It is shocking but true: The dolphin hunt in Japan is supported by people from the international dolphinarium industry. The annual dolphin slaughter provides an easy way for dolphinariums to obtain young, unblemished dolphins, suitable for commercial exploitation in captive dolphin shows and swim-with-dolphins programs. During our documentary work in Japan, we have witnessed dolphin trainers assisting the dolphin hunters during the slaughter process, selecting the best-looking dolphins for themselves and letting the dolphin hunters kill and butcher the rest.
Historically, the capture of dolphins has been highly secretive and rarely photographed, and for decades the multi-billion dollar dolphin captivity industry has claimed that they are capturing and displaying dolphins so that they can sensitize the public to the necessity of protecting dolphins in nature. "We love dolphins," is the industry’s first line of defense when confronted with the questionable ethics of capturing and confining these free ranging, social and highly complex marine mammals. These very same dolphin trainers and veterinarians who claim to "love dolphins" have showed us the dark side of the dolphin captivity industry. The public will be shocked to learn that the Japanese dolphin massacres and the use of dolphins for public display are strongly connected: The whalers and dolphin trainers, working side by side to exploit the dolphins in the most cruel manner imaginable, have a symbiotic relationship. They both rely on one another to stay in business.
It all comes down to money. A dolphin slaughtered for its meat will bring in about $700. Dolphins captured during a Taiji dolphin drive have been sold to dolphinariums for as much as $154,000 per dolphin! The dolphin killers simply would not be able to prosper on the annual dolphin slaughter if members of the zoo and aquarium industry were not paying top dollar for live dolphins.
Some of the people who are doing business with the whalers in Taiji are westerners. We notice two of them several times during our patrols in Taiji and are able to photograph them at "Dolphin Base," a captive dolphin facility in Taiji. When the two western dolphin trainers spot us, they scatter like roaches when you turn on the light. The trainers are as paranoid about being caught in the act as the dolphin killers are.
One of the dolphin brokers that do business in Taiji is US citizen Dr. Ted Hammond of Hammond Consultants, Hong Kong Limited. Records are available documenting Hammond trafficking in live dolphins from Taiji. Dr. Hammond's website can be viewed here: http://www.hammondcon.com/design.htm
