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Day of the dolphin

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Dolphin activist Ric O'Barry walks toward the U.S. embassy in Tokyo to present a petition bearing 1.7 million signatures against dolphin hunts on Thursday. The characters on the flag read "Save the dolphins in Japan." O'Barry, 70, who is in Japan with about 60 of his supporters to protest Taiji's dolphin hunt, told reporters that dolphin hunting is cruel and cannot be construed as culture.

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That would be hear, hear :-)

Fully support this effort, but why to the US Embassy. The US isn't killing Japanese dolphins. Wouldn't it be better publicity to be photographed trying, and probably failing, to deliver the petition to the government? That would point the spotlight firmly at those failing to take action.

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I like his shoes.

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"dolphin activist"

wow, he looks so human!

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Waaaah they eat mammals that I find cute

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The reason he went to the US Embassy is maybe they'll lend an ear, which would have been impossible from "the government" side. Especially one headed by the simplest of simpleton parties.

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Good for him! I wish him and his organization every success. I wish I had known about the petition - I would have signed it, too.

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Unless and until the activists are Japanese, things simply will not change and this man is wasting the embassy's time (and my tax dollars). Imagine if instead of MLK back in the 60's we had some French dude speaking to us about civil rights... We'd have been like, "Talk to the hand."

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The occupying US could make Japan stop the dolphin killings if it was in their priority list.

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Barking up the wrong tree? I don't think the issue is about saving dolphins as much as it is about preventing cruelty to dolphins. I know the difference is subtle, but unless we all turn vegetarian, humans will be killing animals for a long time to come.

If they are actually endangered then I take this back.

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Best luck to you Ric, you're our Hero!!

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He's going to the US embassy because Japanese police warned him not to go to the Japanese government, probably because of danger from ultranationalists.

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what is wrong with killing dolphins.. ?

and why should some foreigners tell Japanese people what to do..

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Dolphins sometimes break aquafarms belong the coast. This is one reason why people have to hunt dolphins. Does he have the alternative way to protect the aquafarms from attacking by dolphins? Or does he have the new technology which give minimum pain to dolphins in being hunted? He can go to Taiji and discuss above with people in Taiji. I think this is the easiest way to solve dolphin problem.

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bearing 1.7 million signatures against dolphin hunts on Thursday.

Does this mean they can hunt dolphins on the other days of the week? - Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Interesting that he is taking it to the US embassy. But, then again, they probably wouldn't let him onto the Japanese embassy.

lifejapan - Did you see that on NHK? So, you are saying, the slaughter of over 20,000 dolphins per year is to protect the 'few' aquafarms around Japan? Give me a break! And, Rick O'Barry is not welcome in Taiji. That is why he is in Tokyo. However, your post has confirmed one thing for me. Japanese people have no idea what is going on. Thanks.
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Dolphins sometimes break aquafarms belong the coast.

what if all countries did that? (answer: no more dolphins)

He can go to Taiji and discuss above with people in Taiji. I think this is the easiest way to solve dolphin problem.

Oh yes the easiest way. I'm sure they would hug him and serve their finest sake.

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he just feels guilty for all the horrible things he did to flipper

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I agree with Disillusioned. Japanese people have no idea what is going on. Heck they dont even know what is right and what is wrong. I applaud Rick O’Barry for doing his best to stop the dolphin saluters in Japan. All that the Taiji fishermen care about is themselves and making money. They dont even care about how cruel they are by the way they kill the dolphins and they don`t even care about he mercury levels in the dolphins that they feed to their children. It is so sad to hear that Japan allows the slaughter of over 20,000 dolphins per year. If Japan had any decency for nature and for themselves, they would stop this cruelty towards dolphins.

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I'm surprised he was let in the country. The brunette to the right is pretty cute. Go Dolphins!

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"But, then again, they probably wouldn't let him onto the Japanese embassy."

Where's the Japanese embassy, Disillusioned?

Who has no idea what's going on? Thanks.

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Disillusioned

Interesting that he is taking it to the US embassy. But, then again, they probably wouldn't let him onto the Japanese embassy.

Exactly how many Japanese embassies are there in Tokyo?

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There are a lot more cruel cases of animal abuse.. (especially those animals "working" (trained) for entertainment.. duh???..)

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I heard he took it to the US embassy because he is worried about the right-wingers that prevent demonstrations in Taiji, etc.

Original plan was to present it to the Fishery Ministry.

BTW, wonder how he trained his dolphins for flipper, etc. How gentle was he, etc?

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You go dude, as a Vegan I find this cause as the first step towards a global meat eating ban.

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Exactly how many Japanese embassies are there in Tokyo?

LOL

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Go get 'em Ric!

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Go back home, Ric!

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as a vegan, you must be tired after writing such a long sentence

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How about taking it to the Fisheries Agency - US Embassy? - FAIL. Same as taking a petition against atomic weapons to the Japanese embassy in DC.

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"Japanese people have no idea what is going on. Heck they dont even know what is right and what is wrong"

lol

who defines right or wrong then if that simple?...or is that a too simple minded way to look at the world...welcome to the world... they don't all think like you.

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"How about taking it to the Fisheries Agency"

Apparently this was the plan but the police "recommended" him not to do it because of potential demonstrations from right-wingers.

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Every day I'm more tempted to start a diet based on dolphin sashimi.

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Every day I'm more tempted to start a diet based on dolphin sashimi.

Mercury poisoning - here we come! Not a safe diet, my friend.

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This guy is wasting my tax dollars by even bothering anyone at the US Embassy about this. Dolphin hunting will end when the Japanese people and govt decide to do so. If mercury is a problem then the J-govt will step in. Currently the levels are high enough to have consumption level warnings, just like we have here in the US on neatrly all seafood. Foreigners going into a foreign country and projecting a holier-than-thou attitude and attempting to "force" a change can only have negative effects. Some people just have too much free time on their hands.

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If we worry about mercury poisoning, we can't eat tuna and other marine animals.

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At least someone is going about making a protest and so what if he is 70 years old. He was probably at the summer of love in San Francisco and woodstock too denouncing the Vietnam war but today young people don't give a darn and want someone else to carry their torch. Reallistically, the public demand for whale, dolphin or porpoise (cetacean) meat is about nil. Who do you know that eats and enjoys whale, dolphin or porpoise meat? The killing of Dolphins by the fishermen in Taiji is cruel as they are killed by stabbing them and letting them slowly bleed to death. The cultural aspect of the Taiji dolphin cull is a bunch of horse manure and those fishermen need to find another source for their horrible cultural celebration. If a group of Japanese hunters started rounding up deer like you see in Nara into a stockade and stabbing them to death with long spears, Japanese people would be going nuts and shut it down. Japanese are insensitive to the dolphin cull because they don't consider them to be sentient beings which is a shame on Japan considering the country claims to be deeply rooted in buddhism.

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Hawkeye at 01:00 AM JST - 3rd September The killing of Dolphins by the fishermen in Taiji is cruel as they are >killed by stabbing them and letting them slowly bleed to death.

No more or less cruel than the way kill all animals we consume. Bleeding to death actually is considered one the the most "humane" ways of killing belong the animal loses conciousness and dies.

The cultural aspect of the Taiji dolphin cull is a bunch of horse manure >and those fishermen need to find another source for their horrible >cultural celebration.

That's up to the village, the people of Japan to decide. Not a bunch of foreigners attempting to "force" their beliefs down the throats of others.

If a group of Japanese hunters started rounding up >deer like you see in >Nara into a stockade and stabbing them to death >with long spears, >Japanese people would be going nuts and shut it down.

Sure. And if we had mandatory slaughterhouse field trips for all 6th graders I bet the Ameruican Beef Association would collapse in a few years.

Japanese are insensitive to the dolphin cull because they don't consider >them to be sentient beings which is a shame on Japan considering the >country claims to be deeply rooted in buddhism.

There's no evidence to suggest that dophins are any more or less sentient than other mammals such as cows or elephants. It's a shame on the cetacean huggers who adhere to nonproven pseudo science to support their views.

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There's no evidence to suggest that dophins are any more or less sentient than other mammals such as cows or elephants. It's a shame on the cetacean huggers who adhere to nonproven pseudo science to support their views.

You wouldn't know unless you were a waterman, spending as much time with them as O'barry did. There are so many cases where dolphins protect swimmers and surfers from sharks. And these activists like O'barry and Paul Watson DO also protest the same activities at Faroe.

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O'Barry is a guest in Japan and is on tourist visa and should stay that way. Why does he go to another country and protest. He should be protesting in U.S. where there is more problems than Japan. He does not represent anybody from U.S. regarding his dumb protest of another country. He should be expelled and deported.

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OssabAmerica; The way these animlas bleed to death is far from humane, especially the one that is cut to get other dolphins assistance before they are enclosed and slaughtered. killing animals in this manner is little short of torture, only a simpletion could consider it humane.

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I won't even go into dolphin research that proves them more sentient than other animals,as you obviously don't know about the studies done in Russia in the 60s,but mercury poisoning ? All any of you morons do is prove how uninformed you all are. Dolphins have never been touted as having mercury in their flesh,that's A.B,if you knew anything you would know the japanese market dolphin meat as WHALE meat,as it sells a lot better,and C The Museum of Ntural History have tuna and a host of other marine specimens that are over 100 years old.They've tested them for mercury,and guess what,they have JUST AS HIGH A MERCURY CONTENT as animals tested today,so it would appear that its just how the fishies are made,not anything we do to them. Toxic waste is a whole other ball of wax.

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Some info for people.

In Japan(IIRC same for other places too)a Sea-mammal below 4 meters in length is called a Dolphin, bigger than 4 meters is a Whale.

Japanese also classify Monkeys and Apes as "Saru", no distinction between the two.

So selling Dolphin as whale is not that wrong as they can only be told apart by a DNA test.

People in Taiji have not shown any elevated mercury levels in their bodies compared to other japanese that were tested.

Which coincides with the previous posters data that the level is not new.

There are also mercury advisories for shark-fin and a few other fish species/products which are often eaten.

People today are way too quick to jump on bandwagons to protect X or ban Y, etc as can be seen by many posters here and their arguments. They swallow what they are fed but don't really reasearch the validity of the data. And when confronted with data that goes against their view it gets nasty ....

Just my View.

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Do posters here even know how often schools in Japan serve Whale in a year to school-children.

I know many schools that never do, my sons last school served it ONCE a year and most kids REFUSED to eat it.

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OssanAmerica-Great Post!

Bottom line is, as Ossan stated, what goes on in Taiji should be for the people of Japan and Taiji to decide.

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Gurukun; Not in a global world. Barbaric traditions must be stopped if Japan wnats to become a first world nation.

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Barbaric traditions

Define barbaric? If the way they kill dolphins is'barbaric' why is the people of Taiji still doing it? Why must the world follow what you see as 'barbaric'? What gives you, or anybody the right to say something is barbaric being from a different country?

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stevepfc.

"First World" by whose standard? Do some research into the original classification of 1st, 2nd and 3rd world countries.

And who gives so called "First World" Countries the right to dictate and force other countries to change? Who?

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Zenny11; I dont need someone with your views and behaviour to ttell me what it means. A first world country doesnt slaughter animals in this manner. In a first world country protests even from outsiders would be accepted. In a first world country filming of the heroic fisherman doing their traditional art would be the norm. Anything else?

Moderator: stevecpfc and Zenny11, please stop sniping at each other. Focus your comments on the story, not at each other.

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Where am i wrong? About medieval fishing practises on mammals? About the authorities unwilling to allow peacefull protests? About giving poisoned dolphind and whale to kiddie and hospital patinets? How long haveyou got, i could go on all day?

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Stevepfc.

I never said that the way of killing in Taiji was right all I ever said is that Ric is wrong to interfere and try to stop the hunt.

Don't get me wrong but Ric was a doplhin trainer, how many dolphins did he train for aquariums, military, etc?

Strange the turn now unless he thinks he can pay his bills better this way.

Your thoughts?

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If the fishermen showed they had a method of killing that was recognised as being as humane as possible then there may be a point.

Ric can do as he wishes. Who knows what harm he did to these animlas, but at least he admitted his mistake. Two wrongs don`t make a right. Japan looks bad worldwide in this issue. Perhaps the government could sheel out some cash to help th fishermen find alternative employment and perhaps cancel road project or two. The result would be Japan looks better in the eyes of the world, the fishermen get an income and less nature is covered in concrete.

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I never said that the way of killing in Taiji was right

The killing in Taiji is right. All this talk of "humane" killing is just silly.

No more or less cruel than the way kill all animals we consume.

exactly. The problem is that these left-wingers value animal life more than human life.

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Still wonder why Ric who trained Dolphins for aquariums, military(IIRC), etc now turned activist unless he found that being an activist pays the bills better.

Same for Sea Shepard, Peta, etc doubt that any of the guys will forego a meal to safe a fish, etc.

Moderator: We will have an interview with Mr O'Barry early next week.

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manfromamerica; I dont like the killings and i dony like the childish lft-winger tsg either.

If you don`t understand why some maybe right ot left wing have concerns then do some learning. I am against many things i think are cruel to animals. "The killling in Taiji is right" "silly" . Someone looks silly.

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Moderator.

Thanks for the notification of the upcoming interview with Mr O'Barry.

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Strange the turn now

His favourite dolphin committed suicide in his arms. That's when he changed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicky-collins/can-dolphins-commit-suici_b_592856.html

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I read about that but wasn't that decades ago?

And why don't we hear more about dolphins commiting suicide at aquariums, etc(like whales they are voluntary breathers)?

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Zenny11; Happens often.

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Disillisioned-The example of dolphins' breaking aquafarms might have been a little bit confusing. I just wanted to show the different point of view. The dolphin hunting is allowed by the Japanese law, but I accept the way of killing seems cruel though it is the tradition. How many people know that there are shrines where whales/dolphins are enshrined, and monuments or cemetries for whales and dolphins to express gratitude for their lives?

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stevecpfc

Many people, maybe even you, here value animal life more than human life. I think the opposite.

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Zenny 11

"People in Taiji have not shown any elevated mercury levels in their bodies compared to other japanese that were tested."

from the Japan Times

"Specifically, the tests of 1,137 Taiji residents last year revealed that average MeHg levels were 11.00 parts per million (ppm) for men and 6.63 ppm for women — compared with an average of 2.47 ppm for men and 1,64 ppm for women at 14 other locations in Japan."

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20100523a1.html

wrong again Zenny.

BTW have you seen The Cove yet? It is endlessly entertaining the way you camp out on these threads and yet you've never seen the movie. Thanks for the chuckles...

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manfromamerica; I`ve never said anything like that.

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Kobekid.

Not WRONG If you quote me QUOTE all I said as your quote totally misrepresented what I actually said.

Sad to say that some posters have to result to personal attacks and those tactics to NOT even make a point.

BTW, it does not matter if I saw the movie or not or do you think I will get an immediate change of mind from it?

The Cove is ONE viewpoint based on a certain set of Data/Facts.

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If you quote me QUOTE all I said as your quote totally misrepresented what I actually said.

I see no misrepresentation.

Zenny11 at 02:24 PM JST - 3rd September People in Taiji have not shown any elevated mercury levels in their bodies compared to other japanese that were tested.

Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research has cited mortality figures in Taiji, for 2007, at 67 deaths from a population of some 3,500 residents — putting the town's overall mortality rate more than 50 percent above many other villages nationwide of roughly the same population.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20100523a1.html

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It is as he quotes one study when multiple were done and other showed different results. And I have often referred to the other studies in my posts. If Kobekid was such an avid reader of my posts he would know what I am talking about.

As for the mortality rate it even states in the article that they are not sure the causes of it due to LACK OF DATA.

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It is as he quotes one study when multiple were done

But you state categorically that People in Taiji have not shown any elevated mercury levels in their bodies compared to other japanese that were tested, when KobeKid's link shows clearly that that is not the case. If you had said 'some tests have shown no difference in mercury levels between the people in Taiji and other Japanese' (and provided at least one link) what you claimed may have had some substance. On another thread you wrote 'all the ones I found showed similar levels to the rest of Japan' but again gave no link.

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Cleo.

If I can find other studies than so can others, I don't have a superior google-fu.

That is also why I know the Japan Times article left out a lot of important details as I researched the study they refered to.

Anyhuh, I got a Client meeting up and can't play any longer.

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well seems I wasn't the only one not able to find a "misrepresentation".

The study I quoted was by the NIMD National Institute of Minamata Disease one of the leading institutes on mercury poisoning in Japan and located in Minamata. If you've got studies that tell a different story share a link, you're the one making the case. I'd also encourage you to write a letter to the Japan Times, if it's credible they will print it.

BTW, it does not matter if I saw the movie or not or do you think I will get an immediate change of mind from it?

Not a chance Zenny, no way I think you'll have some Damascus Road experience from watching the movie, but it might sharpen your critique of it. When you make statements like, "I've never heard a firsthand account of a dolphin saving a human life" or "the hunts are humane" or "Ric O'Barry got traumatized by his beloved Dolphin dying(Whoopeee, Pets are lost daily)" you look uninformed. The world's number one dolphin trainer did have a Damascus Road experience, but you downplay that without even listening to him tell why.

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Kobekid.

Do you want to know one thing I have heard so much about the movie from people that seen it(both Pro and Con) as well as much footage from it. I reckon there is NOTHING new in the movie that I don't know already.

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Yes Zenny you've told me this before, but if you would just watch it all the way through once as I said it would sharpen and focus your pro hunt arguments. Honestly I've benefited from some of your posts and some of your points have made me rethink mine. But as much as you seem to be engrossed by this subject it strikes me as strange that you wouldn't see the movie.

Could it be that you are afraid of being converted? ;=)

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