Final signature count: 60,276

60,276 signatures toward our 75,000 goal

The mass slaughter of dolphins continues in Taiji, Japan. Bottlenose dolphins are the prime target, their meat sold as a culinary delicacy and their bodies sold as amusement park entertainment.

Fishermen herd dolphin pods into the notorious Cove using poles stuck into the water, which they bang on with hammers, producing a wall of sound. The frightened dolphins in the Cove are then surrounded by nets, where representatives of captive dolphin facilities and international dolphin brokers will choose a few to grab for a lifetime of captivity^1.

Terrified and exhausted, the dolphins are then systematically bludgeoned to death.

By the end of each 6-month hunting season, which lasts from September to April, close to 1,700 dolphins are killed for slaughter and dozens more are sold into captivity. The dolphins can take up to 30 minutes to die by suffocation or drowning^{2. According to Richard O’Barry, an animal rights activist featured in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary about the slaughter, “The Cove,” these dolphins are capable of killing themselves when under extreme distress3.}

The brutality affects any and all marine mammals that make their way into the Cove. Nursing mothers and their babies aren’t spared. Yet the fisherman from Taiji say the community’s livelihood is dependent on the trade^2.

In recent years, dolphin hunters have turned to trading live dolphins, potentially making up to $48,000 per animal, while a slaughtered dolphin only brings in $4803. The pandemic has seen that trade drop off, but the yearly slaughter continues to turn the waters of Taiji red with blood. These hunts are no longer driven by the need for sustenance, or tradition, but rather the desire to profit from the exploitation of natural resources^4.

The Japanese government has the ability to condemn this barbaric event and punish those who participate. But thus far — with tens of thousands of dolphins killed in the last few years — they have done nothing about it.

Sign the petition asking the Japanese government to prohibit the dolphin slaughter once and for all!