More Japanese Turn Against Whaling – IPS ipsnews.net
Cover of The Cove
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO, Mar 2, 2012 (IPS) – The arrest and release of a Dutch activist in Japan has put in bad light this country’s refusal to heed international calls to limit traditional dolphin and whale hunting practices in favour of conservation.
“The arrest (of Erwin Vermeulen) was intended to intimidate us to leave Taiji (a fishing town where dolphins are corralled for mass slaughter),” said Scott West, director for investigations with the United States-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS).
“But the effect is the opposite as more volunteers are signing up to join our activities to stop dolphin and whale killing,” said West.
By sending foreign volunteers like Vermeulen to Taiji, SSCS has raised hackles in Japan, especially after it took a confrontational stance by publishing footage of bloody dolphin hunts in the southern Japan fishing town.
Taiji’s dolphin slaughters came under international glare in 2010 after a film on the annual ritual, titled ‘The Cove’, claimed the Academy Award for best documentary in that year.
While Vermeulen’s release on Feb. 22 proved that he had not pushed a guard on Dec. 16 as charged, activists say it did nothing to change deep-rooted attitudes to cetacean hunting in this country.
“Vermeulen won his case because . . . Read more via More Japanese Turn Against Whaling – IPS ipsnews.net.
Related articles
- BREAKING NEWS: Japanese judge finds Sea Shepherd volunteer not guilty (examiner.com)
- Activist acquitted in assault in Taiji (japantimes.co.jp)
- Sea Shepherd activist Erwin Vermeulen is back home (hempworks.typepad.com)
- For the Love of Dolphins (cyberwhalewarrior.com)
- The Case for Emotional Whaling (cyberwhalewarrior.com)
anagirlempath
Holise E Cleveland III
Monika Turner
Thomas O'Brien
There are 2 points that concern me in this article – Firstly – SSCS does not ‘send’ foreign volunteers to Taiji, they volunteer! of their own accord and volition because they support the protest against the slaughter and want to align themselves actively with the drive to end it.
Secondly – the mention of the documentary ‘The Cove’ in this article intimates that it was the work of SSCS, when in fact it was made by Ric O’Barry, of Save Japan Dolphins, who also maintain a Cove Guardian presence in Taiji throughout the drive hunt season.
The undercurrent here is negative towards SSCS, and i for one object! I am personally not yet aligned to any ocean conservation organisation or society, and my response here is not biased in favour of SSCS, but as an objective outsider, the tone of this text grated the wrong way.
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