The dreaded Taiji dolphin hunt looms ahead

A pod of dolphins moments from death in The Cove
photo courtesy of Chasity Reed

September 1 is traditionally the start of the cruel dolphin drive hunt in Taiji, Japan.  During the hunt, a small fleet of fishing boats goes out to sea in search of dolphins.  Dolphin hunters use “banger poles” to create a sound that disturbs the dolphins’ sensitive hearing.  This sound confuses them and makes it easier for the hunters to push the panicked animals towards the shore.  When a pod of dolphins is driven into The Cove, it is netted off.  Some dolphins may be “selected” for training as show animals.  The rest are brutally stabbed to death.  The killing is neither quick nor painless.  The meat, which is toxic, is sold for human consumption.  All of this is documented in the 2010 Academy Award-winning movie The Cove, which was directed by Louie Psihoyos and stars Ric O’Barry.  PLEASE take 90 minutes to watch this movie.  It will change your life.

Once the hunts begin, we invite you to follow the updates at Save Misty the Dolphin on Facebook.  We have been covering Taiji for the last two seasons.  You can expect accurate and timely reporting via the experts on the ground with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Save Japan Dolphins.  Our dedicated team tracks all of the updates from Taiji.  As soon as they are available and verified, you will see them on our Facebook wall along with a request for direct action from YOU.

There are many things YOU can do to help the dolphins of Taiji.  We will provide a comprehensive list of places to call, email and fax to register your objection to the hunt and to request that they let the dolphins LIVE AND BE FREE.

Over the years, our Facebook wall has also become a place of mutual support.  We care deeply about the people in the Save Misty the Dolphin community.  We ask that you please take good care of yourself during the Taiji dolphin hunt.  Please find something beautiful to look at every single day.  Please get outdoors and get some exercise.  Please get enough sleep, and please don’t feel like you need to follow every last post and update out of Taiji.

We ask that you keep things respectful on our wall.  Like Ric O’Barry, we feel strongly that the solution to the crisis of The Cove rests with the people of Japan.  The Japanese government and media suppress the information about The Cove and the toxic mercury in the dolphin and whale meat.  Taiji is a tiny fishing village with a population of about 3,225.  It is about a 7 hour drive from Tokyo.  What happens to dolphins in Taiji is simply not reported throughout Japan.  Likewise, accurate information about toxic mercury in dolphin and whale meat is not made available to Japanese citizens.  It is very important that this information reach the people of Japan.  Knowledge is power.  Armed with this information, it is our hope that the good people of Japan will be able to stand up for themselves and for the dolphins.  All of this said, there is a zero tolerance for racist remarks of any kind on our facebook wall. Such comments will be removed and those who make them will be banned from the page.

Thank you for all you do to support the dolphins of Taiji.  To become even more involved on the front lines as a Sea Shepherd Cove Guardian or a Save Japan Dolphins Cove Monitor, please click on these links:
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Cove Guardians
Save Japan Dolphins Cove Monitors

To learn more about toxic mercury in dolphin and whale meat, please click on these links:
BlueVoice.org
Elsa Nature Conservancy
Oceanic Preservation Society
Save Japan Dolphins
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Please be sure to sign and share the petition created by Melissa Sehgal, urging Yahoo to stop the sale of toxic dolphin meat!

We are all in this together.  Imagine what would happen if everyone around the world visualized a blue cove?  We’ll never know until we try. NEVER BE SILENT ~ NEVER GIVE UP!

The Administrative Team at Save Misty the Dolphin

The countdown to Taiji begins....

71 days...the day we all dread is 71 days away!

September 1, 2012 is the start of the 2012-2013 Taiji dolphin drive hunt. Will you help end it?

Over the coming weeks we will post information & updates on our facebook page Save Misty the Dolphin about the many ways YOU can get involved to END IT FOR GOOD! Please keep an eye on our page as we have LOTS to share.

For starters, PLEASE participate in our ONE CALL A DAY CAMPAIGN:

JUST ONE CALL A DAY. Get up, exercise, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth and CALL YOUR JAPANESE EMBASSY. Please make it part of your daily routine. One call per day, Monday-Friday, from now until September 1, 2012.

Politely urge them to NOT issue any permits to the Taiji Fisherman's Union for the purpose of the cruel & senseless Taiji dolphin drive hunt that is typically held from September - March (The drive hunt is graphically illustrated in the 2010 Academy-award winning documentary The Cove, starring Ric O'Barry). Ask them to stop permitting harpoon hunting the remainder of the year. If there are no permits, there is no slaughter. It is as simple as that. AND WHILE YOU HAVE THEM ON THE PHONE LET THEM KNOW THAT YOU THINK THE IDEA OF A WHALE PARK IN TAIJI IS TERRIBLE! WHALES & DOLPHINS BELONG IN THER OCEANS - PERIOD!!! For more on the story click here:http://www.examiner.com/article/dolphin-likely-to-be-on-the-menu-at-planned-taiji-whale-zoo?cid=db_articles

Here are the numbers for the Embassies:
In the United States call 202-238-6700
In the United Kingdom call 020-7465-6500
all other countries please use this link:http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

Save Misty the Dolphin was built on the love of dolphins. We came together in the end of 2010 to save Misty & haven't stopped since. Pressure from our community got Misty moved from the isolation of a tiny, algae-filled pool to better conditions in a larger, cleaner pool with other dolphins at Dolphin Resort Hotel. In Misty's name we continue our work for other vulnerable marine mammals in Taiji and around the globe....

Our heartfelt thanks to all of the Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians & Save Japan Dolphin Cove Monitors who bravely stand in The Cove to bear witness and to shine a bright light of truth on the atrocities committed by the Taiji dolphin hunters & the trainers at Dolphin Base and Dolphin Resort.

...and our thanks to YOU for NEVER BEING SILENT ~ NEVER GIVING UP!

Good News Comes in Twos

We have something very important to say to everyone in the Save Misty the Dolphin Community:

Thank You, Merci, Danke, Mahalo, Tak, Toda, Grazie, Kamsa hamnida, Takk, Gracias, Obrigado, Tack, Arigato

Thank You for showing up...for taking action over and over and over again, for staying positive, for saying lots of prayers, for visualizing blue waters, for supporting one another, for sharing your POWER and for being part of something called a community.  Did you know that as of December 31, 2011, there were more than 37 million facebook pages?  We are GRATEFUL that you choose to be part of ours. 

Our facebook page Save Misty the Dolphin began in the final days of 2010 because two activists - Adam and Alyson - saw an immediate need to do what they could to help a very sick dolphin being held in a small & filthy pool in Taiji. By day three of the campaign, Sandy M. was onboard. Then over the months came Chasity, then Erin, Alan and Sandy Y. It is our honor and privilege to serve the dolphins of Taiji and an incredible community of more than 6,000 friends and activists who walk the walk and talk the talk everyday for the dolphins.

It is not lost on us that you tuned in throughout the 2011-2012 Taiji dolphin hunt and periodically had your heart broken over the senseless loss of life and freedom at the hands of a few heartless men in Taiji.  And yet you never gave up for Jiyu and the hundreds of other dolphins whose lives were stolen.  It is not lost on us that you made thousands of calls, faxes and emails over the course of the last six months.  When Sea Shepherd Cove Guardian Erwin Vermeulen was arrested on phony charges you really kicked it in...and when he was found INNOCENT we ALL celebrated a major victory for him and for the dolphins of Taiji.

Thank you for NOT spreading racism or hatred and for understanding how very important it is for us to reach out to the people of Japan.  It is our firm belief that if the people of Japan knew about what was happening in the Cove, the bloodshed would come to an end.  Ric O’Barry of Save Japan Dolphins continually reminds us that a Japanese boycott is NOT the answer.  We stand in solid agreement with him on this position.  The one year anniversary of the worst natural disaster in the history of that nation will be upon us in days.  Thousands died, thousands are missing and millions still struggle to bring their lives back together.  The people of Japan need our support -- not a boycott.  We urge you to take some time on March 11th to honor the memory of the victims of the disaster.

In addition to thanking all of YOU, we wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Cove Guardians and the Cove Monitors who served this past season in Taiji - including our very own Chasity Reed.  These folks go to Taiji on their own dime to stand, bear witness and to bring the news back to all of us.  They inspire us every single day.  They are the change.  THEY ARE TRUE HEROES IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD.  We urge you to consider going to Taiji as a Cove Guardian or Cove Monitor.  A strong presence on the ground in Taiji is vital to ending the slaughter for good.  To understand the real importance of that presence, please watch this video, "The Economics of Sustained Resistance" from Sea Shepherd Cove Guardian Campaign Coordinator Scott West.

It seems that good news comes in twos:

1. On February 29, after thousands of people worldwide signed our Change.org petition telling Hong Kong Airlines to Stop Profiting from the Misery of the Taiji Dolphins, the Airline issued a statement announcing a ban on all future activities of this nature.  We would like to thank Gary Stokes and volunteers with Sea Shepherd Hong Kong for hand delivering that petition, a copy of The Cove and a letter to Hong Kong Airlines.  We would like to thank the 6,500 people who signed and shared the petition and most importantly, we would like to thank Hong Kong Airlines for doing the right thing.

2. On February 29 (March 1 in Japan) the 2011-2012 Taiji dolphin hunt came to an end!  The first posts coming from the folks on the ground sounded encouraging...from Tim Burns of Save Japan Dolphins came this “Boats appear to be staying in today. We will be watching to see if they change rigging to fish Bonito or not today, and remove the tarps at the cove. We are being told that no more dolphins will be hunted, only pilot whales if they come across any. The Bonita / Tuna grounds are much further offshore than the migratory path of the pilot whale.”  As the hours wore on the updates were more and more definitive.  Sea Shepherd Cove Guardian Melissa Sehgal shared this post “Update from Taiji: We watched as the Taiji butcher house was steam cleaned and the kill floor was removed. The tarps that drape the entrance were also put into storage. Five killing boats removed their banger poles and relocated within the harbor. I believe the process of the hunting season ending is upon us, however there is still many concerns here in Taiji. There are still seven remaining boats with banger poles, the tarps the cover the cove are in tact and pilot whale migrating season is beginning. Cove Guardians will remain here monitoring the killing boats activity. We also will continue to document and film the many captive dolphins that are held prisoner at the three holding facilities. Sea Shepherd remains a strong presence here in Taiji.”  And so, all around the world there were tears...tears of sadness for the dolphins who died and FINALLY tears of joy for those who can migrate safely past Taiji.

PLEASE take some time for yourselves.  YOU earned it.  Find something beautiful to look at every single day.  If we have learned anything from Taiji it is that life is so precious and so fleeting.  Find a way to laugh and spread joy.  It will come back to you tenfold.

...and please stay in touch.  We aren’t going anywhere.  There is much work to do over the coming months.  We hope you will become a part of our “One Call a Day” Campaign. Between now and September 1, 2012 we are simply asking that you make one call a day to your Japanese Embassy: Wake-up, exercise, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush your teeth and call your Japanese Embassy to ask that they STOP ISSUING PERMITS FOR THE DOLPHIN DRIVE HUNT IN TAIJI. Will you make the commitment? If you are in the US, the number is 202-238-6700. All other nations, please click here to find your Japanese Embassy. Plug the number into your cellphone. One call a day...

Please be sure to check-in with us on facebook at Save Misty the Dolphin.  We will continue to post all updates and action items right there on the page...plus we like seeing YOU!

Never be silent and never give up until the last one is free and the Cove is blue forever.