A metal spike through the neck. Left to drown in their own blood. That is how a dolphin is slaughtered in Taiji, Japan. And beginning last Thursday, hunting season is open.
Taiji is a sleepy little town on Japan’s southern coast, 120 km south of Osaka, of just under 3’000 inhabitants. A sleepy seaside town with a four hundred year recorded history of fishing. And whaling. And starting September 1st, running into February, the town celebrates that history by hunting dolphins.
Japan is one of just a few nations that still supports commercial whaling. Norway, along with Iceland, also carry on regardless of the International community’s outcry. For tradition. For demand. For fun. For an industry. For jobs and financial security. For the flesh of leviathans.
Back in 1982, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) said that enough is enough, we need to hold our horses, stop hunting the apex predators of the deep, and see what effect our centuries of wanton murder has had on the whale populations. A moratorium on commercial whaling was voted through. Norway didn’t care. Nor did Iceland. And Japan was bullied by the US to stop, but instead of quitting carried on under the excuse of scientific research. And since 2018, Japan rejected the authority of the IWC, and discarded their excuses and pretenses.
Why though? Is whale meat really all that good that a country could be tempted to flip off the international community to keep hunting for it? Reports seem to suggest that; not really. Demand for the flesh of watery giants is decreasing. Rapidly. In Norway, the domestic market is drying up so bad that the whaling fleets receive funding from the state to keep hunting. Even though the meat gets sold as dog food, or is simply thrown overboard back into the sea.
And nutritionally, it’s just as well that no one wants to eat whale. Since whales are long-lived apex predators, they accumulate heavy metals, such as mercury and cadmium, and other environmental toxins in their bodies, making them not a very healthy snack. And yet, some governments around the world, primarily Japan and Norway and Iceland, are hell bent on keeping up the hunting. Despite condemnation. Despite outrage. Despite toxicity. Despite decency.
Like in Taiji, right now, today. Where pods of rape fish, I mean dolphins, are driven into bays, caught, stabbed behind their blow holes with metal spikes, and left to suffocate in their own blood. For a bloodthirsty tradition. For a non-existant demand. For sadistic fun. For an industry that cannot remain afloat save for government support. For jobs and financial security of isolated communities with no other raison d’être than slaughter. For the flesh of leviathans.
/Sebastian Lindberg 5/9-2022
WastedWords 