- TOKYO -- Environmental activists
have been threatened by fisherman after filming them capturing more than
30 whales in an inlet in southern Japan.
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- Fishermen from the village of Taiji, near Osaka, "made
killing gestures with their knives" to Nik Hensey and Billy McNamara,
of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, based in Malibu, California.
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- Hensey was able to make a brief satellite phone call
to the organisation while the confrontation was taking place and report
"the danger they were in", according to Paul Watson, who heads
Sea Shepherd.
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- "The fishermen shone flashlights into their faces
in an attempt to stop Hensey and McNamara from taking pictures of the penned-in
whales and made killing gestures with their knives," said Watson.
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- The pod of whales included several juveniles, five infants
and two male adults trying to protect them.
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- The incident is the latest confrontation between Sea
Shepherd activists and Taiji fishermen since the season for hunting dolphins
and coastal whales opened on September 1. It runs until March 31, during
which time an estimated 20,000 dolphins and whales will be killed.
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- In October, three members of the group filmed hunters
butchering around 60 dolphins, including infants, after driving them into
the inlet.
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- They used spikes on the end of long poles that are driven
into the creaturesí heads.
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- The video footage that they captured showed the entire
surface of the inlet blood red and was sent around the world, enraging
animal rights activists.
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- The hunt is a regular event in Taiji and, according to
locals, is an important part of local culture that dates back 400 years.
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- "It's a wholesale slaughter, which results in immense
suffering for these animals," said Hensey. "It's a sight that
one just can't imagine."
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- One former dolphin hunter who has since become an environmental
activist in Japan says the creatures take up to six minutes to die after
the spike is driven into their heads.
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- Hunting dolphins is not banned by the International Whaling
Commission, which has maintained a moratorium on commercial whaling since
1986. However, because of scenes like these, fishermen in Japan have tried
to keep the hunts out of the public eye.
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- A spokesman for Sea Shepherd said: "The Taiji fishermen
know that while Sea Shepherd crew remain in the area, they cannot commit
mass murder of dolphins without it being documented and further exposed
in the media, which is a major form of embarrassment in Japanese culture.
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- "While it's not illegal to document dolphin slaughter,
the fishermen have taken many steps to obscure the view or make it illegal
to stand on the rocks above the killing coves."
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- Watson has contacted police officials in Osaka and is
requesting that they protect the Sea Shepherd activists because Taiji police
refused to come to their aid in the confrontation that took place in October.
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- ©2003 Scotsman.com
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- http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1236222003
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- Efforts To Stop Japanese Dolphin/Whale Slaughter
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- From Paulette
- 11-14-3
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- I just read an article about your activities in Japan
filming the dolphin slaughter. Thank you for your efforts there and elsewhere.
The article was posted at: www.rense.com
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- I specifically would like to know what consumers here
in the US can do to boycott Japan.
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- Thanks,
- Paulette
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- From: Captain Paul Watson
- Date: Thu, Nov 13 2003
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- Dear Paulette,
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- Thank you for your e-mail and support of our campaign
in Taiji, Japan. Our crew has been in Taiji since September 29th. It is
a hostile environment but they have endured the indignities and the discomforts
knowing that the indignity and the discomfort for the dolphins is far greater.
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- This is a brief outline of events to date.
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- On September 29th, a three person volunteer crew from
Sea Shepherd arrived in Taiji. They were Nik Hensey of the United States,
Brooke McDonald of Canada and Morgan Whorwood of Great Britain.
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- October 6: 60 dolphins driven into the bay at Taiji
and mercilessly butchered. The Sea Shepherd crew was able to film the slaughter
from the nearby cliffs. They were spotted and assaulted by Japanese fishermen.
Our crew called the police. When the police arrived, they arrested three
of our crew. They were taken into custody without charge, fingerprinted,
photographed, questioned and released. The police were not interested in
following up on the complaints of our crew.
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- On October 9th, a fourth member of the crew Allison
Lance-Watson arrived in Taiji to help with the daily patrols of the bay.
Allison had to leave after 10 days to answer a Court subpoena as a witness
in Seattle.
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- Brooke MacDonald and Morgan Whorwood departed Taiji.
Nik was joined by renowned dolphin defender Ric O'Barry (Dolphin Project),
who was once the trainer for Flipper, the popular television show of the
early seventies.
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- On October 24, the fishermen drove 30 Mellon headed
whales - an endangered species into the bay. Our crew were able to create
a diversion and distracted 17 of the whales away and out of the bay. 13
of the whales were slaughtered.
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- Ric and Nik were able to document the kill but were
again attacked and driven off by the fishermen. The police posted no trespassing
signs on the cliffs and posted signs prohibiting the taking of photographs.
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- On October 30th, Associated Press released the video
and photos taken by our crew and the story of the Japanese annual mass
slaughter of some 22,000 became a global story.
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- On November 4th, The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
organized an international day of protest for the dolphins that took place
in front of Japanese Consulates in 22 cities and in 11 countries worldwide.
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- Ric O'Barry had to depart Taiji on November 7 and was
replaced by television actor Billy McNamara (www.billymcnamara.com) who
flew at his own expense from New York City to join the crew.
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- On November 6th, the fishermen drove thirty pilot whales
into the Bay, most of them were juveniles and at least six were new born
calves. As Nik and Billy filmed from the cliffs, the fishermen scaled the
cliffs and threatened them with knives. Again the police were called but
they did nothing to help the Sea Shepherd volunteers.
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- During the time the pilot whales were held captive
they were kept closely guarded club wielding fishermen.
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- On the morning of November 8th, the pilot whales were
slaughtered with spears. Nik and Billy filmed the kill but were viciously
attacked and one fisherman broke a stick over Billy McNamara's head.
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- On November 9th, the crew was reinforced by two more
Sea Shepherd volunteers - Alex Corneilsson of the Netherlands and Thomas
Heinemann of Germany. Allison Lance Watson is scheduled to rejoin them
on November 13th.
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- Our objective is to keep a crew in Taiji for as long
as we can. It is difficult because all the hotels refuse to rent rooms
and the crew has been forced to rent a trailer for the ridiculous sum of
$1,000 U.S. per week.
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- The crew is armed with video cameras and they have a
kayak.
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- You can find further information, ways to help and updates
at our website: www.seashepherd.org.
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- Please visit the website often and keep in touch.
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- Sincerely Yours
- Captain Paul Watson
- President
- Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
- http://www.seashepherd.org/donate.shtml
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