Activist works to save 20,000 dolphins from Japanese hunters

In the Japanese town of Taiji, 20,000 dolphins could be brutally slaughtered by Japanese hunters who plan to terrorize, harass, capture, and destroy the dolphins. Some of the dolphins will be captured and sold into captivity for the entertainment industry. Others would be used as meat and sold in markets; however, a large number of them will be killed for nothing more than fertilizer.

One well known activist, Ric O'Barry former trainer from the 1960's show Flipper, is working to stop or at least or delay the kills as long as possible by putting pressure on the Japanese to stop these senseless killings. The local fishermen are not making it easy on O'Barry who is regularly harassed and even denied access to local markets by the head of the fisherman's union in Taiji where O'Barry and others filmed the award winning documentary The Cove exposing the dolphin hunts.

Death threats have been made against the documentary team members and even the authorities have reportedly been known to harass O'Barry in the past. The dolphin kills will continue for 6 months if action is not taken to save them. Ironically, the dolphins that they are killing are not even safe human consumption due to the high levels of mercury contamination.

The mercury contamination is an issue that O'Barry has been fighting a Japanese media black out on. He has been trying to get out the truth of what is happening in the town of Taiji and the danger that the dolphin meat poses. To spite the opposition that he is receiving, O'Barry says he will stay for the week at least to fight for as many dolphins as he possibly can in hopes of raising enough awareness to stop the hunts. The Mayor of Taiji has refused to comment or meet with O'Barry at this point.