On Killing Cetaceans - author Philip Hoare - Leviathan

[Annces]

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In the award-winning documentary, The Cove, which stunned audiences at this year's Sundance Festival, and is due for release later this summer, director Louie Psihoyos uses covert filming to uncover Japan's dirty little secret: the annual slaughter of 23,000 dolphins.

In whale terms, Japan has long been a pariah. It exploits a loophole in the 1986 international moratorium on whaling to carry on “scientific research” in the Pacific and Southern Oceans. Sailing into areas officially declared as whale sanctuaries, its fleet catches thousands of minke and fin whales each year. Grenades are shot into the crania of their prey; some ­animals may take hours to die. Rather than furnishing data for scientific experiments, they end up as whale sushi and whale burgers.

Last year, the Japanese proposed to start hunting humpbacks. These are exquisite animals. I've been watching them in the waters off Cape Cod for years and never fail to be amazed at their beauty and amused at their antics. It is impossible not to smile when a 50-ton, 50-foot whale launches itself out of the water before your eyes.

Selecting these crowd-pleasers as their latest target was a provocative act; the Japanese must have known it would arouse the ire of the eco-warriors of Sea Shepherd. Under the command of their Canadian captain, Paul Watson, and funded by well-wishers (including the rock group the Red Hot Chili Peppers), these cetacean avengers have put themselves on the front line of the “whale wars”. Last year, two of their crew were accused of piracy when they boarded a whale-catcher to deliver their protest in person. The Japanese call them terrorists, others see them as heroes.

The Cove is set to raise the temperature of an already heated debate to new highs. Unlike its whaling fleet sailing in remote seas, the Japanese dolphin harvest is carried out on its coastline, within sight of its citizens. Aware of the negative publicity, the authorities erect huge blue tarpaulin screens across ­narrow inlets to prevent filming as dolphins are driven to their deaths.

Nevertheless, The Cove has managed to sneak through this curtain of shame. What it reveals is horrifying. Most of the mammals killed are destined for human consumption, misleadingly labelled as whale meat (rather than dolphin). But some are taken alive. Only animals which show the most defiance — by leaping highest — are spared for sale to dolphinaria. It is an inexcusable trade, and I urge anyone who cares about these animals to ­protest to the Japanese government.





http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23705843-details/Return+of+the+Whale+hunters/article.do



Whale Wars, Animal Planet, Fridays 9 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEF8RzFbCz4


The Cove Movie
http://thecovemovie.com/home.htm



Graphic pic below