Demand that the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan stops now.

For the past week, Ric O’Barry and a team of activists from Save Japan Dolphins and Earth Island Institute have been in Taiji, Japan, the site of the largest killing of dolphins in the world. Their brave vigil has brought media coverage from around the world and it shone a light on the dangers to dolphins and people if we let this slaughter continue. As awareness and media coverage grew in Japan, the cove remained tranquil and no dolphins were killed.

But around 5:30 am yesterday, 13 fishing boats left Taiji’s harbor and started driving dolphins into a cove. They captured 50-100 dolphins, possibly for export to aquariums.

“Sadly, this isn’t entirely unexpected,” said Ric earlier today from Japan. “This campaign is far from over, and there’s still a lot of work to do in Japan. The good news is we’ve made progress and did garner unprecedented coverage while in Taiji. And at least one media in outlet is reporting that the captured dolphins that are not sold will be returned to the sea. Let’s hope that’s the case. If not, we will find out and report it.”

Ric, Lincoln and the Save Japan Dolphins team are preparing to go back to Japan in the days ahead. They’re intensifying the pressure. TakePart will continue to post updates as we receive them and in the meantime, here are 5 things you can do to help.

Source Takepart

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Broome Council has dumped Taiji as sister city over dolphin slaughter

Broome Shire will sever a sister city relationship with a Japanese town that hosts the killing of more than 20,000 (original number reported corrected) dolphins a year after an emotion-charged special council meeting.

More than 50 people, who packed the council chambers’ public gallery, greeted the decision with a standing ovation.

Broome Shire president Graeme Campbell said council’s unanimous decision was to “respectfully advise” the town of Taiji that Broome would be unable to fulfil its obligation as a sister town while the dolphin killings continued.

But he said the shire recognised the role Taiji played in developing Broome’s pearling industry in the 19th century.

As part of a raft of council resolutions, councillors noted the national and international pressure placed on the shire to end the relationship.

(sic)

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Australian director Jeff Hansen commended the shire and Broome residents for taking up the issue.

“May the original surfers stay safe and be free to ride a wave along side one of us soon,” Mr Hansen said.

More from The West Australian

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Broome, Australia has the Power to Cease the Dolphin Killings in Taiji, Japan. Here is our letter.

Why write a letter to Broome councillors?

Broome is the sister city to Taiji in Japan. Taiji is a quiet coastal village that use to harbour a terrible secret. Now exposed in Louie Psiyohos’ film The Cove, more than 23,000 dolphins are killed during the ‘cull’ in Taiji each year. It is imperative that something happen to stop the killing season before it begins in September. This is a call out to exert political pressure on Taiji, and to help inform the people of Japan they are eating contaminated dolphin meat.

Australians, if you wish to show your encouragement towards Broome suspending their ties with Taiji, Japan until the dolphin killing stops, please let the Shire of Broome know your support so they can take the appropriate action. Apart from sending emails, you can sign the petition or donate to this campaign.

Here is a list of councillor names and email addresses, with an example letter attached.

Please address the email with :

Dear Councillors,..

councillor.campbell@broome.wa.gov.au
shirepresident@broome.wn.com.au
roebuckbayep@broome.com.au
eo.kacc@westnet.com.au
councillor.mitchell@broome.wa.gov.au
councillor.albert@broome.wa.gov.au
albert@garnduwa.com.au
mick.albert@ausport.gov.au
councillor.wevers@broome.wa.gov.au
nikwevers@bigpond.com
councillor.foy@broome.wa.gov.au
councillor.lander@broome.wa.gov.au
cocos@iinet.net.au
councillor.matsumoto@broome.wa.gov.au
ematsumoto@westnet.com.au
shire@broome.wa.gov.au
chris@arthousebroome.com

The following example/ letter has been drafted by Alex Burns and Rosie Cross

For more information, visit the Sea Shepherd site.

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savejapandolphins.org

Please support this urgent campaign with a donation.

Your support will:

• Help us reach people around the world with our campaign to end the slaughter of dolphins and whales in Japan.
• Support the work of Richard O’Barry and the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition in Japan, to educate and inform the Japanese public about the dangers of eating dolphin meat and the need to stop the slaughter.
• Help us reach the Japanese public through targeted media campaigns and screenings of “The Cove” movie.
• Stop the captures of wild dolphins around the world and trafficking in live dolphins.

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/donate.php

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Please sign the petition to help stop slaughter of dolphins

A very cool widget has been created to help raise awareness of the plight of dolphins in Japan. Each September the killing season begins and the quiet coastal town of Taiji, Japan hides a terrible secret. With more than 20,000 dolphins slaughtered each year The Cove Movie documents the massacre of dolphins. It also reveals that the Japanese people are unaware  they are eating dolphin ‘meat’ which contains high levels of mercury.

The widget allows you to sign the petition, watch a trailer and share this important campaign amongst your friends. I encourage you to takepart.

GG

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US anticipates The Cove

It’s deeply disturbing that the slaughter of dolphins will commence again in Japan this coming September. There’s not yet enough talk about what we can do to save the dolphins before the slaughter begins or how to inform the Japanese people that the high levels of mercury present in dolphin ‘meat’ is dangerous to their health.

I have started a Twitter page for the exact purpose of rallying attention and possibly organising some protests. If, you have any suggestions or ideas please follow @dolphindays and keep informed of the activities of the filmmakers and follow @thecovemovie.

Any groups or individuals who love animals will want to get involved. I am also putting a call out to surfers and waterbabies who want to help protect the world’s oceans and also continue to petition Japan of their treatment of whales, dolphins and all cetaceans.

I also lashed out tonight on Twitter because I often find the vapid, mundane and banal tweets absolutely irritating and frustrating. As a tool for social engagement it can be used for a lot more than it currently is or does.

GG.

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Protest slaughter of dolphins in Japan

Just saw a very compelling documentary about dolphin slaughter at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The movie called The Cove is utterly disturbing and you may well want to grimace, turn away or just shut your eyes while the footage of horrific scenes take place. But for how much longer can we turn away from the crimes we perpetuate against animals!?

Thank goodness people care and it’s kudos to the film makers who risked their lives to capture this untold story of how the tiny coastal village of Taiji, Japan is at the epicenter of this dreadful crime.

The website won’t give the plot away and it’s something that the director wants you all to take your friends to see! Who knew! But sometimes it’s not such a bad thing to make money to further influence a cause and get the word out.  I’ve personally learnt that you don’t have enough time to be complacent about the things you believe in, and I am trying to have some conviction and stop in my own complicity of killing animals.

See what you can do to help the campaign to raise awareness of The Oceanic Protection society and help spread the word.

http://thecovemovie.com/

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Thousands of dolphins block Somali pirates

Thousands of dolphins are reported to have blocked the suspected Somali pirate ships when they were trying to attack Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden, the China Radio International has reported.

The Chinese merchant ships escorted by a China’s fleet sailed on the Gulf of Aden when they met some suspected pirate ships. Thousands of dolphins suddenly leaped out of water between pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the China’s.

The suspected pirates ships stopped and then turned away. The pirates could only lament their littleness befor the vast number of dolphins. The spectacular scene continued for a while.

Read the complete article at Xinhuanet

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