Dolphin Slaughter in Taiji Begins September

[RKitagawa]

Originally Posted by MissMisa

I saw some of this, it actually kind of upset me so much I couldn't finish watching it.

It's not the fact that it's dolphins they are eating/killing or whatever, it's the way they do it that people seem to have the issue with. It's very slow and painful for the animals in question, and much less humane than the methods used to kill cows etc.

I honestly don't know enough about it to comment, but I'm interested why this happens when most of the Japanese people don't know about it/don't want it? Is there any political reason or anything?

It's because of the money. It's like... a billion dollar industry or something. They sell the dolphins to people who want to train them for dolphin shows at aquariums. And then the ones that aren't sold are killed for their meat. Only, they label it as whale meat. Cause dolphin has toxic amounts of mercury. (This is just what I know from watching th cove, and I have no idea how much of it is true, or how biased it is.)

I do think that the movie is probably quite biased, but still quite educational, and worth the watch.

[GoNative]

There is a difference between the breeding and killing of domesticated animals and hunting those in the wild. Few countries in the world still allow unrestricted killing of wild animal populations. To argue that killing a chicken or cow that has purely been bred for human use and consumption is just the same as killing whales or dolphins is just being disingenuous.
I too don't elevate whales or dolphins to some sort of mythical status and think it wrong to kill even one but the methods of killing dolphins in Taiji do appear to be somewhat cruel and unusual. I would also argue that the practice has little to do with cultural traditions and much more to do with financial greed.

[cranks]

Originally Posted by RKitagawa

It's because of the money. It's like... a billion dollar industry or something. They sell the dolphins to people who want to train them for dolphin shows at aquariums. And then the ones that aren't sold are killed for their meat. Only, they label it as whale meat. Cause dolphin has toxic amounts of mercury. (This is just what I know from watching th cove, and I have no idea how much of it is true, or how biased it is.)

I do think that the movie is probably quite biased, but still quite educational, and worth the watch.

That is downright incorrect to say the least. As I said, Taichi earns about $3 million per year. It is a very small town and they kill about 1600 a year. Most of the small whales are killed in other areas of Japan with other methods.

http://kokushi.job.affrc.go.jp/H20/H20_45.html

And biologically there is no difference between dolphins and whales. We, humans, call smaller whales dolphins. There is no conceivable reason for smaller whales to accumulate more mercury. If anything, I'd guess it'd be the other way around.

[cranks]

Originally Posted by GoNative

There is a difference between the breeding and killing of domesticated animals and hunting those in the wild. Few countries in the world still allow unrestricted killing of wild animal populations. To argue that killing a chicken or cow that has purely been bred for human use and consumption is just the same as killing whales or dolphins is just being disingenuous.

I don't see why it is OK to breed dolphins and then beat the hell out of them.

Originally Posted by GoNative

I too don't elevate whales or dolphins to some sort of mythical status and think it wrong to kill even one but the methods of killing dolphins in Taiji do appear to be somewhat cruel and unusual. I would also argue that the practice has little to do with cultural traditions and much more to do with financial greed.

Good. So we are now talking about the method alone. The issue is easy. Or so it WAS.

It could have been super easy for Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd to compensate the fishermen or help them adopt a better, more humane method, if they wanted to. It's a tiny town with the population of 20,000. There are only several hundred fishermen. Only 1600 dolphins are killed per year.

For some reason, they decided not to do that, and instead created a hyper slanted Japanese whaler bashing film. I don't think these fishermen now listen to foreign activists even a bit. And I'll encounter yet more "fucking whale eating Jap" type of comments all over the web. Good job Hayde. Very good job. I wonder what the intension behind this whole thing is.

You may be a reasonable person GoNative, but unfortunately these activists aren't...

"It doesn't matter what is true, it only matters what people believe is true.... You are what the media define you to be. [Greenpeace] became a myth, and a myth-generating machine."

This is what Paul Watson himself said, and to my eyes, he is truly living up to his word.

[RKitagawa]

Originally Posted by cranks

That is downright incorrect to say the least.

which part?

like I said, everything I mentioned was just what I learned from watching the movie. I never did any further research into the matter.

[cranks]

Originally Posted by RKitagawa

which part?

like I said, everything I mentioned was just what I learned from watching the movie. I never did any further research into the matter.

The part that it's a billion dollar industry. The size of the market of that specific method of dolphin fishing is about $3 million.

And the part they label dolphin meat as whale in order to deceive consumers. While whales and big fish generally contain relatively higher concentration of heavy metal, there is no such data that dolphins' mercury content is significantly higher than that of whales'.

[RKitagawa]

Originally Posted by cranks

The part that it's a billion dollar industry. The size of the market of that specific method of dolphin fishing is about $3 million.

And the part they label dolphin meat as whale in order to deceive consumers. While whales and big fish generally contain relatively higher concentration of heavy metal, there is no such data that dolphins' mercury content is significantly higher than that of whales'.

lol they probably said million dollar industry in the movie. I'm not sure, as I saw it quite a while ago.

As for the part where they label dolphin meat as whale meat. I'm positive that's what they said in the movie. And it may not be because of the mercury levels. It may just be because whale meat is more popular than dolphin meat. Which is probably true.

[MissMisa]

Originally Posted by cranks

I don't see why it is OK to breed dolphins and then beat the hell out of them.


Good. So we are now talking about the method alone. The issue is easy. Or so it WAS.

It could have been super easy for Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd to compensate the fishermen or help them adopt a better, more humane method, if they wanted to. It's a tiny town with the population of 20,000. There are only several hundred fishermen. Only 1600 dolphins are killed per year.

For some reason, they decided not to do that, and instead created a hyper slanted Japanese whaler bashing film. I don't think these fishermen now listen to foreign activists even a bit. And I'll encounter yet more "fucking whale eating Jap" type of comments all over the web. Good job Hayde. Very good job. I wonder what the intension behind this whole thing is.

You may be a reasonable person GoNative, but unfortunately these activists aren't...

"It doesn't matter what is true, it only matters what people believe is true.... You are what the media define you to be. [Greenpeace] became a myth, and a myth-generating machine."

This is what Paul Watson himself said, and to my eyes, he is truly living up to his word.

So basically, you think Greenpeace should pay off the 'farmers' to stop whaling? That's gonna go down well...

Still, they could have helped find more humane methods of killing, as that seems to be the main issue. How do you know they haven't already?

[dogsbody70]

Originally Posted by evanny

fur (fure?) animals are skinned alive so the coats and purses would have a longer life span
ou..and animals are defenceless? go and say that steve erwin, or maybe "It has been estimated that 5 million snakebites occur worldwide each year, causing about 125,000 deaths." one of those 125 000 people - do they feel like its wrong to eat snakes and make boots out of them.

there is way too much cruelty to animals-- I hate the fact that so much research is done on animals. Its humans who are to blame. those who wear fur coats--------------- what are dolphins supposed to do to defend themselves anyway?

[evanny]

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

I hate the fact that so much research is done on animals. Its humans who are to blame.

by research you mean experiments? because research is good...actually both are good but also different.
you understand that basicly every medicine there is, is created thanks to experiments on animals? your everyday pills were tested on them and vacines you got as a child. if not for those experiments our level of medical treatment by no strech of imagination would be compatible with dark ages not to mention death rates going up by some 3 000 % or even more. so you rather see people dieing in agony on the streets than live with "shame" of having lab-rats?