VANCOUVER COURIER news 22Sept.06

Protesters part of worldwide event to stop 'Japanese dolphin slaughter'

By Sandra Thomas-Staff writer

The Coalition For No Whales in Captivity joined 60 other animal rights groups around the world Wednesday afternoon to protest dolphin hunting by Japan.

The protest was held outside the Vancouver Aquarium.

Coalition director Annelise Sorg said the annual protest, Japan Dolphin Day, comes as 25 dolphins were killed last week near Taiji, Japan.

"We are all trying to bring attention to the slaughter of these creatures," said Sorg.

Sorg said the coalition protested the annual dolphin hunt outside the Japanese consulate general's office on West Hastings last year. But because the consulate's offices are at least nine floors above the street, passersby had problems making the connection.

"People didn't know what was going on," said Sorg. "So we decided to hold the protest this year in front of the aquarium. Last year the aquarium imported two dolphins from Japan and we want them to stop."

Sorg, who has criticized the aquarium for years for keeping whales and dolphins, said even though both dolphins were labelled as "rescued," and not caught during a hunt, her group wants the aquarium to stop doing business with Japan.

"Just the implication they'd do business with the Japanese goes against any moral standards," said Sorg.

A video of last week's hunt taken by marine mammal specialist Ric O'Barry of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, shows the dolphins being driven into a cove, surrounded by boats and netted. Japanese fishermen with large knives are seen on the video slashing the throats of the dolphins as they thrash in the water, some taking up to 10 minutes to die. It's estimated 20,000 dolphins will be killed during the annual six-month Japanese dolphin hunt.

O'Barry, who captured and trained dolphins from 1960 to 1970 for the TV series Flipper, has spent the past 36 years working as an environmentalist, rescuing and releasing dolphins back to the wild. He spoke to the Courier from his Florida office following Wednesday's protest outside the Japanese consulate general's office in Miami.

"We had about 100 people show up," said O'Barry, who organized the worldwide protest. "I've been putting this together for about six months and ended up with 56 [environmental and animals rights groups] in 33 cities taking part, everywhere from Moscow to Rome to Vancouver. It felt good to wake up this morning and turn on my computer to see protests taking place at Japanese consulates in Hong Kong and Australia."

He said the capture of live dolphins for aquariums and zoos is as bad as the annual hunt.

"It's like adding jet fuel to the problem," said O'Barry. "These fishermen get $600 for a dead dolphin and $100,000 for a live one."

Aquarium president John Nightingale said the coalition was "misplaced" in holding the protest at the aquarium and said the flyer the group handed out Wednesday was full of misinformation.

"My jaundiced view is that this is about normal from the coalition," said Nightingale. "As usual, everything they're saying is full of half truths and innuendo."

He said the white-sided dolphins at the aquarium aren't the same species as those caught in the hunt. He said while the dolphin hunt is considered barbaric in many parts of the world, it is a part of Japanese culture.

"It's like saying our First Nations members are wrong to hunt whales," said Nightingale. "All things change over time. It's more productive for us to work with the Japanese for change. Placing protest signs in front of the aquarium is not a productive strategy. It doesn't do anything to solve the problem."

published on 09/22/2006

No Whales In Captivity Volunteer Coordinator Erika Ceballos protests what has been dubbed 'the Japanese dolphin slaughter,' outside the Vancouver Aquarium Wednesday. The event was organized by the Coalition for No Whales in Captivity. Photo-Dan Toulgoet