Taiji dolphin drive hunt
An article by National Geographic refers to The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums' decision to no longer support the Taiji hunt.
Residents of Taiji have been refining whaling techniques ever since Wada Chūbei Yorimoto (和田忠兵衛頼元) began the first commercial operations in Japan in 1606.
[9] A veterinary team's analysis of 2011 video footage of Japanese hunters killing striped dolphins using this method suggested that in one case death took over four minutes.
In May 2015, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) banned the sale and transfer of captive dolphins from Taiji, Japan.
[15] On multiple occasions, members of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association (IMATA) have also been observed at the drive hunts in Japan.
[18] The Ocean World Adventure Park in the Dominican Republic had placed an order for twelve dolphins for the captive swim program.
[18] The meat and blubber of the dolphins caught has been found to have high levels of mercury, cadmium, the pesticide DDT, and organic contaminants like PCBs.
[25] In June 2008, Aera, a Japanese weekly journal, reported that the whale and dolphin meat sold in Taiji contained 160 times higher levels of mercury, and hairs from eight men and women had 40 times higher levels, based on a research conducted by the National Institute for Minamata Disease (NIMD).
It has been pointed out that the amount of methyl-mercury, which causes neurological damage, was not exceedingly high, and the mercury in hair showed rapid decrease since tests carried out by other institutions a few months ago to the same people.
[28][29] The chief of the NIMD, Koji Okamoto, said, "We presume that the high mercury concentrations are due to the intake of dolphin and whale meat.
[36] Japan has started to serve whale meat in school lunches as part of a government initiative to reduce the amounts.
[citation needed] However, there has been criticism of serving whale meat to school children due to allegations of toxic mercury levels.
[37] Consequently, Taiji's bid to expand their school lunch programs to include dolphin and whale meat brought about much controversy.
[38] The levels of mercury and methylmercury taken from samples of dolphin and whale meat sold at supermarkets most likely to be providing the schools' lunch programs was 10 times that advised by the Japanese Health Ministry.
The mercury levels were so high that the Okuwa Co. supermarket chain in Japan permanently removed dolphin meat from its shelves.
[41][42] Hardy Jones, who founded BlueVoice.org with actor Ted Danson in 2000, has gone to Taiji numerous times to try to stop the capture of dolphins and small whales.
A series of exposés on the Taiji slaughter had been running in the Japan Times since 2005, and journalist Boyd Harnell has gained two Genesis Awards from The Humane Society of the United States in recognition.
The most circulated footage is probably that of the drive and subsequent capture and slaughter process taken in Futo in October 1999, shot by the Japanese animal welfare organization Elsa Nature Conservancy.
Photographs from Iki Island were shot in 1979 of a Japanese fisherman stabbing dolphins to death with spears in shallow water.
The Cove (formerly The Rising) was secretly recorded over five years with high-tech video and sound equipment, funded by billionaire James H. Clark.
It shows controversial dolphin killing techniques[43] and documents how the disclosure of the high mercury level prompted two local assemblymen in Taiji to break ranks and speak publicly of health risks.
This film takes the perspective of the Taiji fishermen, including footage of interviews from Japanese whaling officials, allowing them to tell their side of the story.
[59] In 2014 a non-profit organization called Australia for Dolphins (featured in the documentary The Cove) launched a world-first lawsuit against the brokers of the drive hunts, the Taiji Whale Museum.
In March 2016, the Court ruled in favor of Australia for Dolphins and awarded 110,000 Yen to AFD reaffirming that the museum acted illegally in refusing entrance to Sarah Lucas.
In May 2015, a vote had taken place in order to stop the buying and selling of Taiji dolphins in Japan after being made infamous in the documentary, The Cove.
In February 2019, the London-based organization Action for Dolphins and the Japanese NGO Life Investigation Agency filed a lawsuit against Wakayama prefecture governor Yoshinobu Nisaka, for allegedly issuing permits to hunters who violate animal welfare laws and catch quotas.
The lawsuit also asserted that the current drive hunt practice violates Japanese laws, as dolphins are often incorrectly legally classified as fish instead of mammals.
[62] In May, a Japanese resident of Taiji testified in court, contending that the hunters regularly exceed the government-stipulated quotas and infringe on animal welfare laws, noting the method of hunting as "exceptionally cruel".
