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The Ugly
Secret Behind the Slaughter:
Dolphin Captivity Industry Subsidies Keeps Hunt Alive
A delicacy in Japan, most of the dolphins are butchered and sold on Japanese supermarket shelves as whale meat or dolphin meat. Fishermen also claim they kill dolphins because they eat too many fish — a scientifically false argument.
However, our investigators have revealed shocking new information suggesting another major, and hidden, cause.
The tragic secret behind the slaughter is that the US and International dolphin captivity industry is fueling the massacre. They are organizing and funding the hunts in order to buy "show-quality" dolphins from the Japanese fishermen to use in dolphin shows, “Swim-with-the-Dolphins” programs and aquariums.
The dolphin captivity industry would have you believe that they are "saving the dolphins" from being butchered. Not true.
The majority of the about 500 dolphins in the 49 Japanese dolphinariums were obtained through the drive fisheries.
In one instance, dolphins obtained from the Japanese drive fishery were shipped to a European dolphinarium where they were traded for killer whales. The killer whales were then shipped to the United States.
Some dolphins obtained through the Japanese dolphin drives have been drafted into the US Navy. Others are being sent to "Swim-with-the-Dolphins" programs or display facilities in Japan, China, the Philippines and other destinations around the world.
The dolphins and other small whales that are selected and purchased by members of the dolphin captivity industry represent a much higher commercial value to the Japanese fishermen than the ones that are slaughtered for meat.
The multibillion dollar dolphin captivity industry is not "saving" the dolphins from the drives. The industry is helping to maintain the drives by making the practice profitable for the fishermen. This must be stopped.
Send a message to the US and international aquarium and dolphinarium industry. Ask them to demand that their colleagues immediately stop doing business with the Japanese dolphin killers!