Dolphins are the most sought after animals for the entertainment of humans.
They are used in zoos, aquariums, aquatic shows, marine mammal parks,
dolphinariums, swimming experiences, television series, documentaries, and
movies.
Luckily, these dolphins can adapt quite easily.
Why luckily?
Well, because most people NEVER think about what it took to get that dolphin
into that captive zone in order to train it, and put it on display performing
circus acts for human entertainment.
Japan has the highest rate of dolphin death...
Cause of death: slaughter by humans.
Why?
The dolphins are captured by the pods in masses, and then the most athletic
ones are auctioned off to be held in captivity by marine mammal parks or the
list of entertainment industries listed above.
Those are the lucky ones.
The dolphins that don't make the cut are then killed off for meat.
This is where speciesism comes into play. Speciesism involves the assignment of different values, rights, or special consideration to individuals solely on the basis of their species membership.
I believe that The Cove slaughters represent speciesism because they favor some of the dolphins and give them unlimited fish, games, companionship, LIFE.....whereas the others are just slaughtered as if they are worth nothing and we only view them as things in these venues.
The part that is most disturbing is how this process takes place.
The Japanese fishermen place boats, nets, spears, and sound projectors in
the water and then basically herd masses of dolphins, thousands at a
time, into a small cove with terrifying and ear bleeding sounds and then
close in on them. They are auctioned off until all the bidders are satisfied.
The dolphins saved for life in captivity are pulled from the water, rubbed
down with lotion so they don't dry out, transported for hours and
even days, then dumped into their new chlorinated homes. It is a wonder
that they survive all of this treacherous shock to begin with.
The dolphins who aren't so lucky...the dolphins left behind... are then
brutally slaughtered by the masses in inhumane ways, and then sold under the
radar as meat for the Japanese people to consume. The Japanese people, however,
are sheltered from the ridiculous levels of toxic mercury in this meat, and
don't even realize they are consuming it most of the time due to meat
mislabeling.
Above is a link to the trailer of The Cove, an undercover documentary
about this slaughtering. You can also purchase the movie from this link, or the
digital copy of the movie.
The Japanese claim that this is part of their culture.
Slaughtering dolphins is tradition to them.
In my opinion... that's outrageous.
Until the rest of us reach out and put an end the endless, merciless killings... until we decide that speciesism isn't okay....
the blood left in the cove is all they will be remembered by.
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