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Foreign activists arrested after obstructing dolphin show in Wakayama

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According to the police, the two were allegedly watching the show from the spectators' seats when they suddenly dived into the pool during the show and...

... performed acrobatic tricks including jumping through hoops and ringing bells suspended 5 meters above the water. This was followed by a petting session with certain lucky audience members in the front row. Some participants later stated that it was the first time they had see a "real, live flying Dutchman." Akira Tanaka of Aichi Prefecture observed that "these European dolphins don't eat the raw fish treats, like normal Japanese dolphins do."

6 ( +13 / -7 )

Must have spoiled the dolphins' good mood in their only pleasure of the day.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

they are protesting the culling of dolphins for meat

Where does it say that?

They're been monitoring Taiji (where the young, pretty dolphins are corralled off to sell to shows and marine parks) and the rest are butchered for fertiliser - the meat isn't fit to eat.

no it's not cruelty to animals

*Creating a captive environment with the same depths (990 feet) to which some wild dolphins dive also is impossible. And, creating a captive environment for animals whose very existence depends upon their echolocation abilities is beyond impossible. With gates clanging, people yelling, vehicles passing, water outlets and filters roaring 24 hours a day, the cacophony of sound to a captive whale or dolphin is confusing and maddening. This assault of sound is thought to be a contributing factor to the stress related diseases found in captive dolphins. *

*The average lifespan of a wild bottlenose dolphin is approximately 40 years; however, statistics show the average life span of a captive bottle nose dolphin, the most popular species for captive facilities, is a mere 5 years.*

https://www.allatsea.net/studies-show-captive-dolphin-programs-shorten-lives/

if that isn't cruelty to animals, I don't know what is.

neither the dolphin hunt nor the use of dolphins in aquatic shows are illegal

They darn well should be. How to get laws changed, if not by making people aware of the harm they do?

would you save a dolphin before you saved a starving child?

What a ridiculous question.

Leave the dolphins alone in the first place and they don't need saving.

priorities, mate, priorities. i would much rather expend engery helping my fellow mankind than an animal, any day of the week and twice on sundays

So how many people did you save/help yesterday? What's your score for today? Instead of wasting time posting on JT, shouldn't you be out there saving the starving children?

6 ( +11 / -5 )

And why is not the Diving Dutchman running into fast-food restaurants back home and stopping people from eating cows, why, pray tell, is he not breaking into his neighbor's homes and liberating enslaved dogs from their masters? Because he is a media whore who, at best, arbitrarily prizes dolphins above other mammals, or, more likely is another attention-starved mug wallowing in hypocrisy.

5 ( +12 / -7 )

again a straw man's argument. there are more pressing issues these"foreigners" can be helping with.... would you save a dolphin before you saved a starving child?

Thanks for the almost perfect example of a straw man fallacy! Hilarious! Is that your example of ‘logic’? Don’t worry, no children were harmed (unless they ate the dolphin meat)

You do realize that it is possible to save dolphins AND starving children don’t you? Many of us have the ability to show compassion to animals and humans.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

The Dutchman probably wasn't much fun to pet. I hope the lucky fans had rabies shots afterwards.

3 ( +9 / -6 )

Even though I probably share their views on the cruelty of dolphin captivity, I have to condemn what they did. You don't win people over to your cause by annoying them and breaking the law.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

People care about the areas they care about. And since no person can cover all areas of concern - especially in today's world where everything and everyone needs protecting - they pick and choose their fights.

Unfortunately, most of these areas have bleed over into other areas, so saving one group in turn screws over the next group.

In the end, you can go with the belief that doing your small part is better than nothing at all (sounds more of a way to be able to close your eyes and sleep well at night) or you can just give up and nothing ever changes (which usually it does not).

I'm sure these two people don't have cats and dogs very high on their to-do list since they are domesticated animals not pulled from the wild and forced to perform (circus saviors). The people eating meat, and take their kids to the zoo, but work at animal shelters care about overpopulation, spaying/neutering, etc. And on and on the battles rage...

3 ( +4 / -1 )

@nakanoguy01 Is it acceptable to be cruel to animals that aren't endangered? My pet dog isn't endangered, can I kick him around a bit? Are we only allowed to be concerned with animal cruelty once all the other social ills have been 100% cured?

1 ( +10 / -9 )

LMAO; and people wonder why Japanese are often fearful of any foreigners, lol.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

Desperate measures in desperate times. Lives are at stake here. This is slavery. This is "conditioned/controlled behavior" via starvation - nothing natural about it! perform - you will be fed dead food! Wrong on so many levels! Not tradition or part of their culture. Motivated by greed.

0 ( +7 / -7 )

I'm sure if he came all the way to Japan to help protect innocent dolphins, he probably also protested hormone fed, GM cows living in aninimal prisons as well. You don't just wake up and say, hey, I'm not going to go to work today....

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Adventure World is quite far from Taiji. They should have done it at the Whaling Museum in Taiji which has its own popular dolphin show.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Two activists were arrested Sunday on suspicion of obstructing a dolphin show by diving into a pool during the performance at a zoological theme park

What is the maximum amount of jail time that these two cretins can, and should, receive?

I would think that these Dutch and Belgian nationals would know better than to violate laws in a foreign country. They should stay home, and annoy people in their own countries.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

cleo - They darn well should be. How to get laws changed, if not by making people aware of the harm they do?

You seem to have a habit of advocating for the breaking of laws whenever it suits your purpose.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

why do people care so much about animals that aren't endangered? there are more pressing social issue (homelessness, violence against women/kids, etc) that they should be focused on (in their own coountry).

-1 ( +10 / -11 )

Thank you. This kind of direct action is what the youth of Japan need to do to change this losing country into a winner again. I hope many kids saw this and wondered WHY?

-2 ( +8 / -10 )

While I am anti -whaling and dolphin hunt, a Dutch national should be looking at his own home issues first, since their fleet is the one doing most whaling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling_in_the_Netherlands

-4 ( +6 / -10 )

Just another show

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Bravo!! The Japanese people need to know of the horrors that take place at the infamous "cove" in Taiji! That and the radioactive waste pouring into our oceans! The Japanese government should be held accountable for such destruction. Ban marine parks. Do not buy a ticket or swim with the dolphins!

-4 ( +7 / -11 )

Are we only allowed to be concerned with animal cruelty once all the other social ills have been 100% cured?

again a straw man's argument. there are more pressing issues these"foreigners" can be helping with than what japan does to nonendangered dolphins. would you save a dolphin before you saved a starving child? priorities, mate, priorities. i would much rather expend engery helping my fellow mankind than an animal, any day of the week and twice on sundays, regardless of how cute or intelligent or other fuzzy traits we give them.

-5 ( +5 / -10 )

actually maybe I am wrong.... oh well

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Is it acceptable to be cruel to animals that aren't endangered?

they are protesting the culling of dolphins for meat. so no it's not cruelty to animals. what you are describing is illegal. neither the dolphin hunt nor the use of dolphins in aquatic shows are illegal. but nice red herring (or lack of logic).

-6 ( +5 / -11 )

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