The Cove Runs Red: First Slaughter of the Season #tweet4taiji

Yesterday morning before sunrise the dolphin killers of Taiji were already in the water herding a family of Pilot Whales toward the shore of the killing cove for slaughter. In the end a total of 18 Pilot Whales were slaughtered. These were the largest adult whales, since the juveniles and babies are not large enough and not worthy of the quota. After several hours of witnessing in horror and lingering in the bloody water of the Cove next to their murdered family members these juveniles were driven back out to sea. Being left to fend for themselves, the likelihood of these young Pilot Whales surviving is slim.

The pod begins to panic as their family members are pushed towards the shore of the killing cove.

The monarch female pilot whale (largest of the pod) struggled for over an hour under the tarps, as other juvenile whales continued to linger at her side.

The killers tie ropes around the whales flukes to drag the to the shore of the killing cove.

The trauma of the slaughter was simply too much for this Pilot Whale to bear as it continued to barely swim on its back after witnessing the slaughter of it’s family.

Juvenile lingers beside it’s dying mother in the killing cove.

Blood begins to seep out of the killing cove as the remaining pod is forced to swim in the bloody water of their family members.

The remaining pod of juveniles and babies were left to fend for themselves and driven back out to sea

As the killing and kidnapping season has only begun in Taiji, it is vital to note the potential number of lives that could be taken from the waters off of the coast of Taiji by both killers and trainers alike. The 2013-2014 season quota is as follows: