Japan’s Controversial Dolphin Hunt Resumes Amidst Global Criticism
Japan’s annual dolphin hunting season has begun, sparking renewed outrage from animal rights groups and environmentalists worldwide, Sky News reports.
The hunt, which takes place off the coast of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, could result in the deaths of hundreds of dolphins for meat and the capture of others for captivity.
The hunt, which typically lasts for six months, has been a contentious issue for decades. While defenders of the practice have previously argued it is no different than the far larger number of cows, pigs, and sheep killed for consumption in other parts of the world, criticism continues to mount.
Dolphin Project, a California-based non-profit organization, strongly condemns the hunt, stating that the removal of large numbers of apex predators like dolphins can disrupt the delicate balance of the ocean ecosystem.
“Unlike fish, dolphins are mammals and reproduce slowly, making it more difficult for a population to be restored,” the group said on its website.
Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), a UK-based charity, provides a detailed account of the hunting methods, explaining how hunters use metal poles to create an “underwater curtain of noise,” disorienting the dolphins and driving them towards the shore. Some are then killed for their meat, while others are taken to dolphinariums where they are forced to perform tricks for entertainment.
Last year, an estimated 415 dolphins were killed or captured, a number significantly lower than the quota of 1,824 set by the Japan Fisheries Agency.
The hunt has been a focal point of international controversy for years, drawing criticism from global leaders and sparking documentaries like the Oscar-winning “The Cove” in 2010. In 2014, the US ambassador to Japan publicly condemned the practice as “inhuman.”
The ongoing hunt follows Japan’s withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission in 2019, which ended 30 years of “research whaling,” a practice widely condemned as a cover for commercial hunts banned by the commission in 1988.
