Japan Ups Dolphin Kill Quotas-Opposition Grows

Opposition to Dolphin Hunt Grows September 2007


As Japan ups quotas for dolphins in both Taiji and Futo, and expands the slaughterhouse in Taiji, opposition to consuming dolphin meat grows. Two Taiji city councilmen have broken the Japanese code of silence and labeled meat from dolphins "toxic waste" due to its high mercury content. They have demanded dolphin meat be withdrawn from the school lunch program. This is a huge step in generating local opposition to the dolphin hunt.


BlueVoice has long reported that dolphin and whale meat sold in Japan contains both toxic levels of mercury and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as PCBs and Dioxins.

Watch our interview with Dr. Tetsuya Endo of Hokkaido University on mercury contamination in dolphins.


Quota Expanded, Hunt Begins Early

The dolphin killers at Taiji began the hunt one month early with special permission from the government. So far they have killed at least 95 dolphins, including 45 Risso's Dolphins, 18 bottlenose and 32 pilot whales. Your contribution will put our team in the field documenting the slaughter, raising international protest and bringing facts about contamination to the Japanese people.
Dolphins awaiting slaughter - Photo by Nigel Barker

Your support is crucial. Please donate now.


Japan Dolphin Day

September 25 has been designated a day to focus protest on the dolphin kill in Japan. Please call or write or fax or personally visit the Japanese embassy or consulate nearest you demanding an end to this atrocity.

Japanese Embassy, Washington DC : Phone 202-238-6700

For a list of Japanese Embassies in other locations, click here

Mothers' Milk Contaminated by Pollutants

Overwhelming evidence mounts that whale and dolphin meat is not safe to eat. A recent study by Japanese scientists shows that Japanese women who eat large quantities of fish have high levels of PCBs (a carcinogen and estrogen imitator) in the milk they feed their babies. WHALES AND DOLPHINS ARE NOT FOOD.


Two Girls for Every Boy Born to Inuit Mothers in Arctic Who Eat Marine Mammals

Coastal Inuits are at particular risk of ingesting contaminants because they eat seals, dolphins and whales. Pollution concentrates in the blubber of marine mammals, part of the traditional Inuit diet.

By publicizing these facts we hope to shut down demand for dolphin meat in Japan and thus the incentive for hunting dolphins. We will publish a fact sheet covering this information in Japanese for distribution in Taiji and Futo when we return to Japan next month.

What a tragic irony it is that we have to use this kind of information to stop the killing of dolphins.

Read the Times article


For the dolphins and whales,

Hardy Jones,
Executive Director