Billy recently travelled to Taiji,
Japan to protest and document the horrendous slaughter of defenseless whales
and dolphins. Billy was fortunate enough to accompany a crew dispatched by Sea
Shepherd, a non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) involved with the
investigation and documentation of violations of international laws,
regulations, and treaties protecting marine wildlife species. Billy originally
learned about the dolphin slaughter from THE DRUDGE REPORT which gets 6 million
hits a day! Please read the brief synopsis below which was prepared by
Billy.
When Billy went to Japan, he didn't know what to expect. He was
met with a very hostile and violent town of Taiji. Billy said, "Unfortunately,
the people of Taiji, and from what I can tell, the rest of Japan, don't like
Americans. I was followed by police, held and interrogated, and roughed up by
the whalers who gave me a pretty solid whack to the head."
 Click here to see the video in High
Speed Broadband RealVideo
Click here to see the video in Standard 56K
Dialup RealVideo
"In fact, when I went to the local police
with the evidence of the fishermen's assault (See the above video) instead of
helping me, they tried to arrest me and confiscate the tape! Please watch the
10 minute video on my web site.
The first five minutes is of two other
volunteers who were cornered up on a cliff side by the fishermen. These two
brave people, Brooke and Morgan were the ones responsible for getting the
horrific video and still pictures of the dolphin slaughter and getting it out
of the country. They were almost killed!
The second four minutes is the
footage from my camera of the assault and the last minute is the footage from
Nik Hensey's camera of the whaler's assault on me. Please read the short
synopsis of my experience in Taiji and if you are interested please read the
longer version (click here) I have had to black out certain things in the
longer version because Allison Watson and Alex Corneillson are still in jail in
Taiji.
Please visit
Sea Shepherd's web
page to see updates and how you can help.
DOLPHIN
SAMURAIS
The following is a brief synopsis of the
events which unfolded in Taiji Japan in which three young volunteers, all in
their twenties, put their lives on the line to free pods of whales and dolphins
which were hunted, herded, penned and slaughtered in an unspeakable fashion. In
Japanese waters within their coast, the government allows local fishermen to
hunt and kill thousands of dolphins and whales. Because the fishermen stay
within Japan’s water boundaries they are exempt from international law,
and therefore can conduct an amazingly ferocious and overwhelmingly unfair hunt
of these sea mammals.
The hunting season in Japan which begins in
October and runs through April accounts for the slaughter of twenty two
thousand dolphins and whales consisting of entire pods, families of mothers and
their calves. There is no regulation and frequently many endangered whales are
included in the hunt and slaughter. While I was there, I witnessed a Melon
headed whale pod round up and slaughter. Melon heads are on the endangered
list.
Just recently the Japanese scientific
community in concert with the international scientific community has released a
report condemning Japan’s government for allowing the dolphin meat to be
sold on the open market. Virtually all the dolphin and whale meat tested is
considered to be highly toxic and by law unfit for human consumption due to
mercury levels five times the acceptable level. This "so called" cultural
activity takes place in Japan under total secrecy. The press is not allowed to
report about it and the inhumane slaughter is constantly denied by government
officials to the international community.
This scenic cove near Taiji, Japan will
soon become a death trap for 60 dolphins on Oct 6, 2003. |
A couple of hours later, the scenic cove
is red with the blood of dead and dying dolphins. |
I am a
huge cetacean advocate and have done much research on dolphins and their
population. I was convinced that these sea mammals were protected and I am very
aware of “dolphin safe” tuna. I was beyond shocked when I saw the
pictures that Sea Shepherd released to the international press of a slaughter
of an entire pod, mothers and babies, less than two feet long. I couldn't
believe it so I called Sea Shepherd and volunteered my services. To my
surprise, they accepted my application.
Had I known what I was in for,
or what went on prior to my arrival, I can't honestly say that I would have
volunteered. What I can say is that I am honored and grateful that the Sea
Shepherd organization and crew allowed me to serve among their ranks and they
treated me like an equal.
It is no small feat to be accepted into this
group. Volunteers in their early twenties, men and women from all over the
world go to far away foreign places on a shoe string budget armed only with
still cameras and video cameras. Small crews, two or three at a time, take on
entire towns amidst death threats.
I witnessed that they suffered an
attempted murder and were denied assistance by local police, the fire
department and medical facilities. Like I said, if I had seen the videotape of
the soon to be married Canadian and Brit, Brooke and Morgan, of their harrowing
experience up on that cliff after they were caught filming a kill by the
whalers I am ashamed to say I would not have gone to Taiji.
Three volunteers, Nik Hensey, an American,
Brooke McDonald, a Canadian and Morgan Whorwood, a Brit, arrived in Taiji.
Brooke and Morgan, a couple, soon to be married, immediately moved into the
woods undetected and set up camp while Nik acted like a hippie tourist and
checked into a trailer park. Brooke and Morgan would hide in the woods and set
up their position in which they could photograph the hunt/drive and kill. It is
illegal in Japan to shoot tape and or photos of a hunt and kill. And as I found
out it is illegal to wear a wet suit in Japan, more on that
later.
Brooke and Morgan would have limited radio contact with Nik
Hensey for the next five days as they waited for their chance to cover and
expose the brutality of these so called honorable fishermen. Steeped in a long
tradition of fair play, some of the fun games these fishermen enjoyed taking
part in is the capturing of a pregnant dolphin and while the mother is still
alive they cut the baby out of the womb and play Hacky Sack with it. Nik would
walk close to the perimeter of the woods at dusk and toss jars of Skippy peanut
butter and Ritz crackers to the pair of photo journalists who counted this trip
to Japan as their honeymoon.
On the fifth day, a pod of fifty dolphins were
herded into the cove. Brooke and Morgan overlooked this cove from approximately
three hundred feet above. The fishermen go out every day for six months,
weather permitting, so the only thing that slows them down is rain or high
winds.
They go out in an armada of fifteen high powered fishing boats
of different sizes and speeds. When they locate an unsuspecting pod of dolphins
or whales, the fishermen give chase, wearing the pod out. As the pod slows
down, the boats circle the whales or dolphins and then the fishermen lower
hollow metal tubes into the ocean and begin banging on these pipes causing the
sound to reverberate and disrupt the mammals’ sonar. This disruption
causes the pod to become confused and renders them completely defenseless. At
this point, the fishermen continue their banging as they move the pod in
towards the shore. Once the pod is close to the shore, the next team of
fishermen " the netters" arrive. They herd the pod into a shallow cove and pen
the dolphins or whales.
A Japanese fisherman sits proudly atop his
catch of dead dolphins as the boat searches for more. |
Some of the fisherman get into the water to
assist the hunt. Baby dolphins, like the one here, are killed along with their
families. |
Brooke McDonald and Sea Shepherd crew capture
the massacre on film and video. |
Brooke's husband Morgan Whorwood, He is as
much as a hero as she is! |
The fisherman, realizing their
butchering has been documented, start threatening and moving towards the Sea
Shepherd crew, who call the police as they are assaulted by the angry mob.
Rather than arrest the fishermen, the police arrest and carry away the Sea
Shepherd crew on bogus charges. |
The pod will remain penned up overnight
to allow the adrenaline to drain from the flesh. Brooke and Morgan spent the
night up on the Cliff side watching the pod of dolphins, struggle in the
shallow water. The full grown males encircle the females and the babies in a
futile attempt to protect their pod. Brooke and Morgan could hear the labored
breathing of the males and the plaintiff screams of the females.
The
next morning Brooke and Morgan prepared themselves for the slaughter; it was a
bloodfest in which the fishermen laughed and joked amongst the shrieks of the
butchered cetaceans (all caught on tape – see for yourself!).
By
chance, a fisherman spotted the two perched on the cliff taking pictures. The
fishermen quickly climbed the mountain side and sealed off the escape route and
then hunted Brooke and Morgan as they do the sea mammals. Morgan acting like
one of the grown male dolphins jumped in front of Brooke to protect her. They
were within seven feet of the edge (a 300 ft. drop), and he held off three
fishermen with his camera tripod while Brooke filmed and screamed into the
radio to Nik who was at sea level. Nik called the police on his cell phone but
they refused to respond.
The fishermen were slowly moving the two
land mammals closer to the edge, attempting to cause Brooke and Morgan to
“accidentally” fall off the ledge, Nik in desperation came up with a
brilliant idea; he screamed into the radio directing Brooke to yell,
“Green Peace ... Sea Shepherd”.
The fishermen know and are
afraid of Sea Shepherd and Green Peace. They realized there were others
involved and the two were a part of an under cover conservation sting and they
backed off.
The police finally arrived and ARRESTED all three
volunteers! They held them incommunicado for nine hours refusing to let them
call their respective consulates. Finally, Brooke told them that if she does
not check in with her mom, her mom will call the consulate. Because of this,
the police brought in a translator who dictated what Brooke could say to her
mother. Brooke complied under threat and duress, but luckily her mother
detected fear in her daughter's voice and immediately called the Canadian
Consulate.
The Consulate called the local police who DENIED they had
Brooke in custody. The police demanded the film of the kill, but Brooke hid the
film in her underwear and gave them blank rolls instead. After Brooke and
Morgan described what took place up on the cliff side, the fishermen's
cornering and slow push of Brooke and Morgan towards the edge of the cliff,
they decided to file assault charges against Morgan due to the fact he was
using the camera tripod as protection. Finally they released them, but they
were held for nine hours, just long enough for the fishermen to finish the
kill, butcher the animals and pack the meat up for delivery. The footage of
both the kill and the attempted murder of Brooke and Morgan are
available.
Brooke and Morgan spent about two days in
Taiji after their ordeal. Amid death threats by the fishermen, and pending jail
time for Morgan, they felt it was best that they leave. However, the two did
attempt to obstruct the next hunt by banging on the rocks in the cove as the
fishermen were herding a pod of whales into the pens. In a bizarre twist of
fate, while Brooke was attempting to obstruct the hunt she came upon a dead
body in the bushes, a woman who had apparently committed suicide the night
before. This had no affect on the hunt. The fishermen and the police ignored it
until after the hunt was over.
The banging on the rocks was meant to
scare the whales off but again the fishermen got to them and the police came
only to stop Brooke and Morgan from “obstructing” the hunt. Brooke
and Morgan were literally chased out of town. But Nik Hensey refused to be
intimidated and both the police and fishermen knew they had a problem with Nik.
The fishermen came to Nik ready to negotiate and asked Nik what would
it take to get him to leave, other than altering their hunt. Nik offered the
fishermen a deal that made the international press; in fact this story
accompanied the graphic pictures which Brooke managed to sneak out of the
country.
Nik told the fishermen that he would fight a Kendo (Japanese
wooden sword fighting) dual with their toughest fishermen and if he lost he
would leave. The dual was almost fought but their chosen combatant refused to
meet all the demands of the contest. Nik insisted on no helmet or body armor!
Nik was there to stay and the fishermen knew they could only threaten
and intimidate the new recruits of which I was one. Prior to my arrival, Ric
O’Berry, Flipper’s original trainer, came to Taiji for a couple of
days to support Nik while Sea Shepherd was desperately looking for other crew
or volunteers to join Nik in this campaign. It was at this point when I saw the
graphic pictures on the Drudge Report and I was shocked and horrified and I
vowed to offer my services other than money. ( also did contribute money, Sea
Shepherd desperately needs financial support.
After a few initial
conversations with the Sea Shepherd staff, I volunteered to head out with less
than a days notice to Taiji. If I had more time to think about the seriousness
of the situation I might not have gone. It was not only a very dangerous and
volatile situation I was heading into, but being confronted with the idea that
part of the job would be watching mass slaughters of defenseless whales and
dolphins, mothers and their calves, was terrifying. Dolphins and whales not
only breathe air like humans they have a fully advanced system of
communication; they are emotional, playful and have the ability to interact and
relate with humans in a very unique way. They are highly evolved mammals.
Whales in particular have survived on this planet for millions of years
through all the intense changes earth has gone through in its evolution. To
think that man would be responsible for the removal of this species in less
than two hundred years is astounding. I have spent much time in the wild with
both dolphins and whales and have witnessed their social skills. So to watch
the females witnessing and reacting to the bloody slaughter of their babies was
going to be an experience I would never fully recover from.
The work
that Sea Shepherd does is not only thankless, but it is a job that not many
could handle. They are our last line of defense against the most evil and dark
force on this planet. They risk their lives and their liberty in the defense of
a voiceless and defenseless group of living beings, armed only with cameras and
notebooks. They do not get paid and many times they are depicted as terrorist.
I was with them for ten days and during that time they initiated no violence,
but the enemy calls them dangerous only because the take pictures with cameras.
The Japanese fishing community and government knows that their behavior
is heinous and they do not want the rest of the world to know what they are up
to. Not to mention that the whalers kill dolphins and pass it off as expensive
whale meat to the Japanese consumer. The meat has been deemed by their own
experts as too toxic for human consumption and routinely the whalers violate
the endangered mammals act. It is not until they are caught and exposed will
the Japanese government begin to enforce the regulations within the whaling
community.
I arrived at around two thirty AM in Taiji. I
was met by a fairly calm Nik Hensey who wasted no time in taking me out to the
cove to see a group of penned pilot whales due to be slaughtered in four hours.
I immediately donned my wet suit and began setting up my position in the water
so as to have a vantage point which would allow me to film the kill covertly.
Unfortunately I was discovered by the fishermen who were shocked to see
me (a fresh recruit). They surrounded me and threatened me with violence if I
did not hand over all my bags and equipment. Nik was filming the confrontation
without their knowledge. A four hour stand off ensued until the police arrived.
Usually when cops arrive, I get nervous. In this instance, according to Nik,
even though the cops are corrupt, without their escort I would not have likely
made it to safety that morning.
The good news was the slaughter was
postponed for a day. There was a new law in Taiji after the early morning
incident; wearing of wet suits in Taiji would be a jailable offence! During the
next ten days, myself and the others who joined this campaign did not sleep!
Because the crew is so small it is impossible to get more than forty five
minutes of sleep in a twenty four hour period. The crew is responsible for a
constant watch over the town and whaling community resulting in copious amounts
of notes; a constant watch over the marina; constant watch over a penned up
pod; and we have to keep a 24 hour look out at our encampment. The hotels and
restaurants will not serve us so we have to take long trips to nearby cities to
stock up on noodles, peanut butter and Ritz crackers.
 |
In the following days, the pilot whales were
slaughtered. After the slaughter in the cove, Nik and I were positioned with
video cameras at the fishermen's co-op where the butchering is done. Of course,
the fishermen did not like us filming them carving up the pilot whales so we
were assaulted with picket signs which read “No Photo”.
The
signs were on cardboard but held up by two by fours one of which was leveled
onto my skull. I was knocked to the ground, dazed and now beginning to panic.
They had separated us so I couldn't see Nik or hear him. The fishermen
encircled me. This is the same strategy they use with the cetaceans – they
will usually separate and encircle the babies/calves and both the males and
females will not leave their young so it is easy to get the pod into the cove
by capturing the calves, They threw a few punches and again hit me with their
signs.
I began screaming in hopes of alerting the
neighbors to my dilemma, to no avail. I was chased out of town on foot. I had a
long walk back in which I was to rendezvous with Nik. Later on, Nik and I
discussed the situation in which he was unfased. We actually laughed about the
situation and my high pitched screams which caused Nik to give me my own
walkie- talkie so we could stay in contact in an emergency. By the way my high
pitched scream resulted in Nik giving me my very own “crew” nickname
and radio code name: Nancy Boy.
His crew nickname and radio code name
is Moses because he bears resemblance to the biblical figure. This was just the
beginning of a long ten days. After about a week, two more crew members joined
us, one from Germany and another from Holland.
My last day there I
crossed paths with Allison Watson (Captain Watson – the head honcho at Sea
Shepherd – Sean Penn is making Watson’s story into a movie. As she
arrived in Taiji I was flying out of Osaka. I had to leave my rental car behind
and sneak out of Taiji by train. The police were trying to prevent me from
leaving with the videotape I had recorded of my interaction with fishermen the
day I was repeatedly assaulted.
When I got whacked on the head my video camera
was on my shoulder so I got a close up of the hit ... cracked sign and all. The
police did not want me to go to the Osaka police with the tape as I threatened
to do because they would not allow me to file a complaint against the fishermen
for assault. The police claimed that because I was videotaping and it is
against the law to video tape or take photos in Taiji, the assault by the
fishermen was justified. I made the mistake of showing the tape to the local
police, which led to a comical foot chase through the town of Shingu.
I
managed to escape with the tape. It seems the police detectives learned how to
be detectives from American seventies TV. So I was able to easily identify the
under cover cops who were chasing me. They were dressed up like Colombo or
Beretta.
A day after I left, two members of the crew
were arrested because Allison, Captain Paul Watson’s wife, led the crew
into the water to assist the dolphins in escaping the pens. Some of the
dolphins were able to escape. Allison and Alex (from Holland) are now in jail.
The police so far have not allowed any outside contact with the remaining crew
in person or by phone so we don't know what is happening to them or where they
are. The police claim that they can keep suspects in custody for 48 hours
without the benefit of counsel or outside contact.
Another interesting
fact I discovered while in Japan, is that the media is one giant conglomerate
which is government owned and controlled. There is no free press in Japan.
In another bizarre side note, while I was in
Shingu one day looking for an Internet cafe (there are none), I saw my first
Caucasian other than a member of the crew. She was a beautiful blond from
Brazil. I immediately grew excited at the prospect of conversing with a pretty
girl in English. What I discovered was pretty strange.
During the
course of our conversation, during which, she whispered and motioned to an
older Japanese man and informed me she couldn't talk much because her
“owner” wouldn't like it. The older Japanese man owned her! I called
the US Consulate, Steven Wheeler to report this and he told me he couldn't do
anything because she is Brazilian and that while, technically slavery is
illegal in Japan, it is an acceptable part of the culture, like the inhumane
mass slaughter of dolphins and whales.
|
PRESS RELEASE for Immediate Release
Mercury- poisoned meat from endangered Japanese dolphins sold as human
food: Govt. of Japan turns blind eye to dangerous trade
 |
 |
Dolphin and
Whale Meat can be easily found in Japanese food markets.
Washington, DC, November 3, 2003: The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA),
an international campaigning organization, reveals evidence today that
mercury-contaminated dolphin, porpoise and small whale products (collectively
known as small cetaceans) are widely available in Japan's retail outlets.
Japanese consumers face serious health risks when they eat these products.
Whales, dolphins and porpoises are susceptible to accumulating toxins like
mercury, as they are long-lived and feed at high on the food chain. Mercury is
a potent neuro-toxin, and scientists have found that even low concentrations
can cause damage to nervous systems. Developing foetuses and children are
especially at risk.
Mia Strickland, EIA Cetacean Campaigner, said "The
Government of Japan has been aware of the dangerously high levels of mercury in
whales, dolphins and porpoises for several decades, but has taken little action
to protect the consumers".
According to Japan's Food Sanitation Law
(JAS), it is prohibited to sell products with mercury or methyl mercury levels
in excess of 0.4 and 0.3ppm respectively. Chemical analyses of 72 meat and
blubber samples purchased from Japanese supermarkets by EIA investigators
revealed that government-permitted levels for mercury exceeded the Japanese
Government's allowable levels in 60% of products.
In June 2003, The
Government of Japan released a health advisory warning pregnant and nursing
women to limit their consumption of certain cetacean products (sperm whale,
Baird's beaked whale, pilot whale an bottle-nose dolphin) due to contamination
of mercury in these species, which can reach levels over 100 times higher than
those commonly found in migratory fish such as tuna and swordfish. This health
advisory does not go far enough to protect the health of the Japanese public
who consume these products.
EIA urges the Government of Japan to fully
enforce current government laws by ensuring that all cetacean products
distributed for commercial sale or in schools and hospitals are correctly
labeled (according to the JAS Law); to immediately ban the sale of whale
dolphin and porpoise products that exceed any levels outlined in the Food
Sanitation Law and the Government released mercury advisory; and to implement a
complete ban on the hunting of coastal cetaceans.
"With the release of
undeniable evidence that mercury is a real and potent risk for consumers of
whale, dolphin and porpoise products, the Government of Japan should
immediately ban the sale of all cetacean products and fully implement its own
food safety laws," stated Mia Strickland. "This October's 'drive hunt' striped
dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama demonstrates that the Government of Japan has still
not taken the health of the Japanese public seriously. Public health should not
be compromised as a result of Japan's relentless campaign to resume commercial
whaling world-wide."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDS
For more information,
please contact:
Mia Strickland
EIA: (202) 483-6621,
CELL:
(202)746-1697
mistrickland@eia-international.org
Copies
of the EIA report Mercury Rising (in Japanese and English), still images and a
video news release are available on request.
Editor's
notes:
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) is a
non-profit, environmental campaigning organization with offices in Washington,
DC and
London, UK.
More than 400,000 small cetaceans have been
killed in Japanese waters in the last 20 years.
The hunts are contrary
to the repeated recommendations of the
IWC and its Scientific Committee,
and contradict the Government of Japan's frequently stated claim that it
pursues a policy of 'sustainable utilization of marine resources'.
From March 2001 to October 2003, EIA purchased and chemically analyzed 72
cetacean products on sale in Japanese supermarkets and fish markets across 13
prefectures of Japan. The average mercury level was 1.88ppm (parts per
million), close to five times the maximum allowable level set by Japan. The
average concentration of methyl mercury was 1.11ppm, nearly four times the
maximum allowable levels.
DNA analyses commissioned by EIA and other
groups have consistently shown that the fraudulent sale of dolphin and porpoise
products labeled as whale is widespread in Japan.
Mercury poisoning
can cause irreversible neurological damage, with symptoms including impaired
vision, speech and hearing, loss of coordination, reproductive disorders,
paralysis and cerebral palsy. Severe cases can result in coma or death.
Taiji fishermen killed 69 striped dolphins on October 6th in the first
hunt of the Wakayama drive fishery season, which runs roughly from October
through April.
Based on a dramatic decline in take levels of striped
dolphins the IWC passed two resolutions in 1992 and 1993 calling on the
Government of Japan to reduce takes of striped dolphins until a proper
population estimate could be carried out.
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