Your Dolphin Outlook this week!


Exclusive: Message from Ric O’Barry
There were more deaths and some more captures this week in Taji, Japan as the season continues on for another few long weeks. Boats not going out today. Blue Cove day! 2016-13-2 6:59am‪#‎tweet4dolphins‬ ‪#‎dolphinproject‬Ric O' Barry was let out of prison before he was deported from the country of Japan. There is no free speech in Japan however, what it has done is galvanize a large group of people that have set up a protest slated for this coming week. 
A March and protest outside the embassy of Japan in London UK against the continued slaughter and capture of dolphins and small whales in Taiji, Japan

Meet at 12pm in Cavendish Square Gardens, once everyone is ready we will set off marching to the Embassy of Japan where we will protest outside ending at 6pm with a candle-lit vigil (please bring tealights in holders only) and a minutes silence for the dolphins of Taiji and those held in captivity in tanks all around the world. 

Please bring posters, banners, flags, megaphones, drums, anything that you want to make a noise with. 

Bin bags will be provided for rubbish, these will be tied onto the railings so please dispose of any rubbish into these. 

If you choose to bring balloons please take these home with you or dispose of them properly and make sure that they are not released into the sky as they are a danger to wildlife 

Lets show the Japanese Government that we will not give up until they stop the slaughter!

Information about the rally and protest are here: 
Friday, February 19 from 12 PM - 6 PM in UTC
Next Week: Cavendish Square Gardens, W1 London, United Kingdom
Video: Univision Planeta Interviews Ric O’Barry
Exclusive Message from Ric O' Barry:

"They might have taken me out of the country, but not my commitment to see these slaughters end.” ~ Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project

February 5 is going to be a day long burned in my memory. While I was grateful to have been released from my 19-day incarceration, it also marked the last time I would step foot into Japan, at least for the short while – a country I have deeply grown to love over the many years I have been visiting there.

My son, Lincoln, was able to get me upgraded to business class, free of charge, on the flight back to the United States as I probably would have passed out in coach. He met me in Dallas when we landed, organized a wheelchair to whisk me through immigration and got me back to the homestead in Miami. This was a good thing, considering I had eaten very little, and my muscles were weak, not having exercised for days.

I want to thank everyone for standing with me during this ordeal. It was inconvenient and uncomfortable but well worth it. The payoff for the dolphins was huge and ongoing. The international media attention on Japan’s war on dolphins was massive. We should probably thank the immigration service as we could not have done such a thing on our own.

As a result of my detention and subsequent deportation, based on trumped-up charges, millions of new people have been exposed to the annual dolphin slaughter. Many of them will join the cause and take action. It’s exactly what the dolphins needed.

Day after day I sat in my cell (actually, either stood or was lying down as there was no chair), I worried about the drives taking place. I was allowed to make outgoing calls, and when I did, asked about the number of boats going out, and whether any dolphins had been caught. People were asking me about my health but my heart was in the cove.

As tourists, we have a legal right to be in Taiji, provided we do not interfere with, and/or violate the law. We are dolphin watching, as macabre as it sounds. While we are witness to a real-time horror show, we are still watching dolphins. We have a legal right to take photos and share these images on social media. We have a right to live stream. And the same goes for Japanese tourists who come to America. If they chose, they could check into a hotel in the Midwest, go to a rodeo, shoot video, live stream, take photographs and post all this onto social media. Not a problem. It’s what a democracy is all about. Dolphin Project Cove Monitors are doing just that, only in Taiji. They have been there since the dolphin slaughter began again on September 1 and will be there until the end of the drive season. We have never violated a Japanese law, have never lied to immigration and our work methods have been 100% peaceful.

Deporting me is not the end, it’s the start of something new. We are now in a position to file a lawsuit against the Japanese government. We have never been in that position before. I can’t say too much about our legal strategy at this time because the government reads everything. But rest assured, our Japanese legal team is hard at work, making sure our rights are not violated.

While the guards at the immigration center were kind, respectful and professional, the immigration officers at Narita Immigration who detained me were not. The police who arrested me on bogus charges in Taiji on August 28, 2015 violated the law. Both the immigration service and the police violated the law routinely with their abusive interrogation methods. There are thousands of innocent people in Japanese prisons who signed confessions for crimes they never committed.

Please stand with me, and our team at Dolphin Project, to ensure we continue our crucial work in Taiji. As legal costs are escalating, we have established a Legal Defense Fund. If it’s possible for you to contribute, whether one time, or in the form of a monthly donation, we would be very grateful as funds are urgently needed. We will take the lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court of Japan, if necessary. Our success might very well be in the process itself, for the dolphins need all the attention they can get.

As I write this, I am sitting in front of a beautiful basket filled with fruits and vegetables. It arrived on my doorstep not long after I came home, sent by two dear friends of mine, Leilani Munter and her husband, Craig (Kiwi) Davidson. I cannot help but admire the bounty of shapes, colors and sizes, details I hadn’t paid much attention to until now. I need to do more of the same, and as I have promised my family, focus on getting strong and healthy. Although we may not be able to answer every email and message we receive, we will keep everyone updated on our website, DolphinProject.net and on our social media channels.

Again, thank you one and all, for your support. #IStandWithYou
Ric's Signature_Blk
The bottom line is that fundamentally, people need to find other ways to gain this odd form of entertainment that is based on using Dolphins after they get stolen from their own natural environment and habitat. The irony is that it is very easy to be entertained by Dolphins by visiting area where they do swim in large pods easy enough to not only see them from boats and from the shores, many people actually swim, water ski and surf among them in these oceans. It is honestly the same effort if not less of an effort yet it is more exciting, exhilarating and fun to see them in their own environment rather than jumping through a hoop so to speak which again, is very odd behavior if you find that fun.

Check out the natural excitement these people get when they run into a pod of Dolphins while out water skiing:
It is amazing to see even on film/video but when you weigh in the cost it takes to retrieve and basically steal these animals for whatever human to get a few minutes of watching them swim in some pool the size of the one in my backyard while balancing a ball on their noses (again, so to speak), is not fair.

For instance, what happens is that many of the trainers have no clue what to do and how to deal with them. They use food and crazy methods bordering on abuse as its ways to train them to do these stupid tricks with humans. And, again, I have to ask how much fun is it to watch a human stand on top of a Dolphin to glide across the water in this small pool? It is odd if you find that to be fun in any way. Even if you do find it fun, it is fleeting because it last 20 seconds time wise. 

So weigh that cost to that 20 seconds of so called fun one may get if they view it, compared to allowing them to be free.

That is all i ask everyone that goes to these places. 

At Dolfina Dolphinarium in Sharm-El Sheikh Egypt shocking abuse was witnessed towards the captive dolphins who perform back to back shows with grueling acrobatics, followed up with two consecutive "swim-with" programs...every day.

The dolphins were seen laying on their sides in exhaustion after the second round of pulling heavy tourists through chlorinated water.

Meanwhile, at the main show...a trainer is seen crushing a rostrum of a gentle dolphin while the other begged for the dead fish in the bucket.
While the little one gets "trained" the elder pleads for compassion, or at the very least, a dead fish for the trick just performed.
One wonders if Seac Sub suits would like to be promoted during to this type of twisted abuse.

Constant pushing of the rostrum throughout the show as hungry dolphins try to get to any food they can. Very little food was witnessed being given during the grueling show, if any.
Every dolphin got a taste of this guys ribbed rubber sole during the show.

This is not an acceptable form of entertainment.
Scarred and battered dolphin (R) poses for these ticket-buyers to help.

Later that day, these two dolphins (one that was on the cover getting stepped on is on the right of the below picture) performed swim with sessions for 20 people dragging them around a pool. This a 365 day a year schedule with 3 grueling shows a day in addition to the "swim-withs" which can be up to 3 times a day.
Constant stress from performing - pulling and beaching on ledges...
The dolphin lay on their side after the swim with session, exhausted.
then art lessons for the public ....
You are not some all mighty figure. You are not walking on water.
This is still going on because people are ignorant to what happens to the dolphins or where they are from.

Margeux Dodds, director of Marine Connection had this to say about Dolfina:

This is indeed the same owners (in fact the son of) the owner of the ex-Dolphinella in Sharm which has now closed and his son has reopened another facility called Dolfina in Haba. 

A concerned citizen who was holidaying in the area last year went into Dolfina and he kindly took these up-to-date photographs. 


Anyway, yes we still have our eye on what is happening here as his father took delivery of some dolphins from Taiji - we do have some information on this and background details to our 'See Red' campaign on our website at the following link and also continue to monitor this http://www.marineconnection.org/seered.htm


Margaux Dodds
Director
www.marineconnection.org
On their site they describe:

2013 : Sharm's Dolphinella dolphins moved The facility known as Dolphinella has closed and the dolphins which have for many years been in Dolphinella, Sharm el Sheikh were moved to the new facility now renamed 'Dolphina' in Nabq Bay where they have been joined by one young dolphin, transferred from Magicland in Cairo.

The owners of this facility also purchased four dolphins from the notorious drive hunts in Taiji, Japan which are being held at the sister facility of Dolphina in Hurghada. Dolphinella.

Help End All Imports or Exports of Dolphins Across U.S. Borders.
About the letter
Captive dolphins and whales are transported across the world to aquariums and marine parks. These animals are ripped away from their families and all they know, forced to live in barren concrete tanks. Transportation is a stressful process for them. The journey itself poses significant risks. Stress-induced illnesses and health problems are an issue and, in the worst cases, can lead to death. When transported, sometimes for hours, dolphins and whales are forced to lie immobile in small containers without natural light and air.

Wild dolphins live in highly complex social structures and travel many miles a day. They use a complicated system of clicks and whistles to communicate with one another and echolocation to navigate and hunt. Captivity confines these self-aware animals to small, sterile tanks. With little to no stimulation and insufficient space to roam, they are far removed from their natural environment. Dolphins kept in captivity are known to suffer from stress-related health issues and illnesses. Confining them to tanks is inhumane and selfish.

Join us in asking members of Congress to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act to stop any imports or exports of dolphins across U.S. borders. We believe that this will reduce the cruel practice of keeping cetaceans captive in the United States.


Ban Dolphin Shows in Indonesia. The Conditions for These Captive Dolphins are Heartbreaking. In this episode of The Operatives—"Animal Diaries"—biologist and Operatives member Nicola Gunary exposes the tragic conditions for captive dolphins in small Asian animal theme parks. Watch all-new episodes of The Operatives on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, only on Pivot. Join the Operatives and take action to protect wildlife here: http://www.takepart.com/pivot/operatives/wildlife?cmpid=tparticle
Dolphins Playing.
Indo Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins are playing with each other, they are also find a turtle to play with for a bit! :-)