November | 2013 | Voice For The Blue

After being held for over 21 hours in the killing cove, a family of 33 Bottlenose dolphins were torn apart with 12 being dolphins taken captive and the rest of the pod brutally slaughtered.

Once all the killers, including trainers, were in the cove, the pod was herded to the killing shore for an inspection of each individual member. Throughout this captive selection the thrashing of the pod can be heard high above the cove which is followed by the blood seeping into the water, leaving us with broken hearts that these dolphins were once again the victims of the profit and greed of the Taiji fishermen.

Killers manhandle the dolphins into nets during the captive selection

The captive selection that marine parks do not want you to see

Being driven towards the killing shore with only two options: death or a life of captivity

Taiji trainers and killers will seek big money from all the captives taken today

Those not taken for captivity, were needlessly and inhumanely slaughtered for human consumption.

After a total of 21 dolphins slaughtered the cove runs red

Tarps are drawn to hide the bloodshed, but through a gap you can see the bloody bodies in the water

Cove Guardians “One dolphin was seen still conscious under the tarps, writhing around in his/her own blood.”

Several Bottlenose bodies floating in the waters of the killing cove, under tarps the killers use in an attempt to hide the bloodshed.

Reminder to all of those who are contemplating a visit to Sea World, Marineland Canada, Discovery Cove or any other similar captive marine mammal facility or swim with dolphin program …. your ticket to such places supports the annual dolphin drive hunt in Taiji. Simply stated … Please do not support captivity … dolphins are literally dying to entertain you!

For the Cove Guardians bearing witness and documenting the atrocities that are currently occurring in Taiji … THANK YOU … the world would not know the ongoing brutality against dolphins and whales in the waters of Taiji!

For the dolphins!

Bloody Week in Taiji #tweet4taiji (voicefortheblue.com)
Tragedy, Horror & the Reality of the Drive Hunt & Slaughter in Taiji (voicefortheblue.com)
Taiji plans park to swim with, not spear, dolphins (japantimes.co.jp)
Facts About the Drive Hunt (Taiji) (wildatheart2013.wordpress.com)

After 29 days of a Blue Cove, the cove runs red again. The Taiji fisherman managed to wipe out two separate pods of Risso Dolphins this week in two consecutive days.

On November 8 – After a long fight of six hours, a family of 9 Risso dolphins lost their battle to the killers of Taiji, Japan. Once trapped within the confines of the cove, the hypocritical trainers as always joined the killers, who together selected 4 pod members for captivity. The lone baby of the pod was trapped within nets on the killing shore, and along with those who were selected for captivity, watched and listened as their remaining pod members were slaughtered in front of them. After the killing concluded, the baby was split from it’s lifeless family members and dumped alone out to sea where it will not survive.

This pod becomes frantic and panics as the killers push them towards the shore of the killing cove.

Mother and baby spend their last moments together before slaughter

After witnessing its mother murdered, the killers tried to hide this live baby dolphin under nets as they prepared to dump back out to sea to fend for itself.

November 9 was the second consecutive day of dolphin slaughter in Taiji as the killers Taiji ripped an entire family of 11 juvenile and adult Risso dolphins from their home in the ocean. Once the pod was entrapped within the always deadly confines of the cove, killers and trainers once again worked together as they search the pod to search for their next big paycheck. None of these Rissos, however, were deemed suitable for captivity and as a result the entire pod was slaughtered mercilessly on the killing shore. Once the slaughter was complete a skiff filled with trainers emerged from under the tarps followed by a skiff dragging dead bodies.

Two juvenile Risso dolphins were among this pod.

As panic begins, several dolphins tried to escape, but only to become entangled within the net.

Attempting to hide the transfer of dead Risso dolphins.

After the atrocities in Taiji this week, once again Call of The Cove has provided all of us with a way to help by reaching out to the media. Please visit their Media Page for more information on how you can help the dolphins of Taiji. They have put together a list of 400 twitter handles for the media worldwide and provided this Letter to Journalists that you can send to journalists around the world asking them to consider covering the ongoing and needless slaughter of dolphins and whales in Taiji.

Also remember to follow the Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians in Operation Infinite Patience on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates on the current events happening in Taiji.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

For the dolphins!