Taiji, Japan: Unveiling the Dolphin Massacre

Taiji Dolphin Massacre

Will there ever be a limit as to how many and which type of animals can be killed for consumption by humans? Many will be surprised at the variety of exotic foods that exist around the world such as giraffe, camel, worms, scorpions, and other insects. Dolphin and whale meat is widely enjoyed in Japan especially in the small town of Taiji, Japan where a big secret has been kept for a very long time. There are many changes that can be and need to be made in this big world of ours, but it is not just our world. We share the earth with many great creatures and animals, including dolphins. That is why one of the most important changes that needs to be made in this world is the cease of brutally massacring of dolphins and consumption

Most Americans have never even had the thought cross their mind that dolphins could be considered a food. However contrary to the belief of almost all Americans dolphin meat is consumed in various parts of the world. On the other hand Japanese fishermen from Taiji do not see dolphins the way that Americans do. Most of the fishermen from Taiji just see dolphins as another big fish. For example a fishermen from Taiji stated that “they’re food, like dogs for the Chinese or Koreans.” (Butterworth, Andrew) The consumption of dolphins is just so common and part of the culture for these Japanese fishermen from Taiji. They see a dolphin as Americans would see a tuna fish. Dolphin meat is dark red almost appearing black and is not consumed in many parts of the world, Japan and Peru are two of the very few areas where dolphin meat is

This tradition takes place every year from September to May and this tradition is a bloody massacre. September to May every year is when fisherman in the small cove of Taiji kill thousands of dolphins. Dolphins travel in groups called a pod and these traveling groups are the kind of groups that fishermen from Taiji Cove search for, pods of dolphins are their gold. Fishing boats go out into the ocean and begin to search for pods of dolphins. Unfortunately there used to be dozens and dozens of fishing boats that would go out in search of these pods; however, fortunately with the recent discoveries of the brutality of these fisherman, there are a lot less boats, only about 30 that participate. Once a pod is discovered, the fishermen on the boat radio the other fishing boats, and once they are all on scene, they surround the dolphins. Dolphins communicate with sound waves that are created in the water, and that is also how they hunt and locate things, this is called echolocation. The fishermen pull out long metal poles and bang them against the side of their boats creating an underwater sound that frightens the dolphins and creates a wall of sound, the dolphins are really confused because they cannot communicate with the others or tell where they are. The dolphins swim away from the sound, which is actually driving them towards the cove. Once in the cove the dolphins are all crammed into a small place in