Dolphin Massacre

[milldog]

Originally Posted by siltmonkey

I think there are certain cases when you can and you should. Dolphin slaughtering, Taliban treatment of women etc. etc.

Sometimes you have to be brave enough to get off the fence.

:-(

r

I think you'll find Garf's done that on more than one occasion

G

[KyushuKim]

Interesting reading.

I'll probably get myself in trouble for this but as there appears to be quite a bit of misinformation in this thread then here goes.

First off......I don't agree with this hunt and would like to see it stopped. I find the generalized rants against the Japanese amazing though......expecially as it seems obvious that they're based on little real knowledge.

The video was a heavily edited crop, with the soundtrack removed and re-done, of a BBC documentary from several years ago (BBC NEWS | Programmes | This World | Dining with the dolphin hunters). It's horrific, that's for sure. It also lacks any of the BBCs original balance of what was happening presumably to achieve maximum emotional effect with viewers now.

There used to be many places in Japan that caught dolphins. This video is about the two places that still do it, Futo and Taiji. The numbers caught in these towns is nowhere near the totals of 10s of thousands caught in Japanese waters. Most of those are caught the same as elsewhere, as bycatch to other fishing - especially long-line tuna fishing in the Pacific.

The Japanese don't really support it as has been claimed in this thread. Only the folks in Futo and Taiji seem interested, and for historical reasons the fishermen have always had a lot of power here and need to be persuaded rather than told. Most places that used to do it have been persuaded. Now there are ex dolphin hunters that make far MORE money out of dolphin viewing rides for tourists than they ever did catching them to start with. Futo and Taiji didn't get that yet - they're a bit slow. ALSO they are getting paid HUGE amounts of money for live dolphins to keep the world's dolphinariums going. A live animal is worth about US$30,000 - a dead one about a tenth of that. If it wasn't for the live trade it wouldn't be finacially viable for them to continue (if you'd watched the whole original BBC doc then that would be clear). So if anyone wants to actively do something to stop all this - boycott marine parks that have dolphin shows for the titillation of people who don't give a damn where they came from because they're so cute to watch doing their tricks.

Of course maybe it's just easier to blame 88,000,000 people and wish them nuked out of existence, or dragged behind trucks or whatever, than the 60 or so families that still do this shit - and yes, shit is what it is. Probably though
(as someone already mentioned) a similar video of a fox being torn limb from limb by hounds also wouldn't qualify as one of the most civilized things in the world.

It's all a question of perspective.

But hey....if people think signing petitions really helps....why not?

(OK....I put on my hard hat now!

edit: oh...by the way....how did I know about the BBC documentary to begin with? It was aired on Japanese television with a Japanese voice on sub channel over so the locals could understand it.

[GLOC]

Have a green for bring the other side of the story. Not saying that the people in Futo and Taji are right, but at least you have said what the rest of Japan thinks about their activities.

They just need to stop their whaling now

Regards

[KyushuKim]

Originally Posted by GLOC

Have a green for bring the other side of the story. Not saying that the people in Futo and Taji are right, but at least you have said what the rest of Japan thinks about their activities.

They just need to stop their whaling now

Regards

No they aren't right. Still, if you read that BBC link I posted a lot of it is right there. To them a dolphin is just a fish so they don't understand what all the fuss is about. As the one guy said, in the West most fishermen wouldn't think twice before cutting the head off a mackerel or something that was still alive.
The folks in the big cities see it a bit differently though, or even where I live which is also considered a backward country area by the folks in the Kanto. I tested it out in the schools I work in by asking the teachers if they ever ate dolphin. They looked at me as if I was nuts.
Actually.....we're not completely sure, but I have a mate up there that passes Futo on his way to go diving. He reckons that even in the "season" he's never seen any evidence of it going on there. Like I said...we're not sure, but it sure as hell isn't happening on any grand scale there anymore or he'd have seen it. I think in that BBC piece they reckoned that there were only 27 boats in Taiji that were allowed into the hunt (fisherman's mafia and all that). Really, fishermen power is huge here. Many places divers have to pay them to be allowed to dive....some places they won't let you dive at all. It's the fault of the Japanese divers really. They stuff their wet suits with anything edible they can find. The fishermen see that as poaching and get VERY angry.

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by KyushuKim

It's the fault of the Japanese divers really. They stuff their wet suits with anything edible they can find.

Really? Bloody hell!

[KyushuKim]

Originally Posted by Richard Mason

Really? Bloody hell!

Yeah...they're tough little buggers.

That crab is delicious by the way......