Your Dolphin Outlook Weekly

Japan Dolphin Hunt Dealt Big Blow

The world’s top zoo association suspends Japan for not stopping the Taiji dolphin slaughter.

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums Council this week suspended the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums because the organization has refused to stop the annual killing of dolphins at the cove in Taiji, Japan.
For years, animal rights activists have pressured WAZA to sanction Japanese zoos and aquariums because the Taiji hunt not only kills hundreds of dolphins each year but also fuels the captive dolphin industry. The animals captured at the cove are often sold at a premium to aquariums around the world.
“WAZA requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild,” WAZA said in statement. “JAZA has violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare. “
Since 2000, the annual hunt, which runs from September through mid-April, has caused the deaths of roughly 18,000 dolphins. Most are butchered on-site for food, despite the high mercury concentrations found dolphin meat. The youngest and cutest are spared death but sold to marine-mammal facilities in Russia, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. These dolphins can fetch upwards of $125,000 each.
Although WAZA has officially condemned the Taiji dolphin hunts for years, until now it had declined to take direct action against the Japanese group.
WAZA officials said there have been ongoing attempts to resolve the issue, including a proposal put to JAZA in 2014 that it enforce a two-year moratorium on taking Taiji dolphins. JAZA, however, rejected the idea.
The announcement took many animal-rights activists by surprise.
“We congratulate and applaud WAZA Council for doing the right thing,” Ric O’Barry, star of the documentary The Cove and head of Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, said in a statement. “Their credibility with their peers has been destroyed. This is a big win for all wild dolphins swimming past the shores of Taiji.”
“Now that JAZA has been suspended and isolated from their own industry, they will be reduced to renegades if they continue to traffic in dolphins,” O’Barry said in an email.
Ric O'Barry (center) leads a protest at the WAZA headquarters in Switzerland, demanding the group suspend JAZA for allowing the dolphin drive to continue. (Photo: ValeriaMachado)
The Dolphin Project was the first to demand that WAZA enforce its own code of ethics, O’Barry said. Last year, he and Sakae Hemmi, of the Japanese conservation group Elsa Nature Conservancy, met with Gerald Dick, WAZA’s executive director, about suspending JAZA’s membership status. Those talks ended in a stalemate.
The Taiji dolphin slaughter has received global condemnation over the years, including from the Caroline Kennedy, the United States ambassador to Japan. In January 2014, Kennedy tweeted, “Deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing. USG [U.S. government] opposes drive hunt fisheries.”
Despite JAZA’s suspension, it was not immediately clear whether the Japanese group will take action to end the Taiji dolphin drives and cut off the supply of live animals to aquariums, many of them in Japan.
But that certainly remains a possibility.
“It is important to note that WAZA still remains committed to continuing discussions with JAZA and its members,” WAZA said, “in an effort to end the loss of animal life through the drive fisheries.”

Japan Scientist: “I’ve never seen this before” — White lungs found in dolphins that died during mass stranding near Fukushima — Interruption of blood supply leading to death of tissue — Disease has been linked to radiation exposure

 
Photo
 
  • Google Translate: Ibaraki Prefecture… for a large amount of dolphin which was launched on the shore… the National Science Museum… investigated… researchers rushed from national museums and university laboratory, about 30 people were the anatomy of the 17 animals in the field. [According to Yuko Tajima] who led the investigation… “the lungs of most of the 17… was pure white ischemic state, visceral signs of overall clean and disease and infections were observed”… Lungs white state, that has never seen before.
  • Systran: The National Science Museum… investigated circumstance and cause etc concerning the mass dolphin which is launched to the seashore of Ibaraki prefecture… the researchers ran from the museum and the university laboratory… approximately 30 people dissected 17… [Yuko Tajima] of the National Science Museum which directed investigation research worker [said] “the most lung 17 was state with true white, but as for the internal organs being clean”… The lung true white as for state, says… have not seen.
Fukushima Diary, Apr 12, 2015: According to National Science Museum, most of the inspected 17 dolphins had their lungs in ischaemia state… The chief of the researching team stated “Most of the lungs looked entirely white”… internal organs were generally clean without any symptoms of disease or infection, but most of the lungs were in ischaemia state. She said “I have never seen such a state”.
Wikipedia: Ischemia is a vascular disease involving an interruption in the arterial blood supply to a tissue, organ, or extremity that, if untreated, can lead to tissue death.
Many reports have been published on the links between ischemia and radiation exposure:
  • “It has been shown that the ionizing radiation in small doses under certain conditions can be considered as one of starting mechanisms of… IHD [ischemic heart disease].” -Source
  • “Radiation risks on non-cancer effects has been revealed in the [Chernobyl] liquidators… Recently, the statistically significant dose risk of ischemic heart disease… was published.” -Source
  • “Incidence of and mortality from ischemic heart disease (IHD) have been studied in a cohort of 12210 workers [at] Mayak nuclear facility… there was statistically significant increasing trend in IHD incidence with total external gamma dose.” -Source
  • “Numerous studies have been published concerning non cancer diseases in liquidators… Risk of ischemic heart disease… seems increased.” -Source
  • “In 1990 the International Chernobyl Project has been carried out under the aegis of the IAEA… It is known that the international experts who had taken part in the International Chernobyl Project were aware of the report by the Minster of the Ministry of Health Care of Belarus delivered at an informal meeting arranged by the IAEA… The Belorussian Minister reported about… the worsening of the general health state of the affected population… “Among adults in 1988 there was a two- to fourfold increase, in comparison with preceding years, in the number of persons suffering from… ischemic heart diseases” -Source
  • “In a study on a Russian cohort of 61,000 Chernobyl emergency workers… a statistically significant risk of ischemic heart disease was observed.” -Source

Following years of negotiations over animal acquisition policies, WAZA Council voted unanimously this week to suspend membership of JAZA.

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Council voted unanimously this week to suspend the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA). The decision comes after WAZA and JAZA could not reach agreement on issues involving JAZA member zoos and aquariums taking dolphins from the Japanese drive fishery.

Artist Russ Ligtas of the Philippines performs his Butoh dance at the Cove, Taiji. savejapandolphins.org
WAZA requires all members to adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking animals from the wild.During the summer, hundreds are exposed to wild mammals, mostly untrained to handle large crowds, housed in conditions below international standards. 
For a number of years, WAZA has attempted to work collaboratively with JAZA and its members to stop the collection of animals from the Taiji drives fisheries. Annually the drives draw international attention and criticism for the killing of dolphins and WAZA has previously joined other organizations in speaking out against the practice.
WAZA made ongoing attempts to negotiate the issues including during a meeting in Tokyo last year when WAZA proposed that JAZA enforce a two-year moratorium on taking animals from the drive by its members. The moratorium was rejected by JAZA. The issue was discussed again at WAZA's international conference in November with a goal to influence change in JAZA's position on members accepting animals from the drive fisheries. JAZA responded by proposing some guideline changes that would put restrictions on the method of capturing dolphins and improving animal care, but because it did not restrict taking animals from the drive, WAZA Council concluded that a satisfactory agreement could not be reached and voted to suspend the Japanese association's membership.
The basis for the suspension is a determination that JAZA has violated the WAZA Code of Ethics and Animal Welfare. Moreover, WAZA Council re-affirmed its position that members of WAZA must confirm that they will not acquire dolphins from the Taiji fishery.WAZA's mission is to serve as the voice of a worldwide community of zoos and aquariums and a catalyst for their joint conservation action. One of the ways WAZA accomplishes this mission is through promoting cooperation between national and regional associations. It is important to note that WAZA still remains committed to continuing discussions with JAZA and its members in an effort to end the loss of animal life through the drive fisheries.
The outrage that was sparked with the Oscar-winning doc-thriller, The Cove and Ric O'Barry, founder of DolphinProject.net who along with a global network of humans who care, forced WAZA to abide by its own laws.

The Cove
BREAKING: The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Council voted unanimously to suspend the membership of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) after they could not reach agreement on taking dolphins from The Covehttp://goo.gl/86QxD4

Activists Deliver to White House 1 Million Signatures Calling for End to Japan’s Dolphin Slaughter

At an event reflecting on the heightened awareness of mass killings of dolphins, one activist was in for a big surprise.

ter The Cove revealed the horrific practice of dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, in 2009—winning best documentary at the Academy Awards and other accolades—the film’s leading activist, Ric O’Barry, was certain the hunt would be stopped. Despite the heightened awareness, six years later, the annual culling continues.

That’s because the film is largely unavailable to the 127 million people living in Japan. Interested consumers can buy it, but the rights are owned by a local Japanese distributor. It’s not widely available and has been kept off the Internet. 

“Only the Japanese people can stop this dolphin slaughter,” O’Barry told TakePart on Saturday. Son, the power to do just that could be placed in their hands.

The film’s director, Louie Psihoyos, announced on Friday that the filmmakers are in negotiations with the Japanese distributor to regain the film’s rights and intend to release The Cove for free in Japan—finally letting locals know what’s happening right under their noses.

“It’s a big deal for me,” O’Barry told TakePart. “There’s no better tool in the world than The Cove to educate people about this issue.”

Once the film is available online in Japan, the next step is letting people know it’s out there. “The biggest part is an advertisement campaign to let the Japanese people know that it’s here and it’s downloadable for free,” O’Barry said.

Psihoyos’ reveal of this new development left O’Barry pleasantly shocked at the Friday event in Washington, D.C. More than 100 people gathered—along with several hundred more watching online—to celebrate the 1 million signatures O’Barry’s Dolphin Project petition has gathered. The petition was delivered to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. American officials have already asked Japan to reconsider the hunt: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy publicly called the practice inhumane last year.

The film follows O’Barry and other ecological advocates as they document the hunt in a secluded cove where 20,000 dolphins and porpoises are trapped and killed each year. While the more attractive dolphins are kept and sold into captivity, the others are killed for their meat. It’s often packaged as whale meat in Japan and other Asian countries, so most Japanese do not know what they’re eating and are unaware of the unsafe levels of mercury dolphin meat contains.
O’Barry is confident that even if the Japanese population isn’t swayed by the mass killing, the thought of consuming contaminated meat will do the trick. “The more time I spend on the ground in Taiji talking with local police and concerned citizens, the only thing, really, I find that’s going to stop the hunt is if people realize they’re eating poison,” he said
With good news opening the event in D.C., O’Barry, Psihoyos, and a happy group of activists enjoyed their evening under the stars, more determined than ever to put an end to dolphin slaughter.
(Photo: Zach Wood)
TakePart’s Catherine Manzanares shows her support.
Catherine Manzanares
(Photo: Catherine Manzanares)
Activists take a stand to protect dolphins.
(Photo: Catherine Manzanares)