Save Japan Dolphins

The Problem

Every year, in Taiji, Japan, dolphins are chased into a small cove and butchered in the most horrific and cruel way imaginable. The hunts are subsidized by the dolphin captivity industry, which pays top dollar for a few “show quality” dolphins that are ripped from their families. The rest of the pod is killed for meat laden with mercury and PCBs. Most Japanese don’t even know the hunts exist. The Japanese government supports the dolphin killers and denies any health issues.

Our Action Campaign

In 2004, the International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) initiated our Save Japan Dolphins campaign to end the cruel drive hunts. Through our educational work in Japan, the number of people eating dolphin meat has dropped dramatically. When we started, about 1,600 dolphins were killed inTaiji every year. In the 2018-19 season, 534 were reportedly killed. The Academy Award–winning documentary, The Cove, depicts Earth Island Institute’s campaign in Taiji to stop the dolphin hunts. Recently, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, after 10 years of pressure from IMMP, agreed to suspend the membership of any Japanese aquarium sourcing dolphins from Taiji. In response, most Japan zoos and aquariums voted overwhelmingly to stop buying live dolphins from Taiji. Unfortunately, China, building new aquariums, has become a major market for Taiji dolphins, undercutting our efforts to shut the hunts down.

Current Challenges

The Taiji dolphin slaughter continues. The Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove depicts the work of the International Marine Mammal Project in opposing the dolphin hunts in Taiji. The government claims the kills are part of Japan’s traditional culture when, in fact, the hunts only started in 1969. Many Japanese who oppose the hunts are afraid to speak out publicly because of threats from the government and the extremist anti-foreigners groups. We continue to work inside Japan with many brave Japanese activists and organizations to fight the dolphin killing and spread the news about mercury contamination of dolphin meat. We also joined in filing the successful first-ever lawsuit in Japan against the Taiji Whale Museum, which brokers many of the live dolphins caught in Taiji during the slaughter. With success in the courts, the Museum and other dolphinariums cannot prohibit entry of activists. The COVID19 pandemic has closed Japan to outsiders, but Japan activists continue to report from Taiji about the hunts.

CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS

Save Dolphins T-shirt with Your Donation!

Donate today and receive this beautiful new Save Japan Dolphins campaign t-shirt. It's a gift that makes a difference for dolphin lives. Organic Cotton. Free Shipping.

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Japan: Ban Dolphin and Whale Products at 2020 Olympics!

Read our letter to the Olympics Committee requesting that the upcoming Toko Olympics are cetacean cruelty-free.

Stop The Slaughter: Sign The Petition

Sign this petition telling the Mayor of Taiji and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida that the slaughter and trade in live dolphins are unacceptable and must end.

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Taiji Dolphin Slaughter Cranks Up Again

Mark J. Palmer, September 2020

On September 1st, the Taiji dolphin hunters once again opened the annual dolphin-hunting season, with the banger boats heading out to the ocean daily for the next six months. Four bottlenose dolphins were captured on the first day of the season, all of which were put in slings and carried off to the Taiji Whale Museum for a lifetime of small tanks and eating dead fish.

When they succeed in finding a dolphin pod, the hunters will herd the dolphins into the notorious Cove by use of poles stuck into the water and banged on by hammers, producing a wall of sound. The frightened dolphins in the Cove are then surrounded by nets, where representatives of captive dolphin facilities and international dolphin brokers will choose a few to grab for a lifetime of captivity.

The Other Dolphin Hunt in Japan

Mark J. Palmer, January 2019

Much attention has been placed on the dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan, which are especially brutal and are subsidized, as the International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute revealed to the world in 2005, by the global captivity industry.

But an even larger hunt for dolphins (at least up until recent years) takes place in northern Japan, targeting the Dall’s porpoise by harpoon.