I watched this documentary about dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan a couple of days ago. Utterly shocked and heartbroken, I cannot believe the cruelty shown to these wild dolphins – from the first moments the fishermen stress the dolphins (who are in the midst of migration) into captivity, to mass massacring them by spearing/knifing, the entire act from the very start screams inhumanity.
Through this documentary, I learnt that dolphins do not thrive in captivity. Captivity is extremely stressful for them and their health and life expectancy drops drastically. In fact, many dolphins do not survive the trauma of capture. Of those that do, 53% die within 3 months of confinement. Captive dolphins also suffer and die from intestinal disease, stress-related illness and chlorine poisoning.
Ric O’Barry, who captured and trained the original 5 female dolphins that collectively played the part of Flipper on the 1960s TV show (which catapulted the popularity of dolphins doing tricks and interacting with humans), now turned dolphin activist recalled in the documentary that he had one of his captive dolphins commit suicide right in front of him because she didn’t have the will to live in captivity anymore. He said, she literally chose to stop breathing and sank to the bottom of the tank.
Big props to the documentary team who risked their lives filming this for everyone to see and for creating awareness about these wild dolphins. Take a pledge today to not buy a ticket to a dolphin show and of course, do not consume dolphin meat. You really shouldn’t be eating these stuff anyway. The toxic mercury levels in dolphins are really high and is harmful to your body if consumed. To find out more about ‘The Cove’ and how to save Japan dolphins, visit: http://savejapandolphins.org/
Please do spread the word!
xoxojeneen.com 