my porpoise driven life...

Taiji Take Two: 2012 Begins, 40 Lives End

2012-01-05T05:29:00.000-08:00

When I woke up this morning it had been two weeks since the dolphin killers had last gone to work, and two weeks since I saw dolphins slaughtered in the Cove. The holiday break ended today though, and the fishermen did not hesitate to make up for the lost time. The banger boats had only been out for about half an hour before spotting dolphins. Two boats began herding this pod, while others continued to search for dolphins on the horizon. It seems the two boats lost interest in this pod, perhaps because of it's small size or perhaps their still avoiding Risso's dolphins, but regardless of the reason, these dolphins were not pursued. Our relief did not last though – it wasn't long before they located a much larger pod and began to drive it towards shore. According to the fishermen (conveyed to us by the police), it was a pod of approximately 200 striped dolphins. My heart stopped.

Driving a pod of this scale using only twelve boats must be next to impossible, so we were not surprised (although still somewhat relieved) when we saw nowhere near that many dolphins being pushed toward the harbor entrance. Many had escaped, and the pod was now about 40-45 individuals. This was one of the largest pods I have seen here in Taiji.
The boats slowly drove the dolphins towards the Cove, and divers lined the rocks, ready to intervene if and when the panic-prone dolphins entangled themselves in the nets or threw their bodies against the rocks in an attempt to flee. Because the pod was so large, the fishermen were unable to push them all into the killing Cove (out of the range of our eyes and cameras) at once, and for a while there were dolphins cordoned off in three different sections of the Cove. One lone dolphin swam between the outer nets while its family members were being slaughtered; watching, listening, and waiting. After those dolphins already under the tarps were either killed or otherwise restrained, the fishermen opened the inside nets so they could drive the remaining individuals to their death. The final lone dolphin was not cooperating with the skiffs and resisted swimming towards the now bloody beach. A diver approached the dolphin and when it tried to flee, he grabbed hold of it. The dolphin was clearly extremely stressed by this contact and made a mad dash towards its family, under the tarps and out of our sight, towing the diver the entire way. His hand was placed over the dolphin's blowhole, and I wondered if he was trying to keep it submerged and out of our sight.

There was little more to be seen, but we could hear the dolphins still thrashing on the beach. One dolphin managed to escape, and we could see its body lying on the bottom of the Cove. It was too injured to come up for a much needed breath of air, and while we watched from high above, this little dolphin died, either drowning or from the extensive injuries inflicted by the dolphin killers.

The loud 'thud' of dolphin bodies being tossed into the skiffs filled the air. As the first loaded skiff departed to deliver the bodies to the slaughterhouse, a fishermen noticed the dead dolphin in the water. A diver came to collect it, and more divers began searching for any other potentially escaped dolphins that they had missed.

Blood tainted the blue waters of the Cove.

Peace has ended here in Taiji, and it is my wish for 2012 that we get it back, once and for all.

~

Here is a beautiful poem I saw shared today in response to their unnecessary deaths:

“A Hopi Prayer”

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there, I did not die.

Taiji Take Two: Captivity Kills

2011-12-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

It has been a difficult 24 hours for those of us keeping an eye on the bottlenose dolphins in the Cove, either in person or through internet updates. I spent a lot of time with them yesterday, knowing that for many of them, it would be their last night in this world. After I could no longer stand the numbness in my fingers and toes, I guiltily headed back to the warmth and comfort of my hotel room.

At around 10pm last night, we checked on them again. The cove was lit up with lamps, to ensure no one could cut the nets and free the dolphins in the middle of the night. Fortunately the lights were not terribly bright, nor were they shining directly on the dolphins, so hopefully this did not disturb them even more on their last night here.

I could not see the dolphins, but I sat in silence and listened to their breathing. There were long moments of silence, followed by the thunderous sound of many exhalations, one after another. I'd hoped their synchronized breathing was an indication that they were resting together. It brought me a little comfort to know they were relaxed enough to sleep, but I knew they must have been so terrified.

We arrived at the Cove before sunrise this morning and had to walk right past three guys in wetsuits to walk down to the beach. I'm not sure if they were the dolphin killers or trainers who would be selecting dolphins for captivity, but either way it sent a chill down my spine.

The sun began to illuminate the Cove, and the day's “work” began. A boat full of trainers drove into the killing Cove, and the dolphins were pushed out of our sight. All that we could perceive of them were their whistles which were picked up by a hydrophone. In total, ten dolphins were placed in slings and dragged away from the Cove, their family, and their freedom. Shortly after the last live dolphin was taken away, the whistles were silenced. The boat full of trainers emerged from the Cove, followed closely by skiffs dragging the bodies of the remaining pod members. Initially we estimated that there were about 25 dolphins in this group, but the information we received today is that 23 dolphins were slaughtered, so there must have been 33 dolphins total.

For some of this pod, life has ended. It was much too soon, and at the hands of people who had no right to make this decision. For the rest of the dolphins, life as they know it has ended, and now they must carry the pain of losing their family, home, and freedom, as they are shipped to who knows where in the world, all in the name of entertainment.

Taiji Take Two: Dolphin Base

2011-12-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Following the response of the livedoor blog's statement:

(livedoor blog)

To Heather,
Good to hear you admitting that you don't really know what's happening in Taiji, without making wild assumptions. You should ask yourself why pets stay around their owner. If you wish to have a conversation with Dolphin Base staffs, bring a good translater at your expense. (Don't assume they would speak/write to you in English - that's arrogant.)

Dear Japanese blog/Dolphin Base:

First off, apologies for the delayed response. I did not notice this comment until recently, and then it was a very stressful and hectic week of slaughters so I did not have the time to respond, but here you go!

I wouldn't go as far as to say I don't know what is happening in Taiji, because I see it everyday, but I will say that I don't fully understand the perspective and thought process of Taiji residents. I know what is happening, I just don't know why it is happening. And when I said in my previous post that I didn't understand, I was referring specifically to the 3 bottlenose dolphins enjoying a bit of freedom, and not understanding why or how. We can definitely make this a generalized statement, though, as well.

I would like to understand, though. I feel as if so many people look at this whole situation through their own eyes, their own way of thinking, and assume they have it all figured out. Clearly we do not think the same way though; we've grown up in completely different worlds and I think it takes more than limited observation of each other to understand one other. For instance, it's hard for outsiders to comprehend that there are in fact Japanese people who are against the slaughter but do not speak out, because it's not a big deal to stand up in other countries whatsoever. This is a completely foreign concept to us. But, with discussion, I think we can understand each other, and I think that would be very helpful to all parties involved - human and non human.

Now, on the reverse side of this, let's look at these 3 bottlenose dolphins. Unfortunately for them, we cannot have a discussion with them and 100% understand what they are thinking and why they do the things they do. The best we can do is to put ourselves in their shoes (flukes?) and discuss how we would feel, act, and what we would want, if we were in their positions. Now, it is in my personal opinion that they know what's best for them more than we could ever understand, so why wouldn't we just leave them be?

And no, I absolutely do not assume that the trainers at Dolphin Base speak English, and actually, I do have a translator and would love to have a 'get to know the other side' conversation with you (them?), if you would be open to it and could find the time. I have no intention or desire to sit down with you and simply pass judgement without really listening, so if you feel the same, I think we should make this happen! I will not be here much longer though, but again, you know where to reach me.

Now, one more comment for Dolphin Base:

I read this earlier today, and have taken it with a grain of salt because I did not hear the words directly, but I imagine the general idea is correct. Apparently the leaders of Dolphin Base have been in contact with the Fishermen's Union, asking that the pod of bottlenose dolphins currently being held in the cove right now not be slaughtered tomorrow.

Well, if this really is true, it is appreciated. HOWEVER, money will be given to the fishermen tomorrow, by possibly Dolphin Base, and certainly by other aquariums. I imagine the only reason these dolphins are still alive right now, as opposed to being slaughtered this morning, is because they are so popular in dolphinariums and not terribly common for the fishermen to encounter. Rather than just selling a couple to Dolphin Base, Dolphin Resort, and the Taiji Whale Museum, they can probably get many more aquarium representatives here and can sell quite a few and make serious money tomorrow. Then, when the profits have been made, why wouldn't they just kill the rest for meat that can be given away to local townspeople for free?

I can understand that you may be against the killing, but still want to purchase live dolphins, but do you not understand that if no one buys a live dolphin, and no one gives the fishermen money, they will not go out everyday looking for dolphins to bring into the cove? If there are no dolphins in the cove, none can be killed. Financially, they cannot afford this without the money from live dolphin sales. So please do not think that you should buy dolphins in order to save their lives (because those not purchased will probably be killed for meat), but instead voice your opposition to the slaughter by not financially contributing to it. Once you do that, I believe the drive hunts will end.

You've apparently asked the Fishermens Union not to kill dolphins tomorrow, and I'm asking you not to buy dolphins tomorrow. I think this subject is another 'unknown' between us that we can and should discuss.

Thank you for listening.

Taiji Take Two: 9 Days, 7 Slaughters

2011-12-19T02:42:00.000-08:00

It wasn't long after the banger boats left the harbor this morning that they found a pod of about 20-25 striped dolphins. The dolphin hunters positioned themselves behind the pod and began to drive them towards the shores of Taiji. They pushed them past the harbor entrance, but that's when the progress came to a complete standstill. These dolphins looked exhausted, but this did not stop them from putting up an epic fight for their lives.

After about an hour-and-a-half of unsuccessfully trying to push the dolphins the short distance to the Cove entrance, the frustrated fishermen tried another tactic. Two skiffs spread a net behind the pod in a horseshoe shape, in an effort to corral them into the Cove. They must have been concerned about the dolphins becoming entangled in the net in plain view, because they drove very slowly, and three skiffs buzzed around, using their motors to frighten the dolphins away from the net. The pod dove and disappeared, and when they surfaced again they were on the outside of the net. The banger boats quickly caught up with them to prevent their ultimate escape, but it was amazing to see the dolphins causing trouble for the dolphin hunters. The drive was put on hold while the skiffs rushed together, and the fishermen pulled the net back in as fast as they could. The drive resumed. The boats once again laid out the net behind the dolphins. The dolphins once again escaped. The hunters had to pull the net up for a second time. As they laid it out for the third time, I looked down from the mountain and stared, in awe of the situation. The sounds of terror filled the air. Along with the voices of angry dolphin hunters, I could also faintly hear the peppy narration of the Taiji Whale Museum's dolphin show nearby, around the corner from the Cove. I wondered if that meant the trainers, attendees, and dolphins could hear the shouting fishermen and noise from the banger poles at that moment, too?

The pod had outsmarted the fishermen all morning long. Surely this meant they deserved to live, right? In the eyes of the dolphin killers, no. During the third attempt to drag the dolphins into the Cove, the boats were less patient, and two dolphins struggled to break through the net and swim away to freedom. They quickly became stuck, and a diver jumped into the water. After a minute or so, a tarp was held up on the skiff to block our view, and they pulled the now dead bodies into the boat. The boats continued pulling the net, and eventually they sealed the remaining dolphins into the Cove.

Though the pod had been fighting for at least five hours, they still went into panic mode as they were pushed closer to the beach. They swam into the net, and they thrashed on the rocks. Just like yesterday, we could hear the dolphins thrashing in the shallows after they'd been driven under the tarps. Again, it seemed to last an eternity. Every once in a while, the thrashing subsided, and we thought they'd all been killed, but then it would start up again. One of the last living dolphins let out a very loud and unnatural scream that echoed throughout the Cove, piercing my heart like a knife. It sounded a bit like captive dolphins when they are told to vocalize, but with so much more pain and fear behind it.

I have never before witnessed a pod put up such an equal fight against the high-tech fleet of dolphin-killing machines. There were no survivors, but my heart is forever touched by their courage. Rest in peace, brave little ones.

Taiji Take Two: The Raid

2011-12-18T05:38:00.000-08:00

Part one, taken from official Save Japan Dolphins blog:

Today was, and will probably always be, the longest and hardest day of my life. Last week we saw five slaughters in six days. The dolphin killers of Taiji took yesterday (Saturday) off, so we had one day of peace, but today they were right back at it. My hopes were soaring high when we spotted several banger boats headed back in this morning, but suddenly the boats turned and sped off to meet others that had apparently located a pod of striped dolphins.
From the lookout on Takababe Mountain, I could see that this pod still had a lot of energy, despite being chased towards the shores of Taiji. Unlike the striped dolphins caught a few days ago that were all too exhausted to panic in the shallow Cove, these ones were quickly frightened by their ever-tightening world. The fishermen had already prepared nets in the Cove to try and keep the dolphins from throwing themselves out of the water and getting stuck on the rocks, but it made no difference. Once the final net was drawn, terror broke out amongst the dolphins. Skiffs tried to position themselves between the rocks and dolphins, and divers sat on the rocks to push and kick the dolphins that slammed their bodies into the wall, tearing their skin open and staining the water with blood. One dolphin made a mad dash into the net and became entangled, wrapping itself tighter and tighter as it thrashed, trying to get a desperately needed breath of air. A diver jumped in to set it free, knowing we were watching with our cameras. The chaos ensued for what felt like an eternity, and we tried in vain to put our cameras between the situation and us, hoping to make it seem less real and therefore easier to document. I later had to clean the dried salt off of my camera from all the tears that had dripped down the view screen.

Finally the skiffs were able to push the frightened dolphins underneath the tarps. They could hide the sight of what happened next from our eyes, but we could hear everything. The 34 or so dolphins continued to thrash in the shallow water of the Cove. Blood seeped into our view. After what felt like forever, the thrashing began to be reduced, and finally ended altogether. The dolphins were all dead, having suffered right up to the very end. I felt dead inside. I thought it was over, until I heard a loud thud, followed by another, and another. The fishermen were tossing the dolphins' bodies into skiff to transport them to the slaughterhouse. I have never been affected by a sound so much in my life. This is a day that will be with me until the day I die.

Part two:

After watching the slaughter, Nicole and I went back to our hotel, still very upset. A police van followed us the whole way from Taiji, but there's nothing new there. I ran to my room for two seconds to drop off my camera bag, and then headed back to the lobby to hang out with Nic for a half hour until her train arrived. I walked into the lobby and found a ton of police, and they wouldn't let me upstairs to Nicole's room, or leave the lobby for that matter. I sat down and started sending out a quick message on my phone so someone would know something was up, but apparently that wasn't ok, either. I had no idea what was going on, and no one spoke English. I kept asking for our uniform police and they just kept saying no. I was already so upset by the so very recent slaughter, and this wasn't helping anything. I thought I was going to pass out, or have a mental breakdown, or spontaneously combust or something. They kept saying my name over and over again, but I had no clue what it was in reference to. I knew I'd done nothing illegal, but I still had to keep talking myself down. Finally, someone who did speak English came downstairs and explained that they had a warrant to search through all of our belonging, "because of our friendship with Erwin", the Sea Shepherd volunteer who was arrested a couple days ago. So they showed me the warrant, which was of course in Japanese, and I led ten of them to my tiny room. They looked through my belongings, my computer files, my emails, my camera memory cards, everything. They even frisked me. During this time Nicole was free to go catch her train, but instead of getting to walk with her to the train station, I could only hug her quickly in my room while surrounded by police, one of which was filming the whole thing. As soon as I got to see her, I lost it again. The stress of today was just absolutely insane.

Then they said they had a warrant to search my car, and they started looking under the hood and opening the gas tank, apparently looking for drugs. What? Why would you suspect I had drugs? And what did that have to do with Erwin? And if I DID have drugs, why would I put them in my gas tank??

After that it was over, for me, but they still wouldn't let me talk with the others, and I had no idea if they'd planned to make any arrests. At the end of the day none of us were taken in, however they did confiscate all of Sea Shepherds computers, hard drives and SD cards.

And that my friends, was my day. We're at 6 slaughters in 8 days. Here's hoping we get some much needed rest tomorrow.

Taiji Take Two: Boiling Point

2011-12-16T14:57:00.000-08:00

The tensions have hit an all time high here, as a result of the continued pressure of activists mixed with an absolutely horrible week of five slaughters in six days. I think each one of us are feeling at our wits end.

I can't believe that once again there was a slaughter yesterday. I have already seen more slaughters during my first week here this time around, then in my entire first trip, and there are still six more hunting days until the fishermen call it quits for the holidays. We have all breathed a huge sigh of relief because like we were told, the fishermen took today, Saturday, off, and the dolphins are safe for at least 24 hours.

Not only was yesterday stressful because of another horrendous slaughter, but the police arrested Sea Shepherd activist Erwin Vermeulen while he was trying to document the transfer of Risso's dolphins from the harbor pens into the above ground pools at Dolphin Resort, for allegedly pushing a Dolphin Resort employee. I was able to speak with the police about the future possibilities today, though a lot is still uncertain. According to Japanese law, he may be held for several days without being allowed contact with his fellow Sea Shepherd teammates, and even after that it could be another 20 days without visitation, depending on if there is an investigation and how it progresses. In my short, one hour watch on the rarely utilized mountain pass road this morning, I spoke with our Safety Police, and was intentionally driven past by the Coast Guard once, and Riot Police twice. One thing is for sure, things have definitely changed here in Taiji, and will likely continue to change as this case progresses.

Here is my official Save Japan Dolphins report from yesterday's slaughter and capture of yet another innocent pod of Risso's dolphins. More to come later...

~

It feels like Groundhog Day, and we're being forced to live the same day over and over again, here in Taiji, Japan.

All twelve banger boats left on the hunt for dolphins this morning and found them almost immediately. It was yet another small pod of approximately ten to twelve Risso's dolphins. Since the boats had found them so close to shore, the dolphins still had a lot of energy and fight in them, and resisted the fishermen's efforts to push them into the Cove, at least for a short while. We've never heard of the dolphins escaping once the boats have pushed them to the harbor entrance, but we were hoping today would be a first. We watched the drama unfold in front of us, and it all felt way too familiar. Once they were in the Cove, we could see several babies surfacing alongside their mothers.
There was one dolphin swimming around with a fresh injury to its dorsal fin; the whole top had been severed off. It looked as though it had run into a propeller, which wouldn't be a surprise after watching the small skiffs speed right through the center of the pod so many times in an attempt to control their movements.

Again, trainers from Dolphin Base arrived and disappeared under the tarps in the killing Cove to make their purchase for captivity. Today they chose only one juvenile. Once again I left the scene of the slaughter in order to meet them at the sea pens. The skiff carrying the baby motored over to the same pen the two young Risso's from yesterday's capture are now living in. The trainers kept this little dolphin in the sling for a few minutes and were huddled over it, taking measurements. Finally, two trainers got in the water and nursed it into the pen. It immediately joined the other Risso's dolphins. I wonder if they'd ever met and played together in the ocean.

Back at the Cove, a skiff departed carrying two to four live dolphins underneath a tarp, drove a ways offshore, and returned empty handed. It is unknown what the fishermen were doing. It could be that they were taking the mothers and juveniles back out to sea; however they have killed babies in the past, and if that is what they were doing, why would they cover it up? I also wonder how they would identify the proper mother in such a chaotic grouping of dolphins. If these dolphins did manage to survive today, they will be forever emotionally scarred from the loss of their family. What a lonely night this will be for them.

The rest of the pod was killed in the secrecy of the Cove.

No dolphins were taken to the harbor pens today, but all was not quiet. Two skiffs filled with trainers from Dolphin Resort were loading Risso's dolphins into slings. I drove to the resort, hoping to document the crane lifting the dolphins out of the water and into the pools high above ground level, but they had gotten permission from local police to temporarily close the roads leading to the ocean side of the resort, so I was unable to watch. Clearly they do not want us to share with the world their involvement in the dolphin slaughter. At least we were able to verify who had purchased the dolphins.

Tomorrow is Saturday and supposedly the fishermen will have the day off, along with the next two Saturdays, until the hunting resumes again after their holiday break. I know I could use a day off to rejuvenate, and the dolphins will hopefully take tomorrow to continue on their way, far from this country.

Official SJD report from 12/16 Risso's slaughter & capture

2011-12-15T22:46:00.000-08:00

The hits just keep on coming here in Taiji. More blood was spilled into the Cove today, marking four out of the last five days as kill days. Watching a slaughter is never easy, though those who have been here will tell you that some are harder to watch than others, and for me, today was an especially hard day.

I almost refused to believe it when we saw the drive formation this morning. They could not possibly kill more dolphins today, but unfortunately that's exactly what happened. Again we hiked up Takababe. I noticed I started getting tired sooner and sooner into the climb, since my muscles haven't had any time to rest. I can't complain though, because with every step I take I know the dolphins are pumping their flukes like crazy, trying to swim away from the terrifying sound being produced by the banger boats and are ten times more exhausted and frightened than I am.

The fishermen had found yet another pod of Risso's dolphins. Like the striped dolphins murdered yesterday, this pod was too tired to put up much of a fight and was slowly pushed into the cove. The dolphins were then netted off in the killing cove, and dolphin trainers arrived on a skiff. At first, two dolphins had managed to stay on the other side of the net, just outside the killing cove. They watched and listened as their family was run right up onto the rocky beach. I guess the dolphin trainers wanted to see all the available 'merchandise' though, because they did not make their selections until the other two had been driven into the killing cove as well.

Three dolphins were purchased from the dolphin killers for captive display. One was taken to the harbor pens, the other two were taken to Dolphin Base. The remaining seven or eight were murdered. At this time I descended back down Takababe and drove to Dolphin Base to watch the Risso's begin their degraded life of slavery in the tiny sea pens. This turned out to be the absolute worst thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

I know that the slaughter and captivity are directly linked – that becomes obvious when you follow the money trail – but I'd never before witnessed the link in its entirety. Dolphin Base already had two Risso's recently purchased from two separate drive hunts, but they are currently in a very small pen along with two bottlenose dolphins and one pilot whale; very crowded. The dolphin trainers must have decided there was not enough room for two more Risso's, so they put them in another pen along with two false killer whales. Watching this happen was excruciatingly upsetting. After the first dolphin was pushed through the small opening in the net, the trainers gazed down into the pen. I watched for it to surface, but saw nothing. Eventually the trainers seemed to panic and one dove into the water. After a moment he reappeared at the surface, put on his fins, and dove back down again. Another trainer joined. When they resurfaced they brought the Risso's dolphin with them, holding it up. It then tried to swim right through the net, and they had to turn it around. The second dolphin was pushed into the pen, and the same thing happened. Both Risso's were held at the surface for a while by trainers and had to continually be turned away from the nets. This is an example of capture myopathy – the dolphins are so stressed by the capture process that they go into shock. Many dolphins go into cardiac arrest during capture and die. After the trainers were confident the dolphins could swim on their own, they tied up the skiff and left. The Risso's began swimming in a very tight circle with one another, around and around and around, in the same small section of the pen. They had no idea how to exist in the confines of the nets. For wild dolphins, boundaries are an unknown concept that they are mentally unequipped to deal with.

As if their kidnapping from the ocean, murder of their family, and entrance into prison weren't enough for them to deal with, I also worry about their pen mates. False killer whales have been known to attack and feed on smaller dolphins, as well as sperm whales and humpback whales. I can only imagine that this tendency would be exacerbated by the small confines and stressful environment. The two Risso's that were captured today were juveniles and are terrified and vulnerable, and now intruding on the false killer whales’ space. I hope their shared painful memory of capture helps them bond and support one another, rather than create a more dangerous situation for the Risso's.

When the sun rose this morning in Japan, three dolphins frolicked with their family in the seemingly endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean. In a matter of hours, the fishermen took everything away from them; they've taken them away their home, they've killed their family, and they've stolen their freedom. The aquariums that gave large sums of money to the fishermen in exchange for the unrightful ownership of these dolphins rewarded them for this and ensured that the captures and slaughters will continue.

Those who buy a ticket to a dolphinarium anywhere in the world are unwittingly telling the aquariums that days like today are not only acceptable, but should continue. Those who buy a ticket to a dolphinarium unknowingly have just as much blood on their hands as the fishermen of Taiji. Knowledge is power, and now you know. Regardless of your views on captivity in the past, please understand the link between today's events and make a pledge to never again support this cruel industry.

Taiji Take Two: So absolutely tired.

2011-12-15T05:13:00.000-08:00

The summery of our week so far: 5 days, 4 slaughters, 2 species, 7 captures, and about 50 dead dolphins.

So, needless to say, I am exhausted. In fact, the whole town of Taiji is tired for one reason or another. Halfway through the day, myself and the Cove Guardians are about 100% drained from the stress of watching a slaughter and capture, trying to figure out what goes on behind the scenes, and attempting to capture footage that will inspire people to do more to help end this. Then we have to spend the rest of the day sorting through footage (I typically take a minimum of 1,000 pictures on a slaughter day) trying to come up with an accurate dolphin count, and reporting to the world the tragedy that we've witnessed and the dolphins have endured. We're (or at least I am) tired from waking up before the sun every morning, running around town, and hiking up Takababe. I'm tired of the senseless and unnecessary slaughter of some of the smartest and most social animals on Earth; animals who possess their own culture, a culture that understands sustainability and does not involve enslaving other species or coming onto land and inhumanely chasing down and murdering entire family units. I'm tired of the continued imprisonment of these animals, in unnatural environments, in the name of bad education and twisted entertainment that teaches children nothing about the natural lives of dolphins, only that it is ok to exploit them. I'm tired of people still buying tickets to dolphin shows despite being taught this information. I'm tired of meeting so many amazing people, only to have to turn around say goodbye. I'm tired of this whole situation, and yet I will never turn my back on it.

We're not the only tired ones though. The police are, I'm sure, exhausted from working 24 hour long shifts which are spent following us around town, making sure we're acting within Japanese law, and keeping everyone in Taiji safe. I imagine they are tired of being in Taiji altogether, and would much rather be at home with their families. Hopefully they're at least getting paid very well for this.

The fishermen must be tired of this situation as well. They now have to cover up their every move, which at least doubles the amount of work they do in a day. They're probably tired of not finding as many dolphins as they used to, as well, but that's because most of them have already been killed. I think they're probably pretty tired of the criticism, too. Same goes with the dolphin trainers, the meat buyers, etc., etc.

The dolphins are especially tired. Tired of running, tired of being hunted down in their own ocean, tired from the stress of watching their family die, and tired of being starved, imprisoned, and forced to do unnatural behaviors in captivity. They're tired of watching their pen mates suffer, like Jiyu, a dolphin who was completely mentally unable to handle the stress of it all, and in the end was killed by the same fishermen who killed his family.

Someone, somewhere, is tired of pumping so much money into all the extra police and coast guard detail, and cover up expenses.

The citizens of Japan who consume dolphin meat are probably tired, because mercury poisoning often increases fatigue. Since dolphins have such high levels of mercury and other toxins, if you consume it, you can expect to have mercury poisoning.

Sorry, but despite our exhaustion and your own, we're not going anywhere. What's happening here in Taiji (and so many other places in the world) is wrong and we will continue to fight for the dolphins until you realize why we are fighting so hard and decide to change for the better, or until the last dolphin of Japan takes its final breath. Until then, we will be here.

peering under the tarps, watching the distribution of the dolphin meat

a skiff carrying towing a newly purchased captive dolphin exits the killing cove and passes by a banger boat.

dazed and confused, two Risso's dolphins attempt to cope with the days events, as well as their new confiment

Seven or eight Risso's dolphins lost their lives in the cove today, while another three were sentenced to a life in prison for a crime they did not commit. I watched the process from beginning to end - from the dolphins swimming in the ocean, to being dumped into sea pens, confused at the unfamiliar concept of walls and boundaries, to the meat being distributed to disgusting, unsanitary warehouses in Taiji. Unbelievable how some people don't get the connection.

Official Save Japan Dolphin report on this to come tomorrow...

Taiji Take Two: 3 slaughters, 2 days, 37 dead dolphins

2011-12-14T23:47:00.000-08:00

Three slaughters in four days – what an awful week it is shaping up to be here in Taiji. Once again, only ten banger boats left the harbor to go hunting this morning; the other two were still quietly tied up in their slip for reasons unknown to us. At about 9 o'clock we got word from others at a different lookout point that some boats appeared to be in drive formation far offshore. From our view, we spotted three boats, all heading back into the harbor. We knew they could be heading in to prepare nets and things at the Cove, so we held our excitement. Soon enough I saw the drive formation for myself, and I was able to spot dorsal fins between the boats. My heart sank; I couldn't believe there was going to be another slaughter.

From Takababe Mountain, I watched the fishermen and pod of 14 striped dolphins slowly progress closer and closer to shore. These dolphins were not eluding the fishermen like some pods do; instead they were hardly moving at all. They weren't trying to run away, but they did not want to go into the Cove, either. They appeared completely exhausted at this point, having been driven in from so far offshore. The banging on the poles was only sporadic by this point and no longer necessary. Instead the fishermen slowly pushed the dolphins towards the entrance to the Cove until they were finally able to put up a net.

Striped dolphins are notorious for panicking in the shallow Cove, and they typically throw their bodies up on the sharp rocks and thrash around on them for many minutes before the fishermen get to them to kick their bodies back into the water. What an agonizing last few minutes on this Earth! So today, when we confirmed the species, I found it increasingly difficult to breathe for fear of what may happen. Once the net had been drawn, the fishermen immediately got to work pushing them deeper into the Cove and out of our sight. They didn't want our cameras to capture the bloody scene of dolphins beaching themselves and tearing their skin on the rocks just to escape from the fishermen and their murder weapons. After the final push under the tarps, we could no longer see the dolphins, but we could hear them trashing around in the shallow water. We could hear them dying.

The dead bodies of the striped dolphins were immediately thrown into skiffs and taken to the Fishermen's Union in the harbor for slicing and dicing. The siren rang loud throughout the town, signaling to buyers that the meat was ready. Several trucks backed into the slaughterhouse, and, after being loaded up with dead dolphin, they took off to various locations throughout the town and probably beyond, distributing the meat. It's almost unbelievable that at the start of this morning, these beautiful dolphins were swimming free in the ocean. Within four hours they'd been killed, chopped up, and absorbed by the town of Taiji, all before the warmth had even left their bodies.

No dolphins were sold into captivity today, so we can at least take comfort in knowing their suffering is now over. They have been brutally ripped out of this world, but fortunately their pain did not follow them to the other side. For the three Risso's dolphins captured at the beginning of this week, their heartache continues. It has only been a few days since they lost their family and their whole world. The profit of the meat sold today is nothing compared to the profits made by the pending sales of the captive Risso's. It is not the meat that sustains this slaughter, but the captivity industry. Without their financial backing this operation could not continue.

We can end the slaughter by ending the demand for captive dolphins. Do not support dolphinariums, captive swim-with programs, or resorts that own dolphins. Tell your friends, family, and the world the link between aquariums all across the world and this little body of water here in Taiji, Japan.

Taiji Take Two: Dolphin Base

2011-12-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

After Sunday's slaughter and capture I drove to Dolphin Base to check on the Risso's dolphin captured just an hour prior. I was in pain, it was in more pain than I could imagine, and I just wanted to sit with it for a while. As I was gazing out at the Risso's, lost somewhere in my mind, I caught a glimpse of a dolphin surfacing on the outside of the pens. This was very confusing to see, I thought maybe I'd imagined it. It surfaced again, so no, I wasn't seeing things. Ok, next question, what was it doing there? Had it jumped out? Escape through a hole in the net? Did the trainers who were busy feeding the others know it was out there? Did they care? After more observation I saw that the trainers did indeed know, and there were two other dolphins out there as well, all bottlenose. Later, when I saw the others, Nicole told me that the trainers do occasionally let the dolphins out, but that she didn't know why. I wasn't able to visit Dolphin Base yesterday due to the lengthy slaughter, but when we visited it today I saw again these dolphins swimming free. It was starting to get dark though, and the trainers brought the dolphins back in the pens before leaving for the night.

These dolphins looked like they were having an absolute blast out there. They were ripping through the water, porpoising at high speed, as if they were finally able to stretch their muscles after being crammed in their tiny confinement. They circled the perimeter of the pens over and over again, spending time with the other captives. Whenever a boat drove past, the dolphins porpoised after it and began bowriding. My heart was pounding seeing this. I kept saying to myself, "Go, go go!" Get out of here, you have to go!!" But of course whenever the dolphins started following a vessel, it would slow down until they got bored and swam off. The drivers must have some sort of understanding with Dolphin Base so that they don't lead the dolphins out to open ocean. Every once in a while they would swim over to the main pen, and the trainers would rush over and start interacting with them. I could not tell what was going on, but the trainers did not appear panicked in the slightest. They gave the dolphins commands, tossed them a treat, and when the dolphins swam away the trainers resumed feeding the others.

What was going on here? I was so confused and wished I could ask for some sort of explanation from the trainers, but I don't know that any of them speak English and I didn't want them to misinterpret me, or think I was trying to harass them, so I just kept watching. At one point the trainers used fish to coax the dolphins back into the pen, but they did not pull the net closed and the dolphins once again swam free.

Why do the dolphins stick around? Why don't they swim far and fast, away from Taiji, never looking back? I have a few thoughts on this; the dolphins may not want to leave the others behind, or maybe they're terrified of the path of the exit back to the ocean. They constantly can hear the banging and cries of pods being driven in and killed, so if I were them, I'm not sure I'd want to swim that direction. Or perhaps they've become so brainwashed and broken by the stress of captivity that they're now mentally dependent on their trainers. During the process of Keiko's (Free Willy) rehabilitation, they actually had to teach Keiko how to think for himself again. If he came up with a new behavior on his own, then he'd be rewarded - but he would not get a reward for performing the same behavior twice, it had to be different, and a creation from his own mind. So many people want us to go out to the pens at night and cut the nets, but (besides being illegal) that would achieve nothing. With the probable exception of the newly caught dolphins, they would likely not swim away. They can all absolutely be released back into the wild, but they would need rehabilitation first. It's just like counseling after a traumatic event.

Those some possibilities I can think of from the dolphin's perspective, but what about the trainers? Why do they let the dolphins out at all? In doing so, they're more or less admitting that it is inappropriate to keep dolphins in confinement. If they're so confident that they can let the dolphins out and they will not leave, then why keep them locked up at all? Why not just cut the nets and let the dolphins swim freely, and still coming back for feeding and training sessions? Seriously, if there are any trainers out there reading this, I'd love to know. Please feel free to share your reasoning behind this, I would love to have an actual conversation with you, I think we would both learn a lot.

I do have to say, it has been really really nice seeing the dolphins playing free, even though I know it is only temporary. The only dolphins I've seen since I've been here have been either swimming for their lives, or being held prisoner as some sick form of entertainment and bad education. Watching the bottlenoses zip around and play alongside the boats has helped to heal my soul a bit, after a couple very difficult days in Taiji, Japan.

Taiji Take Two: Another day, another slaughter

2011-12-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

Apologies for not getting my blog out last night. It was a very difficult night for me, having to deal with two slaughter and capture days in a row, and the stress got the better of me. I started to write last night, but I fell asleep before I finished.

Now I shall just pass on my Save Japan Dolphins report, and will blog again later today :)

After yesterday's slaughter, one might think that the dolphin killers of Taiji would take today off, but greed never rests. Only 10 banger boats went out this morning, but they were successful in finding yet another pod of Risso's dolphins. They drove them into the harbor entrance, but they were unable to drive the whole pod into the Cove in one swoop. After pushing the first four through the entrance, they sealed the Cove off and went back for the rest of the group.

This turned out to be a very tough fight between the dolphins and dolphin killers; it was if the dolphins knew what fate waited for them around the corner. Time and time again the nine Risso's managed to slip underneath the seven boats chasing them and make a mad dash for safety, but the speedy skiffs and banger boats were always able to maneuver around them and scare them back towards the Cove. I was amazed how often I saw them leap completely out of the water – I know they had to have been absolutely exhausted at this point. They were making an extremely valiant effort in the fight for their lives, but just couldn't find a safe route back to open water. The fishermen were getting extremely frustrated with the chase as well. We could hear it in their voices as they shouted to one another above the roaring engines and pole banging. After about an hour of this, the fishermen had not gotten the dolphins any closer into the Cove, and finally they strung a net between two banger boats and encircled the pod, and basically dragged them in. Once the net separating them from the rest of their family was removed, they joined together in a tight group, terrified and exhausted, but together.

Just like yesterday, two skiffs of dolphin trainers arrived on scene to assess the catch. Dolphin Base trainers left empty-handed, but another skiff of trainers towed one dolphin alongside in a sling to the harbor pens, where it joined the two captured in yesterday's drive hunt. Hopefully they can find comfort in each other, now that they share a similar and tragic story.

The other twelve pod members were murdered and their bodies towed to the butcher house for processing and distribution.

All dolphins deserve to live. We have absolutely no right to end their lives for any reason; however these ones seemed to deserve it a little more. They fought bravely and gave their all in the effort to simply go on living in their ocean world, but in the end greed, money, and technology won. Another innocent family was removed from our world, and one poor captive dolphin will forever be haunted by the memory of today.

Taiji Take Two: Waiting for an absolution

2011-12-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

I hate writing blogs on days like this, and today's been a long one.

The boats went out and within 40 minutes they'd spotted a pod of Risso's who'd unfortunately chosen to swim close to the shores of Taiji. They pretty easily drove the pod into the harbor entrance, and then into the cove. It was going to be a slaughter day. What I hadn't seen before was a capture. Obviously dolphinariums are directly linked to the slaughter, I don't have to see a capture with my own eyes to understand that, but today I saw it firsthand. After the dolphins had been netted off in the cove, two groups of trainers showed up - Dolphin Base and possibly Taiji Whale Museum trainers, who actually caught a ride into the cove on a banger boat. Lovely. They did their thing in secrecy, picking out the dolphins they'd save from death and instead sentence to a life of mental anguish and exploitation. After they'd chosen the special three, they put them in a sling attached to the side of two skiffs and off they went to Dolphin Base and the harbor pens. The trainers covered the dorsal fins in a white towel, which at first I thought was an attempt to cover up what they were transporting (as if you couldn't tell otherwise) but then I noticed they kept dipping another white towel in the water and it looked like they were keeping the dolphin's back wet. Really? You're ok with ripping a dolphin from the wild and from its family, giving copious amounts of money to people who murder dolphins, and being pretty much the sole financial backer to this whole inhumane and outdated operation, but you're concerned about a dolphin's back drying out during the 5 minute boat ride, as if that would be cruel? I must have that wrong. You guys gotta help me understand here...

After the captives were taken away, the fishermen started hauling out the dead bodies of the other 13 dolphins. They took three trips, passing the dolphins off to a banger boat waiting just outside the cove that could better handle the weight. During the transfer, the dolphins were tied up by their tails and were being dragged through the water, then all of the sudden a Risso's head popped up and then arched back down underwater. The poor thing was still alive. Unbelievable. So the fishermen had likely inserted their long metal spike into the dolphin's spine to kill it, but they had missed, as I'm sure they often do. Did the dolphin become paralyzed and the fishermen assumed it had died? Or did they just not care to take the time to put it out of its misery because they knew it would drown on the way to the butcher house? Unknown to us, but I can say that dolphin suffered. A lot. Completely needlessly. I wonder how often this happens.

This slaughter was a little different for me than the previous ones I'd witnessed. Because there are so many of us here now, we were able to spread out and cover different vantage points. For the first time I stood alone in silence as I watched today's events unfold. After I filled my first memory card, I put my camera down for a moment and just took it all in. I am pretty good at distancing myself from what's going on by hiding behind my lens. Things like this are easier to watch through a view finder. But today I felt like I owed it to the dolphins to be present and in the moment for their last minutes in this world. Without the camera shutter or nearby voices I was able to hear each exhalation as panicked dolphins surfaced amongst each other. My heart was breaking in a million pieces because there was nothing I could do to save them. How is it that it's legal for these men to extinguish a small community just because they want to, but it is illegal for me to try and save the lives of others? This is such a messed up world we live in. It isn't just Japan, it's our whole species.

After it was all over I needed to go to Dolphin Base. I wasn't handling what had happened very well, especially knowing there were others struggling so much more than I was, so I wanted to go and sit with the Risso's survivor now in a pen at Dolphin Base. I don't think it knew I was there or felt my presence. I don't think it had any idea what was happening. But I wanted to sit there and send it my love anyways.

This morning a pod of Risso's dolphins were swimming in the blue seas off the coast of Japan, watching the sun rise over their ocean world. Because of the greed and arrogance of a group of fishermen, this family is now gone forever. The broken pieces cannot be put back together. The three surviving dolphins will have to carry the memory of this day with them for the rest of their miserable captive lives. And again, there's nothing I can do to fix this for them. If I could be alongside the Risso's at Dolphin Base right now, I would be. If I could stroke its head and tell it everything will be ok, I would. Instead, all I have is this computer and the few thoughts I've managed to put words to, and it's just not enough.

Taiji Take Two: May peace prevail on Earth

2011-12-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

We've been told that the fishermen will not be working on Saturdays anymore until after the new year, and when we went out to check this morning all was calm and quiet in the harbor. What a great way to start the day, knowing that no dolphins will be slaughtered in Taiji! The fishermen took the day off so we got the day off as well! I got to play tourist today and visit areas outside of Taiji and KiiKatsuura. We took the opportunity to drive to Nachi Falls, the highest waterfall in Japan, and see the nearby temples. It was a long and exhausting hike up the rock stairs, but once we got to the top we had a spectacular view. It was such a beautiful area, both the natural scenery and the cultural architecture. As we were walking through I saw a post that said in English "May peace prevail on Earth" and what I'm assuming is the Japanese translation. What a beautiful and powerful thought, in such a cultural area of Japan. I couldn't help but think about the war at the cove. After looking around for a while we walked back down and continued past the parking lot to a viewing area at the base of the waterfall. There was an area for prayers and candle lighting, so I lit a candle and said a prayer for the sentiments of that sign; I prayed for peace to prevail for the dolphins of Taiji.

It has been six days since dolphins have been slaughtered in the cove. If the weather is decent tomorrow, which it's supposed to be, I imagine the fishermen will be working hard to find another innocent pod to eliminate or enslave. Their catch this year is extremely far behind where they were at this day last year. As of December 10th 2010, about 440 dolphins had been killed. This year they've only killed about 50% of that. We're halfway through the season and they've caught about 10% of their total kill quota. This is good news and bad. Good, for obvious reasons, fewer dolphins have been murdered. But WHY have fewer dolphins been killed? The pod sizes they're driving in are much smaller this year, and there have been many days that they've come back to the harbor empty handed. It's definitely possible that they're finding pods but unable to drive them in, but there's also the fact that there are fewer and fewer dolphins now swimming along coast of Japan. Many (if not most) have killed here at the hands of these fishermen. It would be interesting to know the population size from year to year, but of course no research has been done on this.

It's a beautifully clear night here in Japan. We sat in Taiji for a while and watched the full moon rising in the sky, throwing a bright reflection into cove. Dolphins will look up at that sky tonight and see the twinkle of stars surrounding an eclipsed moon. For some, this may be the last time they see the moon and the stars. Hopefully our candle burns bright through the night and our prayers are answered, and peace will prevail on Earth.

Taiji Take Two: Family.

2011-12-09T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am, back in Taiji! I knew when I departed I would be back, but I didn't realize it would be so soon. It feels like I never left, I feel right at home here, back in our cozy hotel lobby. When I picked up my rental car they even gave me the same one I had before. Driving here feels more natural than driving back home now, and I was surprised when I flipped on my blinker without thinking and the windshield wipers didn't start - the blinker and windshield wipers are on the opposite side of the steering wheel here. Guess it all came back quickly!

Today was my first full day here, so I was able to go into Taiji this morning and watch and wait for the fishermen to decide whether or not to take the boats out and search for dolphins. The wind was supposed to pick up offshore, and the fishermen stayed in. I stayed up on the lookout and watched the activity in the harbor. The fishermen were loading massive amounts of nets on the gutting barge, but I have no idea why, since they haven't used the gutting barge since last year. To be honest, rarely do I understand why these men do what they do.

Since we had the day off I took the opportunity to check on how the captives have been doing since my departure. At Dolphin Base the pilot whale was logging in the same corner I last saw it. It is clearly very depressed, and makes little effort to move. From what I can see of it, which isn't much, it doesn't look terribly emaciated, so it must be eating something, but it is clearly unhealthy. One difference since I was here last is an additional dolphin in the pen. On December 4th a small group of about ten Risso's dolphins were driven into the cove and three were handpicked by dolphin trainers for display before the others were slaughtered. One was transported directly to Dolphin Base, and put in the pen with the pilot whale and at least one bottlenose dolphin. The other two were taken to the harbor pens, and yesterday they were moved into a tank at Dolphin Resort via cranes and slings. How awful. One week ago these dolphins were wild and free and in the company of their family. Then just five days ago they were intercepted by humans and their lives were ruined for forever. I wonder what is going through their dolphin minds right now.

At the Taiji Whale Museum I really wanted to check on the status of the striped dolphin, but they've erected so many dead branches to block our view from the parking lot that I was unable to see if the poor thing was even still there. It's just like how the fishermen cover up the slaughter; if they don't think they're doing anything wrong then why are they going to so much work to hide it? We walked around to the back of the museum and saw the captives being held in the sea pens there, which I hadn't seen before. From what I gather they have an inlet netted off and several sea pens inside. For performances they let certain dolphins out of their pens, and when the show is over they call them back into the pens. At least these ones have a slight hint of a natural environment, unlike the dolphins up top living in concrete tanks, but it was still incredibly heartbreaking to watch. The performance we saw involved three dolphins; a pilot whale, a false killer whale, and a Risso's dolphin. This is my first time seeing a false killer whale, and my first time seeing more than a fraction of a back of a pilot whale. Unfortunately I've seen many Risso's, all at the cove. After the show ending, a couple trainers put a tube down a dolphin's throat and poured water and some dark colored mixture down the tube. Perhaps they needed to give it some medicine? They also shoved a tube up the genital slit of the pilot whale and Risso's and appeared to be reading some instrument. This may be for taking temperatures. What a life these poor creatures are forced to endure.

Later on we were gathered in the lobby and I watched video footage of the pilot whale/Risso's/falsie show. As I watched the three float almost lifelessly, together but still alone, I was overwhelmed with sadness for how incredibly lonely they must be, especially since these species all have very tight, long term bonds in the wild. I wonder if they take comfort in each others company, and if they have forged a friendship. While I was thinking about this I heard a familiar tune on the hotel speakers, it was Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You. I've heard this song a few times while I've been here, and of course it reminds me that I will be missing Christmas with my family this year, for the first time ever. That's a pretty lonely and depressing thought. And then my mind went back to these three dolphins. These three dolphins will be without their family this Christmas, too. In fact, these three dolphins will never see their families again, because they've been slaughtered. I can't feel sad about missing a few days with my family because soon I will return home to them. These dolphins will never get that opportunity. Their pain and loneliness is stronger that any of us can probably comprehend. To make things worse, on top of their heartbreak they are forced to obey the commands of humans every day just to get a bit of food.

I absolutely believe that some trainers do love dolphins. If they didn't, we wouldn't see ex-trainers coming out against this industry, because they wouldn't care about the effects captivity has on dolphins. I also believe that many of the people who sign up to be a dolphin trainer simply enjoy ordering another being around. In regards to those trainers who do love dolphins, I'm certain they have blinders on. They either don't understand the difference between captive and wild dolphins, and they don't see or understand why captivity is so mentally and physically harmful to them, or they are in absolute denial. I'm sure there are many aspects of captivity that make certain trainers uncomfortable or maybe even downright upset, but they somehow twist it and justify it in their heads, probably with the help of their coworkers and superiors.

For those trainers, there is hope for change, and this can come in the form of education and a willingness to listen and talk. To the dolphin trainers of the world, while you're spending time with your family this holiday season, take a moment to think about the dolphins that were kidnapped from their families and forced into a life they weren't meant for. Think about how you would feel if your whole family and all of your friends were murdered and you would never get to see them again. Think about it, ask questions, have a discussion with someone who has an opposite viewpoint on captivity, and then keep that line of communication open. Watch dolphins in the wild, be it in person or a documentary, and compare their behavior to captives. If you really do love dolphins, you'll understand why captivity just doesn't work, you just have to open your eyes. In the meantime, my door is always open for those who would like to have such a discussion.

left to right: Risso's dolphin, pilot whale, false killer whale

false killer whale

pilot whale performing a trick, Risso's with tube inserted

beautiful belly of a Risso's dolphin

depressed pilot whale at Dolphin Base

Day 20: To Be Continued...

2011-11-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in my bed, writing this on my last night in Japan. It was a great day all things considered; gorgeous weather, no dolphins driven into the cove, and time spend with good friends, but still I've been a mess this whole day.

When I came to this country three weeks ago I was terrified. Terrified I wouldn't get past Immigrations, terrified I'd get lost and wouldn't find my city or hotel, and terrified of the sights I knew lay ahead of me. When I came to this country three weeks ago I was a different person, and it seems like just yesterday and forever ago, all at the same time. I spent my first night crying on the ground in the middle of the airport. Tomorrow I will return to the airport, and can foresee a similar scene. It won't be because I'm alone and afraid though, but because I honestly don't want to leave Japan, Taiji, or the dolphins.

I've met some amazing people here, and have had the extreme pleasure of working alongside truly dedicated and passionate people all working towards the same goal: ending dolphin slaughter everywhere, saving the oceans, and ultimately saving ourselves. I've gotten to know a few amazing Japanese citizens, as well. This was my first time leaving my country (with the exception of Canada, which really doesn't count), so I don't have anything to compare Japan to, all I can say is that I really love it here. Obviously I've been discriminated against on certain occasions, but for the most part the people here are extremely kind and welcoming. If only the people here could treat our ocean with the same level of respect.

I had some goodbyes to say today, and a few more saved for tomorrow. All day I've had this horrible empty feeling in my body, and I know it will only get worse once my plane lifts off. I feel like I'm abandoning what I believe in, abandoning my friends still here, and most importantly abandoning the dolphins in cages and the ones yet to be caught and murdered. It may not do them any good for me to be here, watching and documenting their suffering, but at least I feel like I'm doing as much as I can. Now it just feels like I'm moving on and leaving all of this in my past, as if the 'real world' awaits me. Most people will I'm sure try and reassure me, and tell me that this isn't the case, I can still help from home, I can always return in the future, etc., but to anyone who's ever been here, I know you know what I'm saying. What an awful and consuming feeling this is.

All I can say right now is that this isn't over. I will return to Taiji, hopefully sooner rather than later, and I will continue to fight for the rights of cetaceans until the day I die, or the day the last remaining dolphins die, whichever comes first. They have every right on Earth to live in peace. They have that right just as much as we do, if not more. They are not the problem, we are. They do not start global wars or massively pollute the environment or wipe out major fish stocks one by one until all the populations become critically endangered. They do not use other species to experiment on, kill in excess, or kill for fun. Unlike humans, dolphins do not treat the overall health of their habitat with indifference. Instead they've learned and practice the concept of sustainability. They are incredibly intelligent animals with a complex social structure. They too have culture, and they pass their culture and traditions to younger generations, who will in turn teach their children. They don't come onto land and into our homes and murder us in cold blood, one by one, or take captives for the sheer purpose of amusement. We do all of these things to them though, and we're the ones single-handedly destroying the planet, yet somehow the general consensus among humans is that we're the superior beings. There are certain species we tend to fear, like sharks and bears and lions, because we've wandered into their territory and occasionally became dinner, but I wonder what every other species in the world thinks of us? We must be the most terrifying creatures of all. There is not a species out there that we don't harm or exploit in some way or another.

We can do so much harm to our planet and our fellow Earthlings, but we can also do amazingly great things. We have the power to start saving lives rather than ending them on mass scale. We have the science to nurse our ocean back to health and once again have plentiful, thriving seas. Save our seas, save our planet, save ourselves.

But we can't do this unless we cooperate. Together we stand, divided we fall. We can play it us vs. them, but that game can and will go on for a long, long time, probably until it's all too late anyways. There's too much pride at work to simply force a country (or a small but powerful percentage of said country) to end a practice it does not want to end. At this point I wonder what drives these fishermen more; their desire to kill eat dolphins, or our desire for them to stop?

I feel like all I'm doing is preaching to the choir, which sure, boosts my spirits, but it will never accomplish anything. Hopefully during my three weeks here, someone somewhere in the world, preferably Japan, has read something on here that has ignited a spark in them to help us end the cruel and heartless practice of dolphin slaughter and captivity worldwide. The change needs to come from within this country, not from us trying to force it on them. I wish I could stay here and help open lines of communication with the people who can end this once and for all, but like I say, I will be back again. And hopefully I will see Japan willingly and enthusiastically leave this tradition in the past, where it belongs.

Thank you to everyone who's been so supportive of my journey, your words of encouragement have helped to keep me going. Thanks to Leah and Rosie for teaching me so much, and working so tirelessly for the dolphins. You ladies are amazing and an inspiration and I will miss you very much. Thanks to Martyn for always making me laugh. You've really helped to get me through some very difficult times, probably more than you'll ever know. In your absence we've had plenty of Martyn quotes, and while it's not the same, they suffice. :)

A very special thanks goes out to Tetsuya and all of the police here who work insanely long days and forfeit time with their families in order to keep us safe. I have the utmost respect for each and every one of you, and will miss not having you around. I very much hope we will meet again in the future.

This will be my final blog, for now. Tomorrow I will reluctantly step on a plane, leaving a part of my heart behind with the many dolphins who've tragically lost their lives here, either in death or captivity. To the broken pod of Risso's and rough toothed dolphins, you will remain with me forever. I love you, and hope you have found your peace, and made your way far, far away from this dangerous coast and people here who hurt and misunderstand you. For you, I will never give up.

For the oceans...

Day 19: Where are you now?

2011-11-13T06:05:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful morning it was, complete with a perfectly pink sunrise. I've always had the ocean to the west of me, so every sunrise I've ever seen has been over mountains and land. Here, I get a sunrise over the ocean. I love beginning my day this way, waking up with the ocean.

The banger boats went out and we began our waiting game. A few hours went by, and we started to worry because weren't seeing them heading back in, having given up their search. Then we spotted a group of evenly spaced dots on the horizon - they were banger boats, and they had found a pod and were in drive formation. They eased the pod in, ever so slowly. The progress was painfully slow, which allowed us to have hope that the dolphins could still escape. It never happened. It is a horrible feeling watching the banger boats drive the dolphins into the harbor and past the point of no return. I can't even imagine the fear they felt, and what the captive dolphins in the harbor pens were feeling as well, having to listen to their cries.

Once they were in the cove it was sheer panic. The water looked like it was boiling with Risso's dolphins. Amongst the Risso's, we occasionally caught a glimpse of another dolphin species, a species with a beak. After a bit more observation we discovered there were two rough toothed dolphins in the mix. Not only are these dolphins quite rare to encounter, but Japan has no permit for catching or killing this species.

The small skiffs went into the cove and pushed the dolphins out of sight, into the killing cove. After a few minutes the two rough toothed dolphins reappeared, swimming together just outside the net separating them from the rest. Then, Risso's began to appear. Suddenly there were ten dolphins swimming in the tight group - eight Risso's and the two rough toothed dolphins. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see the rough toothed's swimming in such close proximity to the Risso's. It was so obvious that, even though they are a different species, they were terrified and needed the comfort of a pod, even if it wasn't their pod.

The dolphin killers were busy murdering their family in front of them, and when the killers were done they started dragging the bodies out of the cove. The skiff drove right through the center of that tight grouping of Risso's and rough toothed's, and split them on either side of the boat. The ones who were pushed to the right had to watch as their now dead family members were pulled through the water, just inches from them. I can't even begin to think about what that must have been like for them.

After the carcasses were taken around the corner to the butcher house, all the boats left the scene, and left the ten dolphins still netted off in the cove. We weren't sure what the fishermen's next move would be. Time stood still. I have no idea how long we sat there, mostly in silence, trying to cope with the events we'd just witnessed. We were hot, thirsty, and exhausted, but there was no way any of us would even think about taking our eyes off the still living dolphins for fear of what might happen.

After what felt like days, we began to hear boats returning. First came two skiffs, followed by seven banger boats. One skiff drove into the killing cove, and when it reappeared we realized that it had dropped some killers back off onto the beach. I felt a burning anger engulf my mind and body. Were they really going to kill them? Now? After making them suffer for so long? No, no they weren't. Instead, they drew back the net sealing in the cove, and after a skiff scared the dolphins out out, the banger boats began a reverse drive - they started driving the remaining dolphins back out to sea. The drive out looked like a mess. The pod kept splitting, not surprisingly though because they were even more tired at this point, plus they now associated death with the banging noise. From what we could see, it looked like the boats got them out of the entrance to the harbor, continued a short ways, and turned back for home.

Why did they let them go? As far as the rough toothed dolphins are concerned, that's pretty cut and dry. They had no permit to catch them, and they had to know we would see them. But why did they release just under half of the Risso's they'd worked so hard to get in the first place? The first dolphins that we saw after the final net was drawn were the rough toothed's. It wasn't until later that the Risso's were let out, it was absolutely deliberate on the dolphin killer's part. Why did they decide not to kill them? How did they decide how many and which individuals they would spare? I have no answers, only questions. I wish the fishermen had a public blog like all of us, and we could see into their minds like they see into ours. Perhaps we'd get a bit further if this weren't such a one sided conversation all the time.

With a full on slaughter, once it's over, it's over. The suffering has ended and hopefully the dolphins can be at peace. Today, there was death, but lives were also spared, and these dolphins are far from peace. My thoughts have been with these ten dolphins all day, and I know they will be with them for forever.

Where are you now? Were you able to navigate past all the fishing nets and boats and unfamiliar inshore waters, back out to the continental shelf? Or are you scared, lost, and confused, swimming circles in a place that must resemble hell to you, waiting in vain for the rest of your family to join you? Will you make it out of here before the banger boats go out again tomorrow? Which members of your pod are now missing? And what about you, rough toothed dolphins, where will you go? You witnessed an inhumane, heartless act that no one should ever have to endure, and the trauma must be affecting you terribly. Will you stay with the Risso's? Or are you two all alone?

The sun has set on this nightmare of a day, and I hope and pray that you can find some sort of peace so that you may rest your eyes and sleep, taking comfort in the company of one another. I'm so sorry for what my species has done to you, and I'm sorry for just standing there and watching it all happen. You have every right to live on this planet, and I hope that the people here will soon understand that. Rest in peace, both in life and death, beautiful dolphins.

And where are you, Taiji dolphin killers? In the comfort of your home, surrounded by your family? Will you even give a second thought to the family you destroyed just hours ago as you lay in bed tonight? Or will you sleep soundly, a belly full of dolphin, ignorant to the sufferings you've caused? You should be the ones mentally tortured right now, not the dolphins. Such a disgrace. Your actions make me embarrassed to be a part of the same species as you.

Huddled together for comfort, rough toothed's on the left outside

Skiff dragging bodies, pod just in front

Rough toothed dolphins, the bottom one has a bloody beak

Swimming for their lives

Terrified and heartbroken at the loss of their family, the dolphins huddle close to one another for comfort

Many of the dolphins were cut up after exiting the killing cove, like this one shown here

More injuries, this time to the dorsal fin. What did these fishermen do to them before deciding not to kill them?

Day 18: Extirpation

2011-11-12T06:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Japan, where are your pinnipeds? Everywhere has some species of seal or sea lion, so why do your beaches appear completely void of them? Maybe I'm missing something...

Naturally, I did a bit of research today to put this question to rest. Here's what I found out:

There are indeed a few species of seals who's range includes Japan, including the spotted seal and harbor seal. There was once a commercial hunt on seals, and although it has ceased, it is reported that they are still hunted on occasion.

I continued my research and learned a little bit more...

In addition to seals, Japan was also once the home of a sea lion species closely related to Guadalupe and California sea lions, appropriately named Japanese sea lions, and also known as black sea lions. These sea lions ranged along the west and east coast of Honshu, off Shikoku and Kyushu, in the Seto Inland Sea, and on islands in the Sea of Japan and the Izu region. A few stragglers could be found in the Kuril Islands to the north, and the east coast of South Korea. In the 1800's, scientists estimate the population was between 30,000-50,000. By the 1930's the population was down to about 300 individuals, and by the 1950's it had dropped to only a few dozen. This species is thought to have gone extinct sometime during that decade.

What was this species like? What did they eat? How long did they live? When and where did they birth and wean their pups? No one really knows. There is very little literature on this species, because so much is pure conjecture without being able to study a living population. I guess Japan's 'lethal research' program did not apply back then.

So what happened to the Japanese sea lion? They were hunted to extinction, wiped forever from our planet. According to my research, their meat was not eaten due to poor taste, instead they were harvested for their fur and oil. It is said that some organs were used in traditional medicine, and whiskers were used as pipe cleaners. It's also possible that they were targeted because fishermen saw them as competition. In addition to mass murder, many were taken for captivity. Now why does that sound familiar?

Extinction is forever; there's no going back once a species is gone. What will become of Japan's dolphins? They're killed indiscriminately, whenever they unknowingly venture too close to this country's many killing machines. I read earlier that (historically) fishermen would refrain from killing dolphin calves and females with calves. What happened to that part of the tradition? Now the dolphin killers rush out of the harbor every morning with the intentions of driving any and every cetacean they can into the cove, sparing only those who can be sold to aquariums. They are only able to drive dolphins so effectively because they have an insanely fast fleet of banger boats which dolphins are unable to outswim. Where is the tradition in that? It's just like how a few years ago, several individuals from the Makah Indian Tribe, which in the past has had a permit for subsistence hunting, set out in their speed boat and shot a gray whale using a machine gun. The concept may be a historical one, but nothing about this current method can be called traditional. No, this is no longer about tradition, more like arrogance and self-entitlement.

Even so, whether it can be considered tradition or not is completely beside the point. The Japanese sea lion is now extinct, and what are we left with? Was it worth it? And who gave you permission to eliminate an entire species, anyways? You annihilated them without consulting the rest of us here on Earth, and now we'll never have the opportunity to see them. How long until all of the dolphin species passing by the coast of Japan are extirpated due to captures and drive hunts? Even if quotas were to be set at a sustainable level, tradition could still not be used as a valid excuse. Every country has traditions that it has moved past. Take slavery for example; this U.S. tradition went on for centuries. Does that justify it? No. It only means that it took us that long to be forced to open our eyes to the insane cruelty we were teaching younger generations.

You say your dolphin drive hunts are tradition, I say it's high time that tradition end. Why not start passing down a new concept to your children, like respect, and the ability to coexist with the ocean's inhabitants? Why not turn in those white boots for a camera, and convert those speedy banger boats into whale watching vessels? Death is wasteful, however life is more valuable than we can comprehend. Turn that life into a successful wild dolphin watching tourism business, and you will survive just fine - I should know, that's how I make my living.

"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

Day 17: Leaving things a little better

2011-11-11T04:21:00.000-08:00

I laid in bed last night listening to the rain hitting my window. I've always loved this sound, it has a way of washing a feeling of calm over me. Here in Taiji, it relaxes me even more. The weather reports called for gale force winds today, and when we stepped outside this morning into the pouring down rain, we knew it there would be no dolphin killing in the cove.

The downside of the heavy wind was seen at Dolphin Base. The seapens were being tossed about by the waves, and you could see the dolphins working to avoid being slammed into the sides. It must have been exhausting for them. We moved on to monitor the dolphins at the Taiji Whale Museum and were unlucky enough to catch another show. This time only one of the bottlenose dolphins beached itself and vocalized. In a neighboring tank, another dolphin threw its body up onto the platform as well, though very awkwardly and on its side. It was echolocating like crazy. Normally this is a trick that would be rewarded with fish, however this dolphin was not a part of the show, and so it went unnoticed.

After the show ended it was time for the lovely guests to have their photo taken with a dolphin. The dolphin who had just completed the show beached itself again, and laid there with its mouth wide open. People walked by and barely glanced its way, as if that was some sort of normal resting behavior. This dolphin did not get a fish either, though the trainer did sit on it for a moment... What a loving sign of affection.

Before heading home Leah and I decided to stop off at the cove. Because of the high wind and surf, the beach was covered in debris. I noticed a big green piece of plastic that had washed up on the rocks and when I picked it up to discard it, I discovered it was a bag. Now I had a bag, and saw a ton of plastic crap dangerously near a beautiful ocean, and so I got to work. Leah and I were able to fill the whole bag with bottle caps, lighters, light bulbs, miscellaneous colorful plastic chips, larger plastic pieces, styrofoam bits, wrappers, rope, etc., etc. We even encountered some questionable objects like a tiny glass bottle with a rubber top that I'm pretty sure was meant for a syringe... I guess there's a wide array of bad behavior that goes on in that place.

The beach was by no means 100% plastic free after our visit, that would have take many more bags, and much more time, but it was substantially better. As we were leaving, Leah made a very poignant observation; she said that people will continue to debate whether or not we should be in Taiji, whether they think our strategy is effective, and whether or not dolphin slaughter will ever end, but at the end of the day, we left this tiny beach a little better than we found it.

There is a great sense of helplessness that I've felt while being here. We bear witness to suffering day in and day out, and the only thing we can do is take pictures. If I could have lifted Jiyu out of his pen and taken him out to the open ocean, I would have. If I could put myself between the dolphins and dolphin killers, I would. But I can't do what I know is right; this approach would only get me thrown in jail. In order to be respectful of the police and Japanese law, which is immensely important to me, all I can do is document their pain from the sidelines, and know that I'm doing everything I can.

There's no law against spending an afternoon cleaning a beach, however. And it is of great comfort to know that I left at least one thing a little better than I found it, here in Taiji, Japan.

To the people of the Japanese blog:

Thanks for the photo change :)

In response to point 1), I can only speak for myself, however in my 2 1/2 weeks here, I have not met a police officer who I did not like. On the contrary, I've enjoyed meeting them all, and I have the utmost respect for them and for what they do. Obviously actions speak louder than words, and hopefully through your observations from afar (or maybe close?) you will learn that I mean no disrespect to Japanese people, and I hope to help facilitate an open dialog about why we are against dolphin slaughter by anyone, in any country. My time in your beautiful country will be coming to an end soon, for now, but maybe someday in the future our paths will cross again.

Day 16: Rest in Peace, Jiyu

2011-11-10T04:24:00.000-08:00

As reported yesterday, we expected Jiyu, a severely emaciated and neurotic bottlenose dolphin at Dolphin Base, would be dead by today. Looks like we were right.

After watching the boats fail in their mission to find dolphins this morning, we went to find out what had happened with Jiyu. We weren't positive what we'd find, but expected one of two possibilities: 1., Jiyu would be heavily sedated and just floating around his tank, or 2., he would not be there at all. To be honest we'd hoped for the latter. If emaciation were the only issue, we would have been begging for proper treatment and medicine, however it wasn't just physical, the poor dolphin was lost in his mind somewhere. I don't know if he could have been brought back, but I do know Dolphin Base could not, or would, not have dedicated the proper time and money to try. And I know they wouldn't have rehabilitated and released him, which is what he and all of their dolphins need. So in this situation death was really the best option for Jiyu.

When we arrived at Dolphin Base we had a feeling he wouldn't be there because we walked right past another dolphin killer. I think it's safe to say Dolphin Base works closely with, or has friends who are, dolphin killers. They ought to put that on their flyers. Maybe frequent dolphin meat eaters can get a discounted dolphin show. And no, Jiyu was no where to be seen. I absolutely can't imagine any other aquarium would have taken him in his state, so it's safe to say that he was taken out and murdered like the rest of his pod. It makes me wonder if someone is eating Jiyu right now. Welcome to the world of dolphin captivity. At least Jiyu finally has the freedom he was meant to have.

It's so hard to fathom how these dolphin trainers can run around talking about how much they love dolphins. Let's see, they gave money to the people who killed Jiyu's pod, took this wild dolphin and locked him away in a tiny pen, and then let him starve and go crazy while they ignored him. Then, when the world took notice of this, they brought someone in to off him. And they call this love? That's absolutely tragic, because if they honestly believe they love dolphins, then they have no concept of what love is.

Likewise, anyone who visits dolphinariums claim to love them as well. Why don't they ever consider what the dolphin's life must be like? How can they supposedly care about something and be so disconnected?

Dolphin slaughter is not the only issue, dolphin captivity is just as bad, and worse to some. And Taiji is not the only place in the world where dolphin slaughter and capture occurs. Similar drive hunts take place across the globe, and wild dolphins are shipped to marine parks around the world, all in the name of profit. Remove money from the situation, and the pieces will crumble and fall. If everyone were to stop purchasing tickets to aquariums, the aquariums would have no money and no need to buy more dolphins. If they don't need anymore dolphins, fishermen will not be able to make the money they need to sustain their hunt. So the name of the game is education. If people can learn to understand the stressful and psychotic lives captive dolphins are forced to endure, and compare them with their social, active, wild counterparts, then hopefully they will think twice before supporting this industry.

So why are we here in Taiji? Well, this is just as good of a starting point as any, I suppose, and if we can't help an intelligent and civilized country like Japan to open their eyes to the truth, then we've got no hope for the rest of the world. I had an infuriating debate earlier today with someone who simply refused to believe and therefore care about the quality of life of captive dolphins. I know there are people like that out there; people who are so self-centered and absorbed that they brush off whatever you say, despite the science and logic backing it up. They wouldn't want to tarnish that wonderful memory of swimming with a dolphin while on vacation. They don't want to hear that this dolphin once had a family, and doesn't exist for the sole purpose of letting them kiss it and hug it and get dragged around a bathtub by its fin. They believe the lies that it is happy, and more fortunate than the others because it doesn't have to 'work' for its food. They believe this animal, who has evolved over millions of years to be perfectly adapted to its ocean environment, is actually better off in human dominated confinement. These people outright disgust me, and unfortunately they will always exist in the world. But I have to believe, I just have to, that the majority of people could and would care, if they knew the whole story, and it is up to those of us who care to teach them. And that my friends, that is why we are in Taiji.

Rest in peace, Jiyu, we can't hurt you anymore.

Day 15: Gone psychotic

2011-11-09T05:16:00.000-08:00

Well, there is never a dull day in Taiji, that's for sure!

The dolphin killers were out today in force, and managed to find a pod. It was either a huge pod, or a money pod (like false killer whales or Pacific white sided dolphins, something they can sell to aquariums), because the hunters chased it for a very long time. After over 5 hours of searching and chasing they finally gave up and threw in the towel. We loved watching as they filed one by one back into the harbor, empty handed. After such an intense morning we were especially happy that they were unable to catch dolphins! Safe for another 24 hours at least... Dolphin killers are dedicated and hard working. They don't take days off unless there is a very good reason.

We then headed to Dolphin Base to confirm the presence of a pilot whale now living in one of the pens. Not exactly sure where it came from, but after watching for a long while we finally saw it logging in one of the hard to see corners of the pen. I guess I get to add another cetacean to the list of whales that I've seen in person. :/

The very worst part of this visit, and probably the worst thing I'll witness while here, was the pathetic existence of a dolphin named Jiyu. Rosie has been monitoring Jiyu for several weeks now, and his condition is getting worse. He is extremely emaciated, just skin and bones. Along his underside you can see the definition of his skeleton. His physical condition alone is enough to make you cry, but the most gut wrenching part is his mental health. Jiyu has gone completely neurotic. All he does is spyhop, in the same spot, over, and over, and over again. He probably spyhops once every 15 seconds or so. If the other dolphins in the pen got too close, which they often did, perhaps trying to play with him, he'd simply drift over to another corner and continue spyhopping. His eyes were not open, and he's so thin that his eye sockets are actually sunken into his head. I'm not even sure if he realized what he was doing. He certainly doesn't appear to have the energy to do this, but perhaps his mind has become disconnected from his body.

After seeing this, I was extremely distressed. I went back to the hotel to start processing footage, and Rosie stayed behind to be with Jiyu. We put out a call to action, asking people to politely phone and email Dolphin Resort and ask them to give him the medical attention he severely needs. At one point the trainers came to feed the dolphins. They paid no attention to him whatsoever, despite the fact that he was spyhopping literally right in front of where they were sitting. He did not receive any food or care of any kind.

Well, perhaps in response to the call to action, a dolphin killer in a wetsuit showed up at Dolphin Base just a few short hours later. When he saw Rosie, he left. Our guess is that Dolphin Base decided to get rid of this problem the easiest way they know how. Obviously these people are not against murder. Well now we've found out that their contact info is no longer functioning. Their telephone number is disconnected, and their website now connects directly with the blog created for information about those of us who've come here against the dolphin slaughter.

I haven't mentioned this blog on here before, so let me tell you a bit about it. It's basically meant to serve as a warning for us, just letting us know they're watching us. It has photos of us, personal info, travel details, etc. Stuff they basically shouldn't know. That's fine though, they claim all they want is for us to be aware of Japanese law and to follow it, and like I've been saying, we have a very good relationship with the police and we intend to keep it that way. As a side note, Save Japan Dolphins does not aspire to have a blog about the dolphin killers, with their photos and personal information, but if they feel they need to keep this on us, fine by me. As a side note to the admins of this blog (who I know are reading this), can I please request a better picture??? I don't so much care for that photo of myself. The only reason it exists is because I was posing with Ric O'Barry, and since you cut him out of it, it's really now just an unattractive picture of me. Feel free to grab a better one off this blog. Just a request though, of course! :)

Anyways, the night did not end there, but I won't bore you with the details. My guess is that Jiyu was either killed tonight, or will be killed sometime in the near future, and eaten. I suppose they only care to spend so much time and resources on a dolphin before they decide it is a lost cause. Such a disgrace. Just think, had they never interfered with nature, Jiyu would still be out there somewhere in that beautiful sea, amongst his pod.

Jiyu is the reason not to buy a ticket to an aquarium. Jiyu, and the countless other beautiful souls who've lost their minds and lost their lives in dolphinariums around the world so that we may be entertained. Personally, I'm at a complete loss for how anyone could get enjoyment out of another being's suffering.

Day 14: Two weeks down

2011-11-08T03:59:00.000-08:00

And only about one more week to go...

Anyone who's been to Taiji for this purpose will tell you that this place changes you, and while I believed it, it was impossible to understand just how much until I experience it for myself.

This place can rip you up and tear you apart. It can break your heart over and over again and make you feel absolutely unwelcome. For the first time in my life I know what it feels like to be discriminated against by people who've never even had a conversation with me. Almost everyone who passes by me stares.

And yet, despite all of this hatred, there is so much comfort here. I can't imagine what my time here would have been like had I not been surrounded by such an amazing group of people. We may have different tactics and see things a little differently, but ultimately we're all working towards the same end result. At the end of the day, no matter how traumatic the days events, the friendships I've made here provide the support to keep me going. We haven't known each other very long, but sharing the same passions and experiencing the same emotional highs and lows helps us form a quick and strong bond. It's strange, but I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life. It just wouldn't be the same without these people. Tomorrow morning we will say goodbye to 3 friends who are leaving hard shoes to fill. Hopefully I'll gain a few more friends before my time here is over.

Everyday that passes brings me one day closer to leaving, and I think that is going to be the hardest part of this whole journey. I'm definitely not ready to leave Japan yet and abandon the dolphins. In my head I know that's not what I'm doing, but that's definitely how it feels, and I know of a few people in particular who understand that completely. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it...

Day 13: Screams to haunt your dreams

2011-11-07T04:08:00.000-08:00

Another glorious dolphin-free day at the Cove! It was quite warm again today. It was windy, but a warm wind. Perfect climate in my opinion. If it were based on weather and scenery alone I would want to move here! Not sure if the wind had anything to do with it, but the boats were unable to drive any dolphins back with them today.

Pebble art - the direct result of nervously waiting for the banger boats to return

Leah's back in town, and her and I stopped off at the Whale Museum to check on the captive dolphins. It just so happened that they were about to start a show for a few (and I literally mean a few) nicely dressed audience members, so of course we stayed to watch. Happy peppy techno music pumped loudly in the air and an announcer (I'm guessing a recording) narrated the whole way through.

The show was disturbing, to say the very, very least. I don't know that I've ever seen a dolphin show before, so I don't have any aquarium to compare it to, but it thoroughly disgusted me. It was clearly meant to give the impression of dominance, and the dolphins had to beg at white boots of the trainer for a small balled up scrap of unknown meat. The participants in this show were one Pacific white sided dolphin and two bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins in the side tanks (the show took place in the middle tank) were not involved, but could be heard echolocating very loudly throughout the show. The Pacific white sided was told to do many back flips, somersaults, and high flying leaps, and while it was in the air it had to whip its tail up and down something like 5 times before it hit the water again. While that was going on the bottlenose dolphins were commanded to beach themselves on the platform, and remain there while the trainer pointed out the dorsal fin and wobbled it back and forth. I was really interested to know what the announcer was saying during that odd moment. Right after that the white sided dolphin swam over and they pointed out its dorsal fin as well. Who knows. I'm sure it was very educational, though...

While beached, the dolphins were asked to vocalize one at a time. I will never forget that sound. I've found while being here that I'm pretty good at separating myself with my camera - I can get behind the lens and somehow things seem a little less present, more like I'm watching it on tv. But those screams, they slammed me back into reality, hard. I instantly had tears running down my face. To me, that moment felt worse than watching the drive hunts unfold. In a bizarre way, I believe the murdered dolphins are the luckier ones. At least their pain and suffering has ended. These captive dolphins all carry the memory of the drive hunts with them. They helplessly watched their families being brutally slaughtered and heard their screams of pain and fear. Then they were loaded up and hauled off to the Whale Museum, where they are being forced to spend the rest of their miserable lives as slaves to entertainment. Perhaps the screams they made today were echoing the last cries they heard from their families before they were silenced.

After the show ended it was time for the guests to have their photo taken with a dolphin. The trainers moved to another small tank and again a dolphin had to beach itself on the platform. This 'trick' is quite uncomfortable, if not downright painful for the dolphins, by the way. Their bone structure and overall size and weight were designed perfectly for aquatic conditions, not land. Out of water their bodies cannot support their sheer weight, and their internal organs begin to collapse under the immense pressure. So while this was going on, the visitors walked over, placed their hand on the dolphin's back, and smiled for the camera. They all wanted their up close and personal encounter with this beautiful creature, and it made me wonder how much they knew or cared about the slaughter occurring all over their country. I wondered how many of them ate dolphin meat.

Throughout the photo process the dolphin was asked to get back in the water and the trainer would toss it a fish, and then call it back out onto the platform. At the end of this session the trainer grabbed two fish out of his bucket and showed them to the dolphin who'd been on the platform, and another who instantly swam over to receive the food. The trainer then dropped the fish back into the bucket and walked away. He did not return.

It's hard to imagine how people could be so blind to this kind of cruelty, but I know it does happen. Not every dolphin trainer or aquarium visitor knows how torturous this life is for the animals they claim to love. Some have chosen not to think about it, while others believe the lies that have been fed down to them. There are a few though, a few who know and don't care. A few who actually get enjoyment from dominating over another life. Ignorance is not an excuse, however it is the latter group of people who are the real problem in this whole thing.

The fact is, there is a direct connection between the captivity industry and the drive hunts. Any dolphinarium anywhere in the world is either directly or indirectly contributing to the slaughter, and they are ALL guilty of the torture that goes hand in hand with dolphin captivity. The solution is so simple: Don't buy a ticket. Just don't do it! If no one buys a ticket to a dolphin show, no aquarium wants to buy more dolphins. If no aquarium wants to buy dolphins, the drive hunts of Taiji would no longer be financially viable. Dolphin meat doesn't keep the fishermen in business, the sale of live dolphins do. Shut down the captivity industry and we will shut down the hunts. Continue to support the industry, and the murder will never cease.

I would like to say goodbye for now to Peter, who left today. I will miss the pancakes, muffins, and beer, but most of all I'll miss your company. Until we meet again!

Day 12: Round Two

2011-11-06T03:21:00.000-08:00

This is really all I feel like saying about today (link):
Eight Risso's killed in the Cove

RIP sweet dolphin souls...

Day 11: A rare and secret look inside the killing cove

2011-11-05T04:20:00.000-07:00

It was good dolphin hunting weather again today in Taiji. The boats went out and we endured the excruciating wait of an unknown outcome. Finally, the boats headed our way. Just as our excitement was building, we saw them make an immediate 180 degree turn and speed away towards other boats still on the horizon. They had found dolphins. We watched the black smoke on the horizon but had no idea what was happening. After a chase the boats were all heading back in again, NOT in a drive formation! They had apparently lost whatever they'd found. Glad the dolphins were able to outfight them!

It was especially great that the dolphins won today because it is International Anti-Whaling Day! In honor of this we drove to the cove and made a whale and dolphin sculpture out of the beach rocks, along with a sign that said 'End The Killing'. A bit hard to see in the photos, but it looked great in person!

11/05/11 - International Anti-Whaling Day - Hey WORLD, please stop slaughtering whales and dolphins!

The BIG NEWS today is footage from inside the cove that has been bravely filmed and shared with two activists here, by an anonymous local. Many, many thanks to whoever you are for doing this and giving the world insight to what is behind those tarps; the last sight dolphins see before they're taken out of this world. Hopefully more Japanese citizens will follow this lead and start standing up against this atrocity. Here's the link with photos and video from inside the cove:
Inside the killing cove - The sound of critters

And here is the opposite view, looking into the cove from the water. This is Martyn Stewart's video of the path the dolphins are forced to take, leading them into the killing cove. Props to Martyn for putting this together, and Ady Gil for (legally) taking his boat into the killing cove. Video link here:
Death route of the dolphins

Finally our day is winding down. So here we all sit, downstairs in our cozy little hotel lobby all gathered around our computers processing footage, telling the world about what goes on here, and enjoying a beer and a few good laughs with a few great friends. It's pouring down rain right now - hopefully it will last through the morning!

Life in Taiji is not easy, though I can say wholeheartedly that the life of an activist is a good life.

Day 10: No dolphins murdered today - at least not in the cove

2011-11-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

Fortunately I don't have much to post about today, which means it was a good day in Taiji! The boats went out this morning and despite the sun and calm seas, they came back empty handed. No dolphins were murdered in the cove today - dolphin lovers rejoice! Let us not forget though that this isn't the only place in the world where dolphin slaughter occurs.

Three days ago was the official start of the Dall's porpoise hunt here in Japan. Here is a bit about it, taken from the Environmental Investigation Agency's website:

Today (November 1) is the official opening of Japan’s annual Dall’s porpoise hunt, the largest direct hunt of any whale, dolphin and porpoise in the world.

The port of Otsuchi, in northern Japan, is the focal point of the hand harpoon hunt which has claimed up to 15,000 Dall’s porpoises in previous years.

It is still unclear whether the hunt – described by International Whaling Commission (IWC) scientists as “clearly unsustainable” – will go ahead this year due to the aftermath of the devastation wreaked in the region by March’s tsunami.

Dolphin hunts at Taiji are ongoing, continuing to supply Japanese consumers with cetacean meat full of dangerous pollutants, including mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Once landed, Japan’s catch of porpoises and dolphins is processed and sold in supermarkets and fish markets throughout the country, sometimes illegally mislabeled as ‘whale meat’ to increase its value.

The Environmental Investigation Agency has traveled to Otsuchi, in the prefecture of Iwate, many times in recent years to monitor and raise awareness of the hunt in a bid to ensure its grossly detrimental impact on marine conservation and consumer health does not continue to be overlooked.

“In the past 20 years, more than 300,000 Dall’s porpoises have been hunted just to produce toxic meat for human consumption,” said EIA Senior Campaigner Clare Perry.

“Most Japanese people know nothing of the Dall’s hunt and yet they continue to be misled about it, both in regard to the true nature of the resulting products and to the very serious health risks of eating such contaminated meat.

“The only impediment to this year’s hunt taking place appears to be the physical damage to the industry caused by the tsunami; there’s certainly nothing to indicate any significant change in official Japanese attitudes – and nothing at all to stop them embarking on this dreadful hunt once conditions again make it possible.”

~

And of course, Japan is by no means the only country that senselessly kills dolphins and other whales. And for what, to slowly poison friends and family with their toxic meat? To eliminate the fishing competition so that you can eat the oceans empty all by yourselves? The pride of not listening to others?

What will you do when the dolphins are gone?! Eliminate the next biggest thing I'm sure, tuna perhaps. And when all the tuna are gone, the focus will switch to the next largest species and so on and so forth. Then our oceans will be dead and the world will no longer be worth living in. Fortunately we won't have to endure that for too long, because when the oceans go so will we. About 85% of our oxygen comes from microscopic phytoplankton floating around in healthy productive seas. No ocean, no oxygen, no life. None of this is conjecture by the way, this is all cold hard science.

When will the world wake up and realize all of this? Why can't we all see the value in a rich, thriving, abundant ocean that will benefit us for generations to come, rather than the one time minuet value of a dead dolphin? With as many dolphins as the fishermen manage to find each year, could you imagine if they instead started up a wild dolphin watching business? Dolphins are worth so much more alive than dead, there's just no arguing with that.

So here's hoping that in the not so distant future we can educate others about the importance of a healthy world ocean and save it while we still have the chance. Here's hoping we can all shift our opinions to see the value of life over the value of death. Here's hoping we can see dolphins for what they really are: highly intelligent and social beings that have just as much right to live on this planet as we do.

Day 9: Oh man, this place sucks.

2011-11-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you know how the day went.

My day was the worst day ever - the day I've been dreading - the reason I came here at all. I tried to prepare myself, and actually I think I handled it OK all things considered, but the live show was far worse than I could have imagined.

Drive formation, chasing pod of Risso's

The boats went out and quickly became specks on the horizon. Within a short amount of time five of the specks came together and started heading our way. My heart fell out of my chest. I thought I was going to throw up. We grabbed our gear, left our lookout, and headed to the cove and the steps of Takababe. On the way up Rosie pointed out that this tsunami evacuation site was useless, because no one could possibly get to the top quick enough. I think she's right. As we continued to huff and puff our way up, I knew that what I was feeling wasn't even a fraction of what the dolphins were going through. I hate those steps for more than just being steep now. I hate them for what they lead to. As the boats came in I could see small disturbances in the water. It was dolphins, swimming for their lives, straight toward us and the cove. One group managed to get away, but the boats quickly chased after them and got control again. A normally beautiful view had turned into my worst nightmare. Black smoke filled the air. The horrific sound of the banger poles filled my ears. My head was dizzy and my eyes were welling up with tears. I decided then and there that it did no good to cry. How could I document what was happening through blurred vision? No, I would not give myself the luxury of tears. That I could save for a later time; a time the dolphins no longer needed me.

The Risso's porpoise away, fighting hard to escape

The dolphins passed right below us and I saw an escape route for them, but they were too stressed and too frightened to take notice. I could see they were Risso's dolphins, a species I'd never seen until today. Normally it's really exciting when I get to check another dolphin species off my list! Today, not so much.

In no time the boats had driven the dolphins towards the cove and netted it off. Another net was drawn that confined them to the killing cove. They remained in our sight for about 15 minutes. They were still very stressed. Suddenly I realized how much pain my own body was in. Since there are so many barricades, trees, and bushes to block your sight, I was standing on my tip toes and leaning as far over as I could to see them. I ignored my tired muscles. Again, it was nothing compared what the dolphins were about to go through.

A frightened family comforts each other through touch and communication

Two skiffs entered the net and used their motors to scare the dolphins deeper into the cove, where yet another net was drawn. Now the dolphins were under the absurd amount of tarps covering the top of the cove. That was the last time I saw those sweet souls. Within another 15 minutes it was all over. The skiffs were exiting the cove, and the family of about 13 Risso's were all dead. What a waste of life. I can't believe this is a union job.

Tbe proud tradition being hidden from the public. Notice the man pushing the floating body down with his leg?

Three and a half hours and a family of dolphins went from minding their own business, swimming in the open ocean, to being cut up for consumption.

Since Leah is not in Taiji it was my responsibility and honor to write the blog for Save Japan Dolphins. It was difficult to say the least. What do you say when you're one of the last and only people to tell the story of this family? It was the most emotionally draining thing I've ever written, and while I know it won't do them justice, I hope it will do.

Dear Risso's, I love you with all my heart and will remember you forever. I apologize on behalf of humanity for having treated you with such indifference. I hope you are at peace now, swimming in your safe ocean heaven. xoxo

Day 8: Kisses in Taiji

2011-11-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

Each day in Taiji is different, yet each day in Taiji is the same.

Now that I've been here for a week some things are becoming routine. At home I enjoy going to sleep with my iPod. It helps to relax my mind and put me to sleep. Well for some reason the opposite holds true here. I suppose that makes sense since I've left the real world and traveled to the Twilight Zone. Now I find my iPod very distracting. Without it, the second my head hits the pillow I'm out like a light. Long and emotionally exhausting days probably help with that. I have the strangest dreams here, too. What's more strange is that I often can't differentiate dreams from actual occurrences.

I go to sleep around 10:30 or 11, and start waking up around 2 or 3 in a panic, wondering if I missed my alarm and overslept, abandoning the dolphins while they're fighting for their lives in the cove. This happens a few times, until eventually I just get up. I think my alarm has woken me up twice since I've been here.

Then we leave the hotel and wait. The police meet us at our lookout in the morning to see who's around and what's going on. This is a part of the routine I enjoy. They're very kind and it's nice to chat with them. It's also nice to know they're close by since so many locals are openly against us here.

Today, thanks to a bit of wind and rain, the boats stayed in the harbor. This obviously made us happy, and it also pleased the police to know that they wouldn't have to follow us up the steep stairs of Takababe! It's a win for us, the dolphins, and creates and easier day for the police. Plus, less dolphin meat traveling around the markets means less mercury poisoning, so really it's a win for everyone!

Watching the banger boats in the harbor, enjoying the wind and rain!

While Rosie and I sat in our cars at the lookout this morning, a Japanese woman came walking down the hill. As she walked past our cars she made a point to lean over and smile and wave to both of us. Obviously she knew who we were and why we were there, so the fact that she made the simple gesture of a wave and smile meant a lot to me. About 10 minutes passed, and the rain had picked up. The woman returned, walking up hill with a plastic bag now in her hand. She walked to Rosie's car and gave her the bag, and then looked over at me again, pointed to the bag, smiled, waved, and walked back down the hill. After she left I found out that she'd given us a big bag of Hershey's Kisses! Wow, what a meaningful gesture! It made this all the more bearable and gave me hope that we can and will see the end of dolphin killing in Japan. Change cannot come from the outside, it must come from within, and her actions strengthened my hope that this can happen - there are people here who care. I am keeping one kiss as a memento to look at when I'm feeling overwhelmed. This is a battle I would fight even if I knew we were going to lose, because it's the right thing to do, but keeping faith that we can save lives certainly helps the day by day.

P.s. I forgot to mention in yesterday's blog that a monkey - a macaque to be exact - crossed the road in front of my car. Very cool :)

The dolphins are safe for another day - Happy Time!

Day 7: Tears of Joy

2011-11-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe I've already been here one week. The time is flying by and each day I get more and more sad knowing that I'll be leaving soon. Even though a lot of my time here has been quite hard, and I am missing my friends, family, and birdie, there's honestly no where else I'd rather be. I know it will be very hard leaving this place, and the new friendships I've made.

Got the word that the boats went out again this morning, but we didn't have to wait long before we saw them coming back in, one by one. They took a chance this morning with the weather, and the wind quickly picked up, creating white caps on the beautiful sea and protecting the dolphins for another day. By 7:30 the first banger boat had passed by our lookout, inbound for the harbor. What a beautiful sight.

Someone new arrived here late last night, Malcolm Wright. He's in the middle of filming his documentary 'Whale Like Me', in which he spends time with Japanese whalers to see and experience whales through their eyes, and then takes them to swim with whales and see them through his eyes. I can only imagine the things he has seen having spent time on a whaling vessel, and hope the peaceful encounter they have in the ocean will plant a seed in the minds and hearts of the whalers. Once this is finished I'm sure it will be a fantastic film, and hopefully will cause changing attitudes amongst those who are pro-whaling. If you'd like to learn more about his film, visit the Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WhaleLikeMe

Since we now had the day, Leah, Malcolm, and I decided to visit a nearby lighthouse and then check in on the captives at Dolphin Base. One dolphin in the center pen (the pen that offers the swim-with program) kept logging on the surface and looking over at us. He (or she) was watching us just as much as we were watching him. I know many people say the dolphins can sense that we're here to help them, or that we're somehow different from the ones who put them in there, and while I'd love to believe that honestly I just felt like he was looking at us asking "Why aren't you helping me? Can't you see I don't belong here? Can you please help us?" And all we could do was stare back. I wish I could say I believed that my thinking "I'm so sorry, we're trying our best" was somehow understood. It's so heartbreaking to not be able to communicate in a way I know they understand.

Today was a great de-stress day. Back at the hotel we all gathered in the lobby and sat there sharing stories and laughing for hours. At times I laughing so hard I was wiping tears from my eyes. I think everyone who's here or who's ever been here understands how important it is to laugh and have a good time. It's so nice to go to sleep on a good note, because once that early morning alarm goes off, everything repeats itself. The watching, and waiting, and praying the cove stays blue for one more day.

Day 6: Rule # 32: Enjoy the little things

2011-10-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

Here in Taiji, the good days aren't necessarily good, and the easy days aren't necessarily stress-free.

The day began with news that the boats had gone out. What a horrible thing to have to digest in the morning. You want a terrifying Halloween? Forget haunted houses, come to Taiji. There's nothing more terrifying than waiting to see if the boats will find dolphins. For hours there's nothing to do but sit and helplessly watch. We continually scan the ocean and try and decipher whether any of the boats (or the tiny dots way out on the horizon) look like they're coming together in a drive formation. To say it is stressful is an understatement.

By 9:00 am the banger boats started heading back in, empty handed. It seemed early for them to be giving up, especially considering the weather was so nice. Sunshine and flat seas, just what the dolphin hunters need in order to spot the fins of an unsuspecting pod. This did not alleviate any of the stress. Some of the boats were still pretty far out, and had they found dolphins the others would have turned around to help. One by one all twelve (very slowly) made their way back into the harbor, right between our two lookouts. I wondered if this felt anything like the walk of shame...

Not only was it strange that they'd given up so early, but we were spread out across town at our different vantage points and no one saw any real police activity. One single cop car passed by in the morning, but that was it. So where were they all? And why did the boats come back in so early? And why did it take them so long to come back in? And why were myself and two others up on Takababe being spied on by an unknown person hiding in the bushes? It was all very strange, although everything that happens in this town is strange. Maybe there was no real meaning behind any of it. Or maybe something else was going on that they were distracting us from. It makes me dream of the day when there are one hundred of us here, and nothing goes unnoticed. Then again, if I'm dreaming, there's no more need for our presence here.

Even after the last banger boat returned the morning continued to be very stressful, which I will not get into here on this public blog. It was also hot! I haven't gotten a sunburn in a looong time. All else aside, I spend the morning in sunshine, listening to birds chirping and starring out at a million dollar view of the Pacific Ocean. I actually really enjoyed that part. Then of course I felt incredibly guilty for enjoying weather that enabled the fishermen to find and murder dolphins. Everything here is a double edged sword. I think it's important to enjoy the little things here in the ninth circle of hell, otherwise you'll probably lose your mind.

Looking out at the entrance to the cove - Takababe Mountain

After destressing a bit in my hotel room, Leah took me to see the Taiji Whale Museum. This is nothing like the Whale Museum at home. From what she tells me, inside the building are a bunch of skeletons and whale fetuses (acquired by their own whaling and drive hunts, I'm sure) as well as cute and cuddly fuzzy pink stuffed dolphins so that you can love on them. While it does talk about their whaling traditions, it says nothing - absolutely nothing - about their dolphin drive fisheries. Well clearly this is a strong tradition, given the fact that they're hiding it to every extent! Once you've paid in the museum you can enter the dolphinarium section and see alllll the captives. OR you can walk around the side in the parking lot and look through the trees and see some of the tanks, which is what we did. While I would like to see what is inside and do a more thorough check on the dolphins, unless I am absolutely sure it would benefit them it's not worth giving the museum money.

What a distressing sight it all was. The pool closest to me has 3 bottlenose dolphins and one striped dolphin. The striped appeared to be handling captivity the worst, and logged there with just his rostrum out of the water. Though it is a very tiny tank, he did not approach or swim amongst the bottlenose dolphins. Striped dolphins are naturally a very gregarious species. This loneliness must be absolutely heartbreaking. This is the first time I've ever seen a striped dolphin, and I hate that it was under these conditions.

A lonely striped dolphin @ the Taiji Whale Museum

The next tank over housed one Pacific white sided dolphin. This dolphin kept making extremely loud exhalation type noises with its blowhole. Leah told me this was called "chuffing" and happens a lot in captivity when they are stressed or agitated. Guess that makes sense why I've never heard of it, the dolphins we see don't have a reason to do this! You could also hear very loud above water echolocation, and at one point I heard an awful screaming sound from one of them.

Trying to get attention @ the Taiji Whale Museum

There was a tank further back, which as far as I could see had at least one other Pacific white sided and bottlenose who both kept doing an exaggerated spy hop. Maybe they were trying to see the other dolphins? Or maybe they were just longing for attention from the staff standing nearby. The workers were spraying something in the water, but I have no idea what. Some sort of chemical to help keep the water clean, I suppose? Just like at Dolphin Base, they got very active when there were people around, even though they were not shown the slightest bit of attention. Not a pet, or greeting, or even eye contact. It reminded me very much of how the Canadian DFO wanted everyone to treat Luna

I've been thinking of starting a finventory at Dolphin Base and the Taiji Whale Museum. Could be difficult to obtain what I need for this though...

In theme with rule # 32, Leah and I went out for a Halloween celebration dinner. We broke away from the usual spots and came across a place that serves a great margarita pizza and ??? drink. I couldn't read the menu, but the title of one section was 'fruity liquor' so I randomly chose one and asked for it. Apparently what I ordered was 'hot and sour' and I said "oh, cold?" and he brought me a delicious (also pronounced dericious - there's actually a sign outside of the one of the restaurants that says that!) apricotty beverage. To participate in the Halloween Spirit Leah and I did a bit of face painting, and knocked on a few doors at our hotel!

Happy Halloween from the SJD Crew!

So maybe it wasn't the best of days, but thanks to rule # 32, we're ending on a good note. :)

Day 5: Rain and Dolphin Base

2011-10-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

I've completely lost my sense of time. Every few hours I have to go back through my photos from each day in order to keep my days straight. Was there a slaughter yesterday? Did the boats stay in? Everything here seems to just run together. I'm running on Japan Standard Time and Pacific Standard Time, and being in Taiji makes it feel all the more unreal. What an awful twilight zone this place is.

When we met up downstairs this morning we got the word that the boats did not go out. An awesome way to start your morning! We decided to head into Taiji anyways, just to see what was going on. We stopped at one of the countless vending machines along the side of the road and I bought a can of hot chocolate. So weird, but so good.

The fishermen were busy at the Fishermen's Union (FU) transporting the rest of the meat from yesterday's hunt. I visited with the police who I'd met while watching the fishermen drag the bodies out of the cove. The police work 24 hour shifts here, so whoever we see in the afternoon, we know we'll see in the morning. I'm on a first name basis with 4 of them now, which is nice. It makes this place seem just a tiny bit friendlier.

Since the cove was empty, they took the opportunity to drive Ady Gil's boat into the cove and get a look at it. No police or coast guard came (not that this was illegal), however there was an older woman walking down the street who stopped and stared, and then a car drove past, and he too stopped and stared and started talking to the woman. Not a sight they see everyday!

Early afternoon it started raining. No, it started pouring. Washington type rain, the kind that just doesn't stop. Since I am only here for a couple more weeks I didn't want to waste my time inside my room, so I decided to drive to Dolphin Base and check on the captives. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got there. The first time I went with Leah there were no trainers around. This time there were about 15 of them, and they were out around the pens feeding the dolphins. I'd heard that they've told people to leave before, but the worst they can do is tell you to go, and so I grabbed my camera and decided to see what would happen. They didn't seem too phased by my presence, at least not that I could tell. I was just one person though, and I wasn't being disruptive. I even said hello to one of the trainers as they walked by. In Japan, being polite goes a long way. The dolphins were much more active this time around, as they always are during feeding time. In order to keep the dolphins under their command the trainers pretty much starve them. The dolphins seemed to be trying to get the trainers' attention. Maybe they thought if they impressed them enough they'd finally get some fish. Wherever the trainers stood, the dolphins followed.

In one of the pens there were a few young trainers in the water with the dolphins. They would sign simple tricks, telling the dolphins to roll over or show their flukes, then they'd blow their whistle and the dolphin was given the tiny fish. I got the impression that these trainers were still learning (at Dolphin Base there are trainers, and people learning to become trainers). Whenever a dolphin performed a command the trainers shot an excited look at one another. They seemed to really enjoy working with the dolphins, and not just 'heartlessly' commanding them around like they're playing almighty dictator. Don't read too much into that statement though, it's just my observation and I could be wrong. After all, Taiij is the dolphin abuse capitol of Japan. Besides, most trainers feel the same way. They 'love' the animals they work with, and many claim to have deep friendships with them. If you visit SeaWorld you'll find a park full of trainers either in denial or grossly misled. I would bet that very few have a realistic concept of what captivity does to dolphins. This gives the hope that if given the proper education, these trainers will leave the business and join the fight against dolphin captivity as so many have done in the past, including many SeaWorld trainers in recent years.

After about 20 minutes of watching and filming I had to give up. My jeans were completely soaked, which didn't bother me given the situation, but I was having a difficult time keeping my camera dry in the now sideways rain.

And that was pretty much my day, as best I can tell. I wish I'd stop leaving these blog posts for so late at night...

Day 4: Sun, Boats, and Dolphin Slaughter

2011-10-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

It was a gorgeous morning in Taiji. Sunny and warm, with very little wind. This was not good news to any of us. It was perfect weather to go dolphin hunting.

Banger boats leaving the harbor

We drove by the harbor and sure enough the fishermen were on the banger boats, preparing them to go out. From our lookout we watched all 12 banger boats drive single file out of the harbor and spread out to begin their hunt. They went way offshore, and Leah and I left the lookout point to go out on Ady Gil's vessel to try and find them. I'm very comfortable on boats, obviously, since I work on one, so it didn't dawn on me that I might get seasick. I'd forgotten just how sheltered our inland Salish Sea was, and my body did not agree with being out in the unimpeded Pacific Ocean. As soon as I felt it coming on I tried to follow the advice of my good friend Caroline, who had learned to overcome it while sailing. I stared out at the horizon, sat myself in a spot where I'd get a lot of fresh air, though it was a bit hard with the wind pushing the diesel fumes towards me, and I tried not to think about it. Then I lost it. Thankfully it came in waves (no pun intended) and between my vom sessions overboard I felt fine. Then we found out that we'd missed the boats coming back in and they were already driving a pod of about 10 Risso's into the cove. By the time we got back to our dock and Leah and I hiked up Takababe Mountain, they had all been murdered.

Takababe Mountain is the right side of the cove if you're looking out at the ocean, and is an exhausting hike. Very steep concrete stairs. 3 weeks of this and I'll either pass out, or have legs of steel. Once it leveled out I was shocked at how little you could actually see. There were ropes and barricades everywhere, all from the Town of Taiji. Sea Shepherd even noticed fishermen putting huge bamboo stems into the ground the other day, which now obstructs what little view they did have. They did not have a permit to do this, so we'll see what happens with that. Technically they were trespassing as well, and would need to get permission from the city to do. And of course, there are police everywhere. Today I learned that there are Wakayama Police, Local Police, Riot Police, "Plain-clothes" Police, police who are undercover, and Coast Guard. That's a whole lot of time and money being spent for twenty-something fishermen, and I can't believe the profits from the drive hunts outweigh the money being poured into what is basically a private security detail. So where is this money coming from, and who is giving the orders to have roughly 30-50 officials on the ground around the clock? This story is about so much more than just dolphin meat, we just have to find out what that story is.

All 12 banger boats spreading out to search for dolphins

The Coast Guard was very aware of our presence on the water, and blocked the cove with their vessel

The fishermen try to coverup the evidence of a kill, but here you can see the flukes of a dead Risso's

Will be back on the ground tomorrow, this time with a radio to communicate with the boat. Hoping for wind and a relaxing Sunday!

Day 3: A windy first morning in Taiji!

2011-10-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

...What did we do today?? I think the jet lag has caught up to me. I'm feeling a bit delirious, not really having a clear sense of time. I thought I knew what I'd done today, then I looked through my pictures and realized I'm getting my days confused. Well, to the best of my ability, here's what I can remember from today:

When we met outside of our hotel at 5:30 this morning it was slightly windy, but it's hard to judge what the sea will be like while in town so we crossed our fingers that it was windy enough that the boats would stay in the harbor. Strong wind make for a rough trip, but more importantly, with so many white caps it is incredibly difficult to spot a pod of dolphins. Along our drive to Taiji we passed the fish market that is shown in The Cove movie and saw them lining up tuna on the ground, getting ready for the auction. We drove past the harbor and saw the fishermen gathered around a fire. Leah told me they do this every morning and were getting the weather report from the Coast Guard and deciding whether or not they'd go out to try and find dolphins. No one was preparing the banger boats at that point, so things were looking good. The sea was pretty rough, but we waited at the lookout for a while just to make sure. There was a police car who drove by ours and Sea Shepherd's car (they knew where we'd be watching from), but because they did not speak English they did not stop and talk. Happy to report that the boats did not go out today! That made it possible for us to relax and enjoy the beautiful rising sun.

On our way back to Katsuura we stopped at Dolphin Resort and checked on the dolphins in the sea pens. What a depressing sight that was, they looked so very bored. Many of them would come up for a breath of air and then they'd just log on the surface for a few moments. Others surfaced under small pieces of wood, balancing it on their backs. That must be a desperate form of entertainment in their incredibly tragic existence, living in those pens. The pens are right around the corner from the cove, which means that almost every day these dolphins hear the banging of the metal poles as the fishermen drive a pod of dolphins into the cove, just like what happened to them the day they were captured. Day in and day out they hear the frightened screams of dolphins. What torture that must be. I learned that every once in a while a dolphin will actually jump out of its pen, but the trainers do not seem concerned, and the dolphin sticks very close to the pens. Once it is feeding time the trainers are able to coax it back in because it's hungry. This of course makes you wonder why they don't just leave if they're successful in escaping their pens. Sure, that's what we'd do, right? It seems so simple and obvious. So why don't they? Well first let's acknowledge that humans and dolphins are very different. We do not think the same way a dolphin does; because we're separate species our brains operate in a totally different manner. That being said, I can say that if I were in that situation, and every day I heard the screams of dying dolphins coming from the direction of the escape route, I probably wouldn't go running that direction either. But again, we have no idea how the dolphins perceive the situation, and so we can only speculate as to why they do not leave. Perhaps if all of them were released together they would go.

Since the boats did not go out, we had the whole day to do whatever and Leah decided to show us Hotel Urashima across the harbor. This hotel has natural hot springs inside, and provides an excellent view point of Katsuura and Taiji. Because it is built into a mountain and is so high above sea level it is the emergency evacuation spot in the event of a tsunami. To get to Hotel Urashima we took the little white turtle ferry that you can see in The Cove movie. I had my camera out and when the ferry docked a man stepped off and said something in Japanese and held his hand out for my camera. We weren't sure if he was wanting to confiscate it or what, but then he told us to put our bags down and pose with the boat. He kept telling us to flash the stereotypical peace sign, then he'd rearrange us and take another. Once we docked on the other side of the harbor he disembarked the ferry with us, took my camera again, and started picking flowers from the hotel garden for Leah and I to put in our hair. He had us pose once again, and again and again. It was so bizarre we couldn't stop laughing. It's great to encounter such friendliness!

Once inside the hotel we visited a gift shop and I saw my first whale meat. They actually had a whole display of it sitting in a little replica of an old whaling ship. Obviously I couldn't read what any of it said, but given the different types of packaging it looked like there was quite of variety of how it was prepared. Investigations have shown that what is labeled as minke whale meat is often meat from a different whale species or even a dolphin. I wonder what kind of coverup I was looking at...

After checking out the vantage point and visiting a temple at the hotel we headed back to the cove. I drove this time, and surprisingly did totally fine. The only problem I had (and kept having) was that the blinker is on the wrong side of the steering wheel, so I kept turning on the windshield wipers. From what they tell me, you never really get used to that part so I guess I did well! I managed to keep it in the right lane, which is of course the left lane, the whole time! When we arrived at the cove there was another car in the parking lot, and it wasn't long after we got there that the police arrived to see what we were up to. I met 3 more officers and again they were all extremely nice. They talked, joked, and laughed with Leah and I for about 10 minutes before leaving. The solitary car remained in the lot.

Time to prepare for tomorrow, hoping day 4 is as lucky as day 3 was!

Day 2: Welcome to The Cove

2011-10-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

Today I successfully navigated the train transfers and made it to KiiKatsuura! Special thanks goes to one very nice conductor who came and got me right before my train arrived, brought me over to where I would get on, and wrote the next train down on a piece of paper. The final train ride, which was just over 2 and a half hours long, winded along the coastline and had spectacular views of the Pacific. Though I didn't actually pay for it, I sat in the reserved seating section of the train, but only because that was the car I boarded and it was too much work dragging my luggage down the aisle. Several times during the trip train employees walked through the car, and every time they would bow once they entered, and then turn and bow again as they were exiting. What a different world I am in.

This ride was a bit more interesting than the others - they said a great deal over the intercom, but never in English. And I'm almost positive they said KiiKatsuura at every stop, which meant I had to quickly run through the train car at ever stop trying to find the station sign that said in English where we were.

Found the right stop, stared at the 56 stairs I had to drag my 4 bags up and down, sweat a river and tore open the suitcase-handle blisters on my palms, got motioned from across the street into what I thought was my hotel, was actually a restaurant, found my hotel, and found Sea Shepherd, Ady Gil, and Save Japan Dolphins all on their computers in the lobby. Yeay for finding friends!

After renting my car the SJD crew showed me around Taiji, pointing out the areas of interest as we drove. Ric was absolutely right about what he said in the movie - if you didn't know better, you'd think this was a town that loved dolphins and whales. They're everywhere! Statues, wall murals, graphics on vehicles, you name it. The strangest part though is that it does not feel strange to be here in person. It feels oddly normal - like, of course I'm here, why wouldn't I be?

When we pulled into the parking lot at the cove, there was one car already parked, with people inside. Apparently there is always a car there, and they do not get out, they just sit and take notes. There were a few Coast Guard officers there as well, and we walked by so that I could meet them. They mentioned that we had a new car, which is pretty impressive observation skills seeing how we all have the same car, just different license plates. Within a few minutes, more Coast Guard showed up, as well as the Police. They walked down the steps so that Leah could introduce us and they could get my passport info. They were surprisingly very friendly. I've heard they are, but I still expected a bit of indifference if not animosity from them. Instead, they chatted with us and I overheard them tell Leah how nice she always is. They'd also been telling her they were excited to meet 'her new colleague', and were all smiles as they spoke with us. It's funny that they were looking forward to my arrival at the same time I was being interrogated by Immigration for the very same reason... Especially since they are the ones who actually deal with it all. You can tell that they aren't against us - or at least our particular organization. It's awesome that SJD has maintained such a good relationship with them; they're here to protect us as much as they are to make sure we don't break any laws. It was pretty interesting seeing the quick response and gathering though. By the time we left, around 6pm when no dolphins were in the cove, there were about 10 of them. Leah mentioned that they'd probably do a drive by of our hotel tonight to see that all of our cars are parked.

The actual cove is a beautiful place. Such amazing scenery, it's a real shame it can't just be used as a park like it's supposed to be. In hindsight, I'm actually kind of glad yesterday worked out how it did. Had I gotten on the train last night like I'd planned, I'd have woken up this morning and witnessed the slaughter of about 10 Risso's dolphins. My first introduction to The Cove would have been death and bloody water. Because I arrived today, I was able to see it for its natural beauty and nothing more. I hear once you see a slaughter, you'll never see that place the same again.

In 8 hours we'll head to The Cove to see if the boats go out, and if they do, well, you know the rest. The wind was really blowing tonight, so here's hoping it continues through the night and the boats stay in the harbor!

Day 1: If it can go wrong, it will

2011-10-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

My motto for the day was to be positive; stay in a good mood and just roll with the punches! Whatever happened, happened, if it was out of my control then I might as well just make the best of it and not let it ruin my mood. Well, that was the plan. And it even worked, for a while.

Stop one: SeaTac. I guess I packed too much... Kind of a girl thing. Delta has a weight limit for luggage, and that weight limit was 25lbs below what my suitcase weighs. I was told that the fees for a bag that overweight would run me $200 - each way. The lady was thankfully quite friendly and suggested I run downstairs and purchase a separate bag so that I can distribute the weight. Perhaps I should have rolled the suitcase around my apartment a bit before I left, I would have realized what a pain that + a carry on + a heavy camera bag was to drag long distances. SO, got my now two bags checked, and was pleased to learn there was no fee for an extra bag. My bag passed weigh in with a 2 pound margin. This day was starting out just fine!

The flight was great, I actually really enjoyed it! I had a window seat and no one sat next to me so I was able to stretch out and keep comfortable the whole time. Best part was the view. We flew right over the Olympic Mountains so there was a beautiful view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then all along the west side of Vancouver Island. The Pacific Northwest really is breathtakingly gorgeous, especially from that angle. OH! And I saw a lake that looked like a killer whale!

Once we got further offshore the clouds took over, but cleared as we passed over Russia, which has a pretty unique beauty of its own. Once we started flying over what I figured should be Japan, I looked down and saw a large ship. A twinge of pain shot through my body as I realized that could very well be a whaling or dolphin/porpoise hunting vessel. I proceeded to scrutinize every boat I saw until we landed. Oh, I noticed these pens, which remind me of the dolphin pens in Taiji. Could be for aquaculture (fish farms)?

Then we landed, and that's when the fun began. I must have looked like an idiot by the way, walking around alone with a big smile, taking way too many pictures... Anyways when we got to customs they wanted to know where I would be staying so I wrote the name of the hotel, Charmant, as well as the city, KiiKatsuura. I instantly regretted that decision. I wish I'd thought to look up the name of a hotel in Osaka. As soon as she saw where I was headed she called over an Immigrations Officer who pulled me in a security room. He spoke very little English and got a translator on speaker phone so he could begin to drill me. What was the purpose of my visit? Why KiiKatsuura? Who was I meeting? How did I know them? Where did I work? Where is the Olive Garden located? How much money do I make a month? Then every once in a while the two would converse in Japanese and he'd say pretty much the only thing he knew how to say "We're going to take a break", and walk out of the room for 5 to 10 minutes. This went on for over an hour, and I was terrified. I didn't know how long they were going to keep me there or what the possibilities were. I was also dead tired after having been awake for the past 40 hours. Yeah, I decided not to sleep the night before the flight hoping that I could sleep on the plane, but I had too much adrenaline for sleep. At one point he came back in the room to find me with my elbow on the desk, chin resting in my hand. He swatted my elbow off the desk. Oops, apparently I offended him. Good thing I was afraid he'd throw me in jail, it was the only thing keeping me calm and in line. His final round of questions was much more to the point: what did I know about Taiji, would I be going to Taiji, have I heard of Sea Shepherd, have I ever been to a Sea Shepherd event, blah blah blah. I considered pulling out my Save Japan Dolphins gear just to convince him I wasn't Sea Shepherd, but I wasn't sure that it would really help my cause. Eventually denial won, and he let me go.

At this point I was not only exhausted and flustered, but now I had to find my train station before my train left - being detained hadn't really helped my schedule. Again, I dealt with the ridiculous heft of my luggage. Good thing I was only told to go 3 different places in order to purchase a train ticket! After waiting in the very long line, it was my turn at the counter, and what do I find out? The train I'd planned on taking didn't exist. Neither did my back up, should I miss the first one. And that's when the tears started flowing. The guy at the counter didn't speak much English, but he did know "I'm sorry", which he said over and over again as I tried to, at the very least, delay my breakdown for a more appropriate time. He got me a ticket for the next train to KiiKatsuura, a good 14 hours after I'd planned. I wrestled to get my suitcases out the door, moved a few feet over, sat on the ground, and bawled uncontrollably. I have never felt so alone in my life.

I gave myself a few minutes to let it out, then forced myself to pull it together. As luck would have it, this little meltdown took place right next to the airport hotel, which is where I'm writing to you from, now.

This day is coming to an end and I couldn't be happier for that. Not only is tomorrow a new day, but if bad things really do come in 3's, I should be in the clear.

On a side note, I noticed these hanging at the train station. Wonder what it says - welcome to Japan where we murder and eat dolphins?!

Tune in tomorrow to see how I do navigating the Japanese train system... :)

Welcome to my blog!

2011-10-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

On October 25th 2011 I will be traveling to Japan as a volunteer for Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project, Save Japan Dolphins, to help raise awareness about the annual dolphin slaughter that occurs in an infamous place known as "the cove". I will be there for three weeks.

About 20,000 dolphins are murdered every year throughout Japan. In Taiji, pods of dolphins are chased into a cove by banger boats. These boats are equipped with long metal poles extending down into the water, and by banging on these poles the fishermen are able to create a wall of sound that frightens and disorients the dolphins. Dolphins are acoustic creatures; sonar is their primary sense, so they swim away from this noise as fast as possible, right into a small cove which is then netted off. Most of the dolphins are brutally slaughter in the most inhumane ways imaginable. They thrash about in the bloody water, hear the screams of their dying family members, toss their bodies up on the sharp rocks in an attempt to flee, and know that their fate will soon be the same as those around them. Studies on dolphin brains have shown that their brains have more spindle cells than human brains - spindle cells are what enables emotion; in this case fear, confusion, and loss.

Not all of the dolphins are killed. A select few are "spared" and sold off to a torturous life in captivity, forever carrying the memory of the slaughter of their pod. Most of these dolphins are kept in holding pens until purchased by an aquarium. These pens are within hearing range of the cove, so the captives can hear other dolphins being murdered, day in and day out. It is the captivity industry that financially fuels these dolphin drive hunts. A dead dolphin is only worth a few hundred dollars, while a live dolphin can go for up to $150,000. Remove captivity from the equation and the dolphin drive hunts would no longer be financially viable. The 'blood dolphins' are purchased by aquariums all over the world, and as close to my home as the Vancouver Aquarium (Spinnaker, possibly Hana and Helen). In my opinion, the captives are the ones getting the short end of the stick, not those who are brutally murdered (there are so many links I could throw in here about captivity, but as a starter here's an article about the life of Tilikum, and and a great organization called The Orca Project).

Save Japan Dolphins is working to end this practice through education, documentation of the slaughter, and bringing to light the connection between captivity and dolphin drive hunts. YOU can help end this practice by refusing to by a ticket to a marine park that has captive dolphins.

To learn more about the dolphin drive hunts, watch The Cove and visit www.savejapandolphins.org

Follow along as I embark on the most important (and probably scariest) adventure of my life. Special thanks to Tori Cullins (Wild Dolphin Foundation), Tim and Carrie Burns (Save Japan Dolphins), and everyone else who's been so supportive. See you all on the other side! :)