'The Cove'

EDIT :

Okay, just to clarify some things.

- What I wrote about cows, pigs, etc. being killed was because of documentaries I saw about German slaughterhouses where cows and pigs were really killed quickly, with precise shots so they were dead immediately or quickly numbed so they wouldn't feel any pain. It's not like that everywhere and those animals feel pain as well of course, I apologize if it seemed like I didn't think it was a big deal.

- Not all Japanese are whalers / whale eaters. There are many Japanese animal activists and people who never ate whale meat or have no clue about the slaughtering. It was said in the movie as well, there are thousands of people living on Taijii, but only 26 fishermen are doing the slaughtering. Though I have to say, if not so many people would buy and eat whale meat the whaling would stop sooner or later. Not all Japanese are doing it but still enough to keep the business rolling.

- I watched "The Cove". I love dolphins. That's why I wrote this journal. I have the right to talk about my favourite animals and the cruel things happening to them. Just because I don't mention all the other kinds of animals who have to suffer because of what humans do to them doesn't mean I don't care about them. Shark-finning, bullfighting, foie gras, etc. is horrible as well! But some people made it sound like "If you don't complain about all the animals being killed then don't complain about dolphins!"

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I just saw „The Cove“ on TV, didn’t dare to watch it in the theatre because even the preview made me cry already. But now curiousity won, or better said, curiousity killed the cat, since I feel so DAMN angry, sad and frustrated right now.

It’s no secret that Japan has a liking for killing and eating whales and dolphins, but wow, how heartless and cruel can people be…For those who don’t know the movie, it’s about the dolphin slaughter in Taijii, where over 20 000 dolphins are killed every year.

There are a lot of dolphins traveling around that island, and the fishermen know where to find them. So they drive there with their fleets and make so much noise that the dolphins are scared and confused and chase them into that small cove. The chase takes hours or even days. Pure stress already for the dolphins as you can imagine. Nets keep them from swimming back to the ocean. Next day people from sea parks come and pick the few dolphins they need and the rest is killed. But how…omg…with spears, harpoons and knives, most of them slowly bleed to death. Babies see their mothers being slaughtered and vice versa. Many drown because they’re too weak to swim to the surface to breath or simply die of stress or even get heart attacks. The whole cove is red with blood. Only 13 boats with 26 fishermen kill over   20 000 dolphins a year.

Japanese people in Tokyo were interviewed and they had no idea that this is happening and said they don’t see and want dolphins as food. For a moment I had hope but then why do those fishermen still kill them? It’s also proven that dolphin meat is poisoned by mercury which is also very dangerous for humans. So they sell it as whale meat, which is more wanted and more expensive. Okay, not only that this is illegal but WTF!?
“Oh, we didn’t know it was dolphin meat, we though it was whale!”
Oh yeah, that makes such a difference! Because eating whales is alright. Gah! Do people think they could maybe gain some intelligence by eating something that’s smarter than them or what?

Japan even gave money to poor countries to help them achieve that the law against commercial whaling will be dismissed again. A woman from one of those countries said “the whale population had enough time to recover by now” so they don’t need that anti-whaling law anymore. Great logic people, they barely recovered, now let’s kill them to the verge of extinction again! Or that phrase “We still don’t know what’s so special about those animals.”

What’s so special? They’re the most intelligent animals on Earth, they have self-awareness, means when they look into a mirror for example, they know it’s them, they make bubbles and watch their reflection. They know they exist. So when they’re chased and brutally killed they know very well what’s happening to them, they feel physcial pain and emotional pain when a dolphin mother has to watch her baby die.

Foundations even offered the fishermen to pay the amount they earn with the slaughter, so they leave their boats in the harbour and let the dolphins alive. But the rejected the offer because “it’s not about the money. It’s about pest control.” because dolphins and whales are responsible for the decreasing fish population worldwide. Excuse me! Humanity fishes the oceans empty because we’re far too many people for this planet and it’s the dolphins’ / whales’ fault??? It’s not like they can suddenly eat cheeseburgers or pizza instead! The self-righteousness is really beyond disgusting. The fishermen even said, when there are no more dolphins left to kill, they’ll just switch to catching crabs or fish. So it’s not like they HAVE to kill dolphins to survive.

I was seriously shocked about the feedback of many people, mainly on YouTube. There’s this movie about a few dozend fishermen killing thousands of dolphins in the cruellest way possible and people complain about the movie being anti-Japan propaganda and the animal protectionists breaking the law by going to restricted areas. That’s bullshit in my opinion. At the end of the movie it was said that it’s only 26 fishermen doing that massacre, not the whole island. The people in the big Japanese countries also were shocked and said they don’t wanna eat dolphin and rather see them alive ( let’s ignore the fact that eating whale meat is considered to be all ok ). And breaking the law? Geez, they did it because there was NO other way! If those fishermen-fuckers and their footmen ( excuse my words ) are so sure what they do is right then why make such a big fuss to keep it a secret? They KNOW it’s wrong and they still do it. If you were absolutely sure that your neighbour tortured and killed children in his basement, and you sneaked into his garden to film through the window to prove it, would it be fair to blame you for breaking the law instead of him? Seriously now, sometimes the end justifies the means. Now the world knows what’s going on in Taijii.

What I hate most though are those 2 phrases :
- “It’s culture, it’s tradition!”
Yes, sure, if it’s my tradition to torture and kill people I don’t like or pull the fur off living cats it’s perfectly alright as long as my whole family is doing it for generations? Calling it tradition doesn’t make it any better and if that’s what they call culture then they have serious issues.
- “Why do they make such a fuss, Japanese eat whales and dolphins, other countries eat pork and chicken, what’s the big deal?”
So unless the whole world except Japan suddenly stops eating meat we have no right to complain? Okay, first, NO animal should be killed in such a cruel way like those fishermen do in Taijii. When cows are killed here they get a quick and painless death. People need meat. We breed cows, pigs and chicken just for eating them. Large-scale livestock farming isn’t species-appropriate either, but that’s again a result of too many people needing too much food. But there are 3 major differences between that and the dolphin slaughter.
1. A whale / dolphin is much more intelligent than a cow for example. They know they exist, they are very social beings and realize what’s happening to them and their family.
2. Our working animals are killed quickly, not tortured to death.
3. We breed and keep working animals to kill and eat them later, we don’t interfere with wildlife and shot ourselves thousands of wild chicken, sheep, etc. and threaten to destroy whole species.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t say killing a cow is totally alright, but compared to killing a dolphin or whale, what happens to those is worse. At least in my opinion. :/

What else…oh yeah, I wanna talk about the sea parks as well. I gotta admit I feel very guilty for having visited several sea parks in my life and watching the dolphin and orca shows there. The urge to see those animals was just too big and it’s hard to say no when you’re on vacation and the rest of your family is going to those shows. Lame excuse, I know, but it’s like that. I was so naïve and thought that the dolphins there were born in captivity and lived there for generations. That Taijii is the main source for dolphins for sea parks worldwide is very disturbing.
When I was at Sea World Orlando or the Loro Parque in Tenerife I was so happy to finally see orcas, but also shocked about how small their tanks were. I mean, come on, I’ve seen pools in water parks being bigger than that. When my Mom and me saw the Beluga whale tank we first thought it was for seals because it was so small, then the whales appeared and we were like oh my God….I often hear that the shows are mainly done to not only entertain the audience but also the dolphins because since their pools aren’t as big as the ocean ( d’ uh ) they need to be entertained. If a dolphin doesn’t feel like doing a show or a special trick, then they don’t have to, noone is forced. We made a backstage tour at the Loro Parque and saw the trainers playing and practicing with “their” orcas, they really love them and do whatever they can do for them. I know the orcas there come from Sea World and were born in captivity, so they at least only know it that way. But an orca or dolphin who lived in the ocean and was put into a small tank then, that sounds horrible.
Those shows…I dunno, I don’t need an orca or dolphin doing tricks, I could watch them for hours just swimming around. Or what’s even better, seeing them in the wild. I wasn’t lucky to see orcas in the wild yet, but bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales. And seriously, that’s better than all Sea World shows together. The moment they appear and jump out of the water because they want to and not because someone tells them to do it is breathtaking. On Tenerife we went on whale watching to see  pilot whales. We saw 3 or 4 of them in the distance and suddenly there were more and more and they were coming closer. Suddenly it was a whole group of around 15 or more swimming under and right next to the boat. Even two mothers with babies. Some of them stopped and stuck their head out of the water to have a better look at us. They accompanied us for half an hour. Later bottlenose dolphins came to the boat and played in the waves it caused. It’s something I’ll never forget and no sea park can compare to that.

The slaughtering in Taijii just started again and will go on till March 2011.

Here’s a petition against the slaughtering, there are already a lot of signatures, but each one more helps. Let’s show the Japanese government and everyone else that we don’t want to accept what they’re doing.

apps.facebook.com/causes/petit…

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