Posts Tagged ‘Taiji’
Dolphin slaughter in Japan resumes
The annual slaughter of various species of dolphin has begun in the waters around Taiji in Japan. These awful hunts, which are expected to run until March next year, involved the corralling of dolphins at sea by small boats and driving them into the confines of a cove, where they are slaughtered for meat or…
Read MoreHigh mercury levels found in slaughtered Japanese dolphin meat
According to reports from Japan, police there are investigating the sale of whale and dolphin meat containing potentially illegal levels of dangerous toxins. Action for Dolphins group say tests on samples of meat sold in the coastal town of Taiji reveal mercury levels up to 25 times higher that safe limits set by the government.…
Read MoreLatest Taiji slaughter season ends with many dolphins killed
Fishermen in the coastal town of Taiji, Japan have ended this season’s brutal dolphin hunt and, according to local sources, have killed or captured over 550 whales and dolphins. Species killed include Risso’s and striped dolphins as well as melon-headed whales and short-finned pilot whales. These drive hunts run from September to March or April…
Read MoreHeartbreak and practical action – the horror of the Taiji dolphin hunts and one Japanese activist’s determination
Back in November, I shared my heartache at the drama unfolding in the waters off Taiji, Japan, where around 25 fishers were undertaking their annual slaughter and capture of small whales and dolphins. Thankfully, this hunt season has now ended but not without the loss of 687 souls – 547 destined for the dinner plate…
Read MoreTrapped minke whale slaughtered in Japanese cove
A young minke whale trapped in nets off Taiji, Japan, since Christmas Eve, was killed early today by local fishermen. The whale’s carcass was then taken to shore to be butchered for sale in local meat markets. It was hoped that the local fishing cooperative would try to free the whale however, Ren Yabuki, director…
Read MoreSolitary captive dolphin Honey dies
Reports from Dolphin Project state that a bottlenose dolphin named Honey, often described as the world’s loneliest, has died at the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium near Tokyo in Japan. Honey was taken from the wild in 2005 in one of the cruel hunts that take place each year in Taiji, Japan, where huge numbers of…
Read MoreKill numbers emerge from latest dolphin hunt season in Taiji
Figures from the latest Taiji dolphin hunt season, which began last September, suggest that around 130 individual hunts took place with over 500 dolphins slaughtered. Every year, starting on 1st September, fishermen in the Taiji region of Japan leave the shore to kill a range of different species. Once a pod of dolphins is spotted,…
Read MoreTaiji – another season of slaughter as marine park links grow stronger
Life as a small whale or dolphin can be precarious at the best of times, but off the coast of Japan they face a sinister threat – the fishermen of Taiji. If they’re caught up in the maelstrom of one of the infamous ‘drive hunts’ the outcome is unlikely to be a good one. They’ll…
Read MoreTaiji sets up cultural links with Faroese town
Taiji, the Japanese coastal town where the notorious dolphin drive hunts take place, announced on Wednesday that it has established cultural links with Klaksvik, the second largest town in the Faroe Islands. Those cultural links include the fact that Klaksvik is also a location where drive hunts take place, primarily targeting pilot whales. In a…
Read MoreTaiji hunters allowed to kill more whales and dolphins
Fishermen hunting whales and dolphins in Taiji, Japan have been allowed to increase the number of both melon-headed whales and rough-toothed dolphins only mid-way through the hunting season. Both species were new to the list of those allowed to be caught in the 2017 hunt but the numbers caught already have reached the initial quota…
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