From beginning next week I will be in Taiji, Japan, to witness dolphin drive hunting continues to go on. For you who have not seen the Cove yet (trailer above), highly recommended, it also won an Oscar for best documentary this year. The only NGO present in Taiji is Sea Shepherd, you can follow their campaign here. Unlike Whale Wars (operation No Compromise) the Sea Shepherd campaign in Taiji does not involve any violence and is solely meant to bring attention to the ongoing slaughter. This is also one of the reasons why I planned my visit; to share my experiences with others and to find out more about the exact motives of the few people who are still involved in the slaughter. Only very few people in Japan consume whale or dolphin meat, many Japanese people do not even know about what is happening inside Taiji (The Cove was actually censored in Japan until this summer). Exposing the horrendous activities by some of the fisherman in Taiji and using the public opinion of the Japanese public, could stop the hunt for dolphins for once and for all.
There are only 3 other places in the world left where people hunt for Cetaceans in drive hunting, these are the Faroer Islands , Solomon Islands and Peru. Other nations where dolphin hunting was a tradition have banned this practice.
Taiwan
On the Penghu Islands in Taiwan, drive fishing of Bottlenose Dolphins was practiced until 1990. When the practice was outlawed by the government. Mainly Indian Ocean Bottlenose Dolphins but also common Bottlenose Dolphins were captured in these hunts.
Hawaii
In ancient Hawaii, fishermen used to hunt dolphins for their meat by driving them onto the beach and killing them. In their ancient legal system, dolphin meat was considered to be kapu (forbidden) for women together with several other kinds of food. Today, dolphin drive hunting no longer takes place in Hawaii.
Kiribati
Drive hunting existed in Kiribati at least until the mid 20th century.
