Entire Whale Pod Slaughtered as Japan’s Annual Hunt Continues
Photographs reveal the whales’ final moments before their brutal slaughter as part of Japan’s annual dolphin hunt.
Credit: Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project, Facebook
An entire pod of whales has been slaughtered in the fishing village of Taiji, Japan, according to an animal welfare charity.
In a heartbreaking Facebook post, Dolphin Project shared photographs of the melon-headed whales’ final moments before they were driven into the “killing cove” and brutally slaughtered.
“Several of them were nudging their heads against one another, seemingly to comfort their pod mates”, said the post. “For sentient, self-aware, intelligent and intensely social animals, the level of suffering involved in the entire drive and slaughter process is unimaginable”.
This massacre is part of the annual Dolphin Hunt, which occurs in the tiny Japanese fishing village of Taiji. According to activists, the surrounding sea turns crimson for six months of the year as dolphins and whales are hunted to their deaths or captured for theme parks.
Typically, hunters ambush schools of dolphins and pods of whales and chase the animals into shallow waters. Once they’re trapped inside the “killing cove”, hunters stab the animals to death with spears or knives.
The Taiji hunts were propelled into the public sphere after the release of the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, whose graphic footage of dolphins being stabbed to death horrified audiences across the world.
A growing number of Japanese nationals have also been protesting against the hunt, but despite the opposition, Taiji’s hunters insist they will not end the slaughter, claiming it is a crucial source of income for the local economy.
Founder of Dolphin Project, Mr. O’Barry, blames the slaughter on the dolphin park industry:
“The captivity trade is ultimately what keeps this dolphin hunt profitable, and is what financially sustains the slaughters.”
Live dolphins sold to theme parks bring in a much higher profit than those killed for meat. Taiji’s fishermen are reportedly able to sell a live animal for about 8,000 US dollars, and a fully trained dolphin is worth more than 40,000 US dollars if sold abroad.
“The captivity industry drives the dolphin slaughter, thus, the best way to end the slaughter is to not buy a ticket to a dolphin show,” says Mr. O’Barry.
Help give the 35 slaughtered melon-headed whales a voice by taking action here.
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