Dolphin base

I hope nobody is wondering why I haven’t been posting any word about a number of killed dolphins in Taiji… Because from the day I arrived here no dolphin got killed! And I would like it to stay this way, I don’t need to get the chance to shoot photo’s of blood shed, to hear them scream, the tails clapping on the surface. I’m really ok not having to witness it.

Today the killers decided not to sail out as there was to much swell and “white caps”. That makes at least 3 smiling faces around here.

We went to have a look at the dolphin resort, watch how our imprisoned friends were doing. As usual the image of 3 or 4 dolphins in way to small pens is devastating. Some of them have a lot of rubbish floating inside, wooden boards, plastic, branches, leaves… The only pen that is clean is the biggest one, the one where the tourists have their encounters.

 People get 30 minutes to meet with the dolphins, touch them and swim with them.

I think about my own desire to have an encounter, to get close, look in the dolphin’s eyes, maybe even touch. The only difference is I want that to happen in the open ocean, it has to be the dolphin that comes to me in her(his) own free will. That would make it right and that would make it real.

Here in Taiji and in all dolphinaria around the world the dolphins only do what they are asked to because they have there mind set on the (little) fish they get after it.

You can see it clearly, after every turn, jump, wave, flip they go ask for a fish. It seems they’re really hungry and desperate for food. When the tourists are in the water and they ride on the dolphins back, small pieces of fish are thrown in the water in front of them to tell the dolphin where to swim to. If they come ask for a full fish on the side of the pen they get send back to give the kid another ride. And the nice animals just do it… they just go with it as there no other choice.

The pictures I shot shows again what I can not repeat enough here: these amount of beauty, power and intelligence belongs in the great open oceans, not in a rusted, filthy pen.