Today, September 1, 2011, marks the beginning of a new month. It is also Japan Dolphins Day, a day that marks the beginning of a horrible event. Every year beginning on or around September first, fishermen begin their season of killing thousands of dolphins. This is a topic I feel very passionate about and believe it is important to raise awareness, offer my support, and urge others to help in any way possible.
I have always shared a love for dolphins. For as long as I can remember I wanted to learn as much as I could about this mammal. The more I learned the more I fell in love with this beautiful species. I continue to research information about dolphins in my spare time, and hope to one day somehow work with them, or work to inform the public about this amazing species.
When I first heard about the documentary The Cove I knew this was going to be one movie I would never be able to watch. For those who have not heard of the documentary, The Cove exposes the dolphin slaughter happening in Taiji, Japan. It has won awards, and is a great way to raise awareness about the dolphins being harmed in Japan. The dolphins are being slaughtered every year in Japan, as well as various countries around the world. Japan Dolphins Day is celebrated to help save the dolphins.
Every year, fishermen slaughter more than 20,000 dolphins between the months of September through April. While fishermen say the dolphin meat is a part of the Japan culture, this is not completely true. Yes, dolphin meat is sold in Japan, however the public in Japan is unaware of the slaughtering taking place. Dolphin meat is not desired in Japan, and is usually falsely labeled as whale meat. This is harmful to not only dolphins, but also to the people who eat the meat. The dolphin meat is highly contaminated with toxic chemicals such as mercury, methyl mercury and PCBs, which causes a serious health risk in those who consume the dolphin meat. Fishermen are not the only ones who take part in this event, some dolphin trainers have been spotted helping in the capturing of the dolphins. Dolphin trainers will help trap the dolphins so that they get their first pick of which dolphins to buy for their aquariums, and do not seem to care that they are aiding in the killing of thousands of innocent dolphins. As long as trainers continue to purchase captured dolphins, the less likely this horrible event will ever end.
I have learned a lot about the killing of dolphins over the past few days, and am trying to help in every way possible. Raising awareness is the best way to help, the more people that know of this deadly event the more likely we can stop the killing of dolphins. No dolphins are not endangered at the current moment, but if more than 20,000 dolphins continue to become slaughtered every year, they will become endangered, and that is something that I cannot allow to happen. I want to make it clear that no one is against Japan or the people of Japan, this is solely raising awareness in the killing of dolphins, that happens all over the world.
I hope to travel to Japan this time next year and join Ric O'Barry, the main character of The Cove, as well as the save Japan dolphins team who go to Taiji, Japan, at the Cove on September first of every year, the beginning of the annual dolphin slaughter there, to pray for the dolphins and to monitor the Cove. I have already signed a couple of petitions that will be sent to government officials and have purchased a couple t-shirts where the proceeds go to help the dolphins. I have only provided a small insight into a horrible event, please take the time to visit the links I provided to learn more, and to find out how you can help.
To learn more please visit: http://www.savejapandolphins.org/
Sign The Cove: Help Save Japan's Dolphins: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/724/210/624/
Sign Stop the Dolphin Slaughter in Taiji, Japan: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/stop-the-dolphin-slaughter/
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