Issues of Dolphin and Whale Hunting in Japan

Document Type:Research Paper

Subject Area:Literature

Document 1

It is therefore important that measures are put into place to put this practice to a stop. My interest in the topic was sparked by a video I watched on YouTube on the Taiji dolphin drive hunt. The drive hunts was part of a traditional festival in the local town and while the people to derive a lot of enjoyment from the activity, I couldn’t help but think that the practice was really inhumane and insensitive to the rights of the small whales and dolphins. It is approximated that about 22000 small dolphins, whales and porpoises are killed in hunts every year. The main species of the whales and dolphins that are of interest to the hunters include short-finned pilot whales, Risso’s dolphins, stripped dolphins and bottlenose dolphins (Butterworth et al 3).

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Another reason put forward in support of the practice is that the small whales and dolphins are hunted and killed as a means to obtain meat for human consumption. For as long as before the First World War, whales and dolphin meat has been consumed in Japan while other parts such as oil, bones, intestines, teeth and baleen were also used for different purposes. This justification does not represent the interests of all people who hunt and kill dolphins and whales. There has been a decline in the consumption of whale and dolphin meat over the years and this means that the hunting and killing of the small whales and dolphins isn’t for human consumption as is often put forward but for commercial gain.

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The hunting of the small whales and dolphins is also commercial and is a source of livelihood since it involves the procurement of live dolphins for swim-with-the-dolphin and marine park programs. In addition, the use of such methods meant that the animals took a long time to die and therefore went through immense suffering and pain before their death (Butterworth et al 7). The herding of the whales and dolphins is also done in a manner that subjects them to discomfort and pain. According to a study conducted by Butterworth et al investigating the methods used in the hunting and killing of the whales and dolphins, it was found that once the animals had been driven into an area of restriction and confined, they were sometimes tied to the boats by their tails and towed to the killing area.

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As a result of pressure from close contact with other animals and from the dragging in water, these animals would be unable to breath or swim effectively and would therefore be in great distress. Similarly, where dolphins are hunted, rounded up and some of them selected for the marine parks and swim-with-a-dolphin programs, the rest are then killed (Vail & Risch 26). As such, the consumption of these meats poses serious health risks to human consumers. Another of the risks associated with the consumption of the whale and dolphin meat stems from the issue of mislabeled and contaminated raw, cooked or canned whale/dolphin meat being found to be on sale across the state thereby posing health risks to consumers. In a research conducted by independent Japanese toxicologists who worked together with geneticists from America, samples of cooked, canned and raw meat, organs and blubber from whales and dolphins being sold across Japan were tested to determine the levels of contaminants in them as well as the species from where they were.

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Results from the study showed that more than 25% of the samples, as identified through DNA techniques, contained DNA that belonged to other species other than that on the labels of the items (Sakae 14). This was an indication that mislabeling is an issue of significant with such seafood. This is because the hunting and killing of even a few of these animals will often result in the injury and death of many more of them because the capture techniques often involve the intensive mistreatment of larger groups. In addition, the already depleting population of these animals is further dwindled by the capture and killing of the young and breeding members of the species. This is especially because female whales and dolphins are more preferred for hunting and killing because they are less aggressive as compared to their male counterparts.

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The removal of females from any population has been proven by numerous wildlife population studies to be of negative consequence on the affected animal populations in the long run. The IUCN asserts that the hunting and removal of such marine animals from their natural habitat for research or display is paramount to killing them because they are made unavailable to aid in reproduction and consequently maintenance of their populations (Sakae 22). The government should have in place legislation governing the hunting, killing and slaughter of these animals so as to ensure that it is done in humane ways. More importantly, the government should seek to ban the practice altogether and provide alternative forms of livelihood, food sources and marine population control that do not entail the hunting of these animals.

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