Full Circle

"Do more than belong: participate.  Do more than care: help.  Do more than believe: practice.  Do more than be fair: be kind.  Do more than forgive: forget.  Do more than dream: work."--William Arthur Ward

How the Cove should look everyday.  Courtesy Nicole McLachlan

Before I left for Taiji, I wondered what it would be like if I traveled all that way and nothing happened.  It wasn't as if I was conflicted; of course I wouldn't want there to be a day with a capture or slaughter.  But, a part of me wondered if people would really pay attention to what I was reporting if there wasn't any bad news.  Unfortunately, we sometimes need some sort of devastation to get our attention.  I really pushed for people I know to watch The Cove before I left, so they knew what I was becoming involved with.  I wanted them to have a sense of how each day of the season is so emotional, the great extent the dolphin killers take to hide their so-called tradition, and the fact that the captive dolphin industry is the economic underpinning of the dolphin slaughter.

The scene after a slaughter.  Courtesy Nicole McLachlan

My professional life has been spent looking through the lens of a camera.  For me, this was the best way to contribute.  I have no formal education in biology, marine mammals, environmental sciences, or Japanese history.  What I do understand is the power of sound and imagery, and I knew the importance of documenting for others to see what was happening in Taiji.  That was the intent of The Cove, to show the rest of the world what was happening; the exploitation, the deception, the slaughter.  

Last Friday was the tragic ending to my week in Taiji.  As I waited up on Mountain Pass with my fellow Cove Guardians for the banger boats to return, it was likely the longer they were out, the better the chances were they had found a pod of dolphins.  After four hours of waiting, our suspicions were confirmed.  Approximately thirty Striped Dolphins were being driven toward the harbor.  Unlike the other two drives I had witnessed earlier in the week, it was apparent that these dolphins weren't going to be captured and sold into captivity, they were going to be driven towards the killing Cove; these dolphins were going to be slaughtered.  All I could do was watch, there was no way to stop what I was witnessing.  And let me tell you, you are a witness when you see this happening.  You are a witness to murder.

We left Mountain Pass, and headed to Glenda's Point to drop off Nicole and Georgia.  Glenda's Point was named after a former Cove Guardian from earlier in the season, and this spot looks directly down into the Cove.  It's obstructed with tree limbs and brush, but you can still see into the Cove.  Of course, what you can't see is the actual slaughter, because of the tarps the dolphin killers have rigged over the beach to hide their cruel and disgusting deeds. Libby and I headed to the public beach at the Cove, where the head of the Fishermen's  Union (aptly nicknamed the FU) and the Wakayama Police were already in place.  Whenever there are dolphins in the Cove, the Wakayama Police are at the Cove.  I guess some people are afraid that one of us might pass the barrier that allows a direct view into the killing Cove.  But why would they want to hide that?  I mean, it's their culture and tradition.  They didn't prevent us from standing next to the gutting barge earlier in the week, or at the mouth of the harbor as they were bringing an infant Pacific White-Sided Dolphin to the holding pens.  (Although, they did hide it with a bloody piece of foam as they zipped by in their skiff; classy).  As I rushed past the police with my camera and tripod to the edge of the water, everyone that was behind just completely disappeared in my mind.  My focus was on the skiff that was dropping the first set of nets in the Cove, and the dolphins I could see swimming in the water.  It's almost unavoidable, but I went completely into cameraman mode.  I was totally focused on documenting what was happening the best I possibly could.  I knew that this was my one grim chance to show people at home what was happening half a world away.  How man's greed and power is used to inflict pain and death on another species.  There's a sick precision to what the dolphin killers do, and it's a completely helpless feeling watching them work.  I quickly moved from the water's edge to a little higher ground up off the beach, and that's when we noticed the dolphins starting to throw themselves onto the jagged rocks in panic.  It's heartbreaking watching this happen.  Blood begins to flow as the dolphins' skin is ripped apart on the rocks.  I then quickly moved to a spot all the way to the left of the beach; as far as I could legally go.  I was now shooting through the barricade, knowing that this would be my final angle of the slaughter.  I could still see the dolphins throwing themselves onto the rocks, and these two particular dolphin killers walking along the jagged rocks using their hands and feet to move the dolphins.  They would grab them by their rostrum (snout) and pull them off the rocks, or use their feet to shove them off the rocks.  This seemed to go on forever, as skiffs of men passed back and forth between my lens and the dolphins.  Eventually, the last net was dropped, and it became apparent that the actual slaughtering had started.  Every once in a while a skiff would float back into view, revealing some of the dolphin killers.  At one point, I saw one of the dolphin killers wipe off the metal spike he had in his hand.  Literally, this guy was cleaning his weapon.  The skiff he was on gradually floated back beyond the view of my camera, as he returned to his killing.  The next time I saw the skiffs, it was when they were heading out of the Cove with the tarp-covered bodies of slaughtered dolphins.

Waiting for the slaughter to end.

I don't know how long the slaughter lasted.  I didn't make a conscious effort to keep track of time, because it just didn't seem important.  In a way, time seemed to stop in the disbelief of what I had seen. 

I was still really amazed at the extent the dolphin killers go to hide everything.  From the killing Cove to the butcher house, so much has been done to hide from our cameras what happens.  If they really don't care what the rest of the world thinks, and have so much pride in their culture and tradition, then why all the fuss to hide what happens?  Here may lie the answer: most Japanese don't know this is happening.  Even just one town over in Katsuura, where the Cove Guardians have been staying, there are locals who are completely unaware of what is happening in Taiji.  While eating dolphin meat in some areas does occur, the vast majority of Japanese are not eating dolphin.  It's not because it's an expensive delicacy, they just don't eat it.  And if most Japanese are unaware of what is happening in Taiji, how can it be a part of Japanese culture?  For some reason, the media in Japan want to focus on Sea Shepherd, not the issue at hand.  They know why Sea Shepherd is in Taiji, but that is not the focus of their stories.  Could it be that if more Japanese people knew about what was happening in Taiji, and the perception in many parts of the world toward what is happening, that they would start to pressure their own government to stop the killing of dolphins?  Is there an agreement between the Japanese media and the government as to how Taiji is to be portrayed?  

What, no coupons?

In a tourist brochure I picked up for Wakayama Prefecture, Taiji is advertised as the home of the dolphin trainers, and the place to come and swim with dolphins.  Funny how it doesn't mention Taiji as ground zero for the captive dolphin trade and slaughter.  I mean, that's Taiji's worldwide claim to fame.  The blood red water of the Cove, or the ridiculously small pens the dolphins are kept in get no mention.  I guess they don't want to give everything away before you get there.  They don't even mention that Taiji is portrayed in a film that won an Academy Award.  What Chamber of Commerce wouldn't put that on their brochure for tourism or economic development?

I remember looking back at the head of the FU as the slaughter was happening, and he was on his phone pretty much the entire time.  No doubt speaking with someone right next door in the Cove; getting the play by play, the take, all the details.  He looks very much the focused businessman in his mannerisms.  And then just like that, with one swift close of the cell phone, he turns away and walks up to the parking lot across the street, while the Wakayama Police follow behind.  The only ones left at the Cove are myself and Libby.  The Cove returns to it's hauntingly calm and quiet.  

The bloody Cove from atop Glenda's Hill.

I wanted to go up to Glenda's to see for myself the aftermath of the slaughter from above.  Libby and I drove back down the street, and I hopped out with my camera and tripod to make the five minute hike up the steep steps.  Seriously, that little hike kicked my ass.  By the time I got to the top where Nicole and Georgia were, my legs were on fire.  As I peered through the branches and brush trying to find a hole to shoot through, I then saw the blood coming out from underneath the tarps.  It had been darker before I got there, but it was still there; slowly dispersing and fading to a lighter shade of red.     

A captive dolphin at Dolphin Base.

Leaving Japan was bittersweet; I don't know how else to explain it.  Libby, Nicole, Greg, and Georgia were just awesome to be with for the week.  There's definitely a part of me that didn't want to leave, because I didn't want to say goodbye to my new friends.  And you can't help but think about leaving behind the dolphins.  171 dolphins were taken from the ocean this season, to be sold to dolphinariums, marine mammal parks, and dolphin interaction programs around the world.  The battle they endure for six months a year, just so people can watch them swim in a tank and perform tricks.  That's not education, and that's certainly not conservation.  It's imprisonment, and exploitation.  And the fact that over 800 dolphins were slaughtered this year during the drive for their mercury-tainted meat is just as disgusting.  Adults, juveniles, infants; entire families ripped apart and slaughtered in front of one another.  Suffering on a tiny beach while they draw their final breaths. 

Three years ago I took part in a mission trip to Costa Rica to help with an ongoing construction project at a church.  Our project leader used the expression, "Don't anticipate, participate."  Of course, I had to ponder this expression for the week, which was essentially counter-intuitive to what he was trying to get us to realize.  That phrase has stuck with me ever since.  For all of the planning and pondering I did for my trip to Taiji, it always came back to that phrase.  The fact that so many caring and compassionate people answered Paul Watson's call to join together in Taiji and show their opposition to the what's occurring is an example others should pay attention to.  People spent their own money, took time off from work, quit jobs, volunteered, and kept the message alive for nearly six months; without ever missing a day.  The support network spreads around the world.  

Now available on DVD in Japan!

Today, The Cove has just been released on DVD in Japan.  Free copies of The Cove have been distributed to every residence in Taiji!  Maybe not so coincidentally, word has come from Taiji that the tarps at the Cove have come down, and the banger poles have been put away; essentially one month earlier than expected.  If this would've happened one day earlier, another thirty Pan-Tropical Spotted Dolphins would be swimming free.  Instead, they became the final victims of the latest dolphin drive season.  Could it be that the dolphin killers are preparing for more skepticism as word spreads in their own town?  Their own country?  Sure, there is a generation, maybe two, that still respects the whale and dolphin hunts.  But ten, twenty, thirty years from now, things could be very different.  The pressure from the rest of the world, and most importantly from within Japan itself, may very well silence the fleet for good.

To find out more about the campaign in Taiji, check out the Sea Shepherd website.  The Cove website has a lot of information about the issues in Taiji.  Please read Cove Guardian Nicole McLachlan's blog.  You can watch the videos from my time in Taiji on my Vimeo page.   

The easiest ways to help?  DO NOT buy a ticket to a facility that advertises captive dolphins.  Contact the Japanese Embassy, and urge Japan to stop the killing of dolphins.
 

The dolphin drive in Taiji is scheduled to begin again September 1.

For the dolphins...