The Women Warriors

[Lilly]

Slaughter of Whales and Dolphins in Taiji

I believe the dream I had about dolphinsin October is related to what's happening in Taiji. It is disgusting and we really need to work more to stop cetaceans killings.
Please, please, please do some intense prayers, meditations and boosting for our dear cetaceans.
Lilly

PS: I copied the whole story here.
Warning! some pictures are disturbing, so please protect yourslef before reading this.



William McNamara©
http://www.williammcnamara.com/

Billy just returned from Taiji, Japan Where He Protested the Slaughter of Whales and Dolphins.

Billy recently travelled to Taiji, Japan to protest and document the horrendous slaughter of defenseless whales and dolphins. Billy was fortunate enough to accompany a crew dispatched by Sea Shepherd, a non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) involved with the investigation and documentation of violations of international laws, regulations, and treaties protecting marine wildlife species. Billy originally learned about the dolphin slaughter from THE DRUDGE REPORT which gets 6 million hits a day! Please read the brief synopsis below which was prepared by Billy.

When Billy went to Japan, he didn't know what to expect. He was met with a very hostile and violent town of Taiji. Billy said, "Unfortunately, the people of Taiji, and from what I can tell, the rest of Japan, don't like Americans. I was followed by police, held and interrogated, and roughed up by the whalers who gave me a pretty solid whack to the head."

Click here to see the video in High Speed Broadband RealVideo


Click here to see the video in Standard 56K Dialup RealVideo

"In fact, when I went to the local police with the evidence of the fishermen's assault (See the above video) instead of helping me, they tried to arrest me and confiscate the tape! Please watch the 10 minute video on my web site.

The first five minutes is of two other volunteers who were cornered up on a cliff side by the fishermen. These two brave people, Brooke and Morgan were the ones responsible for getting the horrific video and still pictures of the dolphin slaughter and getting it out of the country. They were almost killed!

The second four minutes is the footage from my camera of the assault and the last minute is the footage from Nik Hensey's camera of the whaler's assault on me. Please read the short synopsis of my experience in Taiji and if you are interested please read the longer version (click here) I have had to black out certain things in the longer version because Allison Watson and Alex Corneillson are still in jail in Taiji.

Please visitSea Shepherd's web page to see updates and how you can help.

DOLPHIN SAMURAIS

The following is a brief synopsis of the events which unfolded in Taiji Japan in which three young volunteers, all in their twenties, put their lives on the line to free pods of whales and dolphins which were hunted, herded, penned and slaughtered in an unspeakable fashion. In Japanese waters within their coast, the government allows local fishermen to hunt and kill thousands of dolphins and whales. Because the fishermen stay within Japan’s water boundaries they are exempt from international law, and therefore can conduct an amazingly ferocious and overwhelmingly unfair hunt of these sea mammals.

The hunting season in Japan which begins in October and runs through April accounts for the slaughter of twenty two thousand dolphins and whales consisting of entire pods, families of mothers and their calves. There is no regulation and frequently many endangered whales are included in the hunt and slaughter. While I was there, I witnessed a Melon headed whale pod round up and slaughter. Melon heads are on the endangered list.
Just recently the Japanese scientific community in concert with the international scientific community has released a report condemning Japan’s government for allowing the dolphin meat to be sold on the open market. Virtually all the dolphin and whale meat tested is considered to be highly toxic and by law unfit for human consumption due to mercury levels five times the acceptable level. This "so called" cultural activity takes place in Japan under total secrecy. The press is not allowed to report about it and the inhumane slaughter is constantly denied by government officials to the international community.



This scenic cove near Taiji, Japan will soon become a death trap for 60 dolphins on Oct 6, 2003.



A couple of hours later, the scenic cove is red with the blood of dead and dying dolphins.


am a huge cetacean advocate and have done much research on dolphins and their population. I was convinced that these sea mammals were protected and I am very aware of “dolphin safe” tuna. I was beyond shocked when I saw the pictures that Sea Shepherd released to the international press of a slaughter of an entire pod, mothers and babies, less than two feet long. I couldn't believe it so I called Sea Shepherd and volunteered my services. To my surprise, they accepted my application.

Had I known what I was in for, or what went on prior to my arrival, I can't honestly say that I would have volunteered. What I can say is that I am honored and grateful that the Sea Shepherd organization and crew allowed me to serve among their ranks and they treated me like an equal.

It is no small feat to be accepted into this group. Volunteers in their early twenties, men and women from all over the world go to far away foreign places on a shoe string budget armed only with still cameras and video cameras. Small crews, two or three at a time, take on entire towns amidst death threats.

I witnessed that they suffered an attempted murder and were denied assistance by local police, the fire department and medical facilities. Like I said, if I had seen the videotape of the soon to be married Canadian and Brit, Brooke and Morgan, of their harrowing experience up on that cliff after they were caught filming a kill by the whalers I am ashamed to say I would not have gone to Taiji.
Three volunteers, Nik Hensey, an American, Brooke McDonald, a Canadian and Morgan Whorwood, a Brit, arrived in Taiji. Brooke and Morgan, a couple, soon to be married, immediately moved into the woods undetected and set up camp while Nik acted like a hippie tourist and checked into a trailer park. Brooke and Morgan would hide in the woods and set up their position in which they could photograph the hunt/drive and kill. It is illegal in Japan to shoot tape and or photos of a hunt and kill. And as I found out it is illegal to wear a wet suit in Japan, more on that later.

Brooke and Morgan would have limited radio contact with Nik Hensey for the next five days as they waited for their chance to cover and expose the brutality of these so called honorable fishermen. Steeped in a long tradition of fair play, some of the fun games these fishermen enjoyed taking part in is the capturing of a pregnant dolphin and while the mother is still alive they cut the baby out of the womb and play Hacky Sack with it. Nik would walk close to the perimeter of the woods at dusk and toss jars of Skippy peanut butter and Ritz crackers to the pair of photo journalists who counted this trip to Japan as their honeymoon.
On the fifth day, a pod of fifty dolphins were herded into the cove. Brooke and Morgan overlooked this cove from approximately three hundred feet above. The fishermen go out every day for six months, weather permitting, so the only thing that slows them down is rain or high winds.

They go out in an armada of fifteen high powered fishing boats of different sizes and speeds. When they locate an unsuspecting pod of dolphins or whales, the fishermen give chase, wearing the pod out. As the pod slows down, the boats circle the whales or dolphins and then the fishermen lower hollow metal tubes into the ocean and begin banging on these pipes causing the sound to reverberate and disrupt the mammals’ sonar. This disruption causes the pod to become confused and renders them completely defenseless. At this point, the fishermen continue their banging as they move the pod in towards the shore. Once the pod is close to the shore, the next team of fishermen " the netters" arrive. They herd the pod into a shallow cove and pen the dolphins or whales.


A Japanese fisherman sits proudly atop his catch of dead dolphins as the boat searches for more.



Some of the fisherman get into the water to assist the hunt. Baby dolphins, like the one here, are killed along with their families.



Brooke McDonald and Sea Shepherd crew capture the massacre on film and video.



Brooke's husband Morgan Whorwood, He is as much as a hero as she is!



The fisherman, realizing their butchering has been documented, start threatening and moving towards the Sea Shepherd crew, who call the police as they are assaulted by the angry mob. Rather than arrest the fishermen, the police arrest and carry away the Sea Shepherd crew on bogus charges.


The pod will remain penned up overnight to allow the adrenaline to drain from the flesh. Brooke and Morgan spent the night up on the Cliff side watching the pod of dolphins, struggle in the shallow water. The full grown males encircle the females and the babies in a futile attempt to protect their pod. Brooke and Morgan could hear the labored breathing of the males and the plaintiff screams of the females.

The next morning Brooke and Morgan prepared themselves for the slaughter; it was a bloodfest in which the fishermen laughed and joked amongst the shrieks of the butchered cetaceans (all caught on tape – see for yourself!).

By chance, a fisherman spotted the two perched on the cliff taking pictures. The fishermen quickly climbed the mountain side and sealed off the escape route and then hunted Brooke and Morgan as they do the sea mammals. Morgan acting like one of the grown male dolphins jumped in front of Brooke to protect her. They were within seven feet of the edge (a 300 ft. drop), and he held off three fishermen with his camera tripod while Brooke filmed and screamed into the radio to Nik who was at sea level. Nik called the police on his cell phone but they refused to respond.

The fishermen were slowly moving the two land mammals closer to the edge, attempting to cause Brooke and Morgan to “accidentally” fall off the ledge, Nik in desperation came up with a brilliant idea; he screamed into the radio directing Brooke to yell, “Green Peace ... Sea Shepherd”.

The fishermen know and are afraid of Sea Shepherd and Green Peace. They realized there were others involved and the two were a part of an under cover conservation sting and they backed off.

The police finally arrived and ARRESTED all three volunteers! They held them incommunicado for nine hours refusing to let them call their respective consulates. Finally, Brooke told them that if she does not check in with her mom, her mom will call the consulate. Because of this, the police brought in a translator who dictated what Brooke could say to her mother. Brooke complied under threat and duress, but luckily her mother detected fear in her daughter's voice and immediately called the Canadian Consulate.

The Consulate called the local police who DENIED they had Brooke in custody. The police demanded the film of the kill, but Brooke hid the film in her underwear and gave them blank rolls instead. After Brooke and Morgan described what took place up on the cliff side, the fishermen's cornering and slow push of Brooke and Morgan towards the edge of the cliff, they decided to file assault charges against Morgan due to the fact he was using the camera tripod as protection. Finally they released them, but they were held for nine hours, just long enough for the fishermen to finish the kill, butcher the animals and pack the meat up for delivery. The footage of both the kill and the attempted murder of Brooke and Morgan are available.
Brooke and Morgan spent about two days in Taiji after their ordeal. Amid death threats by the fishermen, and pending jail time for Morgan, they felt it was best that they leave. However, the two did attempt to obstruct the next hunt by banging on the rocks in the cove as the fishermen were herding a pod of whales into the pens. In a bizarre twist of fate, while Brooke was attempting to obstruct the hunt she came upon a dead body in the bushes, a woman who had apparently committed suicide the night before. This had no affect on the hunt. The fishermen and the police ignored it until after the hunt was over.

The banging on the rocks was meant to scare the whales off but again the fishermen got to them and the police came only to stop Brooke and Morgan from “obstructing” the hunt. Brooke and Morgan were literally chased out of town. But Nik Hensey refused to be intimidated and both the police and fishermen knew they had a problem with Nik.

The fishermen came to Nik ready to negotiate and asked Nik what would it take to get him to leave, other than altering their hunt. Nik offered the fishermen a deal that made the international press; in fact this story accompanied the graphic pictures which Brooke managed to sneak out of the country.

Nik told the fishermen that he would fight a Kendo (Japanese wooden sword fighting) dual with their toughest fishermen and if he lost he would leave. The dual was almost fought but their chosen combatant refused to meet all the demands of the contest. Nik insisted on no helmet or body armor!

Nik was there to stay and the fishermen knew they could only threaten and intimidate the new recruits of which I was one. Prior to my arrival, Ric O’Berry, Flipper’s original trainer, came to Taiji for a couple of days to support Nik while Sea Shepherd was desperately looking for other crew or volunteers to join Nik in this campaign. It was at this point when I saw the graphic pictures on the Drudge Report and I was shocked and horrified and I vowed to offer my services other than money. ( also did contribute money, Sea Shepherd desperately needs financial support.

After a few initial conversations with the Sea Shepherd staff, I volunteered to head out with less than a days notice to Taiji. If I had more time to think about the seriousness of the situation I might not have gone. It was not only a very dangerous and volatile situation I was heading into, but being confronted with the idea that part of the job would be watching mass slaughters of defenseless whales and dolphins, mothers and their calves, was terrifying. Dolphins and whales not only breathe air like humans they have a fully advanced system of communication; they are emotional, playful and have the ability to interact and relate with humans in a very unique way. They are highly evolved mammals.

Whales in particular have survived on this planet for millions of years through all the intense changes earth has gone through in its evolution. To think that man would be responsible for the removal of this species in less than two hundred years is astounding. I have spent much time in the wild with both dolphins and whales and have witnessed their social skills. So to watch the females witnessing and reacting to the bloody slaughter of their babies was going to be an experience I would never fully recover from.

The work that Sea Shepherd does is not only thankless, but it is a job that not many could handle. They are our last line of defense against the most evil and dark force on this planet. They risk their lives and their liberty in the defense of a voiceless and defenseless group of living beings, armed only with cameras and notebooks. They do not get paid and many times they are depicted as terrorist. I was with them for ten days and during that time they initiated no violence, but the enemy calls them dangerous only because the take pictures with cameras.

The Japanese fishing community and government knows that their behavior is heinous and they do not want the rest of the world to know what they are up to. Not to mention that the whalers kill dolphins and pass it off as expensive whale meat to the Japanese consumer. The meat has been deemed by their own experts as too toxic for human consumption and routinely the whalers violate the endangered mammals act. It is not until they are caught and exposed will the Japanese government begin to enforce the regulations within the whaling community.
I arrived at around two thirty AM in Taiji. I was met by a fairly calm Nik Hensey who wasted no time in taking me out to the cove to see a group of penned pilot whales due to be slaughtered in four hours. I immediately donned my wet suit and began setting up my position in the water so as to have a vantage point which would allow me to film the kill covertly.

Unfortunately I was discovered by the fishermen who were shocked to see me (a fresh recruit). They surrounded me and threatened me with violence if I did not hand over all my bags and equipment. Nik was filming the confrontation without their knowledge. A four hour stand off ensued until the police arrived. Usually when cops arrive, I get nervous. In this instance, according to Nik, even though the cops are corrupt, without their escort I would not have likely made it to safety that morning.

The good news was the slaughter was postponed for a day. There was a new law in Taiji after the early morning incident; wearing of wet suits in Taiji would be a jailable offence! During the next ten days, myself and the others who joined this campaign did not sleep! Because the crew is so small it is impossible to get more than forty five minutes of sleep in a twenty four hour period. The crew is responsible for a constant watch over the town and whaling community resulting in copious amounts of notes; a constant watch over the marina; constant watch over a penned up pod; and we have to keep a 24 hour look out at our encampment. The hotels and restaurants will not serve us so we have to take long trips to nearby cities to stock up on noodles, peanut butter and Ritz crackers.

In the following days, the pilot whales were slaughtered. After the slaughter in the cove, Nik and I were positioned with video cameras at the fishermen's co-op where the butchering is done. Of course, the fishermen did not like us filming them carving up the pilot whales so we were assaulted with picket signs which read “No Photo”.

The signs were on cardboard but held up by two by fours one of which was leveled onto my skull. I was knocked to the ground, dazed and now beginning to panic. They had separated us so I couldn't see Nik or hear him. The fishermen encircled me. This is the same strategy they use with the cetaceans – they will usually separate and encircle the babies/calves and both the males and females will not leave their young so it is easy to get the pod into the cove by capturing the calves, They threw a few punches and again hit me with their signs.
I began screaming in hopes of alerting the neighbors to my dilemma, to no avail. I was chased out of town on foot. I had a long walk back in which I was to rendezvous with Nik. Later on, Nik and I discussed the situation in which he was unfased. We actually laughed about the situation and my high pitched screams which caused Nik to give me my own walkie- talkie so we could stay in contact in an emergency. By the way my high pitched scream resulted in Nik giving me my very own “crew” nickname and radio code name: Nancy Boy.

His crew nickname and radio code name is Moses because he bears resemblance to the biblical figure. This was just the beginning of a long ten days. After about a week, two more crew members joined us, one from Germany and another from Holland.

My last day there I crossed paths with Allison Watson (Captain Watson – the head honcho at Sea Shepherd – Sean Penn is making Watson’s story into a movie. As she arrived in Taiji I was flying out of Osaka. I had to leave my rental car behind and sneak out of Taiji by train. The police were trying to prevent me from leaving with the videotape I had recorded of my interaction with fishermen the day I was repeatedly assaulted.
When I got whacked on the head my video camera was on my shoulder so I got a close up of the hit ... cracked sign and all. The police did not want me to go to the Osaka police with the tape as I threatened to do because they would not allow me to file a complaint against the fishermen for assault. The police claimed that because I was videotaping and it is against the law to video tape or take photos in Taiji, the assault by the fishermen was justified. I made the mistake of showing the tape to the local police, which led to a comical foot chase through the town of Shingu.

I managed to escape with the tape. It seems the police detectives learned how to be detectives from American seventies TV. So I was able to easily identify the under cover cops who were chasing me. They were dressed up like Colombo or Beretta.
A day after I left, two members of the crew were arrested because Allison, Captain Paul Watson’s wife, led the crew into the water to assist the dolphins in escaping the pens. Some of the dolphins were able to escape. Allison and Alex (from Holland) are now in jail. The police so far have not allowed any outside contact with the remaining crew in person or by phone so we don't know what is happening to them or where they are. The police claim that they can keep suspects in custody for 48 hours without the benefit of counsel or outside contact.

Another interesting fact I discovered while in Japan, is that the media is one giant conglomerate which is government owned and controlled. There is no free press in Japan.
In another bizarre side note, while I was in Shingu one day looking for an Internet cafe (there are none), I saw my first Caucasian other than a member of the crew. She was a beautiful blond from Brazil. I immediately grew excited at the prospect of conversing with a pretty girl in English. What I discovered was pretty strange.

During the course of our conversation, during which, she whispered and motioned to an older Japanese man and informed me she couldn't talk much because her “owner” wouldn't like it. The older Japanese man owned her! I called the US Consulate, Steven Wheeler to report this and he told me he couldn't do anything because she is Brazilian and that while, technically slavery is illegal in Japan, it is an acceptable part of the culture, like the inhumane mass slaughter of dolphins and whales

Media
News + Press Releases 11/08/03
Pilot Whale Family Mercilessly Slaughtered at Taiji
Sea Shepherd Sends Reinforcements

"They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains
the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent."


- Whales Weep Not
- D.H. Lawrence


At 5:00 P.M. on Friday November 8 in Japan (Nov 7 in North & South America and Europe) - thirty pilot whales were brutally speared and stabbed by Taiji dolphin killers.

The pod had been captured on November 6 and confined behind nets in the bay of Taiji. Two large males tried desperately to protect the pod of females and many young including newborns.

Nik Hensey and television star Billy McNamara, both of the United States were unable to approach the whales because of gangs of fishermen guarding the nets around the clock. In the early morning hours on Friday, Nik and Billy had climbed the cliffs overlooking the captured whales. They were immediately assaulted by fishermen who threatened their lives repeatedly.

The police finally arrived but once again took the side of the fishermen and refused to act on the complaints of the Sea Shepherd crew that they were being assaulted. The police have erected signs prohibiting photographs and videos, continually restricting the access to the killing area from documentation.

The plaintive screams of the whales echoed through the community of Taiji as the bay turned an obscene bloody crimson with the hot blood of the whales.

Sea Shepherds call for volunteers is being answered.

En Route to Taiji are two volunteers, a Dutch citizen and a German citizen. They are both expected in Taiji within the next two days.

The Sea Shepherd campaign in Taiji has been underway for 42 days. Nik Hensey as expedition leader has been the one volunteer who has been there from the beginning and continues to endure the hostility and the discomfort of being an activist in a hostile territory.

Brooke MacDonald of Canada and Morgan Whorwood of Great Britain left Taiji in late October after three weeks on the front lines. Famed dolphin defender Ric O'Barry arrived during the last week in October for a two-week stay on patrol but was forced to leave on November 7 because of commitments to other dolphin campaigns. He will be returning. Ric was replaced by television actor and passionate dolphin defender Billy McNamara (www.williammcnamara.com)

Both men will be reinforced by two more Sea Shepherd volunteers within the next few days.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is committed to ending the annual slaughter of some 22,000 dolphins and small whales in Japan.

The Japanese are saying we are interfering with their culture and they are right" says Captain Paul Watson in defense of the Sea Shepherd campaign. "It is our business to interfere with human communities that commit cruelty and slaughter in the name of culture. The right of the dolphins and whales to live, free of fear from human atrocity takes precedence over the rights of any hominid culture. Our answer to the Japanese dolphin killers is to stop waging war on the culture of the dolphins."

For more information on the "Dolphin/ Whale Round-up" go to our website at www.seashepherd.org/taiji.shtml
_________________
Get My FREE eBook ---> http://psychicspiritinyou.com/balance-your-chakras-free-ebook/

http://www.natures-blessings.org/OrgoneFeetChakraBalancers.htm

[Lilly]

The Connection Between the Butchers of Taiji and the Dolphin Captivity Industry

http://www.seashepherd.org/taiji/taiji_dolphin_captivity.html

Parts of the Japanese dolphin captivity industry, with their aquariums, water parks and "Swim with the Dolphins" programs, work in partnership with the butchers in Taiji, supporting them with large sums of money for live dolphins.

Some dolphin trainers who, in public, appear to love their dolphins, in reality work with the Taiji fishermen showing the same level of cruelty and lack of care for the dolphins.

The "selection for captivity process":

The fishermen force the dolphins into the bay.

The dolphins panic as nets close in forcing them into a confined space.

The dolphins are dragged out of the water with ropes around their tails.

While making their choices, the trainers line-up the dolphins on the beach where, being out of water for the first time in their lives, they are subjected to the forces of gravity exerting pressure on their internal organs.

The dolphins flail around on the beach, accidentally hitting each other with their powerful tails.

The trainers particularly look for young female dolphins, those which frequently have unweaned pups with them. Mothers and babies call out in distress as they separated.

While the mothers are often chosen for a life of captivity, the babies will eventually be slaughtered with the remaining dolphins.

The dolphins chosen for a life of captivity are moved on stretchers to cages next to the deafening roar of motor boats.

Others become entangled in their nets and slowly drown as the trainers stand and watch.

The rest are slaughtered


Problems for Beached Dolphins

A dolphin is used to being supported by water pressure evenly spread over every square inch of its skin. When it is taken out of the water the whole weight of the dolphin rests on the narrow strip of skin which is touching the ground. Any flesh or organs near the ground are bruised and crushed by the weight of the dolphin pressing down on them.
_________________
Get My FREE eBook ---> http://psychicspiritinyou.com/balance-your-chakras-free-ebook/

http://www.natures-blessings.org/OrgoneFeetChakraBalancers.htm