Seeing more Japanese dolphin slaughter stories in print lately... Much respect to Ric O'Barry for pushing so hard to get the media to cover the issue, and thanks to Jeff Bryant for making sure I don't miss a single update. This particular article covers the dolphins that aren't violently slaughtered every year in drive fisheries (excerpt):
Thank the editors of the Independent for their continued positive coverage of important animal issues. And use the opportunity, if you will, to condemn not only the incarceration of these magnificent beings, but also their decimation. E-mail your responses, providing your postal address and telephone number."Leading aquariums and swim-with-dolphin dealers are subsidising the Japan dolphin slaughter by paying £25,000 or more for a few 'show' dolphins from the catch," said Ric O'Barry, a former US Navy diver who trained the dolphin star of the 1960s television series before turning against dolphin captivity in 1970.
Ocean World Adventure Park - a million-pound tourist resort in the Dominican Republic where visitors spend more than £60 a time to swim with captive dolphins - has placed a £300,000 order for 12 bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins, dubbed the "Taiji 12", were taken in what he says is one of the most violent and brutal captures that he has ever seen.
A report released last year by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society reveals that dozens of dolphins captured in Japan's annual "drive fisheries" - and then spared - have ended up in aquariums around the world.
Labels: animals in entertainment, dolphin slaughter, dolphins, wildlife
