The Dolphin Trade in the World Spotlight
A New Beginning for DolphinsPart Three of “Dolphins and Us” A New Beginning for Dolphins Freeing Lolita Could Tilikum Also Be Set Free? Making the Case Is SeaWorld on the Ropes? In the World Spotlight SeaWorld Testifies before Congress Dolfinlandia How You Can Help Interviews & Reports The Case for Dolphin Rights When the Watchdog is Just a Guard Dog Communion in the Wild SEE ALSO: |
From Japan to the South Pacific to Africa, the big business of dolphins is being watched as never before.
Taiji massacres in the world spotlight
In Taiji, the worldwide protests that followed the release of the movie The Cove did not stop the annual dolphin massacre. But the killing was publicized all over the world. There were public protests, the like of which had never been seen before.
And a new group from Europe, called BlackFish, claimed responsibility for managing to breach the hunters’ security forces when it was discovered that nets in the cove had been cut during the night to help the dolphins escape. It was a brave attempt, but the openings were not big enough and dolphins are innately phobic about going through tight spaces.
The hunters tried to improve their image by announcing that they were releasing young dolphins back into the ocean rather than killing them. But the youngsters refused to leave their parents. Dolphins are family animals and without their extended family of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, they’re lost and helpless – just like an orphaned baby human.
The ones who got away
Still, some dolphins decided to fight back in their own way. A few days after the first round of capture and slaughter, which included mothers with babies, the Taiji fishermen tried to herd another group of dolphins into the killing cove. But this time they failed. The dolphins were able to outsmart the fishermen and avoided being maneuvered into the cove. This time, they got away.
From the Solomon Islands to Egypt
While being filmed for the TV series Blood Dolphins, Ric O’Barry negotiated an end to the dolphin trade with officials on some of the Solomon Islands.
And then, as the TV crew moved to Egypt to film its next episode, the four dolphins who had been brought to the town of Hurghada from Japan in August and were being held in squalid conditions were moved to a slightly better location under the watchful eye of O’Barry. It wasn’t much of an improvement, but it’s all part of a growing awareness by the captivity industry that the eyes of the world are now on them.
Frommer’s Travel Guides takes away its endorsement of SeaWorld
The founder of the world-famous Frommer’s Travel Guides issued a ground-breaking statement on June 14, removing the guide’s recommendation of SeaWorld as a positive and educational experience for young people. Arthur Frommer’s statement says, in part:
“Several times in the past, I have said that SeaWorld Orlando was a better viewing experience than the other nearby theme parks because of its educational value for a young audience. In doing so, I was as heedless of our treatment of the animal world as most of us who traipse to zoos and never think of what it means for such cognizant animals to be contained behind bars or in tiny spaces. I received this past week a letter from [Debbie Leahy] of PETA that makes such an irrefutable point that I, for one, am ashamed at the shallow perspective of my earlier reaction to SeaWorld. Ms. Leahy is clearly right, and I have reconsidered my position. I am ashamed, I apologize for my former statements, and I will no longer recommend that tourists patronize the various SeaWorld parks.”
The complete statement is here.