Animal rights activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the mayor of Taiji, Japan, met on Tuesday to discuss common ground over what the Japanese government says is a traditional dolphin hunt in the town that runs from September through March annually. The controversial town was featured in the Academy Award-winning documentary “The Cove” and has received widespread attention and condemnation by activists worldwide. Each year during the annual event the 3500 fisherman and town's people herd up and kill up to 2300 dolphins in the isolated cove. The idyllic village on the eastern coast of Japan boasts being the first whale hunters, a tradition that began in the 1600's, although many reports indicate the dolphin hunt began long before that. Activists, filmmakers and photographers have documented the slaughter, showing the water running red with the dead dolphins. The killing has been known for centuries “oikomi”. Traditionally fisherman row out on the sea in their boats, bang on metal poles creating a wall of sound. With loud noise the dolphins are directed close into an inlet and then harpooned. Those dolphins that are not slaughtered are often sold to aquariums across the globe, another abuse animal rights activists argue. Each year the Japanese Government allows the slaughter of up to 20,000 animals. While Tuesday's meeting appeared to amount to nothing of substance save an exchange of ideas, Sea Shepherd is confident that the more attention is paid to the situation, the more likely the Japanese government will take note. BM
