UK’s Japan Dolphin Day sends clear anti-cruelty message

Sep 5, 2008

WSPA supporters joined the protest outside the Japanese Embassy in London
© WSPA

On Japan Dolphin Day, 3 September 2008, protesters all over the world took a global stand against the annual slaughter of over 20,000 dolphins, porpoises and whales in Japanese waters. WSPA staff and supporters joined many others outside the Japanese Embassy in London to unite against this cruel practice.

Of the many thousands of dolphins, porpoises and whales killed in Japanese waters each year, 3,000 die in ‘drive hunts’. In these hunts the animals are chased by motor boats, traumatically herded into small coastal coves, and slaughtered in a bloody and brutal manner.

Others are killed with hand harpoons further out at sea; both methods of slaughter result in prolonged suffering and distress.

Captivity: an incentive for hunters

Dolphins are coerced to behave unnaturally in captive surroundings
© WSPA

Many dolphins are captured rather than killed in the hunts; they are then purchased by the captive dolphin industry for display in aquariums and other facilities, both within Japan and abroad.

It is this demand for live dolphins that provides the major economic incentive for the drive hunts.

WSPA is fundamentally opposed to the keeping of marine mammals in captivity as no captive environment can satisfy the complex physical and behavioural requirements of these highly intelligent and specialised animals.

Those dolphins and whales that survive the trauma of capture are subjected to a lifetime of confinement in unnatural surroundings, unable to express normal behaviors or social interactions, and subject to stress and numerous illnesses.

Studies suggest that mortality rates for whales and dolphins increase six fold after capture and that life expectancy is severely reduced.

It’s not too late to help protect dolphins

You can help by writing a letter to the Japanese Embassy, telling them how you feel about the cruelty of the hunts and the sale of live dolphins into a life of suffering.

Please express your views politely – aggressive correspondence can set back the dolphins’ cause.

Address your letters to:
His Excellency Shin Ebihara
Ambassador
The Japanese Embassy
101-104 Piccadilly
London
W1J 7JT