Japan begins yearly dolphin murder

It is a gruesome and sad spectacle: every year, from September 1st to March, the drive hunt for dolphins takes place in Japan.

In the town of Taiji, the police are even setting up a different station for this purpose. As in previous years, officials are said to prevent illegal actions by opponents of whaling. Taiji, in Wakayama province, is the setting for the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, which is notorious for the annual slaughter. Meanwhile, animal rights activists complain about a rapidly increasing trade in live dolphins.

Once fishermen spot dolphins near the shore of Taiji, they herd the marine mammals into a bay. To do this, the fishermen paralyze the dolphins' sense of direction by hammering on metal rods held in the sea. Young, healthy animals - according to animal rights activists, females are preferred - are sorted out on behalf of dolphinariums abroad, and the remaining animals are slaughtered in a neighboring bay. The fishermen repeatedly reject the accusation in the West that the killing is cruel.

More live than dead animals are sold

"In Japan, the drive hunts for dolphins are no longer financed by the sale of dolphin meat, but by the unscrupulous demand from dolphinariums," complained Sandra Altherr from the animal and species protection organization Pro Wildlife on the occasion of this year's hunting season. According to the marine expert, $50,000 (around €50,100) and more would be paid for a trained dolphin.

While the number of dolphins and small whales killed in Japan has fallen sharply due to the low demand for meat, which is often contaminated with toxins, the export business with live animals is booming. Japan sells most of the dolphins to neighboring China. Between 2000 and 2020 alone, more than 1000 dolphins were sold there.

Other customers were Russia, Thailand, Mexico, Vietnam, Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia, where dolphinariums are still being built, or the old stock is being replenished with wild-caught dolphins due to a lack of offspring.