Return to Taiji: My Experience Witnessing the Dolphin Hunt Drive and Slaughter in Taiji Japan, by Cynthia Fernandez

Cynthia Fernandez looking towards The Cove in Taiji, Japan

Return to Taiji: My Experience Witnessing the Dolphin Hunt Drive and Slaughter in Taiji Japan
by Cynthia Fernandez,
Volunteer Cove Guardian for Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project
November 18th to December 1st, 2013

When I was planning my return to Taiji, I knew that by coming during November, I would see more hunting than the last time I was here. My last trip to Taiji was at the end of December and into early January. The hunters were on holiday until January 5th so I only witnessed six days of hunting. During those six days, I saw two at-sea captures of beautiful Pacific White-Sided dolphins, two “blue” days when no dolphins were captured and two days of slaughter, both days were Risso’s dolphins. Those six days are etched in my memory forever.

I thought I was prepared for my return to Taiji, knowing there would probably be about fourteen days of hunting during my stay. Knowing I would, most likely, witness many more slaughters. I know it’s been said before, but, it is so true, NOTHING prepares you for this place.

Haunting video by Cynthia Fernandez to tell the story of what she witnessed in Taiji

One species I had really hoped not to see in the Cove was pilot whales. Although each species is unique and I love them all, there’s something about the way the pilot whales huddle together and spy-hop to try to figure out where they are and what’s going on. I had seen many photos of it and had hoped NOT to witness it myself.

My very first day, my fellow Cove Monitors Tia and Johanna and I watched the killers go out to hunt. Hours later, we saw the dreaded drive formation. They seemed to be moving quite slowly. This pod had pulled the hunters far to the south and had given them a very good fight. However, as the drive formation grew closer, my heart sank when Tia said “They’ve got pilot whales!”



Pilot whales being driven in after long chase towards The Cove.

As the pod had given the killers such a good fight, it had taken many hours to drive them in and it was late by the time they were finally netted into the Cove. They were to be held overnight and slaughtered in the morning. As we drove away from Taiji, our hearts were heavy and the inside the car was silence as we were each lost in our own thoughts. A little later, as we were eating lunch together, we thought about our freedom, how we were free to eat, to go back to our hotel...wherever we pleased and how those poor pilot whales were stuck in that Cove with no food and no escape. It haunted us. We went back to the Cove to spend the evening hours with the pod. It was heartbreaking to see them all huddled together by the outer net, spy-hopping, confused, not aware of the horrors that awaited them. It was very difficult to sleep that night.

Pilot whales now exhausted after long ordeal of being chased
by dolphin hunters now netted into The Cove.

The next morning as we drove to Taiji, knowing what we were about to witness, again, there was silence. We arrived to see the pilot whales still in the Cove, spy-hopping and looking confused. The fishermen began to arrive. One sat in a skiff, right next to the pilot whales, just looking at them. The matriarch of the pod was huge and when she spy-hopped, her very large head looked right at her tormentor. I wonder what she was thinking. The dolphin killer looked back at her, I had to wonder if he had even a drop of compassion for these animals he was about to brutally slaughter. I’ll never know.

Juvenile pilot whales separated from their family

The pod was divided into two groups. The smaller juveniles were kept at the outer edge while the killers began to push the larger adults towards the tarps. It wasn’t easy as this family of pilot whales fought hard for their lives. There was a lot of screaming coming from the fishermen and a lot of splashing from the pilot whales as they struggled to survive. Divers were wrestling with the pilot whales to pull them under the tarps. Then, they went for the matriarch. Two divers, one on each side, were struggling to pull her under the tarps. A third diver came to help. After a long struggle, they finally succeeded and she disappeared from our view. What happened next was something I’ll NEVER forget. 

Divers manhandling and jumping on the Pilot whales backs
 forcing and pushing them into The Cove.

I suppose it was the moment they drove their killing tool through her blowhole, it was the loudest sound I’ve ever heard, it sounded like thunder shaking the Cove. The killers screamed and I’m sure they had to jump to get out of the way as we could hear her thrashing in the water for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually an eerie silence took over. Anyone who says that the killing is quick and humane hasn’t witnessed a slaughter. There was nothing quick nor humane about what had just occurred.

Pilot whales struggling to keep away from the killers

Frantic Pilot whales being pushed under tarps to their fate.

 

Pilot whales clearly frightened swimming in family members blood and
pushing up against the rocks trying to get away.

During the entire slaughter process, the juveniles kept creeping closer and spy-hopping, trying to see what was happening to their family members. It was heartbreaking to watch those shell-shocked juveniles watching the carcasses of their dead family members dragged by them as they huddled together for comfort. As the killers pulled the nets in, the juveniles were free to go but, of course, they wouldn’t leave. They swam slowly and cautiously towards the killing area as if trying to find their lost family members.

Pilot whales are known to be very close knit family groups,
here you see them huddled together in The Cove.

The killers, exhausted from their morning’s work, took a long break. Leaving the traumatized juveniles in the killing cove. The poor things huddled together, not knowing what to do without the leadership of the matriarch and the other adults. I knew the killers would have to return and drive them back to sea. They wouldn’t leave the place where they had last seen their family members on their own. I looked at that group of completely traumatized juveniles, too small for the killers to use their valuable quota on, and I hoped that one of them would step up and take the leadership role so this precious pod would survive. As I watched them being drive back out to sea, I could only hope they will survive and, if they do, I hope they never return to the shores of Taiji. 


 

******

My two weeks in Taiji were absolutely brutal. I witnessed the brutal and violent slaughter of the pilot whales. I watched the traumatized juveniles being driven back out to sea to face life on their own after watching their family members be brutally slaughtered. I think of them daily and hope they are somehow able to survive. I watched several slaughters of Risso’s dolphins. I’ll never forget the sadness I felt when looking at the pod before the slaughter began and seeing a mother with two tiny calves swimming right next to her. I’ll never lose that feeling of incredible anger and frustration as I watched the adult Risso’s be slaughtered and then the very young Risso’s calves along with a couple of juveniles be loaded into a skiff, driven out to sea and then callously dumped over the side of the boat like a bag of garbage. 

 

Risso dolphin caught in the net, trying to get away

Even the Blue days were difficult as I witnessed the removal of the dead bottlenose dolphin from the sea pen and visited the captive facilities here. The faces of those captive dolphins told a very sad, tragic story. I visited Dolphin Base and observed the “training” sessions. Watching those beautiful, incredibly intelligent animals have their spirits broken and be reduced to performing ridiculous tricks for dead fish broke my heart.

Dead bottlenose dolphin that died shortly after it's traumatic capture



Training at Taiji Dolphin Base for a lifetime of captivity
Don't support Taiji, Don't buy a Ticket!

I witnessed the incredibly brutal slaughter of a beautiful family of striped dolphins. Watching one struggle and drown in the net is etched in my memory forever. The look of fear and panic as those poor dolphins struggled to escape the killers is something I’ll never forget. The blood that ran as they repeatedly jumped out of the water, onto the rocks in desperation, trying to flee from the killers is another memory as vivid as the red blood that flowed from those beautiful animals. The worst was the poor dolphin who was struggling against the rocks, trapped but trying to escape. I watched it struggle and bleed, the more it struggled, the more it bled. I saw it look up at the killers as if to ask for help, for mercy, only to be brutally untangled and dragged over to the killing area.

Striped dolphin caught, bleeding in the net, a killer will remove it
and drag it underneath the tarps to be slaughtered

There is no mercy in Taiji.

Another memory will be the brutal slaughter of Risso’s dolphins. The way the killers treated them will be forever in my memory. Wrestling them, tying their flukes to their skiffs and dragging them to the killing area as they struggled for air to breathe. I understand that the killers don’t think of the dolphins the way we do, as sentient, intelligent, social, family oriented animals. I understand that they think of them as little more than fish, not that any fish should be treated this way, either. However, that is no excuse from the incredibly brutal and inhumane way in which these animals are treated. It’s just unbelievable.

Risso dolphin capture, one being dragged by the tail,
taken underneath the tarps to be brutally slaughtered

Yes, I witnessed many Red Cove days on my trip to Taiji. I have many horrible memories. But, I also met some incredibly dedicated people who are fighting to end this. I will carry them in my memories as well. I will remember all those who have come to document these atrocities and to be a voice for the dolphins. I will also remember all the support from my facebook dolphin pod, most of whom I’ve never met, but who were always there with messages of strength and encouragement during my time in Taiji which helped me through the rough times. It was hard to say “goodbye” to Taiji, however, I will return. I will return to this place each and every season...until it ends!

On my last night in Taiji, it is with very mixed feelings that I prepared to leave. Of course, part of me wanted to go home, to get far away from this place and the horrors that I have seen but a bigger part of me wanted to stay, to be a voice for the voiceless, to help expose what happens here and share their stories. I think everyone who comes here feels the same way. Spending time in Taiji is a life changing experience.

As for me, I have returned to my home and my job as a high school teacher. However, I use this experience as an opportunity to spread the word. I will continue to share the story of dolphin captivity and the dolphins of Taiji to all who will listen. I will share with my students, visit other classes, other schools, anywhere I can go, I will go. I strongly believe that education is vital in ending captivity. The children and teenagers that I have spoken to totally get it when they are presented with information. I have heard many times over, “I never thought of it like that before.” They just need to be informed, to think about what life is like for a captive dolphin, to think about the cruelty that is the captive trade. The younger generation will bring about change. I’ve seen it starting. I believe it will happen, eventually. It will be a long struggle as the captive industry will fight to stay alive. Let’s all do our part and spread the word.

Many people ask me why I go to Taiji. Why travel to Taiji and, as they usually put it, “just watch” the slaughter. Unable to cut the nets, unable to prevent the fishermen from going out each day to hunt for dolphins, unable to stop the slaughters from happening. However, to stop the slaughter from happening, it must be documented, people have to see what is going on in Taiji. People need to be moved to action. 

Cove monitors Cynthia and Johanne

I do believe that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” I must tell the story of the dolphins of Taiji. I made my video to tell their story, to be a voice for them, so people can see for themselves what happens in Taiji. I have shared my video with both students and adults in the hopes of moving people to action. Any action. Deciding not to go to a dolphin show, not to “swim” with captive dolphins, signing petitions, making phone calls to embassies, protesting...anything. 

I hope that people will be both saddened and outraged by what they see and want to help put it to an end. People were outraged by the recent capture of the huge pod of bottlenose dolphins which included “Angel” the albino dolphin. People spread the word like never before. The world is starting to hear us, the dolphin slaughters were a hot topic in the media all over the world. Caroline Kennedy expressed concern and disapproval of these brutal hunts. Governments are starting to voice their disapproval of the brutal dolphin hunts. We must keep up the pressure. 

I believe it will be a combination of Japanese citizens calling for change and global citizens expressing their outrage over these brutal hunts. We must put and end to the demand for captive dolphins. That’s a global problem, not a Japanese problem. Education is key. If we can remove the demand for captive dolphins, the incentive to hunt dolphins will be greatly reduced. Therefore, we must continue to educate people of all ages, all around the world about the link between the brutal dolphin slaughters of Taiji and the captive dolphin industry. That’s why I travel to Taiji each year, that’s why I spread the word the best I can, and that’s why I made my video.

by Cynthia Fernandez,
Volunteer Cove Guardian for the Dolphin Project,
November 18th to December 1st, 2013




Cynthia Fernandez looking toward the Taiji Harbor sea pens
that hold recently captured dolphins

Thank you Cynthia for having the strength to witness the brutality at Taiji and working hard to share what is happening and help make change! 

Please help Cynthia and the dolphins of Taiji and share her story and video with everyone you can.

To see photo albums from the Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project, of some of the dolphin drives that happened while Cynthia was at The Cove, please click on the links below:

• Risso capture and slaughter November 20th, 2013
• Pilot whales capture and slaughter November 18th & 19th, 2013

Please click to read two other blog posts Cynthia wrote about here experience on the Save Japan Dolphins Website:

• Last Thoughts On My Last Day In Taiji - December 4th, 2013
• Captive Cetaceans at Taiji - November 30th, 2013

Photos are courtesy of Cynthia Fernandez and the Dolphin Project, grateful thanks.

~Kindness for Animals

The Final Horrific Day for the 250+ Bottlenose Dolphins: Captive Selection Ends and 40 Dolphins are Slaughtered, The Rest are Driven Back to Sea.

 

40 bottlenose dolphins were callously murdered on their 4th day trapped in the cove.
One dolphin drowned within nets while trying to escape.
A total body count of 41 dolphins slaughtered  today
from the original 250+ driven into The Cove. 
50 dolphins were selected for captivity days 1, 2 & 3.

The Taiji killers started working early on the 200+ dolphin's 4th day trapped in The Cove.  The killers then began their terrible slaughtering of the dolphins.  The dedicated Sea Shepard Cove Guardians started their Livestream broadcast to document and expose that final, horrific day.

Killers enter the cove just after sunrise
Hearing the killer's skiffs alarms and agitates the bottlenose dolphins.

The killers started this ugly day by taking the dolphins netted closest to the killing shore of The Cove. Those dolphins were manhandled into the small nets for their second trip underneath the tarps, this time the trip will be their final, fatal visit.  When they leave, they will be tied in groups by their flukes and towed by killers in skiffs, out of The Cove, and eventually to the Taiji butcher house.  Once there, their lifeless bodies will be cut up and later sold as meat.  Dolphins are priceless to most people who delight in their playfulness and natural friendliness towards humans, for the Taiji killers, a dead dolphin is worth about $500 for it's meat.



Killers push the dolphins into the killing cove

The Bottlenose pod was so exhausted that they did not put up much of a fight
while being herded toward the tarps.

These dolphins have experienced "hell on earth" at the hands of the Taiji killers.  This is the dolphin's 4th day of being trapped in The Cove, plus the day being driven to The Cove, so 5 days of horror. They have been starved by the killers since their last meal and hydration (which comes form eating fresh fish) was some unknown time before the killers found them swimming past Japan 5 days ago.  



A remaining pod of approximately 130-140 dolphins
were left to witness their family slaughtered.



One of the poor dolphins was seen trying to escape death.  He swam at the net becoming trapped in it after he tore the net from trying so HARD to get away and escape.  Sadly, the hole was not large enough for the dolphin to break completely through and make his escape.  A skiff of killers saw the dolphin, and went to remove him from the net so they could kill him later.  After removing the dolphin, the killers ran him over with their skiff as they moved away.

One dolphin's last attempt to escape death breaking through the net,
 but too weak to make it through, the killers free it and run it over with skiff

Exhausted bottlenose dolphin looks his killer in the eye.
Bottlenose dolphins are naturally friendly to mankind,
why are a few "men" so unkind to the dolphins?

The Cove was now starting to turn a light red as the blood of the first slaughtered dolphins bled into the water.  The killers use wood dowels to plug the wounds made from stabbing the dolphins in their blowholes.  The killers do this to try and prevent the dolphin's blood from staining The Cove water - a PR move that fails.  The sheer quality of blood that is shed, even after plugging the wounds, still turns The Cove red.....

The Red Cove
The slaughtered bottlenose dolphin's blood flows out from under
the tarps where the dolphins are killed  

Dolphins are seen swimming in the blood of their relatives

The killers callously run the dolphins over with their skiffs, they make no effort to avoid the trapped dolphins as they go about their terrible work.  The dolphins are often injured by the skiff's propeller. 



The killers run their skiff over the dolphins
The killers make no effort to avoid injuring the dolphins with the skiffs propellers

The SSCG's camera found a weaken dolphin, barely able to keep it's head above water, some killers in a skiff spotted it too and moved closer.  A diver caught the starved dolphin, took a rope that is fixed to the skiff and put the loop of the rope around the poor dolphin's flukes.  The killers in the skiff then dragged the dolphin backwards by it's tail, which forces the dolphin's head underwater where  it cannot breath.  The killer dragged the dolphin tail first, under the tarps where it was slaughtered. 

Dolphins were too weak to fight back.

The killers kill the dolphins by taking the rope attached to the skiff, that has dragged the dolphin tail first, underneath the tarps which hides the killer's activity.  A waiting killer on the shore takes the rope from the killer in the skiff, and fastens the rope's other looped end to a post in the sand.  That anchors the dolphin so it cannot get away from the killer while he murders the dolphin. The killer takes a short spear called a "pith" ("verb, used with an object, meaning to destroy the spinal cord or brain of" ) and stabs the victim dolphin through his blowhole repeatedly to try and sever the dolphin's spinal cord.


Pith with wood dowel or plug

It must be terribly painful to be tied up and stabbed over and over again into the sensitive blowhole and not be able to get away.  When the killer decides he has severed the dolphin's spine, he takes a wood dowel and plugs the blowhole (now a wound) to keep the dolphin from bleeding too much and staining The Cove red.  The dolphin perhaps with his spine severed, perhaps not, bleeds out anyway, and slowly suffocates from having his blowhole plugged.  He trashes with his tail tied to the shore, as he suffers and suffocates, his spasms are terrible as he slowly dies.  The Japanese government has stated that the slaughter is humane and bloodless, does this sound humane?  Watch the video below and see for yourself.



Warning the video above shows how the dolphins are killed in Taiji.  This was taken in January 2011 of the slaughter of what appears to be a small pod of white sided dolphins - the slaughter is ugly.  Because these dolphins are smaller, their bodies are piled into the boat rather than towed to the butcher house as larger bottlenose dolphins are.  Please be sure to read the text at the films end.  This video was made by AtlanticBlue.de  Thank you for your courage to witness this.

A dead dolphin is seen through the tarps.  The Cove water is Red

Two dead dolphins are seen through the tarps. 
Between 40 and 50 bottlenose dolphins were slaughtered
A terrible death being stabbed to death after 5 days of starvation and trauma

While the killers were slaughtering dolphins, they found a "pretty" dolphin that they missed!  They forced her into a sling and took her out of The Cove and to the Taiji Harbor pens for a life as a show dolphin.  That poor dolphin swam in the blood of her murdered family and friends and heard them thrash and call out as they were slaughtered.  A trained show dolphin is worth more than $100,000, as meat, only $500 and nothing if released into the ocean and freedom.  From the killers point of view it makes more sense to keep dolphins for captivity ($$$$$) or meat ($): GREED trumps humanity.

After a little over 2 hours, a skiff leaves towing the bodies of the dead or almost dead dolphins, past their still living family and friends.   The skiff with killers, have draped the dolphin's dead bodies with tarps to try and hide the bodies from the witnesses at Taiji, the SSCG's cameras and the watching world.   But sometimes the wind blows (a divine wind?) and exposes the bodies which are seen by the witnesses and cameras.  Why do the killers try and hide their "Tradition" are they not proud of what they have done?  They take great pains to cover up what they do.  Remember, they also have tarps to cover up the examinations for captive selection and the murders they commit .  Why?



Killers hiding their culture and tradition covering the bodies of the
dead bottlenose dolphins as a skiff leaves The Cove
to take the slaughtered dolphins to the butcher house
to be cut up for meat and sold.



Then, a second skiff towing dead dolphins leaves The Cove.  The SSCG's Livestream broadcast showed The Cove's now very red water as the skiff moved away and towards the butcher house.

Banger boat transfers the bodies of the slaughtered bottlenose dolphins
to be received at the butcher house.  There the dolphins will be cut up as meat

Just past the 3rd hour, a 3rd skiff left towing more dead bottlenose dolphins to the butcher house to be cut up and sold as meat to Japanese people.  Why would the Japanese eat friendly, beautiful dolphins?  Especially when dolphin's meat has high levels of mercury because it is a top predator.  Their bodies absorb mercury from all fish they eat, and over time it collects in the tissues, so it does not make good sense to eat food that is toxic.

The Cove killing activity slowed down after the 3rd hour as the killers loaded up skiffs, numbers 4 and 5.  It was not known how many bodies each of the 5 skiffs were towing.  Afterwards it was reported that about 40 bottlenose dolphins had been slaughtered.

During the killer's break, the SSCG monitors talked about how especially hard this has been on these dolphins today.  The dolphins slaughtered today fought as best they could after being starved and traumatized the past 4 or 5 days.  But being so exhausted they were not able to fight as hard as other bottlenose pods that had been slaughtered in the past.  Just an awful thought for all these dolphins have been through.... we MUST help stop this terrible industry. The Japanese government allows the Taiji killers to take about 2 thousand dolphins and small whales (pilot whales which are actually members of the dolphin family) every year from September to March.  These so called "traditional" dolphin drives have only been happening for the past 40 years or so - not a long tradition.  It would have been too expensive in fuel to look for dolphins at sea and drive them back to shore, it is only because of the market for selling dolphins at very high prices for the huge entertainment industy that the drives have happened like this.  These drives to hunt dolphins have paid for lots of expensive equipment for the killers.

Cove Guardians bear witness to 40 dolphins being slaughtered.

The SSCG's showed via their Livestream, how the dolphins are transferred from the skiffs to the bigger banger boats which take the bodies to the butcher house.  The banger boats tow the dolphins dead bodies on the side of the boat that faces away from shore most of the time, to keep witnesses from seeing the bodies.  They also have a metal structure attached to one side of the boat on which to drape the blue tarps to cover the bodies.  The killers really don't want anyone to see what they are doing - such a proud tradition!

A remaining pod was later driven back out to sea

The remaining bottlenose dolphins still alive after all the horror they have been through, and just witnessed, were huddled together in the netted off area.  These poor dolphins were still waiting their fate and would become agitated every time they heard the skiffs coming closer to them, as the killers towed the bodies of their pod mates past them.  The skiff's motors herald the possibility of more torture.

Hungry, frightened and tired; these dolphins had to hear their families be slaughtered
 and had to swim in their blood. Nothing humane about this

After the killers enjoyed their lunch they finally released the remaining bottlenose dolphins who managed to survive the grueling 5 days.  Saying that the killers released the few surviving members of the original 250+ dolphins is a nice way of saying that the killers were in fact, driving them hard back out to sea with several banger boats chasing them.  The exhausted, starving, perhaps injured dolphins swam as fast as they could to escape the terrible killers and cove.  Even so, a few distraught dolphins were seen trying to swim back to The Cove to look for their missing family members, the ones that were taken from them either for dolphin shows or slaughtered.

Pod being driven back out to sea after 5 days of starvation and trauma,
some may not survive the killers treatment.  But the important thing to the
killers, is that those deaths won't be counted against their quota!



The killers took their time letting the survivors go.  It seemed like the killers wanted the dolphins to suffer for a little more time while the killers took their lunch break - no going hungry for the killers.  They seemed to deliberately do that to further torture the starving, traumatized dolphins - and show contempt for everyone watching their cruel industry. 

A juvenile Bottlenose barely surfaces during drive out.
The chances of survival are slim after 5 tormenting days in the cove.

Some or many of the released bottlenose dolphins may not survive the 5 days of starvation, dehydration, injuries and the traumas of being trapped, manhandled during the selection process and having their family members stolen from them.  Some are babies and juveniles too small to be worth it to slaughter (be counted against the killers quota) or too young for captivity and will starve without their mothers to provide milk and nurture.  Angel Shoujo was the first to be taken from her mother's side, where is her mother?  Did she pass captive selection? Was she slaughtered?  Was she one of the dolphins released?  Was she one of the dolphins who lingered after being chased back out to sea, looking for their missing loved ones?

The albino calf, later named Angel Shoujo, swimming with  her mother in The Cove
 from Jan 17th 2014 Dolphin Hunt Drive in Taiji
The next day Angel Shoujo was the first dolphin taken during the captive selection,
she was taken from her mother who was not able to protect her from the killers.

The drive out is just as traumatic as the drive in.
Some dolphins linger to find family.

Tomorrow it all begins again.  
The killers will go out in their banger boats to hunt for more dolphins to drive into The Cove.  The season still has more than two more months left and more money for the killers to make.  The killers are allowed to practice their horrible drive hunts from September to March.  And they will every year until enough people take action to help all dolphins and whales.

Update 1-25-14:  SSCG report "2-3 captive Bottlenose dolphins found floating dead in Taiji harbor pens."  These dolphins were captives from the 3rd day of captive selection and did not survive their first days of captivity after the stress of the 5 days of the 250+ bottlenose dolphin drive.  Their bodies were taken to the butcher house to be sold as meat.  More photos.

"2-3 captive Bottlenose dolphins found floating dead in Taiji harbor pens."

Please help, spread the word to your family and friends, sign petitions, express your views on media sites whenever there is a story and most of all Do Not Buy a Ticket to Any Places that have Captive Cetaceans or Swim with Dolphin Programs.  When you take away the Taiji' killer's market, you take away the money they get from selling dolphins and other cetaceans.  Please be a voice for dolphins, they need our help.

~ Kindness for Animals


See and find out more about this incredibly sad day:

• Sea Shepard Cove Guardian PHOTOS of this last awful day - as hard as it is to read and see the photos and video, the SSCG have been witnessing every day in person as it happens.  I don't think I can fully imagine how hard that must be.  Thank you Brave and Dedicated Cove Guardians.
• Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project  PHOTOS of the awful day for the remaining members of the original 250+ bottlenose dolphin family.  Thank you Brave and Dedicated Dolphin Project Team.

Please read more about this tragic story of the 250+ dolphin pod with a baby albino dolphin that happened over 5 days:
Day 1 - Dolphin Drive Captures 250+ Dolphins Plus Baby Albino

Day 2 - First Day of Captive Selection:

Day 2 - Baby Albino Dolphin, Angel, is Taken First into Captivity

Day 3 - Horrific Second Day of Captive Selection

Day 4 - 3rd Day of Captive Selection
Day 5 - This is this post: The slaughter of 40 of the remaining dolphins who have survived so far and release and drive back out to sea of the exhausted, injured, traumatized and starving dolphins.

Very good report from Reuters about this terrible January day in Taiji from Reuters Videos
 

4th Day of the Horrific 250+ Bottlenose Dolphin Drive in Taiji Japan, 3rd Day of Selection Continues

The captive selection was a grueling 8 hours. 
 It took 3 traumatic days for the greedy Taiji fishermen to catch each of the 250+ dolphins
one by on, examine them to determine if they were salable to the captive dolphin industry. 
Those were removed, the rest were marked with white paint on their backs. 
The marked dolphins await their fate on the 4th:  slaughter or release? 
Any released are in very poor condition to survive,
 they have not eaten since before the drive, now 5 days ago.

The unfortunate 250+ bottlenose dolphins continue to be brutalized on the 4th day (I include their traumatic drive to The Cove) of the Taiji dolphin drive, and the 3rd day of captive selection. 

The dedicated Sea Shepard Cove Guardians began their Livestream broadcast early in the morning to document the awful treatment of the huge pod of 250+ bottlenose dolphins at the hands of the Taiji Japan fisherman "killers".

Killers entering The Cove to start the 3rd day of captive selection

The Killers continued their callous selection process to pick the "pretty" dolphins that they can sell for lots of money to aquariums and swim with dolphin programs all over the world, this industry is only about GREED.   The killers were being even more picky on this 3rd day, to find the ones that would fetch the highest prices.  So many of the dolphins have been injured over the last 3 days by the killers who crowded the panicked dolphins into the nets and ran them over with the skiffs, so there are now fewer "pretty" ones to chose from.

Dolphins became agitated as the killers entered the cove.

The 210+ dolphins (40 had already been selected and removed for captivity the 2 previous days) still trapped in the netted off cove were caught by the divers, one by one and manhandled into small nets hanging off the sides of the killer's skiffs.   After being netted, each dolphin is dragged underneath the tarps and examined by the trainers.  If the dolphin passes the examination as being worth money to sell to the captive dolphin market, it is then put into a sling on one side of a skiff.  When a second dolphin is found it is put on the skiff's other side, then both dolphins are taken to the harbor pens.  Later the trainers will work with them to be trained dolphins so they can be sold for more money, several 100 thousand dollars to dolphin shows vs about $500 butchered for meat.

Dolphins fighting to avoid the Taiji fishermen nets for captive selection

Even after 4 days of starvation and dehydration, the exhausted dolphins fight the killers to get away from them as the divers grab them and wrestle them then to be netted and dragged underneath the tarps. There they are examined and their fate determined: captivity or slaughter...with maybe a small chance of release if they are worth too little money.

Killers marked unsuitable for captivity dolphins with white paint under the tarps

 The ones not picked for captivity are painted with white paint on the dolphin's backs or dorsal fins to mark them as unsuitable for sale.  I think it very unlikely that the paint used on the dolphins has  been approved for application on sensitive skin.  Any dolphins "lucky" enough to be released with paint on them, have already had their health severely compromised from the forced 4 day starvation and dehydration since eating fresh fish is how they "drink".  Add that to the extreme trauma of being manhandled, and possible injury in the crowded nets, any adults that are released may have a hard time surviving.



Divers among the dolphins who are trying to avoid getting captured.



Release sounds wonderful for a lucky few, but it is most always the young babies and juveniles who the killers release because they do not want to waste their precious quota numbers on dolphins not "pretty" enough for captivity and the live dolphin market.  Instead of wasting their quota numbers on nursing babies, and juveniles who are too small in weight for butchering as food (making less money for the killers than larger adults) they are usually taken by skiff and dumped out at sea.  There they are ledt to fend for themselves with out mothers to nurse them or adults to care for, teach them or protect them.  Release for these young ones means a lonely death of starvation or predation at sea without their family.  Bottlenose dolphins remain with their family pods for most of their lives so releasing the ones too young will mean death - but NOT count against the Japanese government set quota for the Taiji fishermen.  Again, it's all about GREED.

 

One Bottlenose dolphin threw herself against the skiff as killers
 approached her during the captive selection

Early on the morning's selection, as one of the dolphins was being manhandled by the divers, other dolphins (it's close family? friends?) clung to it making it harder for the divers to get the net around it and drag it away under the tarps.  Dolphins live in family groups and care for one another, there was a report, with video (HERE) from last January of a group of long beaked common dolphins making a raft of their bodies to help a dying pod member stay above the water so she could breathe.  This is kind of care and empathy for another being is something we usually think of as something only humans do, this is further evidence of how wrong the Taiji killers are to treat sentient dolphins and other cetaceans as mere commodities for sale as entertainment and for meat.

Dolphin surrounded by killers in skiffs as divers manhandle it
to get it into the small net for captive selection

Dolphin manhandled into a net to be examined for possible captivity
 for the rest of it's life or possible slaughter

After a few hours the killers took a break, after the break, a skiff came back to the cove while the SSCG were watching a dolphin all by itself near the edge of one net.   It seemed exhausted and kept sinking underwater only coming up occasionally by poking it's head out of the water to take a breath, then sink back underwater again.  Then, while the CC were watching, that single skiff coming back to The Cove, deliberately ran the injured or exhausted dolphin over!  There was nothing on either side of the net, nothing and the skiff 's operator, instead of choosing a slightly different route, the killer just ran the poor dolphin over.  To the killers dolphins are just swimming money to be grabbed.

Skiff with killers take 2 dolphins in slings to the harbor pen
for a live time of captivity in the dolphin entertainment industry.

After 4 hours of captive selection 8 dolphins had been selected for captivity and taken away in slings to the pens in Taiji Harbor.  A SSCG team keeping an eye on the butcher house where the slaughtered dolphins are taken to be butchered, radioed to let the Livestream narrators know that the butcher house had been prepared to receive dead dolphins when the slaughter begins.

Angel Shoujo now captive at the Taiji Whale Museum after being taken away from her mother
 who remains with the other dolphins trapped in The Cove

Capt Paul Watson called to talk with the SSCG Cove Leader Melissa Sehgal on the Livestream broadcast about this particular 250+ bottlenose dolphin drive, and the mission of the SSCG to help stop the drives.  Paul Watson also talked about calling the albino baby, caught with these dolphins, Shoujo, meaning little girl in Japanese.  Captive Cetaceans SBTS later in the day, posted this on the CCSBTS  Facebook page:  "Ric O Barry named this baby Angel yesterday after one of his cove guardians said she was like an angel with fins. Today Paul Watson decided to call her Shoujo. As we had been calling her Angel all day yesterday and I am sure Paul Watson would not have known she had already been named. In respect to both great animal advocates who both fight against the Cove, she will be known on this page as Angel Shoujo." 
We will call her Angel Shoujo on this blog.

Killers and trainers warmed themselves by a fire during their lunchtime break
The dolphins had been held for over 72 hours without food

Shortly after that call, the trainers took a break for lunch on the cove beach and warm themselves by their beach fire.  In the meantime, these dolphin's last meal (and water) was probably the day before the drive which was 4 days ago, so 5 days since the dolphin's last nourishment.  Yet the dolphins continue to fight hard to keep from being netted and dragged underneath the tarps.  It was heartbreaking to hear the dolphins calling out to one another through out the Livestream broadcast, their calls sound like urgent bird peeps.

Cove Guardians Kirsten, Tom, Dominick and Ian document from the cove.



Through out what we though would be the last day, the killers kept tightening the main net as they worked through the remaining pod members with their captive selection.  The dolphins not selected to live the rest of their lives entertaining people in aquariums or swim with dolphin programs, were taken to a larger netted area in The Cove with the rest of the dolphins marked with white paint. These exhausted dolphins that have already been through selection, swam slowly, some barely moving.  Eventually all 250+ bottlenose dolphins will have under gone the brutal captive selection, and about 200+ dolphins will be wait for their final fate to be determined by the killers.

Newly captive dolphins jump as new captives are brought into the sea pens

The captive selection of so many dolphins has taken 2 full days and it is nearly now 7 hours on this 3rd day, and the killers are not yet done doing selection with all 250+ dolphins.  Greed made them work most of a day to capture 5 different pods 4 days ago.  Now they have so many dolphins they have to take days to make all the captive selections.  The killers rampant greed catching so many dolphins, more than they can humanely handle, and now the dolphins have to suffer many days of the killers brutal treatment.  There is going to have to be another day, day 5, of the dolphins suffering.  The 5th day (including the drive day) will definitely lead to the ugly mass slaughter of most or all the white marked bottlenose dolphins.  If any of these starving, traumatized dolphins are released, they will be in very poor shape to survive.  Of course that is not important to the killers, as long as those deaths are not counted towards their quota... it is ALL about money. 

The violent process of captive selection is exactly what Marine Parks do not want you to see.

After nearly 8 hours the killers finally finish their captive selections, a total of 11 Bottlenose were taken today, 51 in the last three days.  The trainers leave the cove and the killers stay and reposition the nets keeping the remaining 200+ dolphins in two separate groups, very probably to make tomorrow easier for them.  They also removed the yellow plastic on the rocks that helps keep the dolphins from getting damaged (don't want any potential "pretty" show dolphin damaging itself and losing the killers money) and bloodied as they fling themselves on the rocks trying to escape.  The remaining dolphins getting bloodied and hurt on the rocks won't matter to the killers tomorrow.   The remaining 200+ bottlenose dolphins will remain trapped in The Cove for a 4th night.  This means a 5th day (I include the drive day) of trauma.  Tomorrow, the SSCG stated that they believe that some of the 200+ dolphins will be slaughtered and they hope that some will be released.

200 plus dolphins remain in the cove for a 4th night of suffering - what will tomorrow bring?
Slaughter or Release? Release for some & slaughter for the rest?

As the SSCG ended their Livestream broadcast, you could see those 200+ dolphins swimming in circles in the middle of each of the 2 netted areas, trying to comfort one another with close body contact as they stay far away from the nasty nets and shore.  We could hear the dolphins calling out to one another, it's too bad that the killers would not allow the dolphins to spend their last night together.  Tomorrow will be awful........

~ Kindness for Animals

See and find out more about this incredibly sad day:

• Sea Shepard Cove Guardian PHOTOS of the awful day - as hard as it is to read and see the photos, the SSCG are witnessing the day in person as it happens.  I don't think I can fully imagine how hard that must be.  Thank you Cove Guardians.

Please read more about this tragic story of the 250+ dolphin pod with a baby albino dolphin that happened over 5 days:
Day 1 - Dolphin Drive Captures 250+ Dolphins Plus Baby Albino

Day 2 - First Day of Captive Selection:

Day 2 - Baby Albino Dolphin, Angel, is Taken First into Captivity

Day 3 - Horrific Second Day of Captive Selection

Day 4 - This is this post: 3rd Day of Captive Selection

Day 5 - The slaughter of 40 of the remaining dolphins who have survived so far and release and drive back out to sea of the exhausted, injured, traumatized and starving dolphins.

Updated to include this BBC report on YouTube of this 250+ bottlenose dolphin pod.  This has excellent SSCG video footage of the activity in The Cove with these dolphins, you can even catch a glimpse of the young albino dolphin Angel Shoujo towards the end.