Monday, November 21, 2011

Today I witnessed how it's is been done...

About 11 killer boats left Taiji harbor this morning a little after 6. When I watched them sail out I had a bad feeling. They looked to confident... maybe 4 days without a catch did something to there motivation...

This is the story that shows the last 4 hours of  14 Risso's dolphins.
We took position on the far north east spot of town, where the whole ocean is in front of us. It was already at 7h45 that we noticed them back on the horizon, coming towards shore in 1 line: they were driving a pod of dolphins.
We drove to the hill south east of the cove to follow how they brought them in.
The killer boats are lined up and push the pack forward, the boats on the side keep the pod from going the wrong direction.
There's really not much chance for the dolphins to escape, if you see how the boats are spread out.
And it isn't really an honest fight, is it?
When the drive gets to the harbor they have to make a turn to the right (towards us) the pod goes down and the boats hold there speed...
A couple of brave dolphins manage to escape and head out for open ocean again!
But one killer spots them and starts the chase
The rest of them follow in a blink of an eye
It takes less than a minute to pass them and make them turn around
Meanwhile a skiff already heads for the cove to start preparing the tarps.
The place where the actual killing takes place is completely covered, nothing remains visible
The 2 brave ones than join the rest of the pod in front of the harbor
And all of them are getting pushed along the shore towards the cove
 By this time the dolphins are already on the run for almost 2 hours



They reach the cove entrance


Than the first net gets rolled out
Still trying to flee, but it get's clear...
...that there is no more escape...


The pod gets pushed deeper into the cove
 Beautiful Risso's...
All 14 of them...
From this point it is only 20 meters more before we loose contact with the dolphins
The last time I saw them alive
Only 15 minutes later a skiff brings out the first 6 bodies and hands them over to the larger killer boat
A second skiff brings 4 more bodies
And the last 4 come with the third...

The butcher house remains closed on all sides, everything is covered and shielded while the dolphins get cut to pieces inside
From where I was standing I could get a glimpse of what happened behind the tarps... I watched the first meat buyer enter the butcher house, where the fresh meat for her is waiting in yellow bins.
I'm sure the meat is still warm when it leaves in the back of the truck
4 more trucks come after this to pick up dolphin meat

Yesterday I wrote that I didn't wanted to witness it... now that I've seen it, it only got more clear that what happens in Taiji is beyond words. It must stop.

8 comments:

  1. Why do you think "it must stop"?

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  2. Mr or Mss Anonymous... you are reading my blog and still wonder why this must stop? Read it again mate, it's all in there.

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  3. You mentioned why you think it's not necessary but have not given specific reason why it must stop. Have I missed something?

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  4. Yes you clearly missed something.
    If you understand the reasons why I believe it's not necessary, than you should know.
    Because: Why the hell should something unnecessary keep on going?
    Unnecessary means: not required, not needed or needless... as in: stop doing it!

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  5. I wrongly assumed that you might have a better argument than that. What you say is just a matter of opinions whether it's necessary or not. You say it's unnecessary, they say it's necessary. The fruitless argument goes on while the hunt continues. I think THIS is unnecessary, and not helping the cause in any way.

    So I ask you again. Why do you think it must stop? How would you convince the people who think it's necessary?

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  6. We have reached a time where worldwide environmental issues, over-population and animal extinction should slap humanity in the face. We consider this planet to be ours and only ours, we do with it what we want. Until a certain level it is our right to consume the earth's resources but the amount in which we are doing it now is way beyond. Why should we, as a human, believe we can kill all we desire?
    We should not get the right to kill creatures in such a brutal way: these dolphins suffer a tremendous amount of stress, pain and shock conditions.
    Taking a life, any life, that has no use dying is murder. Nobody needs dolphin meat, it's even unhealthy.
    And last, we should not kill animals which intelligence and physical capabilities are beyond our understanding. Millions of people are fascinated about them and I hope the next generations to come can keep on sharing this fascination.
    Can you come forward with a name and nationality please? I'd like to know who I'm talking too.

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  7. I came forward for a dialogue. A name and nationality doesn't matter, don't you think? You can call me Anonymous and you probably know where I'm from.

    Sustainability is an important issue for fishermen too. That's why there are quotas. They apparently don't kill "all they desire".

    The killing method may merit from some improvement, but the animals slaughtered for food more or less feel "a tremendous amount of stress, pain and shock conditions" as we see in various YouTube videos. The fishermen have abandoned spearing method, but what would you suggest as a further improvement?

    The third point is as I said earlier a matter of opinion. The people in Taiji grew on whale/dolphin meat, which is locally available. They are not wasting dolphin meat, they live on dolphin meat (directly & indirectly), and they are healthy people. They live longer than people in Belgium on average.

    On your last point, how would you determine intelligence and how would you set a standard for animals to be eaten? I don't think there's an internationally agreed standard (as far as I know, there are many countries that hunt & eat cetaceans in the world), but would be interested to know what you think.

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  8. If you come forward for a dialogue, the common polite thing to do is to introduce yourself.

    Sustainability for fishermen. There are ways to compensate the end of dolphin hunt. Whale watching is one of them. Who decides quotas? Who are we to say what we can kill and how many of it it can be? Who makes us the boss of it all? Although there will be no prove my personal opinion is that they would kill all they desire if it weren't for us cove guardians to keep an eye. Same for the spearing method.
    If it all is legal, if it all is normal and done for hundreds of years, why the coverup? Why the tarps, the fences, the boards that say "no trespassing?"
    I could give improvements on killing the dolphins, but that would make it really ironic wouldn't it? The killing must stop, that would be the improvement.
    You can not compare health between to cultures (countries) just on who's eating whale/dolphin meat. There are much more factors in play. It's not unknown about the higher mercury levels the people of Taiji have. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/17/japan-foodanddrink
    In Belgium they have other unhealthy factors in bringing the average down. There's a big difference in life style.
    Intelligence is not something that we can measure and put on a scale when we compare different species. On this we can go on for hours, dolphins don't need to take the car and drive to work, compare numbers to see where the food is cheaper play videogames, go to the church, they do not have to build houses, nor go vote for a gouvernment. They need to hunt, communicate to find food or warn for danger. And the skills they evolved for that is beyond anything we can do. There is simply no comparison. But it is a fact that we are talking about a high form of intelligence.
    I can't set a standard for animals to be eaten. It's already to late to make an international code on that. There used to be a time where hunters and fisherman just caught what they needed for their families. But in that age we were maybe with 1.000.000 on this planet...
    Now we are 7.000.000.000 and we are just plundering the earth. If we want species to survive we have to make a major change of lifestyle. If we don't care about animal life on this planet, then let's continue doing what we do. But I will never understand that point of view.
    And from what I get from you, you will never understand my point of view.
    If you would like to continue this dialogue, please write me on ch.heylen@gmail.com.
    This is a blog site, not a forum.
    Anyhow, thanks for your interaction.

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