As you read this, Japanese fishermen in Taiji, Futo and other small coastal towns are driving dolphins, porpoises and small whales to their deaths, herding them into bays to be slaughtered for meat. This year alone, they will kill 21,000 dolphins, saving a choice few aside for sale to marine parks.

Marine mammal advocates have long fought this annual slaughter, the largest massacre of dolphins anywhere in the world. Now The Ocean Project, a coalition of marine biologists, have condemned the massacre and are urging the Japanese government to stop hunting these unique, intelligent and self-aware creatures. Even aquarium officials who have purchased live dolphins captured in the drive have joined the movement to stop Japan's annual slaughter.

You may have read in last week's eNews that some elephants at the Bronx Zoo recently passed the "mirror test" that cognitive scientists use to determine capacity for self-awareness. It is noteworthy that bottlenose dolphins, great apes and humans are the only other species that have done so, suggesting that these animals share with us the ability to see themselves as distinct individuals separate from others. This is commensurate with dolphins' mental and social complexity as well as the empathy and altruism they show toward each other, as well as drowning humans.

Scientists have spent two years in negotiations with Japanese officials, during which they repeatedly presented peer-reviewed scientific data about dolphins' intelligence and social behavior, including evidence of self-awareness. Japan has dismissed these scientifically-established results in favor of continuing the slaughter. Takumi Fukuda, the fisheries attaché at Japan's embassy in Washington, even tried to legitimize the dolphin massacre by calling it "a centuries-old national tradition."

But his logic is flawed and self-serving. People living centuries ago hunted to feed their families, not increase their country's Gross National Product. They also lacked scientific confirmation that dolphins can think and feel. Now that we know, this cruel tradition must end. To continue with the slaughter is to ignore science, reason and compassion and disguise habitual cruelty as inviolable cultural tradition.

What You Can Do:

- Sign the Ocean Project's petition opposing the dolphin slaughter.

- Read the statement submitted to the Japanese government condemning the hunt signed by hundreds of scientists.

- Also write to Japanese officials to demand a permanent end to the drive fisheries and the preservation of dolphins and whales as natural treasures.

Ryozo Kato
Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.
2520 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
Tel: (202) 238-6700
Fax: (202) 328-2187

- Read the Washington Post article "Intelligence of Dolphins Cited in Fight Against Hunt."