Every year hundreds of dolphins are herded into a cove in Taiji, Japan by a group of Japanese fishermen. They are left there over night and in the early hours of the morning are picked apart to send to aquariums all over Europe, and Asia. The dolphins/small whales that are left over are brutally slaughtered with spears and other weapons til the whole cove turns red from their bodies.
The movie "The Cove" a documentary by Ric O'Barry has captured these horrific events on tape. When it was released it won countless awards including the 2009 Academy Award for best documentary by its bringing awareness to people around the globe including Japan of what was taking place in this small cove every year. Due to his commitment to these majestic animals and other volunteers with him, the numbers have gone down from thousands killed to hundreds but that's still to many. Every year on September 1st the fisherman gear up to start another 6 months of brutal, inhumane killings of these animals. While Japan is big on the marketing and eating of whale meat, the dolphins caught and killed have been marketed AS whale meet without the knowledge of the Japanese people. As many know dolphins eat tuna which can contain high levels of mercury. This can be highly deadly and toxic to anybody who consumes this meat.
Although the Japanese Government knows about the small group of fishermen that carry out these horrific acts against these animals they have done nothing to stop them. Soon these animals will be placed on the endangered species list and even worse if we continue to stand by and watch this happen and do nothing some of these animals will become extinct.
I am asking you from one animal lover to another, please sign this petition. It takes only seconds and it can make a big difference to help save these amazing animals. Not only is this happening in Japan but all over the world. Aquariums are acquiring these animals from places like the cove and dooming these intelligent creatures to a life in a cement pool, having to do tricks for food. These animals belong in the ocean where they have no boundaries, where they can live long happy lives. There lives are cut in half once they are put into these aquariums. Please do your part in wanting to preserve and protect these animals so they can continue to flourish for many years to come.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
"No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal." - Jacques Yves Cousteau
Thank you,
Daniella
