AN OPEN LETTER TO IMATA FROM SAVE MISTY THE DOLPHIN

photo courtesy of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

December 17, 2012

Shelley Woods President

Eric Gaglione President-Elect

IMATA 1200 South Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60605-2490 Phone: 312-692-3193 Fax: 312-939-2216 Email: info@imata.org

Re:       Taiji Dolphin Drive Hunt Statement of Refusal of Bottlenose Dolphins Caught on December 12-17, 2012, and other Hunts

FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: DO NOT TRAIN OR WORK WITH ANY DOLPHINS FROM ANY DRIVE HUNT, INCLUDING THE HUNT ON DECEMBER 12-17, 2012.

We write to you as concerned members of the global social media campaign, Save Misty the Dolphin, to request that the International Marine Animal Trainers Association (IMATA) act swiftly to issue a statement discouraging its membership from working with any dolphins procured from the dolphin drive hunt in Taiji, Japan.  This statement should include, in particular, 101 bottlenose dolphins taken from a drive hunt that occurred on December 12, 2012.

On December 13, and all days since then, IMATA has received communications from the Save Misty the Dolphin community, and from many other individuals who are concerned about the welfare of dolphins, notifying IMATA of a horrific drive of a large pod of bottlenose dolphins into The Cove in Taiji, Japan.  These emails were generated by thousands of individuals who sent them to you individually and via a petition at change.org.

As we notified you on December 13, 2012, and you are, therefore, aware, on December 12, 2012, in Taiji, Japan, a large pod of bottlenose dolphins was hunted and trapped in The Cove.  After reviewing photos and video footage, it appears that this large pod contained approximately 200 dolphins.  Of the 200 detained in The Cove, at least 23 were killed underneath tarps while trainers observed.  Two dolphin calves drowned in nets strung to prevent them from escaping.  At no time does video footage show that any fisherman, diver or trainer made an effort to free the calves as they were drowning.  The 25 dolphins died so that 101 juvenile dolphins could be selected by trainers in The Cove, in a long and torturous process, to become performers for the aquarium industry.  Further, video footage and photographic evidence reveal multiple physical insults to numerous dolphins during the selection process.  Many were bloodied as a result of being run over by skiffs or hit by propellers.  In no instance does footage show that trainers intervened to prevent these injuries or to treat the injured dolphins after the fact.

If IMATA stands behind its claims to be committed to the conservation and appreciation of dolphins, the organization cannot at the same time accept dolphins from any drive hunt. IMATA cannot continue to accept dolphins caught in the Taiji Drive "Fishery" and expect the public to believe that the association is concerned for the welfare of dolphins.  We request that you issue a statement to your membership immediately.  Such a statement should send a clear signal that IMATA, in deed as well as mission, truly supports the appreciation and welfare of dolphins in the wild and that IMATA encourages its members and member facilities to refuse to work with any of the 101 bottlenose dolphins caught and selected in the Hunt on December 12-17, 2012 or any dolphins caught in Taiji, Japan.

Please contact the Administration team at Save Misty the Dolphin - https://www.facebook.com/Savemistythedolphin - if you wish to discuss this statement or have any questions regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

Save Misty the Dolphin
TO SIGN THE PETITION AND SEND A COPY OF THIS LETTER TO IMATA CLICK HERE: http://www.change.org/petitions/imata-trainers-don-t-train-taiji-dolphins