Posted
on September 1, 2013
Driving
dolphins together with boats, cutting off their escape with nets, and
then driving them up onto a beach—this “drive hunting” has been
used against dolphins in the past, but I am surprised to learn that
it is still used to hunt these intelligent mammals today!
Most
of the peoples in the world have agreed to stop hunting whales,
including dolphins. These creatures have huge brains, are highly
intelligent, and communicate with members of their own species. Many
whales and some dolphins are endangered because of human hunting and
other activities, yet whales and dolphins are known to have saved
humans from sharks or from drowning on many different occasions.
 |
| I read several reports of dolphins saving the lives of dogs as well as humans. |
Small
populations of native groups that have always relied upon whale
hunting have been allowed to continue on a subsistence level—that
is, killing whales only for their own use, not to sell for money—in
Alaska, Canada, Indonesia, Russia, and a few other places in the
world. Three modern nations still allow some commercial whaling
(selling whale meat for profit): Norway, Iceland, and Japan.
People
all over the world are complaining to the governments of those three
countries. It seems to me that people are especially upset at the
dolphin slaughter happening in the waters of Taiji, Japan, probably
because the brute-force drive-hunting methods were captured in a
controversial film called Cove. Apparently, whalers in Taiji
wanted to increase their hunting of dolphins for meat, but they met
with multiple set-backs as the international community protested such
a move, and (even more important) a lot of the dolphin meat turned
out to be contaminated and not fit for human consumption.
Today,
September 1, the dolphin hunting season begins in Taiji. Peaceful
protests against all dolphin hunting (and particularly drive hunting)
are planned to occur today.
To
be fair to the other side, the Japanese government has stated that
most of the dolphins herded onto their beaches in recent years have
been released unharmed, and others have been taken into captivity for
entertainment purposes and for aquariums. Officials state that the
pilot whales captured in these hunts were killed for meat, but not
the dolphins. Dolphin advocacy groups dispute these statements—and
I'm not sure what to believe!
How
smart are dolphins?
Check
out this short video...
Also
on this date:
Plan
Ahead!
Check
out my Pinterest pages on September holidays, September birthdays,
and historical anniversaries in September.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on October holidays, October birthdays,
and historical anniversaries in October.
No comments:
Post a Comment