DOLPHIN EXPORT FROM TAIJI, JAPAN, TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IS CANCELLED

[Guest guest]

SAVE JAPAN DOLPHINS COALITION

Animal Welfare Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Earth Island

Institute, In Defense of Animals

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 13, 2007

 

Contacts:

 

Ric O¹Barry

Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

(786) 973 8618

(305) 668 1619

 

David Phillips

Earth Island Institute

(415) 788 3666 X145

 

 

DOLPHIN EXPORT FROM TAIJI, JAPAN, TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IS CANCELLED

 

 

(San Francisco, California) The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition announced

today that the proposed export of twelve live dolphins ( " the Taiji Twelve " ),

from Taiji, Japan, to Ocean World theme park in the Dominican Republic, has

been cancelled.

 

" The Dominican Republic government should be applauded for their role in

stopping this cruel and inhumane dolphin import, " stated David Phillips, of Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project.

 

He continued: " The shameful actions of the Taiji Whale Museum are finally

being exposed to the world. More and more nations are realizing that buying

live dolphins from Japan is subsidizing the appallingly cruel dolphin drive

fishery. "

 

" The people of the Dominican Republic should be proud of their President, "

said Susan Millward, Research Associate with the Animal Welfare Institute.

" By taking this stand, President Leonel Fernandez is preserving his

country's international reputation as a world leader in conservation and

custodian of its rich waters including the Silver Banks, one of the globe's

premier places to view cetaceans in the wild, where these gentle whales and

dolphins belong, " she added.

 

" Canceling this sale is a very important step in shutting down the traffic

in live show dolphins from Japan, " notes Richard O'Barry, Save Japan

Dolphins Coalition's Marine Mammal Expert and former trainer of the TV-star

Flipper. " We must not allow the Japan Fisheries Agency and those who

slaughter dolphins to profit from selling 'show quality' dolphins overseas

for millions of dollars. ³

 

The so-called dolphin drive fisheries take place in some remote Japanese

coastal fishing communities from September until April each year. The

dolphin hunt is extremely brutal. Whalers take boats out to deep water

where the dolphins migrate. When they locate a pod of dolphins, they lower

stainless steel poles into the water and beat the poles with hammers. The

noise creates a wall of sound underwater and sets the dolphins into a state

of panic, which enables the whalers to drive the dolphins into a hidden

lagoon.

 

Once trapped in the lagoon, the dolphins are doomed. The whalers force them

into shallow water and, driving sharp fishermen's hooks into the dolphins'

bodies and stabbing them with butcher knives, they bleed the animals to

death. The dolphins take several minutes to die. As the water turns red

with blood, they thrash about in pain, emitting loud whistles and cries.

 

" This is the largest dolphin slaughter in the world, and the cruelest thing

that I have ever witnessed in my 40 years of working with dolphins, " says

Richard O'Barry, " The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition has pledged to end

this hunt once and for all.²

 

The slaughter of dolphins for meat is subsidized by the high cost of live

dolphins sold to aquariums and " swim-with-dolphins " programs around the

world. A dead dolphin is worth about $600 on the Japanese market for meat.

Live dolphins sell for $50,000 or more.

 

The campaign to stop the dolphin slaughter is a joint project of Elsa Nature

Conservancy of Japan, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth

Island Institute, In Defense of Animals, and Animal Welfare Institute.

 

For further information:

 

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

 

VISUALS AVAILABLE: Video footage of the cruel slaughter of dolphins in

Japan is available on request. Call Mark Berman at Earth Island Institute

(415) 788-3666.X146

 

 

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