Below the Surface – Taiji to the TRAINED Eye

Christmas Day, Taiji

After yesterday’s unthinkable — leave alone unspeakable — slaughter and abduction of pantropical spotted dolphins in the cove, we wanted to make mention of the numbers. First, it’s not an issue of quantity, it’s an issue of quality. In this case, the dolphins abducted for a “non-life” in captivity will have no quality whatsoever to their lives. Second, the killing of one dolphin is as profound as the killing of many.

When the killing numbers are reported by the untrained eye, the numbers simply cannot be trusted. When I monitor the goings-on at the cove, after 50 years of dolphin experience, my mind’s eye sees below the surface. I am acutely aware of the untold numbers — the very young, the very old and the sick — who simply cannot keep up as the rest of the pod flee for their lives. These dolphins who lose their lives simply sink to the bottom, uncounted. Then there are the dolphins who are fatally injured, babies who are aborted, and others.” ~ Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project

The reality is, you cannot trust the untrained observer, the fishermen or the fisheries agency that publishes the numbers. A great number of dolphins died yesterday, not just one.

Please consider joining Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project on the front lines in Taiji as a Cove Monitor, or making a donation to keep our campaign going.

Our work is only possible through the generous support of activists like you.