The FACTS about US Aquariums and the Dolphin Slaughters in Japan
By Save Japan Dolphins Coalition 2009
"The Cove" movie details the cruel and bloody annual slaughter of dolphins in a small cove in the town of Taiji, Japan. Part of the incentive to local fishermen to pursue and kill dolphins comes in the form of cash from international dolphin traffickers, who come to Taiji, pick out a handful of “show quality” specimens of dolphins, and pay enormous amounts (as much as $150,000 or more for a locally trained dolphin) to the fishermen to export these dolphins for use in aquarium shows and “swim with dolphins” programs around the world. Thus, the public who buy tickets to dolphinariums and swim-with-dolphins tourist programs help subsidize the brutal annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Japan.
Now, representatives of the US aquarium industry, such as the Alliance for Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, are claiming that “No dolphins from the Taiji drive fishery or any drive fishery are in AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums”. This may be true now, since dolphins in captivity lead shortened lives, but has not always been the case.
Miami Seaquarium: Obtained two Risso’s Dolphins (Grampus) from Taiji, Japan, via Jay Sweeney. Both dolphins caught in a 1989 hunt. Both died at Miami Seaquarium in 1989 and 1995.
Miami Seaquarium: Obtained two bottlenose dolphins from Iki Island (drive hunt), Japan, via Jay Sweeney. Both dolphins caught in 1989 hunt; one died 1991, the other in 2000.
Sea World San Diego: Obtained three false killer whales, two from Taiji, Japan and one from Iki Island, Japan, via the Fishermen’s Union. Two caught in 1981 and one caught in 1984; alive in 1991 (date of report).
Indianapolis Zoological Society: Obtained two false killer whales from Taiji, Japan, via Jay Sweeney, in 1989. One died in 1992, the other in 1998.
Naval Comm, Control & OC Surveillance Ctr (US Navy Trained Dolphins): Two Risso’s dolphins obtained from Taiji, Japan, in 1989. One died in 1989, the other in 1999.
Marine World Africa USA (now Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, CA): Sought to import four false killer whales in 1993. Earth Island letter (dated May 5, 1993) to NMFS expressed opposition to the illegal, inhumane captures of drive hunts. Permission for import denied by NMFS (letter dated May 7, 1993).
In summary:
•Aquariums in the US, including members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), did obtain dolphins from the drive fisheries in Japan up until 1993. Most, if not all of these animals are dead according to the Marine Mammal Inventory Reports that they are required to file annually with the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
•In 1993, the imports stopped because of public pressure including Earth Island Institute, a member of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, threatening to file a lawsuit against the NMFS if such imports were permitted. It was therefore the environmental and animal welfare community, NOT the aquarium industry, that stopped imports of dolphins to the US from Japan’s bloody drive hunts;
•Dolphin trafficker Jay Sweeney was the founder of the aquarium industry’s Alliance for Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums and was President in 2004: he is still very much involved in international dolphin trafficking; and
•The aquariums in Japan and elsewhere that traffic in Japan drive hunt dolphins, including the notorious Taiji Whale Museum (where drive hunt dolphins are kept for training before being shipped off to aquariums), are all members of the same network of international associations that the AZA subscribes to, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). While AZA and WAZA publicly denounce the drive hunts, the trafficking in such dolphins goes on without ANY SANCTIONS against the aquariums that are complicit in the hunts and those who source from them. The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition is urging the public to contact WAZA to sanction and expel aquarium associations that violate its so-called “policies” against obtaining dolphins from Japan’s brutal drive hunts.
Clearly, the claims by the US aquarium industry are false and misleading. It is time the US public were told the truth about captive dolphins.
Youcan take action by making the pledge not to buy tickets to aquariums, swim-with-dolphins programs, or other facilities that have captive dolphins. Dolphins belong in the sea, not in small tanks:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/stop-dolphin-captivityYou can also urge WAZA to sanction and expel aquariums that traffic in dolphins caught in Japan’s drive hunts:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/stop-the-dolphin-slaughterFor further information on how you can help:
http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org
Subject: The Cove PSA-My Friend is..... 
Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:08 am
