The cove remains blue until September - Cove Guardians continue to monitor captive dolphins in Taiji, Japan

The cove remains blue until September - Cove Guardians continue to monitor captive dolphins in Taiji, Japan – March 4, 2015

 

Aeyeda, from the Netherlands, speaks from the heart after her experience as a Cove Guardian in Taiji.

Taiji is a very dark town. I have seen THE worst animal abuse with my own eyes. I unfortunately witnessed many red cove days, and when the cove stayed blue there was a captive transfer, and when there were no transfers the captives were still there. Still trained in the most horrific way you can ever imagine and being force fed in an inhumane way.

It may sound quiet, it may even look quiet, but here in Taiji it is never quiet.

Nothing positive is happening in Taiji. There is no place for love within the trainers, killers, and for the dolphins and small whales. It is all about profit from captivity and the hunger to kill for 6 months. And even when the season is over the hunger is still there. Coastal whaling begins shortly after the drive hunt season.

I want to share a story from one bottlenose family.

In the early morning, dolphin hunters were going out to look for a pod to drive into the cove for slaughter and captivity. We saw how the hunting boats go over the horizon and we hoped with all we had inside they would come back empty handed. But when they found the pod and were beginning to drive them toward Taiji, we realized how vicious these hunter were. The dolphins are so drained by stress and so tired from fighting. When we looked into their eyes, once they were in the cove, we could only see fear. The dolphins feel what is what is going to happen to them and even though it is a lost cause, they still try, and try, and try to fight for every last breath. We witnessed the family separated. The dolphins witnessed each of their family members wrestled by the killers and dragged under the tarps so the trainers could examine the dolphins that were beautiful enough for captivity. The remaining pod that was unworthy was murdered one by one in front of the rest of the pod. After the process, the banger boats forced the rest of the family out to sea. Most didn’t want to leave their dead family members and were confused and scared. The drive out was just as brutal as the drive into the cove. What kind of life will these few dolphins have? Will they survive? They are free, but are they really free after seeing their family being ripped apart and got killed in front of them?

This is a story I wanted to share and there are so many other stories of the many dolphins that swim past Taiji. So many stories of kidnapping and murder.

There is no reason for the dolphin drive hunt to continue. There is no need to take more captives for entertainment. There are other ways to see these beautiful cetaceans, just get on a boat and go see them in the wild. Not the fake education that they give in aquariums and dolphinariums.

So if anyone were to ask me “How can I make a difference?”

I will tell them that there are small steps we can take that can make a huge difference. I believe this will come to an end if we will all bind our forces together and step forward and let them hear our voices!’

If people stop buying tickets to see captive dolphins, the slaughter will end.

We can either do nothing to stop this, or we can so something.

 

Sites for more information :

Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians Page (official)

www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdCoveGuardiansOfficialPage

 

Cove Guardians

www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians

 

Photo: Sea Shepherd

 

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