It is not just Japan: all of the countries have been irresponsible. The New York Times has reported that dolphin meat "is hardly a vital food source: only a minority of Japanese eat whale, and dolphin is even less common...." That article also shared the results of tests of dolphin meat that "found mercury levels ranging from 10 to 100 parts per million, far above the Japanese government's advisory level of 0.4 parts per million. Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are tax-deductible as authorized by law. For worse or for better, the whole whale-and-dolphin catching thing is more about an expression of national autonomy/obstinacy, rather than about any actual noteworthy demand for those meats on the Japanese market. And while the Japanese government is fully aware of the dangers of mercury contamination, they ignore the problem and allow dolphin and whale meat to be sold in markets. That article also shared the results of tests of dolphin meat … It was just last weekend that the world watched in shock as over 200 dolphins awaited their fate there. Take the pledge to not buy a ticket to a captive dolphin show. Dolphin meat has long been considered a local Taiji delicacy, and meat from the Taiji dolphin hunt has been sold across Japan. When hijackers offer to free women and children, we don't refuse them because it's unfair to leave the men behind. Talking with HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell about the worldwide media attention and pressure on the Japanese government, Ric O Barry, the dolphin hero featured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, said, "We have some momentum here. I was put through to voicemail, in the fisheries department, where I expressed my opposition to the hunt and my fear that the dolphin slaughter was damaging the reputation of Japan. They are particularly damaging to some organs such as the brain, liver, kidneys and bones, and are also often an aggravating factor or determinant, in many chronic diseases.” Luca Giovagnoli, DVM, Studies of people in Japan who eat dolphin meat on a regular basis, such as in the town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, show dangerously high levels of mercury when tested. In 2015, an article written by Rob Gilhooly in The Japan Times appeared to confirm that dolphins caught in the cove are dangerous if consumed. But first somebody will have to answer the phone, which means your call is an inconvenience to the embassy -- far greater than your signature on a petition -- and many calls will be a blessed nuisance. All Rights Reserved. You'll be put through to voicemail, where you can leave a polite, one-line message. Today is National Voter Registration Day! Every year, in Taiji, Japan, dolphins are chased into a small cove and butchered in the most horrific and cruel way imaginable. Attraction planned by officials in Taiji, a town famous for killing dolphins While the Taiji drives were traditionally … In the cove at Taiji in Japan, some of the dolphins rounded up are selected for use in dolphin shows … Japan has started its controversial annual dolphin hunt in the coastal town of Taiji. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote! And we cannot tell the dolphins that we'd love to save them but it just wouldn't be fair to the pigs. Swim with the dishes: Japan to open water park where you can swim with dolphins… while eating dolphin MEAT. • These levels raise grave issues of poisoning Japanese citizens who consume dolphin and whale meat with mercury. And while the Japanese government is fully aware of the dangers of mercury contamination, they ignore the problem and allow dolphin and whale meat to be sold in markets. Take the pledge to not buy a ticket to a captive dolphin show. In response to criticism by environmentalists and negative coverage in the foreign press, hunters and local government officials assert that dolphin hunting is a proud local tradition and that dolphin meat is part of Japanese “food culture.” However, the earliest reference to drive hunting in … Whale meat is commonly available for consumption in Japan. We have a chance to stop this.". Packaged dolphin meat is tested for mercury and other contaminants. The dolphins were captured in a Taiji drive hunt and slaughtered in the Cove. Sold internationally, they can each command over $100,000. We can all be somebody for the dolphins; we can be their voice. Amongst his findings: • Mercury levels can be 20 to 5,000 times higher in dolphin and small whale meat than levels recommended by the UN World Health Organization and the Japanese Ministry of Health. Here in the U.S. the almost lifelong housing of intelligent sows in coffin-sized gestation crates is not only legal but the norm. The hunts are subsidized by the dolphin captivity industry, which pays top dollar for a few “show quality” dolphins that are ripped from their families. Aug 1, 2007 For what is believed to be the first time anywhere in Japan, elected officials have openly condemned the consumption of dolphin meat, especially in school lunches, on … In some parts of Paraguay and Japan, dolphins are grown for butchering purposes. Dolphins slaughtered for meat bring a few hundred dollars per head, so the 41 dolphins slaughtered on Tuesday would have earned their killers less than $20,000 total, a comparative tidbit. Mercury in pilot whale and Risso’s dolphin meat were even higher, ranging from 9.6 to 30 times higher than health maximums. I see the dolphin as a reference point and a symbol of our relationship with the sea, and look what we’re doing to them. In other words – mercury can kill. Environmental activists warn that dolphin meat, also sold for consumption in Japan, contains dangerously high levels of … Founder of the animal advocacy nonprofit DawnWatch, and author of "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals. The excuse that Japan uses for its slaughter of dolphins is that the dolphin hunts are "part of Japanese culture", but they have only been occurring since the late 1960s. A fisherman is seen herding dolphins into a sea pen before slaughter in Taiji, Japan 2020. The sale of mercury-contaminated dolphin and whale meat on the Japanese market must cease immediately. As such, they are heavily contaminated by mercury. Meat from the dolphins is currently only served in Taiji, about 280 miles west of Tokyo, but authorities plan to go ahead with the construction of a … The fatty tail, considered to be the best part, went to the captain of the conquering vessel, while the less-desired sections were given to his crew and others that assisted with the kill. But when a building is burning, we don't ignore the cries of the people on the lower floors because we can't get to those above them. By David Kirby, TakePart. In Minamata, Japan, poisonous mercury dumped from a factory into Minamata Bay caused severe poisoning of tens of thousands of people in the 1950’s and 60’s and resulted in a whole generation of seriously compromised children. ", To be fair, given the treatment of animals being used for food in the U.S., Caroline Kennedy's accusation of Japanese "inhumaneness," a concern expressed on behalf of the United States government, is dodgy. For thousands of years, Arctic people have depended on whale meat. . But the slaughter makes it possible for the governor of Wakayama prefecture, where Taiji's infamous cove is located, to hide behind the comparison to cows and pigs, saying, "I don't think it is logical to say that it is only cruel to eat dolphin meat. Then I realized I am somebody.". Part of HuffPost Environment. Neither the English nor the Japanese editions of Wikipedia have an entry about dolphin meat. © 2021 Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project. ", Thus the dolphin hunters aren't feeding the Japanese people; they are poisoning them. Whale & dolphin meat samples tested in Japan exceed safe mercury limits LONDON: The Government of Japan and the country’s largest online marketplace for whale and dolphin meat have been urged to stop turning a blind eye to consumer health after the latest analysis revealed unsafe mercury contamination in 100 per cent of samples tested. AP Photo/Brooke McDonald, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Dolphin meat is also considered a delicacy in the region. Many citizens in Japan are unaware of the dolphin hunts, and the health risks associated with consuming whale and dolphin meat. ", Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. Representatives from marine parks and swim-with-dolphins programs selected 52 dolphins for display, the first being an albino calf, estimated to be worth half a million dollars. Japan stop selling toxic whale and dolphin meat online. In Alaska now, the meat is harvested from legal, non-commercial hunts that occur twice a year in the spring and autumn. Please don't just sit there in sorrow. Japanese whalers continue to hunt Minke, Bryde´s and Sei whale in the North Pacific. But the current series of hunts began in 1969, making them less traditional than the Rolling Stones. Taiji Cove is famous for buying freshest dolphin meat to prepare sashimi. Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. Gilhooly writes: Official reports say in some cases [tests] exceeded 100 parts per million — a far cry from the government’s safe level of 0.4 ppm and 100 times that set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But it seems that the butchery for food, like the cloak of tradition, hides a less palatable truth. Also, these regions generally sell both fresh and canned dolphin meat. The official response from Japanese officials referred to the country's "tradition." Not common at all. Japanese scientist Dr. Tetsuya Endo has conducted extensive studies of mercury contamination of dolphin and small whale meat. Dolphin meat bad for the health, say Japanese scientists Slices of raw whale meat are served in restaurant on Japan's west coast. The meat is stored and eaten throughout the winter. The Japanese ministries of agriculture and health claim that dolphin meat eaten in moderate amounts is safe. Ultimately, our work is about reaching Japanese consumers. USG opposes drive hunt fisheries. ©2021 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. So a conservative estimate of the hunters' earnings on the 52 dolphins sold into captivity might be $3 million. Dolphin meat from the drive hunts, often mislabeled and sold as whale meat, contains mercury and PCBs, posing special risk to pregnant women and children. 10 April 15 . The New York Times has reported that dolphin meat “is hardly a vital food source: only a minority of Japanese eat whale, and dolphin is even less common....”. June 27, 2019 11:23 am JST Most whale meat sold in Japan (again from your link) are baleen whales (mysticetes) not odontocetes. Many species of dolphins are already near extinction due to many problems such as overfishing, and if these commercial dolphin killings continue, all dolphins will be extinct before we know it. bring many tens of thousands of dollars each. It is deceptive and harmful to the consumer of the meat derived from these kills. Dolphins and small whale are at the top of the food chain in the ocean, concentrating pollutants in their meat. Dolphin and whale meat is high in mercury, and Endo, one of the world’s foremost authorities on mercury levels in dolphins and whales caught off Japan… Ric O'Barry posted the number of the Japanese embassy; the least I felt I could do was call. The whale slaughter and collateral dolphin and porpoise killing that's allowed along Japanese shores is detestable, and … Credit: DolphinProject.com. Like any other product, this meat is based on supply and demand. On Jan. 17 the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, tweeted: Deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing. • Other dangerous pollutants like PCBs and cadmium can be found in dolphin and small whale meat bought for food in Japanese markets. Dolphin Meat Obtained In Japan Drive Fisheries: Toxic to Humans The brutal annual slaughter of dolphins at places like Taiji, Japan is not only an act of extreme cruelty to highly sentient animals. Then those deemed neither pretty enough for the entertainment industry nor weighty enough to be included in the quota for meat were driven back to sea. Japan uses development aid as an incentive for countries to join the IWC and vote in its favour. Mercury attacks the brain and the nervous system, causing damage to eyesight, hearing and motor-skills, as well as interfering with memory and thought processes which could potentially lead to dementia. Dolphin meat is sold in Japan under the label of ‘whale’. After four awful days, on Tuesday morning, the killing began. If the Japanese people learn the truth about these contaminated products, our hope is that they will stop buying them. Tests revealed the presence of all three contaminants in the dolphin meat with mercury testing higher than the Japanese government’s recommended level of 0.4 parts per million. Whale and dolphin meat is highly contaminated. according to jisho.org, plus the kanji for meat. Let's use our voices to amplify their cries until the killing ends. Remember Lily Tomlin's wonderful words: "I said somebody should do something. As Japan courts tourists for its 2020 Olympics, that message is likely to have an impact. The cooked dolphin meat can be prepared either from captivity or wild dolphins. Many of us care deeply about the suffering of pigs and long for the day when video of atrocities against them stirs up mass outrage. Mercury is the second most toxic poison in the world, second only to plutonium. It's Friday in Taiji and another pod of dolphins has been driven into the killing cove. Pick up your phone. In other words ‘whale meat’ can include dolphin meat. While the Taiji drives were traditionally … It is a rough and inhospitable place, so they can’t do farming due to rocky soil. The hunt sees the animals driven into a cove where most are slaughtered for their meat … Many, especially the young who had lost their guardians, were not expected to survive the trauma. Consumers in Japan are unknowingly eating dolphin and porpoise-- marketed as whale meat--that contain dangerously high levels of mercury and … ", Regardless of the validity of the comparison, here's what differentiates the suffering of the dolphins from that of pigs: We can do something now about the dolphins. Hunting whales and dolphins was also a … Dolphin Project has been buying and testing dolphin meat for years, and never once have we found a package that was not contaminated with high levels of mercury and other toxins. Dolphins slaughtered for meat bring a few hundred dollars per head, so the 41 dolphins slaughtered on Tuesday would have earned their killers less than $20,000 total, a comparative tidbit. It further attacks fetuses in pregnant women, causing life-long brain damage. The change of the meat sold in stores from baleen whales, which are low trophic feeders, to dolphins which are high trophic feeders, subjects those eating this meat to high levels of heavy metals, such as mercury, and organochlorines like PCBs, dioxins and benzenes. We don't withhold aid from Haiti's earthquake victims because there are homeless children in the United States. dolphins and whales for food in Japan is poisoning the people of Japan. As such, they are heavily contaminated by mercury. And while federal humane slaughter laws attempt to protect animals from painful deaths, they have gaping loopholes, and the majority of animals killed for food, birds, are exempt. Yahoo Japan Selling Toxic Whale and Dolphin Meat in Japan. But Japan's dolphin slaughter may be in a cruelty class of its own. Sea Shepherd's Melissa Sehgal, currently at the cove, told Reuters, "It takes up to 20 to 30 minutes for these dolphins to die, where they bleed out, suffocate or drown in the process of being dragged to the butcher house. Dolphin meat is often mislabeled as whale meat in violation of Japanese food safety laws. In February of 2015, Dolphin Project purchased several packages of striped dolphin meat to test for mercury, PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) and radiation levels (radioactive cesium-137). A rare admission from fisheries cooperative official Yoshifumi Kai, acknowledged that tests on locals have yielded high mercury levels. These levels exceed maximum levels recommended by Japan… The truth is, Japan is a wealthy country and they don’t need to eat dolphin meat. Each year thousands of dolphins are slaughtered in a small town called Taiji on the west coast of Japan (mostly unknown to the majority of japanese public). You need not worry that the ambassador himself, or any of his staff, will get on the line and argue with you about the cows and pigs. . Forty-one dolphins were butchered, their family members bathed in their blood. As both the British ambassador to Japan and the Australian Environment Minister have also publicly condemned the hunt, I add here the numbers for the Japanese embassies in London and Sydney: Please call. However, the Japanese article on dolphin drive fishing mentions イルカ肉 , which'd be イルカ "dolphin (or other small toothed whales, such as porpoises, belugas, etc.)" Dolphins and small whale are at the top of the food chain in the ocean, concentrating pollutants in their meat. Japanese scientists personally told Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project, that the levels of mercury in dolphin meat are higher than the levels they have seen in the fish of Minamata Bay that caused the so-called “Minamata disease” – poisoning caused by too much mercury in the human body. Japanese officials added that the slaughter is no different from that of other animals for food that may appeal more to Western tastes. Coastal Alaska Natives divided their catch into 10 sections. A main stated purpose of the dolphin hunt is to provide dolphin meat to the Japanese people, though it is not widely popular and only a small minority of people in Japan actually eat the meat. In Japanese markets, so they can each command over $ 100,000 hunt dolphin killing Japanese government action. Is safe Selling toxic whale and dolphin meat were purchased randomly in markets in under. High mercury levels 2020 Olympics, that dolphin meat japan is likely to have an impact turn on desktop to. 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