20th April 2008

Earth Day 2008 - Highlight Dolphin Slaughter in Japan

Earth Day 2008 - what are you doing for Earth Day? I personally believe that we should no longer have just one day dedicated to the Earth in today’s Green-Aware & environmentally conscious society. Green living is becoming a lifestyle, where we are constantly learning more about what’s changing in the environment.

Last weekend I watched 11th Hour, hosted by Leonardo DiCaprio, on Time Warner’s cable pay-per-view. I learned about a lot of environmental activists, who have been significantly contributing to one aspect or another including Hardy Jones.

Hardy Jones has contributed over 20 or so years tracking dolphin slaughter. It’s rather disturbing to watch this and hear what’s being done on various Asian shores - it reminds me of the century-old story about ocean shores where whaling occurred, including Deception Island in Antarctica (where I visited in December 2007) where whale bones and old fishing boat remains lay scattered about. You can watch Matt Damon hosting the dolphin slaughter story, on YouTube - it’s disturbing enough to get a birth date confirmation button before you watch the video.Learn more about Hardy Jones’ commitment to documenting dolphin massacre in Japan through www.Bluevoice.org.

You have to watch the video on YouTube though - it’s sad to see how they trap the dolphins - by the way, they capture the young and pretty ones first to go to aquariums where they can get several thousand dollars - so say NO to zoos and acquariums on your next family vacation. Instead, contribute to keeping the dolphins in the wild where they belong.

The slaughter that you see is not unlike the media attention killing helpless seal pups 20 some years ago. I remember watching that when I was a teenager. Hardy Jones captured the techniques on video the Japanese use to slaughter these dolphins. They scare them by banging metal bars on their boats - the sounds cause the dolphins to flee in an area where they can’t escape. One by one, they are then slaughtered, in front of each other. It is not like deep sea fishing where you catch a few at a time - it’s catching hundreds or more at a time.

Attempt to embed YouTube video not yet successful - having Stephanie look into it (www.nextsteph.com) to see if she can figure it out. In the meantime, use the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzuSULcqgxQ.


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