Japanese fishermen have resumed their controversial dolphin hunting activities, killing at least 9 Risso’s dolphins on the morning of September 2.
Fishermen drive a pod of dolphins into the cove to kill them. Video: Dolphin Project
Footage recorded by activists from the Dolphin Project in Taiji, south of Osaka, shows a pod of Risso’s dolphins being driven into a small cove on September 2. Shortly afterward, two small boats towed the dead dolphins out of the cove. When they noticed the cameras filming, the fishermen quickly covered the bodies with tarpaulin.
Ren Yabuki, an employee of the animal welfare organization Life Investigation, expressed his emotions as he filmed the incident from the shore and shared it on Facebook. He is one of the Japanese individuals who travel to Taiji annually to monitor and document the hunting activities.
A pod of dolphins surrounded by fishermen’s boats. Photo: AFP
The dolphin hunting activities in Taiji gained significant attention after the documentary “The Cove” exposed the practices used for capturing dolphins for meat and entertainment. Fishermen drive the pods of dolphins into disarray by banging metal rods against their boats. They then kill or sell them to aquariums.
Dolphins are killed for their meat, which is sold in supermarkets, but the popularity of this type of meat is declining. Like all large, long-lived marine creatures, dolphin meat contains high levels of mercury, posing health risks to consumers. Sales of dolphin meat alone are insufficient to make hunting profitable, leading to dozens, if not hundreds, of dolphins being captured each year for sale to amusement parks, primarily in China. After training, dolphins can be sold for tens of thousands of USD, but most do not survive long due to captivity in tanks.
Blood from the dolphin carcasses stains the sea red. Photo: AFP
In 2000, 2,077 dolphins were captured by fishermen, according to Al Jazeera. In previous years, an average of about 1,700 dolphins were captured in a season, but the numbers have been gradually declining. A study by the Dolphin Project revealed that at least 563 dolphins were captured in Taiji during the 2021-2022 hunting season. According to the study, 498 were killed for meat while 65 were sold to aquariums. The hunting season typically begins on September 1 and ends on March 1. The annual quota set by the government for fishermen is 1,849 dolphins.
