200 Dolphins Await Slaughter In Japan's Taiji Cove 628
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "CNN reports that more than 200 bottlenose dolphins remain penned in a cove by Japanese fishermen, many of them stressed and bloodied from their attempts to escape before fishermen start to slaughter them for meat. Until now, the fishermen have focused on selecting dolphins to be sold into captivity at marine parks and aquariums in Japan and overseas as twenty-five dolphins, including a rare albino calf, were taken on Saturday 'to a lifetime of imprisonment,' and another 12 on Sunday. 'Many of the 200+ Bottlenose dolphins who are in still the cove are visibly bloody & injured from their attempts to escape the killers,' one update says. Although the hunting of dolphins is widely condemned in the west, Japanese defend the practice as a local custom — and say it is no different to the slaughter of other animals for meat. The Wakayama Prefecture, where Taiji is located condemns the criticism as biased and unfair to the fishermen. 'Taiji dolphin fishermen are just conducting a legal fishing activity in their traditional way in full accordance with regulations and rules under the supervision of both the national and the prefectural governments. Therefore, we believe there are no reasons to criticize the Taiji dolphin fishery.' Meanwhile the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society describes how about 40 to 60 local fishermen work with nets to divide up the pod, whose initial numbers were estimated by the group at more than 250. 'They tighten up the nets to bring each sub-group together then the skiffs push them toward the tarps. Under the tarps in the shallows is where the trainers work with the killers to select the "prettiest" dolphins which will sell and make the best pay day for the hunters,' the group says. The fishermen will 'kill the "undesirable" dolphins (those with nicks and scars) under the tarps to hide from our cameras when that time comes.'"
That doesn't seem right. (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Is this a cuteness thing? (Score:2, Funny)
So if this dolphin is canned... (Score:4, Funny)
...will they be able to certify it as tuna-safe [wikipedia.org] ?
Re:Is this a cuteness thing? (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, no. I'm a carnivore but there should be a line somewhere in terms of intelligence.
Careful with that. You don't want to end up with Sarah Palin on your plate just because of some arbitrarily low line.
Nothing like some tech news! (Score:4, Funny)
How does this matter to a nerd? Will it affect the release of a stable btrfs?
Re:Nice subjectivity (Score:5, Funny)
"200 yummy dolphins await being turned into delicious food"
Re:That doesn't seem right. (Score:5, Funny)
He's saying that you're not intelligent.
Re:That doesn't seem right. (Score:5, Funny)
Bender: Who wants dolphin?
Leela: Dolphin? But dolphins are intelligent.
Bender: Not this one. He blew all his money on instant lottery tickets.
Fry: OK.
Leela: Oh, OK.
Amy: That's different.
Farnsworth: Good, good.
Leela: Pass the blowhole.
Amy: Can I have a fluke?
Hermes: Hey, quit hogging the bottle-nose.
Farnsworth: Toss me the speech centre of the brain!
Wow! (Score:5, Funny)
That sort of escalated rather quickly.
Re:That doesn't seem right. (Score:5, Funny)
that may not be true, you only hear about the ones that were playfully pushing humans toward shore. you didn't hear about the other 70% of times they playfully pushed a screaming human into the open sea to drown.
Re:Is this a cuteness thing? (Score:4, Funny)
Obligatory Far Side. [wordpress.com]
Re:That doesn't seem right. (Score:5, Funny)
Some zoo keeper once said something like, "give a chimp a screwdriver and it will use it for everything but its intended purpose. Give a Gorilla a screwdriver and first he'll show fear, then try to eat it. An Orangutan will show disinterest, hide the screwdriver and later when no one is looking, disassemble his cage"