The Cove on Japanese TV
The town of Taiji began its dolphin hunt yesterday. Taiji is now infamous in America and Australia because of “The Cove,” a documentary created by animal rights activists who feel its dolphin hunt is barbarous and cruel.
Former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry brought some foreign journalists to Taiji yesterday, an action that got some attention from the Japanese news media. Here’s the report that aired on TBS’s “The News” yesterday (subtitled in English):
The report is sympathetic to Taiji’s fishermen. Emphasis is placed on Taiji’s long tradition of whaling and an explanation from a local government representative is given more air time than the statements made by Ric O’Barry. Short clips of the documentary are shown, but they aren’t as graphic as the bloody scenes shown in official trailers.
O’Barry appears to be addressing his comments at the foreign journalists he brought along to cover the event. The Japanese news camera is just one of several filming his statements. The clip of him speaking includes something about how he concerned about the sales of dolphin meat. Based on previous things he has said in the international press, I’m guessing it was only the tail end of an explanation about the dangerous levels of mercury found in dolphin meat. It is possible that he wasn’t clear enough in mentioning the mercury, or TBS could have edited out that part of his statements.
In the last week, I have seen a few Japanese press reports about the documentary and have noticed something strange. The film is written as “The Cove” in English. Apparently the makers of this film, a documentary that is supposed to be calling on Japan to end Taiji’s dolphin hunting, didn’t even make an official Japanese title for their film. If they were serious about actually getting the message out to Japanese people, you’d think they would make an easily understandable Japanese language title for the film and distribute Japanese press releases that informed media outlets of that title. I’m also puzzled that these people haven’t realized that t-shirt slogans written in Japanese might be more helpful than something written in English. If they are actually making great efforts to reach a Japanese audience, it’s not showing.
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It’s referred to in the Yomiuri as ドキュメンタリー映画「入り江」（原題Ｔｈｅ Ｃｏｖｅ）
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Interesting. Is that the Yomiuri’s own translation?
Here are three articles that just use the English title:
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090730-00000021-flix-movi
http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2009&d=0830&f=national_0830_008.shtml
http://www.cyzo.com/2009/08/post_2654.html
The AFP used ザ・コーブ with 入り江 in brackets alongside the English title.
http://www.afpbb.com/article/environment-science-it/environment/2633848/4490895
If the official Japanese title is supposed to be 「入り江」, the filmmakers haven’t done a very good job at spreading the word about it.
Interesting, this totemizing of particular animals. Why dolphins and not some of the hundreds of other species of sea creature that are currently being over-harvested the world over? Dolphins bring more money for an activist organization of course, which probably has something to do with it. More to the point, however, is that they represent a particular ideology concerning human relationships with the environment.
I’m not sure how sustainable dolphin hunting is in the area of this particular village. . .may or may not be. But, I find it interesting what animals some humans choose to rally for. Often it’s not based on any quantifiable threat.
Cheers,
Eric
In the Pines
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Dolphins have also been proven to be more sociable, intelligent, and self-aware than most other species, as have whales. This particular film is about dolphins, though there are plenty of similar video programs on whales, sharks, and other marine life. Another group is Oceana, who are battling shark fishing: http://oceana.org/north-america/scared-for-sharks
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If dolphins are so intelligent, why do they keep getting caught in tuna nets, or keep returning to Taiji every year?
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Same reason why you trip over yourself when in the dark.
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they are blind!? :0 =D
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I’m a dolphin!?
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They have feet?!?!?
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So what? Humans had been eating even humans sometimes for survive, thought it’s now considered taboo.
I don’t think it’s that bad to hunt dolphins, unless they are endangered.
BTW, You know Chinese eat monkey ?
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Dolphins have demonstrated possible sentience via the mirror experiment, which has also been used on chimpanzees. Many people have objections to eating intelligent species, so that’s why this is a contentious issue.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetacean_intelligence#Self-awareness
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Agreed, and many species of dolphins aren’t even endangered, including the bottlenose dolphin. (The type of dolphin primarily hunted in Japan.)
People only care that they’re being killed because they’re intelligent and adorable. But who the hell gets to decide that dolphins are the superior animal over another?
I don’t mean to use this example, but the killing of Kangaroos is practiced in Australia. They’re intelligent, they’re adorable, and they’re not endangered.
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dolphins are arguably as intelligent as chimps. you can’t be serious when you compare their intellect to that of the kangaroos’. dolphins also have been known to show benevolence towards people (rescuing people from sharks, for example). if you read up more on dolphins, which you should, you’d understand why people consider them superior to most other animals.
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Kangaroos have saved people from sharks too. Think of all those people who headed inland to shoot kangaroos rather than go swimming and get eaten….
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“Dolphins are arguably as intelligent as chimps”
Yeah well, anything is arguable. In truth we don’t really know much about the intelligence of dolphins, or whales for that matter. The idea that these animals are as intelligent as humans is a myth which has no basis in observable fact.
Recent archeological evidence supports the theory that dolphins evolved from a prehistoric species of rat. I find that believable because rats are pretty smart. Many animals are intelligent. Pigs, for example, are very intelligent animals. They’re more trainable than dogs actually.
Having said all that, from what I’ve seen and heard about The Cove, it seems to be a brilliant documentary. The fears that it will stoke anti-Japanese sentiment seem to me to be overblown.
Speaking of intelligence, the Japanese are plenty smart. They really can take care of themselves–even without the aid of overanxious Japanophiles agonizing over just how inaccurately and unfairly they are portrayed in the Western media.
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they all must be saved because they are……. cute and cuddly.
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So then the superiority of animals is determined by their intelligence?
I’ve never seen a dolphin speak sign language.
Koko the gorilla was “able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language, and understand approximately 2,000 words of spoken English.”
I do not see how anyone can argue a dolphin is more intelligent.
The lowland gorillas, (Koko), are currently considered extremely endangered.
So I ask again… Why dolphins? Oh, they’re adorable, right.
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“Yeah well, anything is arguable. In truth we don’t really know much about the intelligence of dolphins, or whales for that matter.”
I think this is where your comment should have ended.
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Just to note, hunting gorillas is extremely illegal as well.
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“If these creatures are so smart, why don’t they defend themselves?”
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I’m a long-time Sea Shepherd supporter and completely against the Taiji dolphin hunting. I am fully in support of this film.
I agree they could’ve publicized better in Japanese, but Japan is not even close to their target demographic. They are calling not on Japan, but on everyone else who sees this and is shocked by it, to end the whaling and remove vague and loose sanctions on dolphin hunting and whaling.
As it stands, Japan can set their own quota for number of whales procured for ‘Scientific Research’(read: selling the meat) each year. They always set it ridiculously high(in the 900s) each year, and choose to hunt in Australian sanctuaries in Antarctica.
As for dolphins in Taiji, I don’t know the specific regulations, but it’s hideous and cruel, and no amount of media spin is going to repair the public’s(in Japan or elsewhere) opinion of what they are doing.
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Fortunately, the world is full of people like Rob A.
Save the dolphins, kill the lamb.
Save the dolphins, kill the cow.
Save the dolphins, kill the pigs.
Who made this rule? Not God, not human.
It’s Rob A and his righteous friends.
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and in Korea they eat puppies.
Why no “Save the puppies” group?
Because Koreans can and will actually beat the shit out of you if your rich white-ass gets too uppity there.
Japan is an easy target.
Rich unemployed leftist activists make sure to only get into situations where the worst that can happen is they might spend a night in a clean jail in a country without police beatings.
This is how we know the tale of whalers shooting at Sea Shepherd is a crock. If there were actual danger of being killed, leftists find another target. Where are the publicity-seeking leftists trying to intervene and stop the brutalization of women in Islamic countries?
They also tend to focus on popular international vacation destinations with good food. Convenient.
Personally I find killing dolphins as distasteful as killing dogs, but that’s MY opinion, I can’t make a law about it, because I think imposing my cultural background is wrong. Isn’t it wrong? When is it wrong or not wrong?
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http://www.fromcare.org/main/
Tell that to Pierre Pariseau.
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=12162
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If it’s wrong to judge people by your own cultural standards, then the brutalizing women in Islamic countries is perfectly acceptable. In fact, EVERYTHING becomes acceptable.
Hey, it’s the protestors’ culture to criticize the dolphin hunts, so let them do it!
If it’s in my culture to kill you because I disagree with your culture, should you let me? After all, cultural traditions reign supreme in the new world (dis)order.
All this cultural equivalence/relevance stuff is lunacy.
People should stand up for what they believe in. And people you don’t agree with them shouldn’t play this PC, wishy-washy, gutless, nonsensical ‘culture’ card.
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Brutalizing women is wrong in the culture I live in now, and the cultures I lived in before now. It is, according to Muslims I have known, “wrong” in Islamic cultures as well, but they have a very different view of what “brutalizing women” means.
However, while I find what goes on in most Islamic countries to be reprehensible, I could care less what they do within the boundaries of their own country. That is not the same as saying it is OK. It is not OK and I would not tolerate it where I live and would not allow any of the blessed sons of Mohammed to move to my country and carry on as if he was back at home just because it is his “culture” – we aren’t on his turf anymore. His rules do not apply in my house. My rules do not apply in his.
If the guy next door thought you were a complete asshat would you tolerate his coming into your house and telling you so? And would he tolerate you going into his house and telling him to stop calling you an asshat within his house? The answer to both of those questions should be “no”.
If Australians find hunting dolphins to be so wrong, then they should not hunt dolphins. Nor should they allow Japanese to hunt dolphins in Australia.
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So, LB, completely arbitrary and artificial lines on a map define the bounds of your moral imperative?
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The best solution for Sea Shepherd, I think, is to provide the fishermen in Taichi with the income they would get for hunting dolphin and another jobs for living.
Taichi people are living on this traditional industry; you just can’t say stop killing dolphin because dolphin is your sacred animal but cows, kangaroo, for instance, are not.
And in practice, few Japanese people would not care about not eating dolphin.
I am not necessarily against animal right movement, but I want to say one thing to the journalists in English.
I have a feeling how English media report about animal right movement is not entirely fair.
When journalists report animal right activism about whales and dolphin in English , they almost always put up the photos of whales/dolphin with bloody bodies, while showing no photo of cruel conditions animals are suffering when it comes to reporting other “extreme” animal right activism against, for instance, animal experiments, I wonder why.
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in practice, few Japanese people would not care
→
in practice, few Japanese people would care
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Oh dear….. Another anachronistic portion of Japan dragged, kicking and screaming, into the daylight of 21st century by western cultural imperialists — whose sole motivation is self-evidently destruction of Japanese culture. This will upset more than a few Japan Probe commenters.
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judging by the comments so far..that’s not the case. perhaps you need to reevaluate your conception of the Japan Probe commentators :/
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I think this shows that O’Barry really isn’t that interested in trying to “get the message out” to the Japanese population. Maybe because he’s already tried and failed. He seems to imply that in some interview I read. I think attempting to internationalize a local issue is a smart move on his part–as pointed out elsewhere, the banning of dog meat in China and Korea was specifically in an attempt to not irritate foreigners with differing viewpoints on what animals are okay to eat.
Personally, I hope he fails. I hate the fact that people can walk into other cultures and say “that’s morally repugnant–stop it” when they can’t demonstrate that there own cultures engage in roughly equivalent activities (the equally brutal treatment of domesticated meat animals). To mix metaphors, get your own house in order before you start pointing out the sticks in your neighbor’s eye.
Do you think the French and Japanese would listen if the Americans and Brits started trying to stop them from eating horse? Will Europeans stop eating pig because it offends Muslims? More importantly, why should they have to?
Prove to me dolphins are so much “better” than cows, or dogs, or chickens. I’m sick of the Western notion that they’re morally better than other “backwards” countries.
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It is my understanding that since Dolphins contain a large amount of mercury and can cause serious health issues.
So we don’t eat them.
The idea that these fishermen are selling tainted (and potentially dangerous) meat, doesn’t seem to bother you.
You know what I’m sick of. Foreigners who live in Japan and try to agree with everything it does in their vain attempt to become “Japanese”.
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You know what I’m sick of. Japanese who try too hard in their vain attempt to become white/black people.
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I try to do everything Japan does. So every August 15th, for example, I am out there at Yasukuni saying that Japanese history books are masochistic and the young people need more patriotism and the Greater East Asian War was fully justified, and at the same time I am marching in protest of the resurgent militarism and chanting “Save Article Nine!” – it can get pretty tricky doing them at the same time, I admit, but in the spirit of “doing everything Japan does,” even if these two things are mutually opposed, I do what I can….
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If you eat beef, you risk heart disease. If you are on vegetarian diet, your life expectancy is short. You have to take risks when you eat, anyway. These people eat dolphin meat at their own risk. People have the right to eat any food they choose. Animal right activists have no business dictating people what to eat and what not to eat.
And if they really care about the environment and the dolphins, they should clean up the sea so that dolphins can live free of mercury, rather than leaving dolphins suffering from mercury.
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If it’s your choice to eat dolphin, then go for it. Call it a delicacy, no problem.
School kids on the other hand shouldn’t be served meat with “16 times more mercury than the ministry’s accepted level.” Or “12 times more methyl mercury than is deemed acceptable.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/sep/05/japan.justinmccurry
That just seems wrong to me.
Here are the effects of mercury by the way.
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/effects.htm#meth
“For fetuses, infants, and children, the primary health effect of methylmercury is impaired neurological development.”
But you’re right, why stop that…let’s clean the ocean first.
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(´◉◞౪◟◉)ｳｯｾﾞ
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Somehow using the “but what about animal ‘x’” arguments just don’t make sense when ‘x’ is a DOMESTIC animal that can be raised to pretty much ANY number mankind determines necessary.
Dolphins are WILD creatures and sooner or later will be hunted to extinction – which apparently the Japanese don’t care about as long as it doesn’t happen in this generation.
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Are you seriously saying that one town is going to hunt the entire dolphin population to extinction? And not the gigantic fleets of ships from all over the world that get dolphins stuck in their nets, or habitat destruction, or pollution? Why pick on Taiji? There are probably dozens of more effective things to be making documentaries about to “save the dolphins”, than Taiji, which is probably one of the smallest contributors to dolpin death. From my point of view, it just looks like seashepard is more concerned with “OH MY GOD POOR DOLPHINS, SUPER EVIL JAP BASTARDS, WE’LL TEACH THEM” than actually doing the most effective thing to save dolphins.
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Have you ever played “Jenga”. Who knows what the tipping point is for any finite species? Certainly mass scale hunting by a single city is NOT good for the species.
Your excuses sound the same as the Americas made in the 1800’s about Buffalo hunting. “What, there’s zillions, there’s no way our hunting parties can make a dent in their numbers”.
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“Dolphins have also been proven to be more sociable, intelligent, and self-aware than most other species, as have whales.”
See, what gets me about this argument is that pigs, which are one of the most widely eaten animals, are pretty damn intelligent and yet no one bats an eye. Pigs are most definitely smarter than dogs, and yet dogs are a no-no since they’re pets but pigs are fair game.
Cows are sacred to Hindus, and pigs are considered filthy animals unfit to eat by Jews and Muslims. Dogs, cats and horsies are domesticated in the West, but don’t be culturally myopic enough to assume that this means the whole world feels this makes them untouchable – given the above, your dietary habits probably don’t jive with 1/4 to 1/3 of the world’s population either.
Personally I’ve tried whale and didn’t really think it was that good, but if they’re hunted in responsible numbers then I don’t see how any carnivore/omnivore can complain about whale/dolphin/horse/dog/etc. meat without feeling at least slightly hypocritical.
Now if you’re vegan then that’s another story, but I’m still going to disagree with you on the grounds that meat tastes good.
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Um, Von Skippy, you seem pretty ignorant about the buffalo hunts in 19th century America. No one ever said “What, there’s zillions, there’s no way our hunting parties can make a dent in their numbers.” The entire point was to make a dent in their numbers, a massive dent, to the point of wiping them out if needed to accomplish the overall goal which was, if I may remind you, to starve the Plains Indians into submission so they could be rounded up and stuck on reservations, dependent on the white man for sustenance.
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I was once told that the buffalos became almost extinct because men made huge farmlands and drove them out. That makes me think eating beef or vegetable is more detrimental to the wild animals than hunting them.
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How can you use so much energy to defend animals because they’re cute, intelligent, whatever… when they’re people dying everywhere on the planet (famine, war…etc) My point is that we, Human are on the top of the alimentary chain, so that kind of thing is normal; we kill animals to eat them. And if you’re shocked about what people eat in certain country, grow up! YOU ARE NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, don’t compare yourself and your culture with others, try to understand it first.
My 50 cents
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Is there no better way to kill them? While I do not have anything against whale hunting or dolphin hunting I wish they could kill the animals faster.
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In my opinion, the whole idea of animal rights is preposterous. Animals aren’t people, they don’t get rights. They exist to reproduce and be eaten by humans. Left activists only defend them because they’re an easy target: they’re cute, can’t speak for themselves, and a victim of human activity. As other people said, I’d like to see them fight against the exploitation of women and children in third world countries. Let’s see how far their compassion gets them.
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They get the right to eat us when they have big teeth and claws and start knawing on our leg….
“They exist to reproduce and be eaten by humans. ”
One more reason to exist then than humans.
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I thought people had a broader view nowadays. Bottlenose dolphins aren’t the only species caught. There’s no “magic net” or method that only catches non-endangered species.
Nets and drive hunts kill w/o discretion, other ENDANGERED species get caught other than the bottlenose (which is not endangered and seems to be the focus of those arguing that dolphin hunting is ok.) even whales.
Taiji has actually INCREASED it’s dolphin hunting over the years, probably in response to previous protests. There’s about 7 international organizations against their hunts, but what organization defends the fishermen? Name one. You can’t.
This isn’t about culture, this is about general health and the environment. The meat is too contaminated to eat, so where does it go? The children’s school lunches. It’s too toxic for most stores, so they give it to the kids, isn’t that nice? Children don’t have a choice and they’re the most at risk.
Oops Taiji caught and killed an endangered species! Solution: Don’t report it and maybe no one will notice!
At first I was apathetic, but after looking at the facts, dolphin hunting hurts Japan and it’s neighbours the most.
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The dirty little secret is that dolphins (and chimps) kill other animals for fun. It seems that intelligence doesn’t necessarily impart empathy.
The most critical issue here is this….
Does dolphin taste good? And what kind of wine goes good with Flipper fillets? Does it go with a nice rice pilaf or is it better served on a salad? And does it make good sushi/sashimi?
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I don’t have a problem with people crirticizing other cultures as long as their understanding of that other culture is accurate and they are well-informed as to how and why a habit or behaviour works, and is accepted in, that other culture. Unfortunately, in regards to many criticisms of Japan at least, that often does not seem to be the case.
On the other hand, if you are going to argue from purely philosophical motives then the emotionally-drenched cuteness arguments or an inconsistent ‘intelligence’ criteria (is an intelligent person’s life more valuable than someone less so?) will not do.
Anyway, I have a serious question regarding the allegedly dangerous mercury levels in serving dolphin meat. If it so dangerous why would officials allow it to be served to local children? Really. Where is the political or financial benefit (and I mean benefit enough to willfully ignore obvious damage to the health of local children)? If it is as dangerous as some state them how do we explain the motive (in a country that is extremely cautious about food safety- both domestic and foreign)? Can someone answer this wthout invoking the argument that J officials are all basically malevolent Dr. Evils with absolutely no moral conscience or the similarly yawn-inducing ‘Well, we all know that J authorities have no regard for human life’ lines?
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Hmmm. I did a bit of checking around, and what little I saw on the issue in Japanese basically took that stance.
This may be of interest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/world/asia/31iht-dolphin.1.9638971.html
“The Fisheries Agency in 2005 upgraded a two-year-old advisory to urge pregnant women not to eat dolphin more than once every two months.
In any case, the 0.4 part per million limit on mercury does not apply to dolphin meat, and there are no plans to strengthen the guidelines, officials said.”
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This is a complicated issue.
Although I’m against killing those animals I have seen videos of westerners killing dolphins and whales in mass like the Japanese but nobody complain about them, only about the Japanese. Why?
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there is no justification for this, this is wrong on so many levels.
if you’re going to kill something, do it humanly.
this is also against international interventions which japan blatantly ignores, they deserve all the bad press because its their own fault.
what if my tradition was eating people? try defend that.
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have you seen how pigs and cows are killed every day?
do you think it’s not brutal?
HOW can you kill something humanly?
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Talking of humane treatment of animals, compare these 2 cases.
Case A
You are confined in a cell or a cage all of your life. You have no freedom. You eat whatever they feed you. You have no choice. You cannot mate with anyone. You cannot have your family. If you are a female, they will make you artificially pregnant so that you will produce milk. But as soon as you give birth to your baby, they will kill your baby so as not to waste your milk. There is no chance you can live till your natural longevity. They will kill you while you are young and tender. One day they will come, make you unconscious and kill you humanely.
Case B
You are free and you live in the wild. You can go anywhere you want. You can eat whatever you want. You can mate with anyone you like. Chances are that you make a big family. You may live till your natural longevity. But there are chances that hunters will come and kill you brutally.
Which situation do you like to find yourself in?
If the answer is B, why complain hunting on the ground of humane treatment of animals?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo
Does it really matter? No. When the world gets hungry, it will eat whatever it eats.
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To those who support animal right activists,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ–faib7to
Why not accuse this farm of brutality?
Can it not be bad enough to collect donations???
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I think people aren’t understanding the key issue here…
This isn’t like “beef can cause heart disease” blah blah blah.
Dolphin meat has DANGEROUS LEVELS OF MERCURY IN IT. To the extent that eating it once a week will give you MERCURY POISONING. How is that an ignorable issue!? I don’t understand!
I mean, if you people don’t get it, then you just don’t get it.
But there were even activists in Japan that fought against having dolphin meat served at their schools. And guess what? They won and it’s not served there anymore.
More and more people are becoming aware at how bad dolphin meat is for you. You guys should be more aware too.
Either that, or you should start eating more of it yourself…
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You cannot be serious. You say all those animal right activists are here to protect the health of ‘dolphin eaters’?
Japanese government has issued a recommendation letter for sea food consumption.
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/bukyoku/iyaku/syoku-anzen/suigin/dl/051102-1en.pdf
“Recommendations for pregnant women to select and eat fish and shellfish
Bottlenose dolphin
Recommended amount (muscle)
Up to about 80 grams (average 1 meal) per 2 months
(10 grams/week)”
“Advice for people other than pregnant women
This advice is intended to protect the health of unborn babies. Children and other adults than the pregnant women are unlikely to have a health risk from mercury in fish and shellfish they eat normally.”
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I agree with stereo, those activists say dolphin meat is dangerous blahblah is just an excuse – what they are really trying to do here is that to show how Japanese are backwards and brutal hunting the sacred animals.
Really, if people want to point out how dolphin meat can be dangerous to human bodies, they wouldn’t make a movie like The Cove,
they would do it totally different way.
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OK, here’s the dirt on the whole mercury issue. The pages below sums it up nicely in English.
Mercury Fighting Mineral in Fish Overlooked in Heated Debate
http://chetday.com/mercurymineralfish.htm
Selenium: Mercury’s Magnet
http://mercuryfacts.com/fSelenium.cfm
So as long as there’s enough selenium contained in whatever you eat to neutralize the mercury you consume, there’s nothing to worry about, at least from mercury poisoning.
.
The chart in the websites above shows that Pilot Whales have unusually high levels of mercury in comparison to selenium.
I could only find the horribly formatted Japanese article from the website for OPRT (Organization for the Promotion of Responsible Tuna Fisheries) addressing this issue.
第４回 国際シンポジウム｢水銀とセレンの役割｣に参加して
http://www.oprt.or.jp/C30-4.htm
This is written in the first-person by an unknown author, but it points to the proceedings of the International Symposium of Selenium-Mercury Interactions as proof, which I can’t find any free versions of.
Proceedings of the International Symposium on Selenium–Mercury Interactions
http://www.springerlink.com/content/91645872uk216482/
If we are to believe the Japanese essay, the proceedings mentions the Inuit, who have been known to consume Pilot Whale meat, have an affinity for the oil of the whale, which does tend to have higher concentrations of selenium than the overall whale as a whole.
.
I can’t find any conclusive studies on selenium content of dolphin meat, but if it turns out to be as high as the supposedly toxic levels of mercury in it, there should be little to worry about, at least from mercury alone. As the Japanese diet tends to contain a lot of fish, that should contribute to neutralizing any mercury as well.
And that in turn, would make the claim of whale conservationalists protesting Japanese whale/dolphin consumption under the guise of concern for the mercury poisoning of Japanese children pretty much irrelevant.
But I should add that the Mercuryfacts.org site does have a prominent image link pointing to the dangers of whale meat consumption.
It’s claim is that whale meat tends to have a slurry of other toxic pollutants built up in it. The blame of cumulative effects were supposedly slapped onto mercury in a hasty and poor study, which in turn has led to the widespread fear and loathing of mercury alone.
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i dont care about dolphins. b ut it were nice if someone took care about Taji yakuza clans and send their heads to their firends in local fishing idustry..
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Why do humans have to kill anything that moves? It’s so depressing.
But whether you think it’s morally wrong or not, millions of others do. Not just that, but actually repulsive. If Japan wants to present itself as a civilised, attractive country to the rest of the world (which it clearly is in many other respects) the authorities should seriously think about the implications of this event for the Japanese national brand and its validity in the modern world. The same goes for Denmark, where they have a similar tradition.
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“Why do humans have to kill anything that moves? It’s so depressing.”
Well, you see, there is this little thing called “eating”, it is kind of necessary to life. And in order to eat, for most animals at least, one living thing must kill another. Some kill things that move, some kill things that do not, some kill both. Unless you can find some way for humans to survive by eating sulfur or something similar like some bacteria do, we’re going to have to keep on killing if we want to live. No way around it.
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Oh wow, you mean Denmark people eat meat too!?
And I thought we were the only ones!
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That’s funny how they completely left out as to what is being sold – and that is MERCURY-tainted meat.
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