by the order of the Japanese government.
The battle is carried out by experienced fishermen. As soon as they spot a pod of dolphins, they position their boats and surround them. They then drop steel pipes into the water at strategic points and hit them with sticks to block the dolphins’ sonar. With their sonar, dolphins emit ultrasonic signals, pick up their echo and can thus orient themselves in their environment. That is no longer possible due to the sound of the steel pipes, which allows the fishermen to float them towards a bay.
There they are prevented from escaping by means of nets around the bay. They are then left alone overnight before the fishermen catch one dolphin after another the next day. If some dolphins are left alive for sale to dolphinariums, the rest are slaughtered or partially released.
The murder method
While dolphins used to have their throats cut, the Japanese government now has to kill them with a thin metal rod. This is rammed into the dolphins’ backs behind their blowhole, where it is supposed to sever the spinal cord and lead to death in seconds. Toshihide Iwasaki of Far Seas Fisheries and Yoshifumi Kai of Taiji Fisheries Cooperative reported on this new method in 2010, which they say is more humane than previous methods. Tests showed that the animals would die faster this way. That is why the method was officially introduced in 2008.
Specifically, it takes an average of 13.7 seconds for Risso’s dolphins, 9 seconds for Atlantic spotted dolphins and 25 seconds for pilot whales to die. However, an analysis of hunting videos led by veterinarian Andrew Butterworth found that in one case, a striped dolphin lived for 254 seconds (4 minutes and 14 seconds) after such a kill.
Actually, cutting the spinal cord should also lead to the destruction of the sensory pathways – which transmit pain, among other things. In a report published in April 2013 in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Butterworth’s team questions whether this is actually happening. The scientific journal is peer-reviewed.
The video evidence showed that the rod had to be repeatedly inserted into the tissue near the top of the skull. As a result, the dolphins temporarily made strong movements, which is a clear indication that the method does not lead to immediate insensitivity. In addition, the videos suggested that the animals lacked effective and safe spinal cord separation.
Butterworth and Co. therefore conclude:
The international criticism
A 1978 video showing the dolphin hunt on Iki Island first caused a stir. From then on, activists repeatedly intervened. Over the years, various organizations have repeatedly tried to ban dolphin hunting, but without much success.
In 2009, the fight against dolphin hunting suddenly got a new impulse. The reason for this was the documentary “Die Bucht” (“The Cove”), which was released this year and showed the cruelty of the dolphin hunt in Taiji. Richard O’Barry, the former pinball trainer, also played a major role in the film, which received an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2010.
The pressure on the dolphin hunters began to mount. In 2015, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), a global trade association, decided to ban its members from purchasing dolphins that are hunted in Taiji. With moderate success: the dolphinariums that wanted to get dolphins from Taiji simply left the association. In China – the largest buyer of live dolphins – only one of over 85 marine parks is part of WAZA. So the dolphin hunt continues unimpeded.
The tradition
In Japan, meanwhile, people are complaining about the ongoing protests that keep happening. Yoshifumi Kai, a director of the Taiji Fisheries Association, told The Washington Post in 2019:
The discovery of dolphin bones in parts of Japan suggests that dolphin hunting may have begun as far back as 10,000 years ago. The first references to the systematic hunting of dolphins were finally found in 1377.
From the 16th century, the documents about dolphin fishing in Japan accumulated. For example, a cookbook from 1673 explains how to prepare dolphin meat and records from 1675 mention capturing dolphins with nets. Around this time, dolphin catching also began to gain a foothold in Taiji.
However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to continue this practice today. In June 2015, the Wakayama Prefectural Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Commission complained at a meeting:
Even among the population, the protest against the dolphin hunt is not understood by everyone. A visitor to the Taiji Whale and Dolphin Museum told the Washington Post in 2019:
That it is not the same, veterinarian Diana Reiss of City University in New York emphasizes to the popular science magazine New Scientist. In light of the scientific knowledge about dolphins, which proves their highly developed cognitive abilities – including self-awareness and social awareness – killing dolphins cannot be justified.
Kris Thompson of the organization International Dolphin Watch also sees no similarities between dolphin hunting and keeping domesticated animals:
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
