Source #1

"Dolphin Slaughter in Taiji." Dolphin Slaughter in Taiji. Oceanic Preservation Society, n.d. Web. 9 May 2014. <http://www.opsociety.org/issues/dolphin-slaughter-in-taiji>.

Horrifying Process                                                      Source #1

"Fishermen round them [Dolphins] up by the hundreds using sound barriers to disorient and herd the frantic pods out of their normal migrations into hidden lagoons"

Source # 1

Horrifying Process

Captured dolphins can be sold to marine mammal parks for $200,000 or more. The rest of the uncaptured dolphins are "inhumanely killed in what can only be described as a massacre" then sold as food.

Source # 1

Health, Safety and Economic Oppurtunity

Consumers of dolphin meat are under risk of mercury poisoning due to the hih numbers of mercury in dolphin meat. Many people will eat dolphin unknowingly thinking it's whale meat that has actually been mislabeled.

Source # 1

Driving Forces and History

"The more lucrative captive dolphin industry is the driving economic force behind the dolphin slaughter in Taiji. In the U.S. alone, dolphinariums represent an $8.4 billion industry, while a dead dolphin fetches a mere $600"

Source # 1

Action Taken Against the Massacre

"The International Whaling Commission (IWC) affords no protections for 71 (out of 80, known) cetacean species, including all dolphins and porpoises, which is why Japan and other countries can legally kill them by the tens of thousands"

Source # 2

O'Barry, Ric , and Louie Psihoyos. "Blog: Newsweek Story is Wrong about Taiji Dolphin Hunt | SaveJapanDolphins.org." Blog: Newsweek Story is Wrong about Taiji Dolphin Hunt | SaveJapanDolphins.org. Earth Island Institute, 7 May 2014. Web. 13 May 2014. <http://savejapandolphins.org/blog/post/newsweek-story-is-wrong-about-taiji-dolphin-hunt>.

Source # 2

Debate and Controversy 

A growing amount of japanese citizens are pushing to have the Taji dolphin kills come to an end, some of these people even being former fishermen.

Source # 2

Debate and Controversy

"we have many celebrity supporters, but we also have biologists, scientist, animal welfare experts, students, and many others who have taken the time to research this issue.   They tweet, they protest, and some even fly all the way to Japan at personal expense to serve as Dolphin Project Cove Monitors.  We have more than 2 million signatures from supporters worldwide asking Prime Minister Abe and the Japan government to end the dolphin killing" - Ric O'Barry Director of EArth Islands Dolphin Project

Source # 1

Debate and Controversy

Most of the Japanese people are unware that the slaughter is going on. They also don't realize that much of the meat they eat is dolphin meat, due to the government sheltering their people.

Source # 2

Debate and Controversy

Much of the meat that comes from harvesting whales and dolphins tends to sit in warehouses deeming the practice of harvesting dolphins and whales "wasteful" and "unnecessary". The tendency for the meat to sit in the warehouses for extended periods of time is due to a decrease in demand for whale and dolphin meat.

Source # 1

Debate and Controversy

"While the Japanese government defends dolphin hunting as part of their cultural heritage, this tradition has serious health effects on its own people"

Source # 2

Debate and Controversy

The city of Taiji is not to blame alone. The government of Japan through the Japanese fisheries agency are really calling the shots and are the ones deciding not to even try and discuss a possible end to the slaughter.

Source # 2

Debate and Controversy

"Japanese extreme Nationalist groups threaten violence and try to silence all opposing opinion.  When a Japanese company came on board to release The Cove, extreme nationalists not only staged aggressive protests at their offices but went to the private home of the company’s president, verbally assaulting him while his wife and two young children were present"

Source # 2

Horrifying Process

Once the Taji fishermen saw the impact the film, "The Cove" was having, they decided to switch to a "humane killing method". Instead of just stabbing the dolphins they would try and stick wooden plugs in after they stabbed them to stop the water from becoming so red with blood.

Source # 3

"Dolphins and Whales." Mundo Azul. Mundo Azul, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.mundoazul.org/deutsch/dolphins_whales0.htm>.

Source # 3

Health, Safety and Economic Oppurtunity

"By killing dolphins, we are killing the sanitary police of the oceans, which may result in more diseases and diminished fish populations. To kill a dolphin, therefore, means to directly damage sustainable fisheries."

Source # 3

Health, Safety and Economic Oppurtunity

Dol[phins have been known to protect humans. There are many well documented cases of dolphins rescuing people from shark attacks or even finding castaways. Killing a dolphin is both literally and figuratively stabbing them in the back.

Source # 3

Health, Safety and Economic Oppurtunity

 "Their non-lethal use is a great opportunity for sustainable economic improvement in developing countries like Peru. Tourists all over the world are spending huge amounts of money in order to observe dolphins and whales in their natural surroundings. For example, the Hawaiian Islands are visited each year by around 400,000 tourists who mainly come to the islands in order to see whales and dolphins, thereby contributing to the local economy with around $US 19 million per year"

Source # 4

History

"the first recorded dolphin drive was in 1933, with subsequent hunts occurring in 1936 and 1944. It was not until 1969 that dolphin drives have been conducted on a large scale. The history of the dolphin drives spans not so-called 400 years, but a mere 45"

Source # 4

Palmer, Mark. "Taiji Dolphin Drive Hunt is not a Tadition." . Save Japan Dolphin, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://savejapandolphins.org/blog/post/taiji-dolphin-drive-hunt-is-not-a-tradition>.

Source # 4

History

The Japanese government has made claims that the killing of dolphins is part of their culture. Evidence has found this statement to be completely false as the drive hunts were really put into action in 1969.

Source # 4

Debate and Controversy

Many Japanese citizens are speaking out agianst the dolphin slaughter in Taiji. Japanese artist and activist Yoko Ono published a powerful letter to the people of Taiji asking for an end to the dolphin killings. She says the killings will start "Makeing the children of the world hate the Japanese". 

Source # 5

Safina, Carl, and The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Carl Safina.. "How hunters slaughter dolphins in Japan." CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/27/opinion/safina-dolphin-hunt-killing-method/>.

Source # 5

Horrifying Process

A new hunting method is being used on the dolphins that is supposed to reduce the time-to-death. This new methos does anything but that as the hunters drive a metal rod through the spinal cord of the dolphins. This method does no even attempt to kill the brain.

_{Source # 5}

Horrifying Process

"in practice, the hunters splash around through the bloody water wielding their knives among the fully conscious, thrashing, squealing dolphins who have been trapped in the shallows and are being executed among their family and friends. Meanwhile, the humans have a very hard time getting into the spine"

Source # 5

Horrifying Process

Numerous veterinarians and behavioral scientists who have witnessed the killing methods say that this method would not be "tolerated or permitted in any regulated slaughterhouse in the developed world". 

Source # 5

Horrifying Process

"the treatment of dolphins in the drive hunts sharply contradict current animal welfare standards employed in most modern and technologically advanced societies ... The systematic mistreatment of dolphins and whales, allowed and sanctioned by a highly developed country such as Japan, is in striking contrast to European Union, United States, and even existing Japanese [livestock] legislation."

Source # 5

Driving Forces

People in Japan do not actually need the extra whale and dolphin meat. They would not go hungry or starve without the hunts, so are they really a neccessity?

Source # 5

Horrifying Process

In order to carry out the new killing method the hunters have to drag the dolphins away from shore, agonizingly drowning some in the process. They then proceed to try and shove a metal rod into it's spinal cord near the head. The hunters will often not get the rod all the way through and end up just plugging up the hole with a wood stopper. The fishermen say this will "prevent pollution of the sea with blood.

Source # 6

"Fight to save dolphins." Age [Melbourne, Australia] 26 Aug. 2009: 10. Global Issues In Context. Web. 15 May 2014

Source # 6

Political Aspects

The Australian town of Broome decided to end their "sister-town" relations with Taiji because of the international pressure created by Taiji's dolphin hunts. Broome has a connection with a Japan that is over a century old, created by the pearling industry. Broome could have received sanctions if the relationship continued. 

Source # 6

Activists

Activist leader Ric O'Barry hopes that the dolphin slaughterers will not even show up if they go to Japan to protest. "I would be surprised if the dolphin slaughterers showed up while we are there." - Ric O'Barry.

Source # 7

Activists and Unrest

On October 29th 2007, Hayden Panettiere and 5 other activists paddled out on surfboards in the bloody waters of Taiji to protest the dolphin killings. The protest soon became violent when the surfers were hit with propellers and poles. Panettiere will return to try and establish communication between activists and residents.

Source # 7

Human Impacts and Safety

"Human activities and industrialization have polluted the ocean food chain from the bottom up and several species of dolphins and whales are at the top of the ocean's food chain and have the dubious distinction of being the most contaminated animals on the planet"

Source # 7

Safety

Taiji residents that regularly eat dolphin meat have been tested for mercury contamination. Levels of mercury were found in thier bloodstream as high as 67.2 ppm. The health standard for mercury in Japan is .3-.4 ppm. Te levels found in the test subjects are 50 times higher than the national average for Japan.

Source # 7

"Heroes' Star Hayden Panettiere Takes Her Save the Whales Again! Campaign on the Road in Japan." China Weekly News6 Apr. 2010. Global Issues In Context. Web. 15 May 2014

Source # 8

"Japan officials defend dolphin hunting at Taiji Cove." CNN Wire 22 Jan. 2014. Global Issues In Context. Web. 15 May 2014

http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=b127a7f95d995552b6d2ee7049acd280&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=taho179&tabID=T004&docId=A356182922&type=retrieve&contentSet=IAC-Documents&version=1.0

Source # 9

The cove. Dir. Louie Psihoyos. Perf. Ric O'Barry. Lions Gate Entertainment, 2009. Film.

Source # 9

Taiji

"If you didn't know what was going on here, you would think they [Taiji] loved dolphins"

Source # 9

Ric O'Barry

Ric has to wear a mask when he is in Taiji because he does not want the people to recognize him. The fishermen there want to kill him and he thinks if they have the chance they will. He had a friend killed in Russia when they were saving dolphins up there.

Source # 9

Ric first started becoming an activist after he captured and trained the dolphins from the show "Flipper". One of the dolphins commited suicide in his arms and he started trying to free captive dolphins. This lead to him being arrested many times. 

Source # 9

Ric O'Barry

"I spent ten years building that industry up, and i spent the last 35 years trying to tear it down"

Source # 9

Method

Dophins travel 40 miles a day using complex sonar. This makes them very sensitive to sound which eventually becomes their downfall in Taiji when the fishermen bang on metal poles to drive them into the cove.

Source # 9

The Cove Film (general)

It was hard to film any part of the killing cove because the fishermen always seemed to block the cameras. This is most likely because if the world finds out they will shut the practice down.

Source # 9

The Cove Film (general)

In order to not get blocked by the fishermen form filming the cove, they set up secret cameras disguised as rocks. They aslo wanted a drone in the air so they made a blimp that flew over the rock walls.

Source # 9

Driving forces

"Taiji is the largest supplier of dolphins to marine parks and swim with dolphin programs around the world". 

Source # 9

Drtiving Forces

The captive dolphin insustry is keeping the dolphin slaughter in Taiji alive. A captive dolphin sold to a marine park can go for $150,000, whereas a dead dolphin is only worth a mere $600.

Source # 9

The Slaughter

The slaughter begins in September and goes through March. Aroound 23, 000 dolphins are killed in Japan each year.

Source # 9

Dolphin nature

Dave Rastovian was surfing with a buddy when he saw a tiger shark. The shark was coming right for him, but then a dolphin came in and t-boned the shark knocking it away from them. This proves that dolphins have saved peoples lives on occasion.

Source # 9

Government and Politics

"All social change comes from the passion of individuals. If saving cetacean species from extinction relies upon the International Whaling Commission, then there is no hope" 

Source # 9

Health and Safety

"Mercury levels in the environment have risen 1-3% since the industrial revolution due to the burning of fossil fuels".

Source # 9

Health and Safety

Mercury starts with the micro-organisms and then slowly works it's way up the food chain. As it works it's way up it becomes more and more concentrated, making the meat from a large predator such as dolphins very toxic.

Source # 9

Health and Safety

Dolphin meat is not very desirable, so the fishermen will label it as high end whale meat. The public is eating a lot of dolphin and they don't even know it. The government knows this and is covering it up.

Source # 9

Health and Safety

The town of Minimata dumps waste from factories into the nearby bay and then gets their fish out of thge same bay. These fish were toxic and poisoned many people, creating something called Minimata's disease. The mothers would eat the poisoned meat and then the children would be born deformed.

Source # 9

The Cove Film (general)

The purpose of the film was not just to get the slaughter on tape, it was too start a change and get people to do something. The recordings of whale sounds helped spark the world's first environmental movement against whale killing lead by Roger Payne.

Source # 9

Dolphin Nature

Dolphins are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth and some say they are even smarter than humans. When they are in the nets and they hear the cries of family members dying or see them dying they realize what is happening and whats going to happen to them.

Source # 9

Environmental Impacts

"Iki is a tourist destination for Japanese which became infamous for this... most ghastly slaughters of dolphins. I mean, literally thousands of them would... could be killed in a day. Well, I went back to Iki about three years ago, and they don't have any dolphins" 

Source # 9

Dolphin Nature

When we train dolphins we use hand signals to communicate. The dolphins understand, but they can't communicate back because they don't have hands. We are trying to see what we can teach the dolphins, not what the dolphins can teach us.

Source # 9

Activists efforts

Activists tried to pay the fishermen what they would normally earn if they left their boats on the docks and the fishermen said no because it wasnt about money, it was about pest control. The government is telling them that dolphins and whales eating too many fish and are killing the ocean.

Source # 9

Political Issues

"Since 2003 Japan has cited scientific data blaming the decline in global fisheries on dolphins and whales"

Source # 9

Political Issues

"A 2006 report in the journal Science predicts a total collapse of the world's fish stocks within 40 years at the current rate of fishing"

Source # 9

Health and Safety

7/10 people's principal protein is seafood. Losing seafood as a source of food will cause "the biggest public health problem human beings have ever faced".

Source # 9

Political Issues

The Japanese delegation has sought to overturn the IWC ban on commercial whaling since 1986. They have support from Cambodia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, Laos and the Republic of Marshall Islands.

Source # 9

Political Issues

The Japanese government bribes poor countries to join their agenda to bring back commercial whaling. Some beleive there has been "sufficient enough time to allow the replenishment of species [of whale]".

Source # 9

History

The Japanese goverment tries to back up it's "cultural" argument into keeping the dolphin slaughter alive by handing out free dolphin meat to Taiji's public schools. This practice has now been banned because of the hish levels of mercury in dolphins, making the consumption, unsafe.

Source # 9

Horrifying Process

"They're doing it [killing dolphins] exactly like they did with the large whales, they're slaughtering everyone they can get"

Source # 9

The Cove

At the end Ric O' Barry walks into a IWC meeting with a TV on his chest displaying the horrific act of the dolphin slaughters. The delegates watched with blank expressions and TV crews sourounded Ric.

Source # 9

Ric O' Barry

"I have to see this end in my lifetime". Ric's passionate and inspirational words fit the ending to the movie well.

Source # 9

Human Safety

Hideki Morunki, deputy of fisheries for Japan, was interviewed in the film and spoke in favor of the dolphin slaughters. A sample of his hair was taken and it tested positive for mercury poisoning.

Source # 8

Horrifying Process

"In recent days, environmentalist group the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has provided livestreams showing bottlenose dolphins splashing frantically as they tried to escape their human captors. Dolphins separated by nets into smaller partitions bobbed up and down, trying to reach other members of their pod. The group said that the dolphins appeared bloodied, and had had nothing to eat since their capture in Taiji Cove four days ago"

Source # 8

Horrifying Process

The fishermen in Taiji say they have introduced new huane killing methods by taking the dolphins to the beach and slicing their necks. Video footage shows a diffrent practice where the dolphins are still harpooned and suffer.

Source # 8

Political Issues

The dolphin hunting has changed a bit over the years. The Wakayama Prefectural Government is starting to give "catching quotas"  of about 2000 dolphins and poirposes each year.

Source # 8

Political Issues

"Dolphin fishing is one of traditional fishing forms of our country and is carried out appropriately in accordance with the law. Dolphin is not covered by the International Whaling Commission control and it's controlled under responsibility of each country."

Source # 8

Horryfing Process

"They tighten up the nets to bring each sub-group together then the skiffs push them toward the tarps. Under the tarps in the shallows is where the trainers work with the killers to select the 'prettiest' dolphins which will sell and make the best pay day for the hunters," said the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Source # 8

The Cove

"The prefecture government has condemned the film in an online response as distorted, biased and unfair to the fishermen. "'The Cove' filmed secretly the scenes of dying dolphins, and depicted their death in a manner designed to excite outrage," according to the Wakayama Prefecture statement."

Source # 8

History

Sea Shepherd has chased Japanese whalers out of Antartic waters. Japan is allowed to hunt whale thorugh loopholes in the system saying the whales are being killed for "research".

Source # 10

History

"Ishii stressed that his mentors in Futo, Shizuoka Prefecture, taught the Taiji fishermen how to conduct dolphin drives in 1969. He said he believes this was the first time such drive fisheries were conducted in Japan."

Source # 10

Harnell, Boyd. "Japanese ex-dolphin hunter says slaughter is not centuries-old tradition."Japan Times RSS. Japan Times, n.d. Web. 3 June 2014. <http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/17/national/japanese-ex-dolphin-hunter-says-slaughter-is-not-centuries-old-tradition/#.U40-e5RdXp4>.

Source # 10

Horrifying Process

A former dolphin fishermen, Izumi Ishii, talked about how they herd th dolphins into the cove by banging on metal poles int he water creating a wall of sound.

Source # 10

Ric O' Barry

"O’Barry is world renowned as a dedicated dolphin defender and has released scores of captured dolphins worldwide. He was featured in the 2010 Academy Award-winning documentary “The Cove,” which highlighted Taiji’s yearly dolphin slaughter"

Source # 10

Dolphin Nature

Ishii said that the dolphins were highly intelligent animals that never tried to bite him, even when he was cutting their throats.

Source # 10

Activists

"Ishii believes he can persuade the government to stop submitting quotas for slaughtering dolphins in the annual drive hunts. He said he will solicit a massive signature campaign and submit the results to the Fisheries Agency in a bid to stop the annual slaughter."

Source # 10

Health and Safety

"Dr. David Permutter, a famous Florida neurologist, told The Japan Times that eating dolphin meat is analogous to feeding consumers arsenic."

Source # 10

Health and Safety

Ric O' Barry and Ishii both talked about the high levels of mercury in seafood. They agreed that warning labels need to be placed on any smal cetecean food. U.S ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy also voiced her opinions against the mercury in dolphin meat.