#TaijiFacts - REFUTING CLAIMS MADE BY OPPONENTS OF OUR DOLPHIN AND SMALL WHALE HUNT 1) The dolphin and small whale drive hunt is not traditional and began in the decade of 1970. - Taiji town has been hunting whales since 12th century. There is even evidence to suggest that Taiji town was the birthplace of whaling in Japan. - The method of hunting (drive hunt) did begin around the time the opponents suggest, but the hunting and harvesting of small whale and dolphin has been occurring for at least hundreds of years. - Opponents regularly like to blur the fact of when the method of drive hunting was implemented, and the hunting of dolphins and small whales in general to suggest the hunting of small whales and dolphins is a recent development when it is not. 2) The small whale and dolphin hunt in Taiji and all of Japan is not cultural. Most people in Japan are not even aware of it. - First we must establish the fact that dolphins are small whales but not everyone know this fact, including many Japanese. At the same time almost everyone in Japan is aware Japan hunts whales. - In the United States there are many regional dishes and culture. For example in the state of Louisiana, some people eat alligator meat, but not all of American people eat alligator meat as part of their diet. Most Americans would think it is distasteful. Many Americans may not even be aware alligator is eaten in their country. Does this make the eating of alligator meat in Louisiana any less cultural? 3) The media in all of Japan is covering up the fact that Taiji hunts small whales and dolphins. It is also hiding the truth about mercury in the meat. - Our fishermen number less than 30 people. Is it logical to assume the highest levels of our government are circumvent freedom of speech, and are ordering all news stations in Japan to be quiet about the small whale and dolphin hunt in Taiji? All of this to protect the job of less than 30 people? Why are our fishermen so powerful to be able to have so much influence? Yet we are not powerful enough to have troublemakers in Taiji deported out of Japan and Taiji. - Dolphin meat on average contains the same mercury levels as shark and tuna. Dolphins/sharks and tuna eat almost exactly the same food in the ocean. Tuna is consumed in most places around the world. Shark in many places. People are not getting sick from eating shark or tuna. - Mercury slowly flushes out of the body over time. You would have to eat three meals per day of shark/dolphin or tuna, everyday of the year for several years to start feeling the effects of mercury poisoning. 4) Why is Taiji town ashamed of their tradition? Why do they hide the killing of dolphins and small whales? - It is hidden for the same reason livestock is slaughtered behind closed doors. It is also the same reason slaughterhouse do not give tours to guests. The slaughter of any animal is unpleasant to those who do not hunt their own food. 5) Dolphins and small whales are extremely intelligent. They should not be used as food. - Recent findings by scientists suggest dolphins and small whales are not as intelligent as we thought them to be. It is easy to find information denying this claim, but you only find it on animal rights and conservation websites. Actual research from real professional scientists in universities as of recently, have proven dolphins and small whales are not exceptionally intelligent. Swine are now being considered as one of the most intelligent animals on earth, but billions are slaughtered every year. 6) The Taiji small whale and dolphin hunt is not sustainable and the species are at risk of extinction. - Several thousand small whales and dolphins taken each year from a pool that comprises millions is insignificant. There are many times more dolphins killed by fishing nets as by-catch than what is hunted in Taiji town. We hope you will find this information interesting. Please share these facts with your friends so they can be better prepared when confronted with misinformation about our hunt in Taiji town.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 05:34:29 +0000
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