End the slaughter of dolphins, porpoises and whales in the "Cove", Taiji, Japan!
brianlux
Posts: 42,042
Each year, thousands of dolphins, porpoises and whales are killed in the “Cove” in a village called Taiji, Japan. Here's a link that tells you what you can do to help stop the slaughter.
Thanks for checking it out!
http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/what-you-can-do.html
Thanks for checking it out!
http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/what-you-can-do.html
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
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Comments
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
"The captive dolphin entertainment industry makes a lot of money from dolphin suffering and death. The way to shut them down is to take the profit out of their operations. By ending the demand for their shows, we can sink them economically."
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
The easiest way to help, besides supporting Sea Shepherds, is to send a letter or post card to Prime Minister Shinzo-Abe asking Japan to stop the slaughter of dolphins, porpoises and whales. Postage on a standard sized post cards is $1.15. Thanks!
Prime Minister Shinzo- Abe
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
1-6-1 Nagata-cho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8914 JAPAN
+81-3-5253-2111
This morning I caught some footage on the news of an Australian couple swimming with humpback whales. It was just amazing (can you imagine being in that position?!), this mix of playfulness and gentleness.
The killing of these creatures is a constant, aside from the "season" in this particular area. If it spurs people to think and act, it can't be a negative (at least to me).
Now I've got a hankering for gentle Jack.
Strong winds and currents kept the hunters from killing the pod of 20-25 pilot
whales we reported to you yesterday they had trapped in the cove. The whales were
forced to spend a second night without food or shelter. Now, the weather has cleared
and the slaughter of these whales is happening today! We are outraged!!
Taiji is ground zero for the international trade in dolphins! The driving financial
force behind cruel slaughters, like what we are facing right now in Taiji, is the
captive marine park industry — specifically the parks that have dolphin shows and
"swim with dolphin" programs.
From the pod being held now, two juveniles were taken from their family and put in
holding pins. These whales will be forced to live a life in captivity and could be
the "stars" of an upcoming show somewhere in the world. Tell your friends — Do not
buy a ticket to a dolphin show!
I also think it's message board for people to post their opinion and leave it at that, some people will post an opinion and never comment again, some subjects are pointless to even debate.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
There are though people that are dedicated to save these dolphins all year and this slaughter happens this time of year so good time to promote.
Glad Brian created this thread as does seem cruel way to harvest. And dolphins and whales are higher on intelligence versus cows and they are wild and this harvest could impact ecosystem.
The Japanese do have a point that bit hypocritical as we slaughter calves and pigs?
Love the whale song. Was a sleeper for me.
japan sucks big time for doing this. to bad they can't get beat w/ brass knuckles or something. i know, stick rhino horns up their asses (still attached to rhinos of course). sick fucks.
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
At a minimum, awareness for the continued practice may have been sustained or initiated for some. Reading through some of the follow-up comments leads me to believe that there are several on here that did not understand that when they support a live dolphin show, they support the practice Brian speaks against. This alone tells me the post was worthwhile. People need to stop going to SeaWorld and the like.
Further... I think such incidents are 'flavours of the month' because there are so many of them. Brutal stories have a way of bubbling to the top only to make their way back into the mix as they are supplanted by something else. Nobody has forgotten about the rhinos and nobody has forgotten about ALS.
1) If I created threads for every environmental issue I read about or am involved in on a regular basis (and I am involved thus so don't judge me wrongly), almost everybody here would be screaming bloody murder at me for flooding AMT with nearly endless threads about industrial degradation of environment, the destruction of our landbases, and the multitude of things we all do to increase to wholesale decimation of life on this planet they would be right for doing so because AMT is about all kinds of current and relevant events. I post threads on issues that seem to me to be the most critical and urgent. I'm not sure what your point is in making critically inaccurate posts about my activism and to write it off as "sensationalism" is very close to bating behavior.
2) If you don't agree that an issue I post about is critical and urgent you can always ignore it. If you find environmental issues "tiresome", focus on social issues or go play racquet ball or something. If you don't want to be involved in efforts to make changes for the good for either social or environmental issues that's your choice as well but don't disparage those of us who do care and who spend much of our time, effort and money doing so. Otherwise you're just trolling with comments like "tiresome" or "flavor of the month".
Sometimes things hit us personally or emotionally - whether this, or suicide, or Parkinson's, or animal abuse, cancer, ALS, depression, violence, poaching, DUIs, on and fucking ON. Life brings us this and more. It's easy to be angry, to doubt the honesty of others, but...one - go by the character of the person being addressed, if possible (in this case, more than possible)...and two - if something meaningful can come from putting the word out - and I'm not talking about fluffing our feathers and patting our own back - I just can't see anything negative about this aside from the views toward the means (and perceived use of timing).
I would hope this goes without saying but just in case, I'll say it anyway: I never put this kind of thing out there for sensationalism. Sensationalism is entertainment and when it comes to environmental and social issues, I'm not interested in entertainment- I'm interested in reality.
I also don't put this stuff out there for my ego or a pat on the back. Actually when it comes to activism, a lot of the time I suck. I'm fairly good at analyzing and studying and learning and thinking critically but I totally suck at extemporaneous articulation and I often fail in debate. At times I let my emotions get in the way and sometimes I'm overly sensitive or easily offended but I try to be aware of my short coming and I give it my best shot and hope a few strands of what I put out there are useful and stick to the wall. If someone isn't interested in the topic or my approach I invite them to do better and I hope I can learn from that. But being dismissed outright is a waste of everyone's time so I'll try better to ignore that sort of thing and just stick with the topic.
Brian, honest question from one that does not see eye to eye with you on some environmental issues: I understand and reslect your deep passion for the environment. How do you keep your sanity when you read stories like this? You asked in another thread a while back if this was all just a waste of time. Do you feel that what you do is all for naught?
In one post I said,
I'm not sure what your point is in making critically inaccurate posts about my activism and to write it off as "sensationalism" is very close to bating behavior.
I stand by that statement. Anyone here who has followed my posts regarding environmental issues knows I'm not into sensationalism or choosing a "flavor of the month" issue to bring up. Most of you know that environmental concerns are a regular part of my life. Anyone who does not know that about be but makes such a claim is making a false assumption.
In another post I said,
If you don't want to be involved in efforts to make changes for the good for either social or environmental issues that's your choice as well but don't disparage those of us who do care and who spend much of our time, effort and money doing so. Otherwise you're just trolling with comments like "tiresome" or "flavor of the month".
I will apologize for making it sound as though I was accusing someone of trolling. I should have stuck with the word "bating" for the same reason as above.
If someone were to say, "I don't agree that killing sea mammals is a bad thing. I think the Japanese have a right to continue that practice because it has been a part of their culture for centuries", I would strongly disagree with them as a part of a civil discussion and debate but when someone personalizes the issue by accusing me of bringing up an issue such as this merely for the purpose of "sensationalism" or a "flavor of the month" that, to my way of thinking at least, is bating.
matts said this:
Now that it's a new season and is in the news you want to stand against it. If it wasn't a recent headline, chances are you probably wouldn't have put two thoughts into it. Glad to see sensationalism doesn't work.
That, to me, is clearly bating, not discussing an issue.
I do get a bit depressed from time to time over these issues and sometimes it does feel like I'm beating my head against a wall but I keep my sanity by remember Vaclav Havel's statement that hope is not the conviction that things will turn out well but rather that hope is the conviction to do what makes sense no matter how things turn out. It also helps to remember that nature bats last.
But here's the interesting part- this organization has been more widely supported and funded that some would suppose. For example, in 2010 Sea Shepherds outfitted a ship to use to stop Japanese whaling. That ship was funded by $5,000,000 provided by Bob Barker. YES!, that Bob Barker as in "The Price is Right" Bob Barker and the ship was christened MY Bob Barker.
In 2011 another one of their ships was renamed the MV Brigitte Bardot in appreciation of the support she has given the organization for many years.
Author Cleveland Amory who wrote books like The Cat and the Curmudgeon was a huge help in getting this organization off the ground and putting up money to keep founder Paul Watson out of Canadian prisons.
Another wonderful writer, Farley Mowat who passed away just this May, was a major supporter of Sea Shepherds who's flagship had his name on it, The Farley Mowat. That ship was seized by the Canadian government in 2008. At that time, Paul Watson stated,
"I have no intention of recognizing the validity of any sale ordered by the Canadian government," said Captain Paul Watson. "Whoever buys the ship should be aware that we retain the registry and the original Bill of Sale and we will take back what is ours at the first opportunity. You don't steal a ship from a pirate without repercussions."
Other celebrities who have supported Sea Shepherd include Richard Dean Anderson, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Penn, Christian Bale, Rutger Hauer, Linda Blair, James Cromwell and Martin Sheen.
The point I'm making isn't that anyone should support this organization because someone famous has done so. The real heroes of this organization are the many, many volunteers who put their well being, their freedom, and their lives on the line to stop the needless and greedy slaughter of sea mammals. The point is, you don't have to be a hard corps iconoclastic monkeywrenching curmudgeon in order to support these efforts.