Heading to Taiji with Mixed Feelings
WDC guest blogger, Marna Olsen, is a Faroese anti-hunt campaigner who has travelled to Taiji in Japan, scene of the notorious dolphin drive hunts, to help WDC monitor activities in the region, provide updates on the hunts, and continue to foster positive relationships in Japan. She is joined by Hans Peter Roth, a Swiss journalist who has also represented WDC in the past, and who has documented drive hunts in both Taiji and the Faroe Islands.
For the next three weeks I will dedicate my time to the dolphins near Japan who are at risk of being hunted and butchered for their meat or sold to the captivity industry. The small fishing village Taiji is known worldwide for the brutal dolphin drive hunts that happen every year from September 1st through March. Together with my Co-Monitor, Hans Peter Roth, I will be updating the world on what is going on at the Taiji cove so that acts of cruelty will not go unseen.
I look very much forward to experience the beauty of Japan and the friendliness of the Japanese people that I have heard so much about. At the same time I fear what I may have to witness. Nobody knows when a hunt will happen. It could well be days or even weeks between hunts. And perhaps the weather will be so bad that the fishermen will not even attempt to go out to find dolphins.
I just know that in case of a ‘Red Cove’ day my heart will hurt – as it hurts when pilot whales are slaughtered on my home islands, the Faroe Islands. The water turns red with blood from the innocent lives taken and all I can do is hope and pray that people will finally realize that these acts of killing are merciless and unnecessary.
Many thanks to WDC for financially supporting this volunteer endeavor.
Stay tuned for updates from the ground in Taiji.
WDC has been active in confronting the hunts in Japan on a number of levels, from raising awareness of the hunts, engaging with US and Japanese authorities, supporting educational initiatives, and taking part in peaceful protests. There are no quick or simple solutions. We campaign to chip away at all the links in the supply and demand chain that support this cruel practice.
Help us end the hunts. Sign our petition.