By Hardy Jones
Photo of dolphin meat by Carlos Yaipen Llanos, ORCA Peru
Breaking news World Dolphin Hunt
We have recently learned that hundreds of dolphins are found dead, butchered and the meat consumed in Peruvian fishing villages. Until recently Japan has been the world villain in the area of killing dolphins for food. Now it is becoming clear that slaughtering dolphins and other marine mammals such as dugong and sea lions is more common than thought and very likely spreading as world fisheries collapse.
Rather than fighting to end the killing country-by- country or even village-by-village, BlueVoice and our associates are conducting toxic testing on dolphins worldwide. This, along with compilation of scientific papers on levels of contamination in marine mammals, will be published in a white paper, on the web via networking sites, in videos with special emphasis on reaching consumers.
We are also working to find epidemiological information that ties consumption of contaminated marine mammal meat to specific diseases. Finding high levels of heart disease and Parkinson’s in the Faroes is one example. We are working with ORCA in Peru to study and publicize the fact that people who eat dolphins in fishing villages in Peru have extremely high incidence of diabetes – a disease that can be brought on by ingesting high levels of heavy metals and organic pollutants such as PCBs.
It is vital that we alert consumers to the dangers of eating marine mammals, especially to prevent the consumption of these products by school children. It is imperative that we stop children from developing a taste for marine mammal meat in their formative years. This will prevent a lifetime of consumption of these wonderful animals.
