In Defense of Dolphins

Provide sustainable alternatives

In cases where the hunt has historically taken place because members of the community have relied upon cetaceans as a key part of the diet, it is often possible to help these communities transition away from hunting.  Where sustainable economic alternatives can be developed the perceived need for the hunt can be mitigated.  Even better is when that alternative involves the development of a thriving eco-tourism industry, because then there is an incentive to protect the animals and their habitat in the surrounding area.

This model applies where the hunt was considered a traditional, even essential, part of community life, such as in the Solomon Islands.  Once home to a drive slaughter that killed almost 1,000 dolphins per year, that number is now approximately 1/10th of that.  Obviously the goal is to get that number to zero, but this is an improving situation.  The tremendous progress so far is largely due to the efforts of Dolphin Project.  They are putting together a permanent field base in Fanalei, from which they can continue their work to develop alternatives to dolphin-hunting, and to nurture a will to strengthen marine protection in the area among the community.

We believe that this model will also be helpful in combating illegal hunting in a number of cases.

Unfortunately, the model will be entirely inapplicable in places like Japan and the Faroe Islands, where there is no convincing argument to be made that anyone needs the meat.  Both are highly industrialized countries, not in need of better economic options.  Taiji is a case of greed run rampant, with exorbitant profits to be made from the sale of captives for the entertainment industry, and the slaughter being largely a product of convenience from among those dolphins not selected but already close at hand.  Faroe is a more bizarre and inexplicable case, and the carnage that regularly takes place on their beaches doesn’t appear to have any real economic motivation.  Activists have reported pilot whale meat rotting in dumpsters on the islands, so it’s difficult to guess at the underlying rationale for the hunts (known locally as the grindadráp).  So what to do in these cases?

Shine a bright light on the act

Dolphin Project keeps a team of cove monitors on the ground for Taiji’s entire six-month hunting season.  The entire process is live-streamed out to the world for all to see.   There can be no denying what is happening, as it happens, and it ensures that the shock we experienced from the 2009 release of The Cove is not forgotten.  Similarly, documentation of the grindadráp by Sea Shepard has had a profound effect on the public’s awareness.

As well, a number of creative tactics can be employed to good effect in raising the profile of this issue.  These include international days-of-action (largely coordinated through social media), celebrity ambassadors, and global efforts to put pressure on Japan’s government to end the killing of cetaceans by shining a light on the run up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  Another was a clever campaign by Action for Dolphins to raise money for an electronic billboard set in high traffic areas, which displayed compelling images of the Taiji hunts that many Japanese citizens were unaware of.  This is a good strategy, as a growing awareness from within the country itself will be especially helpful.

Raise the pressure on specific enablers

SeaWorld, Marineland, and all the other marine parks and aquaria are the most obvious enablers of the hunts, but there are many others. Though we still

have a long way to go, public pressure has helped to bring about many improvements

Travel companies who will no longer sell tickets to entertainments which feature contact with exploited or endangered animals, such as swim-with-dolphin programs or elephant rides.  Airlines who will no longer transport captive dolphins.  Major cruise lines who’ve announced they will not include the Faroe Islands on the list of stops, until the hunts have become a part of history.  These companies have decided that responding to changing public sentiment is good business, or simply to do the right thing, or most likely both.  Members of the public need to continue to make their collective voices heard, and to use their purchasing power to influence ethical business practices.

And then there is pressure on governments, not only to end the killing and holding of captives at home, but sometimes to react to things taking place abroad – i.e. “no end to whaling, no trade deal!”.  If enough of us speak up, governments at some point need to take such concerns seriously.

A growing public awareness of the current plight of whales and dolphins has, in virtually every case we are aware of, led to large shifts in market demand, and an intolerance for the status quo.  This tends to impact three broad categories of things:

1. There is less profit in cruelty and exploitation
2. There are fewer entities, corporate and otherwise, willing to engage (wittingly or unwittingly) in activities that enable these acts and,
3. Governments are more willing to take steps to prohibit these acts, in the face of perceived changes in voters’ priorities.

Take legal action

Sometimes, legal action can be an appropriate and effective remedy.  A great example of this is a case launched against the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) by Action for Dolphins (then known as Australia for Dolphins).  Working with law firms in Japan and elsewhere, they were able to build a case against the legality of the Taiji hunts, insofar as these came nowhere near meeting the standards required by WAZA’s own charter, and therefore calling WAZA to account.

The action took place in Switzerland (where WAZA is headquartered), and argued that the world body could no longer endorse member associations around the world involved in dolphin hunting (along with various other types of animal cruelty).  The action proved to be enormously successful, as JAZA (WAZA’s Japanese member) was suspended.  Soon afterwards, aquariums in Japan who operate within the WAZA network agreed that they would no longer purchase dolphins captured in the Taiji drive hunts.  This reduced the potential market for Taiji dolphins by approximately 50% – a huge win!

It is our belief that this action achieved the desired outcome because the strategy employed by AFD very wisely coordinated the legal action with a global petition and social media campaign which mobilized literally tens of thousands of people worldwide.  Had this not been so, we suspect that JAZA may well have chosen to ignore the ruling against it.  Case in point – the successful ruling obtained at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) when the court declared that Japan’s Antarctic Whale hunt did not qualify as research, and that the hunt must end.  Japan simply chose to ignore this ruling, and continued to harvest a self-imposed quota of 333 Minke whales per year.

There is a vitally important lesson in this for all of us, and the strategy employed by AFD in this case should serve as our model going forward.