Breaking News

Killing and Eating Dolphins Expanding Worldwide

2012-01-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

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.

More On Obama's Cop Out on whales

2011-09-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

The following comes from Sue Arnold, Australians for Animals, a decades long campaigner against whaling. She well expresses my own feeling about Obama's decision not to sanction Iceland and my bewilderment at how save-the-whales groups could think his actions useful.

By Sue Arnold
Barack Obama has taken the easy way out. A report to Congress which
in effect sets a precedent for diminishing not only the IWC but all
multilateral environmental agreements which rely on trade sanctions
for enforcement.

The failure to issue trade sanctions against Iceland has profound
ramifications and ensures that the IWC is now a very toothless tiger.
The WTO rules supreme.

This is very serious. As for the groups who believe the instruction
relative to the Arctic and Iceland are useful, please explain exactly how?

Sue Arnold
Australians for Animals Int.

Whale Experts Says Obama Deal on Iceland a Cop-out

2011-09-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

The quotation below is from Dr. Sidney Holt, a man who knows more about saving whales than any other living person. He is now in his mid-80s and knows IWC history personally going back fifty years.

Many enviro groups have hailed Obama's statement as a great step in whale preservation. I believe they are terribly mistaken and that is backed up by Dr. Holt's assessment which I publish below.

"It is the usual cop-out. Iceland has already responded, naturally, with threats to block the US bowhead catch/strike limit (at next IWC) in Panama. The rot started three years ago with the US Chairman trying to throw away 40 years of effort, much of it led by the US - Obama is simply continuing that in his own way. But he seems to be continuing the Bush administration's position on practically everything, often subtly worse. We should all be worried, but you in the US specially so. Sidney

Hurricane Hits Taiji as Dolphin Hunt Opens

2011-09-04T06:00:00.001-07:00

The Dolphin killers were pinned into port as Typhoon Talas slammed into Taiji as well as other parts of Japan bringing torrential rain and winds to 75 mph. Dolphin hunting is suspended. Leilani Munter, car racer and dolphin activist reports rain dripping into her hotel. About a dozen previously captured dolphins are trapped in sea pens in a nearby inlet and are imminent danger of drowning as the nets entangle them.

USA and France Protect Humpbacks

2011-09-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

NOAA and France’s Protected Areas Agency have signed a “sister sanctuary” agreement to support the protection of endangered humpback whales that migrate annually more than 3,000 miles between NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the Massachusetts coast and Agoa Marine Mammal Sanctuary in the Caribbean’s French Antilles.

Italy Protests Japan's Slaughter of Dolphins

2011-09-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

Italy has submitted a formal protest today against Japan and expressed "feelings of dismay and great concern and sadness of Italian public
opinion" for the hunting of dolphins, a practice followed annually for
centuries in the bay of Taiji, a village south of Tokyo, in Wakayama
prefecture.

In this regard, on the recommendation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs Franco
Frattini, the Charge d'Affaires Embassy of Italy in Tokyo Alfredo Durante Mangoni, immediately went to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (Gaimusho) where he met the Director General for Europe
to whom he handed a letter of protest upon the imminent start of hunting
season.

Toxic Tests Prove Dolphin Meat Not Food

2011-07-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

Dolphin meat from Okinawa

Additional test results have just arrived, expanding on those we posted last week.

Funded by BlueVoice.org, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan has taken samples from the meat of dolphins killed at Taiji, Japan and Okinawa as well as Beaked Whales in North Pacific waters. Extremely high toxic levels were found for PCBs in pilot whale meat sold at Taiji. High levels of mercury and methyl mercury were found in meat from dolphins killed at Okinawa.

BlueVoice.org will present these results at the International Whaling Commission starting July 10 both to stop the killing of dolphins on Okinawa and the importation of dolphin meat from Taiji to Okinawa. The people of Japan should not be exposed to levels of toxins many times the levels allowed by their ministry of health.

The Taiji reports in Japanese and English are downloadable PDFs at:

http://www.bluevoice.org/pdf/taiji_testresults_english.pdf

http://www.bluevoice.org/pdf/taiji_testresults_japanese.pdf

Results from Okinawa show:

Dolphin 1: mercury 6.5 ppm (16.5 x allowable)
methyl mercury 3.1 ppm (10.33 x allowable)
PCBs 2.4 ppm (4.8 x allowable)

Dolphin#2 mercury 3.88ppm (3.5 x allowable)
Methyl mercury 1.6ppm (4.8 x allowable)
PCBs 0.27 ppm (below allowable, probably because this was a calf.

Provisional regulatory levels of mercury and PCBs set by the Japanese government:
Mercury (T-Hg):0.4ppm, Methyl mercury (M-Hg):0.3ppm, PCBs:0.5ppm

Baird’s Beaked Whale was not contaminated by radiation but contained mercury:1.42ppm, methyl mercury:0.76ppm. PCB 0.10ppm

The meat was eaten on June 21 by nearly 40 school children, fifth grade of two primary schools before the meat had been tested. “This is important, because its mercury is 3.5 times higher and its PCBs is 1.5 times higher than the maximum allowance levels.” Sakae Hemmi, Elsa Nature Conservancy

New Toxic Results from Taiji Dolphin Meat

2011-06-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Funded by BlueVoice.org, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan has taken samples from the meat of dolphins killed at Taiji, Japan. Extremely high results were found for PCBs in pilot whale meat. High levels of mercury and methyl mercury were found in other dolphin meat.

The reports in Japanese and English are downloadable PDFs at:

http://www.bluevoice.org/pdf/taiji_testresults_english.pdf
http://www.bluevoice.org/pdf/taiji_testresults_japanese.pdf

Caribbean Whale now off Greenland - Danger

2011-05-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

My apologies to Jodi Frediani for misspelling her name in my previous post. She has generously sent a picture of the Silver Banks - Greenland whale - a shot taken this year on the Silver Banks north of the Dominican Republic. The whale is not named but the Greenland researchers have called it 0001 or One. This whale is now in real danger from Greenland hunters.

2011-05-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Jodi Fredi reports Greenland whale (ID'd on the Silver Banks 2011) has just been sighted off Greenland. Now in danger of being hunted. We want to make this issue of hunting humpbacks personal.

The Voice of the Dolphins Published

2011-05-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

My book, The Voice of the Dolphins, is now available at my eStore

http:www.createspace.com/3501299

It will be on Amazon in 4 days, Kindle in 3 weeks and in book stores.

Please let your friends and lists know about the book, where appropriate.

It covers decades of encounters with whales and dolphins in the wild, the fight to stop the slaughter of dolphins in Japan starting with Iki in 1979 and continuing through Taiji in modern times, the savagery of captivity, the huge dolphin die-off along the east coast in 1988 and the emergence of disease among dolphins deriving from suppressed immune systems due to chemical toxicity. Finally it connects contamination of the marine food chain to human disease including cancer.

Much of the book tells of marvelous encounters with dolphins and whales in the open sea, encounters that demonstrate the sentience, intelligence, curiosity and wonder of these creatures.

Jpan Whaling in North Foiled by Weather

2011-04-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

Japan's so-called research whaling in waters off Northern Japan, scheduled to start Monday, was postponed to Tuesday or later due to bad weather.
The Japan Fisheries Agency said the whaling season, which will run through early June, will be held with a quota of up to 60 minke whales for biological research.
The first whale caught will be tested for traces of radioactive substances, in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the radiation-leaking Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant, which was crippled due to the quake-tsunami disaster.

Action Alert: Tuna

2011-04-19T06:58:00.001-07:00

An important vote is taking place April 28 on rules governing the tuna fishery. This is an action alert - important. Please go to http://bit.ly/ebQ7UK

No Dolphin Hunting in Futo

2011-04-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

I just received word from Mr. Ishii, the former dolphin hunter who is now leading whale and dolphin watching trips. Great news!!

Yesterday, I attended the Annual meeting of the Ito(Futo) Fishermen's Union.
Their Annual Report says that their target for dolphin sales this
year .. is ZERO yen! This is because there have been no sales of dolphin for several years in Futo.I believe that there are various reasons but one of them must be people's unspoken resistance.......
But the fishermen are still waiting for the chance to hunt.
Let's continue our silent, well-mannered resistance with the words
"We are free!"

Famous San Juan Killer Whale is Presumed Lost

2011-02-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

From Orca Network: According to Ken Balcomb of The Whale Center, J1/Ruffles, has been missing since late November. This is very sad news for all who follow the Southern Resident community of orcas, as J1 is the oldest male, father to MANY offspring in all three pods, and his HUGE, beautiful, ruffled fin was the most visible and recognizable fin in the entire community, and he is loved by us all.

I filmed J1 many times over the years and never ceased to marvel at this magnificent orca. It is sad to know he is gone. You can see him in The Dolphin Defender and in the closing title sequence of the series Challenge of the Seas (filmed 12 years ago).

Infant Dolphins Die Along Gulf Coast

2011-02-22T05:34:00.000-08:00

In the wake of the devastating oil spill of last spring and summer, 17 infant dolphins have died in Gulf waters. The main birthing season has not yet begun. This points to a catastrophic birthing season. http://www.sunherald.com

What's Next for Japan Whaling

2011-02-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

My blog on future of Japan #whaling is at http://bluevoice.org/blog.php
It includes information on disease in whales that cud xfr to humans.

Japan withdraws from Southern Ocean whaling

2011-02-18T03:14:00.000-08:00

Japan says it will withdraw whaling fleet from Southern Ocean under pressure from Sea Shepherd. But what now? The butchers could return next year or move their operations to the NW Pacific where they have hunted a variety of whale species. But if few are eating whale meat and stockpiles of whale meat are huge there may be no incentive to whale. Japan is already losing millions pursuing its mindless butchery. All this while Japan's economy languishes.

Sea Shepherds Drive Japan Whalers from Antarctic

2011-02-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

Just received email from Paul Watson re Japan's retreat. "The Nissin Maru is heading eastward still and is in the Drake Passage moving towards the South Atlantic. I think they believe they can run the Bob Barker out of fuel. They can’t. The Bob Barker can follow wherever they go – East or West. I believe they are going around the continent and so I’m sending the Gojira and the Steve Irwin West to meet them. The three harpoon vessels are heading west also. Paul

Though many deserve credit for fighting Japan's whaling it is clear that Sea Shepherd ships drove the whalers out of the Antarctic by making it impossible to whale.

Sales of Whale Meat Fall

2011-02-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

Japanese fisheries officials have announced that consumption of whale meat has fallen precipitously and the model of using sales of "scientific" whale meat to sustain the hunt is no longer viable.

Japanese Store Sells Humpback Meat via web

2011-01-08T03:40:00.000-08:00

Shimetani store in Taiji has placed an ad for humpback meat
on its website! What is source of meat? Greenland? More likely humpbacks caught "accidentally" in nets? There is no legitimate way they could have humpback meat for sale.

U.S. Rep to IWC in Cahoots with Japanese Whalers

2011-01-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

Wikileaks: The U.S. representative to the International Whaling Commission, Monica Medina, discussed revoking the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd's tax exempt status with senior officials of the Japan Fisheries Agency in November 2009. It is beyond outrageous to use the IRS to surpress dissent.

Yearling Right Whale Rescued

2010-12-31T08:02:00.000-08:00

A young right whale has been rescued from entrapment in fishing gear off St. Augustine, Florida. The whale had apparently dragged the fishing gear from New England. Wonderful New Years news.

Does Cutting Nets Free Captive Dolphins?

2010-09-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

By Hardy Jones
Executive Director, BlueVoice.org

On September 27 a European group calling themselves The Black Fish announced they had cut the nets of sea pens holding captive dolphins at Taiji, Japan. There is no indication that any of the divers who cut the nets have been apprehended by the police. Nor were any dolphins actually freed by this bold act.

Captain Paul Watson, head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, reported to me that he has two people on the ground in Taiji and they report that none of the dolphins left the sea pens because the cuts were too small and too high. NB: Sea Shepherd had nothing to do with the net cuttings.

The overriding problem with cutting nets is that dolphins do not readily leave confinement. They are not accustomed to barriers. They do not jump over nets – something they could do easily. They don’t swim under nets. This has been seen both in captive situations and in the tuna fishery where tens of thousands of dolphins have been encircled by nets.

Taiji, a village five hours by train from Osaka, was made infamous by the academy award winning film The Cove. Fishermen at Taiji kill up to 2,000 dolphins each year and take many into captivity for sale in Japan and around Asia. Some have been sent as far as Turkey and Egypt. It’s big business. Each dolphin trained and ready to ship can be worth $150,000.

I have been working to stop the slaughter and capture of dolphins in Japan since 1979. The footage I took in 1980 of a ghastly slaughter of dolphins at Iki, Japan was broadcast around the world and led to a government shut down of that slaughter. Also in 1980, along with cinematographer Howard Hall, I went to Taiji to confront the fishermen over the capture of some 200 dolphins. We convinced the fishermen that if they killed the dolphins the film footage we would take would make them villains around the world and bring shame on Japan.

The fishermen agreed to release the dolphins. They pulled back the net that ran across the mouth of the bay where the dolphins were held. The dolphins did nothing. They would not leave. Either they were too stunned and disoriented to leave or they would not abandon podmates who were injured. Finally the fishermen positioned a motor boat at the base of the bay and began running zig-zag patterns that forced the dolphins to the mouth of the bay. Once they were clear of confinement the entire pod sprang into arching porpoise leaps and headed for the horizon. It was one of the greatest sights of my life. But they had to be scared out of the bay.

Cutting nets to free dolphins is an attractive idea. For me standing on cliffs filming the murder of dolphins in the killing bay at Taiji is agonizing. I know that reporting and filming these tragedies is important. But I have always known that if I cut the nets it would be very difficult to get the trapped dolphins to leave. In addition I would be expelled from Japan and BlueVoice would no longer be able to go to Japan to film events at Taiji and elsewhere and conduct toxicology tests on dolphin meat and the people who eat it.

Net-net, no pun intended, the action of the Black Fish led to no dolphins freed and almost certainly higher security in the area that will make outside observation more difficult. But the act also reinserted into the world news stream the dreadful events taking place at Taiji.

No Dolphin Kills at Taiji Yet

2010-09-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

According to a reporter at the Mainichi newspaper, Taiji fishermen failed to find dolphins on September 1st, but today, September 2nd they drove about 20 dolphins into Hata(ke)jiri bay - aka The Cove. They are going to sell them (not all of them) to aquariums and release those they don’t sell.

Just what this means is open to speculation. The fishermen did this last year when there were a lot of press people in Taiji. When the press left they resumed the slaughters. We are trying to determine if there are press there this year and will keep you informed.

Futo Fishermen Vow to Resume Dolphin Hunt

2010-08-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

Written by Sakae Hemmi, Elsa Nature Conservancy:
According to the Izu Shimbun, Ito Fishing Cooperative held a meeting at its Futo
Branch on August 26, inviting the media and announced that they would resume the drive hunt of dolphins this season. This came after they got information that a large pod of bottlenose dolphins was found off the coast of Shirahama in the beginning of August. And also they think it necessary to teach the skill of drive hunt of dolphins to
the next generation.

Futo was allotted 419 dolphins, including 59 bottlenose dolphins, this season.
The hunting season starts on September 1 and ends on March 31 next year.
Their plan is the same as that in 2004.—to sell dolphins to aquariums, to do scientific research and consume the meat locally.

Futo hasn’t hunt dolphins since 2005, though the fishing cooperative announced every year that they would carry out the drive hunt. In 2004 they sold 14 bottlenose dolphins to aquariums, killed 5 dolphins for research purposes and
distributed its meat for local consumption. They released one dolphin after attaching transmitters. And at least 5 dolphins died of shock.

Federal Safety Officials Blast Sea World

2010-08-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

Federal investigators on Monday blasted SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment for allowing its animal trainers to work with killer whales without adequate protection. This follows a six-month investigation into the violent drowning of a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando.

Greenland Violates IWC. Begins Hunting Humpback Whales

2010-08-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

by Hardy Jones

In a sad day for whales, the International Whaling Commission allocated a quota to Greenland to hunt humpback whales - a total of 27 over three years. The date specified for beginning of the hunt was October, 2010. But Greenland's Ministry of Fisheries has announced it will allow the hunt to begin immediately - mid August. This is a violation of the IWC quota.

The quota for all whales is solely granted to aboriginal peoples for aboriginal use. Greenland has violated terms of the quota by allowing whale meat to enter commercial channels. When in Nuuk, Greenland I photographed whale meat in high end restaurants and greasy spoons as well as in a supermarket.

What is particularly sad is that humpbacks are just returning to Greenlandic waters after an absence of sixty years - now to be greeted by a harpoon.

Dolphins Dying at Record Rate off East Florida

2010-05-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

By Hardy Jones

Bottlenose dolphins are dying at a record rate in Brevard and Volusia Counties on the east coast of Florida. So far this year fifty one dolphins have been found stranded. In the entire year of 2009 the corpses of 55 dolphins were recovered in the same area.

Scientists from Hubbs Sea World Research Institute report they have no clue as to what is causing this unusual mortality event (UME).

Fifteen of these dolphins were found in the Indian River Lagoon, a body of water known to have high concentration of contamination that originates in the Agricultural lands around Lake Okeechobee. Recent studies have shown dolphins from the IRL (as well as Charleston Harbor) have severely compromised immune systems.

Current Threatens to Carry Oil to Keys

2010-05-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

A current, associated with the Gulf Stream, has been found to be carrying oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout disaster. The so-called Loop Current will move the oil southeast and towards the Florida Keys and Cuba.

BlueVoiceBreakingNews will track the oil spill, focusing on its impact on whales and dolphins. Many other excellent organizations are focusing on other areas.

We will not only cover direct impact on whales and dolphins but on the impact of toxic hydrocarbons on the long term health of these animals which are sentinels of ocean health.