BREAKING: 99 Hours of Hell

TAIJI, 1-24-17: At 1:54 p.m., it was over. After five days of horror, 150+ dolphins were finally freed, driven out to sea by the very banger boats which first stole their freedom.

Ninety-nine hours ago, it began as fisherman spotted a pod of 250+ bottlenose dolphins. With captive dolphins worth up to $155K USD, a massive payday was soon in the making. Day after day, divers and trainers ravaged this beautiful pod, sorting and selecting the most beautiful and valuable mammals to be sold as entertainers to marine parks and aquariums throughout the world.

Panicked dolphins trapped in nets, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

Babies amongst pod of captured dolphins, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

Dolphin looks into the eyes of its tormenters, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

Dolphin Project Cove Monitors live streamed on Facebook for hour after hour, and in real-time, the world witnessed the full horror of the captive selection process. Dolphins were seen bloodied from injuries with vomit in their mouths, struggling against their captors, slamming their heads against the skiffs and huddling close together in panic. Many babies and juveniles were seen, their little fins surfacing as they were ripped from their mother’s sides.

At the end of each day, humans turned a blind eye and left both groups – the dolphins “rejected” for captivity, and the ones still to be “processed” – alone and trapped in the cove, with no access to food (or hydration). The injured became weaker, and on day four, we witnessed two dolphins succumb to the trauma of their ordeal, their dead bodies taken to the butcher’s house.

Dolphin escapes nets but won’t leave pod, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

Dead dolphin spotted at net in cove, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

On the morning of day five, a lone dolphin was spotted swimming outside the nets, having escaped it’s confinement. And yet, the dolphin chose to remain with its pod and family, rather than swimming to freedom. In another heartbreaking visual, a dolphin lay on its side, floating dead against a net.

In the 99th hour, after each and every member of the pod had been abused by human hands, the boats returned to drive the remaining dolphins out to sea. In such a weakened state, with many suffering from extensive injuries, there is no telling how many more will perish.

100 dolphins were taken captive during 5-day ordeal, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

Divers grab dolphins during captive selection, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

Hunter slaps struggling dolphin, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

After 5 days of abuse, 150+ dolphins are finally freed, Taiji, Japan
Credit: DolphinProject.com

One hundred dolphins were taken captive and at a minimum, four died in the cove, although many more may have sunk to the bottom, their numbers unrecorded. Our Cove Monitors will keep a close eye on the pens as the new recruits are put through the rigorous demands that captivity entails. Some won’t survive their training, some will die en-route to their new concrete and glass homes, while others will suffer ongoing humiliation, along with physical and psychological stress as they entertain paying audiences.

They deserve better. Much, much better.

#DontBuyATicket

HOW YOU CAN HELP

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL JAPANESE EMBASSY/CONSULATE AND LET THEM KNOW YOUR OUTRAGE AT TAIJI’S DEPLORABLE ABUSE OF DOLPHINS:

PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN
Prime Minister Shinzo- Abe
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
1-6-1 Nagata-cho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8914 JAPAN
+81-3-5253-2111

Website: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html
Online comment form #1: https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html
Online comment form #2: https://form.cao.go.jp/kokusai/en_opinion-0001.html

Japanese Embassies Worldwide:
Websites of Japanese Embassies, Consulates and Permanent Missions

List of Embassies and Consulates-General in Japan:
List of Embassies and Consulates-General in Japan

US Embassy in Japan:
Ambassador of the United States to Japan
Telephone: 011-81-3-3224-5000
Fax: 011-81-3-3505-1862
Send E-mail to the U.S. Embassy in Japan