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Dolphin drive hunting is a method of hunting dolphins used by fishermen in several towns in Japan. Most notorious though is probably the town of Taiji. The dolphin drive hunt season in Japan lasts roughly from October till April as the pods of dolphins pass. The dolphins are hunted out of tradition for their meat.

Method

The hunting is done by a select group of privileged fishermen. When a pod of dolphins has been spotted, they're driven into a bay with boats by the fishermen while banging on metal rods hanging in the water to scare them. When the dolphins are in the bay, it is quickly closed off with nets so the dolphins cannot escape. The dolphins are usually not killed immediatly, but left to calm down over night. The next day dolphins are caught one by one and killed. This used to be done by slitting their throats which resulted in a long and painful death for the dolphin, but the Japanese government banned this method and now dolphins may only be killed by driving a metal pin into the neck of the dolphin, which causes them to die within seconds.

Exactly how many are killed in Japan this way each year isn't known, but the number is believed to be at least a few thousand.

Entertainment industry

Sometimes some of the captured dolphins are left alive and taken to mainly but not exclusively Japanese dolphinariums. These dolphins are captured before the rest is caught. Some claim dolphinariums are keeping the dolphin hunts economically viable, as they'll pay up to 30.000 US Dollars for a dolphin, while only 300USD is paid for a dolphin caught for meat. Fishermen deny that the aquariums pay that much money for the animals however and not all species hunted have the interest of the dolphinariums.

Species

Mainly striped, spotted and bottlenose dolphins are caught, but several other species such as the false killer whale are also occasionally caught. Striped dolphins are now considered to be endangered in the area but despite this they are still being hunted, though in smaller numbers.

Criticism

Many, especially in the western world, oppose the hunting of dolphins, mainly saying that it is brutal especially because dolphins are known to be very intelligent animals. Most of the fishermen disagree often saying that an intelligent animal shouldn't have more rights than a "dumb" animal, such as a Tuna, just like a dumb person shouldn't have less rights than a smart one. Many are also sceptical about the intelligence of dolphins, saying that they can just be learned tricks like dogs. They also point at the conditions factory farmed animals have to live under in the western world and saying that the dolphins they have caught in the wild have had a better life.

Many inhabitants of those towns where hunting takes place see the drive hunts as a part of their culture which they don't want to lose. Since the towns are fairly isolated the hunts have long gone unnoticed by the rest of the world and the sudden flood of criticism is seen as an attack on their way of life.

Some of the animal welfare organisations campaigning against the drive hunts are Sea Shepherd, One Voice and the World Society for the Protection of Animals. Japan has pressured the United States to declare Sea Shepherd a terrorist organization.

Human health concerns

The meat and blubber of the dolphins caught has been found to have high levels of mercury and organic contaminants like PCBs. The levels are high enough to pose a health risk for those frequently eating the meat and researchers warn that children and pregnant women shouldn't eat the meat at all.

Drive hunting in other regions

Solomon Islands

On a smaller scale, drive hunting for dolphins also still takes place on the Solomon Islands, more specifically on the island of Malaita. Though they also eat the meat of the animals, the main reason for hunting the dolphins here is for their teeth, which are used in jewelry and seen as a form of currency on the island. The dolphins are hunted in a similar fashion as in Japan, using stones instead of metal rods to produce sounds to scare and confuse the dolphins. Mainly spotted and spinner dolphins are hunted.

===Faroe Islands===

On the Faroe Islands mainly pilot whales but occasionally also other species of dolphins are killed by drive hunts for their meat. The hunt is known by the locals as the Grindadráp. There are no fixed hunting seasons, as soon as a pod close enough to land is spotted fishermen set out to begin the hunt. The dolphins here are driven onto the beach with boats, blocking off the way to the ocean with nets, where most of them get stuck. Those dolphins that have remained too far in the water are dragged onto the beach by driving a steel hook into the blubber of the animal. When on land, they are killed by cutting down to the major arteries and spinal chord at the neck. When the fishermen fail to beach the animals all together, they are let free again.

About a thousand pilot whales are killed this way each year on the Faroe Islands, but numbers vary greatly per year. The amount of pilot whales killed each year is not believed to be a threath to the sustainability of the population, but the brutality of the hunt has resulted in international criticism especially from animal welfare organisations.

As in Japan, here too the meat is contaminated with Mercury and also Cadmium, causing a health risk for those frequently eating it. Again, especially children and pregnant women are at risk.

External links

• Japan Focus - article on Japanese dolphin drive hunts
• Sea Shepherd - webpage on Taiji dolphin drive hunts with photos and video footage
• Faroe Islands official whaling website

• Animal welfare
• Hunting