Detailed Report From Peru Dolphin Mortality Event

Here are some results from Dr. Carlos Yaipen Llanos's tests on dolphins washed up on Peruvian beaches. These tests were undertaken by ORCA - Peru and funded by BlueVoice. Additional results will be published here shortly.

As previously reported, two species have been affected: Long beaked
common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) and Burmeister’s porpoise (Phocoena
spinipinnis). We counted 615 common dolphins. All age classes were
affected: Adult males, females, lactating females, juveniles, calves and
newborns. We counted 19 porpoises, only females and calves.

There are carcasses in different degrees of decomposition and every 10
to 30 meters, none of them older than 5 weeks. This matches with the fact
that these strandings happened right after our previous survey. We found
animals recently dead (no more than 12 hours) and several carcasses of
juveniles and calves showed “rigor mortis” as being dead on land, then
stranded alive (stiff arc position, beak open, belly down, transversal to
tide line, no more than 3 days dead).

Necropsies were performed on site. Macroscopic findings include:
hemorrhagic lesions in the middle including the acoustic chamber,
fractures in the periotic bones, bubbles in blood filling liver and
kidneys (animals were diving, so the main organs were congested), lesions
in the lungs compatible with pulmonary emphysema, sponge-like liver. So
far we have 12 periotic samples from different animals, all with different
degree of fractures and 80% of them with fracture in the right periotic
bones, compatible with acoustic impact and decompression syndrome.

DVD-R on History of Fight to End Dolphin Hunt

"When Dolphins Cry", my film on efforts to end dolphin killing at Iki, Futo, and #Taiji, Japan is now available. It begins at Iki in 1979. Includes story of Mr. Ishii's conversion from dolphin hunter to dolphin watch leader. Important background to today's efforts to stop the killing. DVD-R at Amazon http://amzn.to/wsL2yL

Killing and Eating Dolphins Expanding Worldwide

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.

New Toxic Results from Taiji Dolphin Meat

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

The Voice of the Dolphins Published

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.

No Dolphin Hunting in Futo

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!"

Infant Dolphins Die Along Gulf Coast

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

Does Cutting Nets Free Captive Dolphins?

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.

Current Threatens to Carry Oil to Keys

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.