 Dolphins Herded
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Nov. 24, 2003 — Thirteen fishing boats herded a pod of Risso's dolphins into the small central Japanese town of Taiji Sunday, their seventh haul this year in a centuries-old tradition recently ruffled by the strongest conservationist protests locals said they have ever seen.
The dolphins were moved into coves and enclosed by nets to keep them alive overnight before their slaughter, which is due Monday.
The hunt is a way of life for some in this coastal town of 4,000 inhabitants, but locals are rattled by the vigor with which a conservationist group has brought them under global scrutiny to highlight the plight of the animals.
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In early October, the environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society posted pictures on the Internet showing the slaughter of 91 dolphins in a blood-red bay at Taiji.
The pictures appeared in newspapers and Internet sites around the world.
And last week, two members of the group were arrested for cutting a dolphin encasing net.
The group, which called the dolphin hunting "horrifically cruel" and a source of meat for what is essentially a luxury item in Japan, has warned of more protests.
Citizens of the self-dubbed "Town of Whales" called the protesters culturally and historically ignorant and an affront to whalers and dolphin hunters.
"Everyone's livelihood depends on this," said a woman in her 50s, whose husband and son helped bring in the haul. "We have been doing this for hundreds of years."
Taiji's quota of 2,900 dolphins is among the largest in the nation, which has an annual take of some 22,000, according to Japanese Fisheries Agency officials.
The standoff between the town and conservationists came as Japan sent its controversial research whaling fleet of five vessels to the Antarctic Ocean in early November to kill up to 440 minke whales, whose meat ends up in supermarkets, inns and restaurants across Japan.
Although the International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, Japan continues to take whales for the nominal goal of research. The commission does not regulate dolphin hunting.
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Name: Risso's Dolphin (Grampus griseus)
Primary Classification: Odontoceti (Toothed Whales) Location: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Mediterranean. Habitat: Open ocean, beyond the continental slope. Diet: Fish and squid. Size: Up to 12.5 ft in length and 880 lbs in weight. Description: Gray with white scars and a pale underside; blunt head with bulging melon; small, elliptical eyes; tall dorsal fin; dark, sickle-shaped flippers; dark flukes. Cool Facts: Most individuals are lined with wounds and scars caused by the teeth of other Risso's dolphins; the scars accumulate with age, possibly because of a slow healing process or lack of repigmentation of damaged tissue. Conservation Status: Data Deficient Major Threat(s): Hunting, pollution and entanglement in fishing nets. What Can I Do?: Visit The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and The Ocean Conservancy for information on how you can help. |
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