Dolphin massacre in Japan

[Muncle]

Dolphin massacre in Japan

I just felt sick watching this. Does anyone here know where it came from, and what the context was?

And yes, it's a bit strange for the site.

[Fiver]

That is one of the most distubring things I have ever seen in my life, without a doubt. The writhing dolphins made me sick and angry. Right now, I'm a little too disturbed to write what I'm feeling, or anything really coherent just now.

[Venus]

All of japan could explode at this moment and i wouldn't give a damn. As if i didn't have enough reasons to be disgusted by humanity.

[justusfour]

WHY do I click on links like that? OMG that is the most awful animal abuse video I have ever seen including the awful videos on FEMAs website. Poor, poor innocent dolphins.

I would also post a large NFBSK tag...it's horrible!

[charlie23]

I saw the same footage recently on Animal Planet, not sure of the show or episode but I think it was "Blue Planet".
That video is from Futo, where the last "hunt" was in 1999: they now seem to have embraced ecotourism instead. Apparently though a similiar situation still occurs annually in Taiji and possibly a few other villages. A google search
for "japanese dolphin hunt Taiji" will bring up more info than you probably want.

[Marie19]

*is sick* I didn't even watch the video, just read the posts and website, but gosh that's sick. Poor dolphins!!

[Jonny T]

Originally Posted by Venus

All of japan could explode at this moment and i wouldn't give a damn.

Well, that's certainly a reasonable response.

Originally Posted by justusfour

I would also post a large NFBSK tag...it's horrible!

Just what did you expect from a video link with the word "massacre" in the title?

out of interest, how many of those who are outraged by this are vegetarian or vegan, or do their best to ensure their meat is raised in a humane environment?

[Silkenray]

Dolphins are a bit of a special case, along with elephants and higher primates. They're the animals most approaching what could be described as sentience. Dolphins pass the mirror test. I object to killing them not just on the grounds that it's cruel to kill animals (it is), but because by killing them we're destroying another potential sentient life. Meat may not be murder, but killing dolphins (in my opinion) very nearly qualifies.

[Mickey Blue]

Wow.. Just.. Wow..

Though I was already upset with Japans treatment of sharks in their quest for "shark fin soup" where they (at least based on what I saw and read) catch the shark, cut off its fin(s) and threw the rest back..

That made no sense to me, perhaps shark meat is not used for anything in Japan, I dunno, saw video of it though.


Is slaughtering a dolphin any better or worse then slaughtering a pig? I dont know.. Culturally at least its very relevant, to us at least, and I believe there is some evidence that they posess higher then normal animal intelligence.

[Jonny T]

Originally Posted by Silkenray

Dolphins are a bit of a special case, along with elephants and higher primates. They're the animals most approaching what could be described as sentience. Dolphins pass the mirror test. I object to killing them not just on the grounds that it's cruel to kill animals (it is), but because by killing them we're destroying another potential sentient life. Meat may not be murder, but killing dolphins (in my opinion) very nearly qualifies.

As alluded to by Mickey, pigs have also shown signs of intelligence.

regardless, I can't help but feel this aspect is a side issue.

[Fiver]

Originally Posted by Jonny T

~snip~ out of interest, how many of those who are outraged by this are vegetarian or vegan, or do their best to ensure their meat is raised in a humane environment?

I only eat meat that I know where it comes from. ie, local, organic, of free range. Preferably all three. Also, I'll never eat veal. Of course, I have had meat that was probably hurt and inhumanely killed, so I guess I'm a hypocrite, but if hypocracy is the price to pay to be upset, I don't mind.

[Troodon]

I don't have any particular fondness for dolphins - they aren't on my list of "animals I like". However, I think there's good reason to believe that their capacity to experience subjective suffering is about the same as ours. Thus, while I'm socially conditioned to not be as horrified at these events as I would be at a slaughter of humans, intellectually I can't state with certainty that slaughtering humans would be worse.

For that matter, I can't even say that killing humans is worse than killing pigs. Pigs aren't as obviously mentally developed as dolphins, but what I apply is the "newborn baby test". If it's wrong to eat babies, it's wrong to eat anything that appears to have more intelligence than a baby.

I don't consider plant life relevant here. As such, I think only vegans (not vegetarians) are completely free of "guilt".

I also think a one-to-one exchange is beyond reproach...if you need meat to live, you can kill an animal. You can kill one animal, and that's it.

Beyond those, I think it's a matter of degree of "guilt". If you kill only for food (not sport or profit), if the animal is treated (and slaughtered) humanely, if the animal is dumb (or ugly)...you're less "guilty", but you're still "guilty".

Who gets to choose the criteria for killing? Who decides that (within those parameters) killing is fine?

Originally Posted by Jonny T

Just what did you expect from a video link with the word "massacre" in the title?

My first thought was it was about the Miami Dophins going to Japan to play their national team and getting beat 59-0.

[justusfour]

It looks like it originated from this organization

Apparently the dolphin hunters have seen our recent dolphin capture footage, which is running on YouTube and is being viewed by thousands of people worldwide every day. They have reacted by putting 24 new signs up in the same area from where we shot the compelling video. To further prevent anyone from witnessing the dolphin massacres, they have erected a wall that prevents anyone from entering the tsunami mountain – a favorite location for observing the victim dolphins who are driven into the secret killing cove.
There was a time when the dolphin slaughter took place in the open. Those days are gone forever. As the international exposure grows larger and larger, the circle is getting smaller and smaller for these few dolphin hunters in Taiji. It is only a matter of time before their anachronistic and barbaric practice is abolished forever, and they know it: They once told us that if the world ever learned about the annual dolphin slaughter, they would have to stop it. And the world is finally learning about it.

And it looks like it's working.

[Horse Chestnut]

I thought this article gave an interesting perspective on both sides of this issue. One thing pointed out in this essay was the theory that the fishers of Taiji continued the dolphin massacre not because the dolphins are suitable to eat, but because they regard them as competitors for the dwindling resources of the sea, just as fishermen in the States destroy seals or sea otters to eliminate their competition.

Of course the fact that fish stocks are crashing due to human commercial fishing is conveniently ignored.