Guest guest Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 Linc [lincngo] Sunday, September 02, 2007 1:59 PM leeann Japan Dolphin Day Protest, Hong Kong Hello everyone, This is Lee-Ann Ford. President of Linking Individuals for Nature Conservation (LINC). I am writing you today to request your participation in this year's protest activity. As a result of last year's global effort, positive changes have been made. A major supermarket chain in Japan has stopped selling dolphin meat, resident's of Hong Kong and around the world were educated, and very hopeful, two council members in Taiji (where the round up and slaughter occurs) has stepped up to get involved in ending the violent round up, selection and slaughter of 20,000 dolphin each year. A local grassroots effort within Japan has officially begun to stop the feeding of contaminated dolphin meat to the children of Japan in their school lunch programs. Your participation last year contributed to those changes and this year could make even a bigger difference this year. Last year, we asked the Japanese government to stand and now two local Taiji council members have, we shouldn't leave them standing alone but reinforce our words...stop the slaughter..by letting our presence be seen and heard in support of the ground who teams in Japan assisting the council members and educating the world, all year long..one day is all they are asking from us. We will be gathering outside of the Japanese consulate at G/F, One Exchange Square, Central, along with many other cities doing the same around the world. This is our chance to let the Japanese government know that we are still here and demand better for our future generations. The international protest time is at 12pm and we hope to be able to gain permits to be in front of our local Japanese consulate at the same time. Regardless of when the let us be there, the point is that we will be, we hope you are too. Last year's protest had around 35 participants..this year we should demonstrate our voices and triple if not quadruple that number. Our Hong Kong protest will cover two major areas. The first area will demonstrate to the public the plight of these animals from round up, capture, selection of the " show case " quality and the brutal slaughter of those that were deemed " unfit " for performance. The other aspect of our protest is one that cannot be denied, mercury poisoning. Thousands of young children are being fed dolphin meat in the school lunch programs around the nation despite the fact that testing shows that dolphin meat is heavily contaminated and a threat to human health. Samples from Japan have shown to contain as high as 15 times above the legal amount of mercury allowed. That too, is an enormous outrage. Our deteriorating environmental situation around the world has disgraced all.. The children rely on our strength to keep them protected and September 25th is our day to show them we care. Please forward this email to your friends, family, organizational members and ask them to attend because we can make a difference if we try. If we stand united we can stop this spiralling disaster before any more damage can be done. It's time act..Our protest will be peaceful, educational and organized. Where there is will there is a way , an expression that should never be forgotten .. If you are interested in participating please contact me so that your organizations name can be added to the list. If you would like more information you can visit www.savetaijidolphins.org <http://www.savetaijidolphins.org/> or again, email me any time that you need. This is who we are so far for this year..will you join us? Animal Public - Duesseldorf Animal Rights Hawaii - Waikiki Animal Welfare Institute - Washington DC Asociación Oceánica - Panama Ben White Fan Club - International Cities CATCA - Vancouver Committee for a Dolphinarium-free Belgium - Brussels Conservation de Mamiferos Marinos de Mexico - Mexico City Djurrsttsalliansen - Stockholm Earth Island Institute - San Francisco Environmental Investigation Agency - London Fundacion Humanitas - Panama GAIA - Brussels Humane Society International - Washington DC Humane Society of the United States - Washington DC In Defense of Animals - San Francisco Liga Mundial para la Proteccion Ambiental y Animal - Panama LINC - Hong Kong Marine Connection - London Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition - Boston New York Whale and Dolphin Action League - New York Olmedo Carrasquila - Panama Philippine Animal Welfare Society - Manila Radio Maria - Panama reEarth - Nassau, Bahamas Islands Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - Budapest/Calgary Wal-und Delfinschutz-Forum - Duesseldorf Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - London/Boston World Society for the Protection of Animals - London Zoocheck Canada - Toronto " Eighty percent of success is showing up " Woody Allen If you cannot make it to this year’s protest, they still need your help. Send an email, donate, start your own education programs or anything you think you can do to support the effort. Watch this you tube link to see for yourself how the animals get from open sea to tiny performance pens. Knowledge is the key to success! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCx0ORuDZFE <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCx0ORuDZFE> (hint. Press pause and allow the video to upload in order to prevent pausing before playing (upload time about 1min) A recent publication of the Environment News Science is below. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Lee-Ann Ford Environment News Service - USA http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007/2007-08-30-04.asp Councilmen From Japanese Whaling Town Break Code of Silence TAIJI, Japan, August 30, 2007 (ENS) - Two town council members from the whaling town of Taiji have come out publicly against the feeding of dolphin meat contaminated with mercury to children in Japan's school lunch programs. It is the first time that Japanese elected officials have broken the unwritten rule against criticizing whaling and the consumption of whale meat that prevails across the country. Independents Junichiro Yamashita and Hisato Ryono will be holding a news conference on Monday to announce laboratory test results of samples taken from dolphin meat purchased at local supermarkets. The meat was found to contain over 10 times the government's limit for both mercury and methyl mercury. The news conference comes as the annual dolphin drive hunt begins in Taiji. Conservationists around the world oppose the hunt, the largest kill of dolphins anywhere in the world, which takes place over six months beginning in September. Yamashita said, " We're not against traditional whaling, but we heard claims that pilot whales are poisoned with mercury, and we discovered that some of this meat from the drive fisheries was fed to kids in school lunches. " The assemblymen described the dolphin meat as " toxic waste " and are attempting to persuade other elected officials in Taiji and surrounding towns to take it off school lunch menus. Although the supermarkets immediately removed dolphin meat from their shelves after they were informed of the test results, the town of Taiji is moving ahead with plans to build a new dolphin processing facility while expanding the dolphin meat lunch programs to surrounding school districts, says Ric O'Barry of the advocacy group Save Japan Dolphins. A former trainer of dolphin TV star Flipper, O'Barry is an American who travels to Taiji to oppose the annual dolphin hunt. O'Barry is attempting to draw the attention of the Japanese media to the efforts of Yamashita and Ryono to stop the feeding of mercury- laced dolphin meat to children at school, but he says " the complete stonewalling by Japanese government agencies and the media on the issue now prompts Yamashita to bring his case to the attention of the foreign press. " A notice of Yamashita's news conference is listed on the website of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. One Japanese newspaper has published an article about Yamashita and Ryono's lab tests. On August 1, the " Japan Times " ran an article quoting Yamashita as saying the two council members at first did not believe the reports of contaminated meat, which came from western conservation organizations. " We tested some samples purchased at the Gyoko supermarket in Taiji and Super Center Okuwa in the nearby city of Shingu, " Yamashita said. The councilmen were " shocked " by the results. " One dolphin sample had a mercury content 10 times above the health ministry's advisory level of 0.4 parts per million, with a methylmercury readout 10.33 times over the ministry's own advisory level of 0.3 ppm, " the article states. " Another dolphin sample tested 15.97 times and 12 times above advisory levels of total mercury and methylmercury, respectively. " The nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of mercury. Methylmercury and metallic mercury vapors are more harmful than other forms, because more mercury in these forms reaches the brain. Exposure to high levels of metallic, inorganic, or organic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus. Children poisoned by mercury may develop problems of their nervous and digestive systems, and kidney damage. Effects on brain functioning may result in irritability, shyness, tremors, changes in vision or hearing, and memory problems. Mercury poisoning received worldwide attention during the 1950s when hundreds died and thousands more were injured in the city of Minamata, Japan after a corporation polluted the waters of Minamata Bay with mercury compounds. Local residents who ate fish from the bay were poisoned. Many governments now issue health bulletins advising pregnant women and children to avoid eating fish known to contain high levels of mercury. At Taiji, dolphins are hunted for meat and also captured live for sale to marine parks and aquariums, fetching much higher prices for the Taiji fishers than dolphins killed for meat. The activists are moved by the cries of the dolphin mothers with newborn calves " who call out in distress as they are separated in the most brutal ways imaginable, " said a coalition of In Defense of Animals, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute and One Voice - France in a joint statement during the 2005 hunt. " They are driven onto Japanese beaches and bays, stabbed with spears and knives, then left to slowly bleed to death literally turning the sea red while others drown entangled in nets. Some of the dolphins are taken alive, pulled out of the water by ropes tied around their tails to be sold to marine parks, " the groups said in a joint statement. The Fisheries Agency of Japan is going to add Pacific white-sided dolphins to the catch quota of the Taiji drive fishery for the 2007 hunting season, saying that there has been " a strong request from fishers in recent years to allow their capture. " The Elsa Nature Conservancy, a Japanese organization, strongly objects to this broadening of the hunt, and contends that the request to capture Pacific white-sided dolphins comes not from fishers but from aquariums. In a November 27, 2006 letter of protest to the Fishery Agency, Conservancy president Eiji Fujiwara writes, " An internal communication sent by the Japan Cetacean Conference on Zoological Gardens and Aquariums on August 16, 2006 to the directors of zoos and aquariums which are members of the Cetacean Conference notes that Pacific white-sided dolphins are hard to obtain, and that not all aquarium directors who desire to obtain them have done so. " Fujiwara objects that the Taiji Whale Museum buys the live dolphins and turns around and " sells them to China and other countries for prices about seven times the initial purchase price under the pretext of 'scientific purposes.' This is none other than " dolphin flipping, " writes Fujiwara, pointing out that " there is even strong opposition to it from among local citizens and town council members. " " It is anticipated that if the capture of Pacific white-sided dolphins is permitted, it will further increase this " dolphin flipping " under the pretext of " scientific exchanges, " he writes. -- If you cannot make it to this year’s protest, they still need your help. Send an email, donate, start your own education programs or anything you think you can do to support the effort. Watch this you tube link to see for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCx0ORuDZFE <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCx0ORuDZFE> Lee-Ann Ford President/Founder Linking Individuals for Nature Conservation (LINC) " PROTECT THE PLANET " TEL: +852-6444-1762 Email: lincngo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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