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US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy tweets against Japan’s dolphin hunt in Taiji

Jan 20, 2014 National 6

US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy tweets against Japan’s dolphin hunt in Taiji

With the start of the dolphin-hunt season in the town of Taiji in Japan, a lot of conservationists have expressed concern over the activity, calling it a “brutal practice”. US Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy has taken to micro-blogging site Twitter to express her opposition and deep concern over the Japanese tradition.

In a tweet dated on January 17, the US Ambassador said that she is “deeply concerned by inhumaneness of drive hunt dolphin killing. USG (US Government) opposes drive hunt fisheries.” The tweet pertained to Japanese town, Taiji’s tradition of corralling hundred of dolphins for selling and slaughter for meat. Last Sunday, around 250 dolphins were caught for the “cultural” tradition. The dolphins will be culled for selling to marine parks and aquatic establishments, while the remaining ones will be killed for its meat. An official from the fishing industry in Taiji already confirmed the slaughter of some of the caught dolphins but the number of those killed was not revealed.

The dolphin-cull tradition was featured in the Academy Award winning documentary “The Cove.” It drew worldwide attention with its in-depth coverage of the town’s tradition and process of selecting and slaughtering the dolphins. Right-wing protesters opposed the documentary when it was shown in Japan in 2010 and defended the tradition as part of their cultural heritage. However, conservationist group Sea Shepherd condemned the practice. “Those taken captive are forced to watch as the remaining members of their family are brutally killed for human consumption,” it said in a statement. Sea Shepherd once streamed live footage of a dolphin capture in Taiji in 2010 as a protest. The industry official, which refused to be identified, said that while the dolphins die immediately after the spinal cords were cut, it was not as bloody as depicted in “The Cove.” Defending their practice, he said that they “can’t simply nod (to protests) and end centuries of our tradition.” Further adding that to talk about cruelty, means abstaining from eating “cows, pigs or any other living creatures.”

Previous Coverage

[via Japan Probe]

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  • Dawn Stackalis

    It’s 250 dolphins. a rare albino dolphin was torn away from a protective mother who spy hopped for a few moments before sinking into the ocean to never be seen again. The Child was immediately taken to the Taiji Whale Museum and put on display.. No tradition in that. Just pure greed.

  • Agota Horvath

    This isn’t tradition, it is wholesale slaughter & enslavement for the ones that are selected to be sold to marine parks for a huge profit. These dolphins are migrating , they don’t belong to the Taiji fishermen aka poachers , they belong to world . This savage pillaging of the oceans has no place in the modern world. If you claim tradition as the excuse for this barbaric slaughter then use traditional boats … not boats with modern engines & don’t sell captives for hundreds of thousands of dollars to amusement parks… is that tradition as well? All sorts of sadistic practices can be excused as tradition … from foot binding to burning of witches .. tradition is NO excuse. It is time to evolve ! Japan is a modern nation if it doesn’t want a handful of backwards villagers representing it , then it needs to take action.

  • Agota Horvath

    This is NOT tradition ! Traditional hunting doesn’t involve the use of modern boats or the selling of captives to marine parks for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also tradition is NEVER an excuse ! foot binding, slavery , witch burning etc … can all be called traditions. This obscene wholesale poaching & pillaging of dolphins is barbaric and based purely on greed. Some so called “traditions” are not sustainable or ethical and need to die out. These dolphins are migrating , they don’t belong to a select few greedy poachers in Taiji , Japan . The Japanese people & government need to wake up if they don’t want a handful of backwards villagers representing them. This is a shameful stain on a modern country , nothing to do with honor or culture… just savagery & greed.

  • Vanessa Goldwasser

    Dolphin Slaughter is wrong. Period. It does not matter if it is tradition, nor that it may be cultural. Dolphins are self-aware and form strong family bonds. To force them into a cove using harmful sound, then ripping their children away from them before brutally murdered after being left for long periods of time with no food is simply cruel and inhumane. This needs to stop.

  • Roseanne Watson

    Its time Japan grew up and did more for the marine environment. They will forever be known as the country that was so cruel to the dolphins and whales. Now is that something for future generations of Japan to be proud of. I do not think so. Hang your heads in shame.

  • Jim Zarka

    I want encourage Caroline Kennedy to push on this and the whale hunt as well. Thank you Caroline Kennedy for speaking out