Jakarta Globe, September 03, 2010
 |
| An undated handout photograph released by Sea Shepherd Conservation showing Japanese fishermen slaughtering dolphins in blood-soaked water in Taiji, Japan. Though Dophins were herded into the cove made famous by an Oscar-winning documentary, none were killed this year. (EPA/Sea Shepherd Conservation) |
Japanese fishermen herded dolphins into a cove made famous by an Oscar-winning documentary about the hunt but they did not kill any, as conservation groups ramped up scrutiny of the annual slaughter.
An official in the seaside village of Taiji, depicted in the film “The Cove,” said a handful of the best-looking dolphins were kept to be sold to aquariums, but the rest were set free on Friday morning. He declined to give details.
The decision to set most of the dolphins free marks a departure from past practice.
Antiwhaling group Sea Shepherd said it has been monitoring Taiji with a small crew of activists this week, and urged people to come to help save the animals.
Every year on Sept. 1, Taiji fishermen herd dolphins by scaring them with noise into the cove. They save some for aquariums and kill the rest, piercing them repeatedly until the waters run red with blood.
The shocking depiction of the slaughter in “The Cove” has prompted calls for the hunt to be stopped. The film, which stars 70-year-old Ric O’Barry, won this year’s Academy Award for best documentary.
The film was screened in some Japanese theaters in June after earlier screenings were canceled when cinemas received a flood of angry phone calls and threats by far-right nationalists.
On Thursday, a day after the annual dolphin hunt began in Taiji, O’Barry took a petition calling for an end to the practice, with 1.7 million signatures from 155 nations, to the US Embassy in Tokyo.
O’Barry, the former dolphin trainer for the 1960s “Flipper” TV show and a longtime activist for the sea-going mammals, said he has received threats from a violent nationalist group and has been advised by Japanese authorities not to go to Taiji — a trip he normally makes to protest the hunt.
“I’m not losing hope. Our voice is being heard in Taiji,” said O’Barry, who has campaigned for four decades to save dolphins not only from slaughter, but also from captivity.
Taiji residents, however, say the criticism the town has received from the West is unfair because residents are merely trying to make a living in an area where a rocky landscape would make farming and livestock-raising difficult.
Nationalist groups, meanwhile, say criticism of dolphin hunting is a denigration of Japanese culture.
The Japanese government allows a hunt of about 20,000 dolphins a year, and argues that killing them — along with whales — is no different from the practice of raising cows or pigs for slaughter.
Most Japanese have never eaten dolphin meat and, even in Taiji, it is not consumed regularly. Other towns that hunt dolphins kill the animals at sea.
The Japanese government is also critical of the Sea Shepherd, which has harassed Japanese whaling ships.
In July, a Tokyo court convicted New Zealander Peter Bethune, a former Sea Shepherd activist, of assault, trespassing and obstructing a Japanese whaling mission in the Antarctic Ocean, among other charges. He was deported.
Louie Psihoyos, the director of “The Cove,” said he did not agree with blindly sticking with tradition.
“In America, we had a much longer tradition of slavery, but that was banned,” Psihoyos said on Friday. “My message to Japan is to see the movie for yourself with an open mind.”
Associated Press
