1 Dolphin Protection Coalition's topics - tribe.net

Channel G!

meshaq — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:58:56 GMT

Please check out Channel G.
Join our tribe,
and help spread the Good word.
Thanks!

http://tribes.tribe.net/channelg
http://www.channelg.tv
http://www.myspace.com/channelg

video: http://www.channelg.tv/video.php

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Dolphin hunt sags amid mercury fears

Emily — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:15:57 GMT

By JOSEPH COLEMAN
updated 2:09 p.m. PT, Wed., Jan. 30, 2008

TAIJI, Japan - Every autumn and winter, hunters from this craggy Japanese fishing village corral thousands of dolphins into a tiny, isolated cove and kill them for meat and fertilizer, turning the water red with their blood.

And every year, foreign animal rights protesters converge on the town, interfering with the slaughter, clashing with fishermen and broadcasting grisly photographs of the slayings around the world _ all without stopping the hunt.

Now, Japan's dolphin hunters face a new, powerful opponent: mercury contamination.

A series of scientific studies in recent years in Japan have documented high levels of the toxic heavy metal in dolphin meat, and a group of city councilmen in Taiji launched an unprecedented campaign against the hunt several months ago after doing their own tests.

A leading regional supermarket chain has pulled dolphin from its shelves over the health concerns, and hunt critics in the town say villagers are shunning it. Meat from pilot whales _ a type of dolphin _ was taken off local school lunch menus in October.

"The mayor says we've caused 100 million yen ($1 million) in damages to the industry, but I don't know how that's calculated," said Junichiro Yamashita, a city councilman spearheading the anti-hunt movement. "They say the business is important for Taiji, but we say that health is more important."

Indeed, while animal rights arguments against the hunt have fallen on deaf ears in Japan, the threat of mercury contamination strikes a chord in a country where food safety is rapidly becoming a paramount public concern.

Though no mercury poisoning cases from dolphin meat have been publicly documented in Taiji, such contamination resonates loudly in Japan, where thousands were killed or crippled by mercury poisoning in Minamata in the 1950s and 60s. The poisoning was triggered by massive dumping of industrial mercury into the fishing grounds around the village in southern Japan.

Taiji is one of several Japanese villages where dolphins are hunted. The town this season has a nationally set quota of 3,015, of a total national quota of nearly 21,000. The actual take tends to be about 30 percent lower than the quota, depending on demand for the meat.

While other villages usually harpoon their quarry out at sea, the particularly bloody killing methods in Taiji have made the town a focal point of animal rights activists worldwide.

The village resents the attention and accuses outsiders of interfering with a hunting tradition of hundreds of years. Standoffs between protesters and hunters quickly boil over into arguments and threats. The town erects barriers and hangs tarps to block activists from photographing the kill, and daily hunts can be canceled if foreigners are seen in town.

"No thank you," said an official at the fisheries union when approached for comment on the hunt. "You've come at a bad time."

The recent findings on mercury levels, however, have given pause to many would-be consumers.

Tetsuya Endo, a researcher at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, in northern Japan, has co-authored numerous studies showing dolphin meat can contain mercury at concentrations many times higher than the 0.4 parts per million allowed by the Japanese government for many types of fish.

The highest concentration he has found so far was 100 parts per million from a bottlenose dolphin _ a species whose meat is butchered in Taiji.

"This ought to be investigated," Endo said, calling for a government probe into the dangers of eating dolphin. "There are people who eat it a lot, and those people could be suffering health effects."

The threat of mercury contamination, however, failed to cause a stir in this isolated village until Yamashita, irked by the town's plans to build a $3 million dolphin slaughterhouse and spread the use of local dolphin meat in school lunches, decided with allies to conduct their own probe.

The results on tests of three locally bought pieces of dolphin meat at a government-run lab confirm their fears, he said.

The pieces of meat taken from pilot whales were all many times the 0.4 parts per million threshold. One piece logged 11 parts per million of mercury, and 2.6 parts per million of PCBs, an industrial pollutant that Japanese regulations limit to 0.5.

Yamashita and his allies announced the results in a handout distributed with local newspapers, and he expanded his crusade by appearing at a news conference in Tokyo for foreign reporters _ a move that angered village elders and hunters.

"They said that if dolphin hunting disappears, then Taiji will disappear, but I say it's important to look at developing other industries," he said. "They're upset that I showed this to the outside world."

The anti-hunt movement, however, faces substantial hurdles.

The Taiji leadership _ only three of 10 councilmen oppose the hunt _ is clinging to plans for the new slaughterhouse, counting on sales of dolphin meat outside the region, where the mercury concerns have not spread because of lack of national media attention. Captured dolphins are also sold to dolphin aquariums in Japan and abroad, at substantial profit.

Taiji has powerful contacts at the national level. Lawmaker Toshihiro Nikai, a top executive of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is a native of the prefecture where Taiji is located, and he recently visited the village. Campaign posters of him can be seen around town.

Tokyo _ which is also battling international protesters over its whaling program on the high seas _ is not getting involved in the dolphin dispute, despite a Health Ministry survey in 2003 confirming high levels of mercury in the mammals. The Fisheries Agency in 2005 upgraded a 2-year-old advisory to urge pregnant women not to eat dolphin more than once every two months.

In any case, the 0.4 parts per million limit on mercury does not apply to dolphin meat, and there are no plans to strengthen the guidelines, officials said.

"We are aware that mercury content is particularly high in dolphins," said Yuichiro Ejima, a food safety official at the Health Ministry. "But ... most Japanese seldom eat the meat, except in some areas where dolphins are caught traditionally."

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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BABY DOLPHIN DIES in vancouver aquarium!

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:15:48 GMT

not sure if you guys are awake here or what, didn't anyone hear the news lately?

i'll fill you in:
hanna,one of the new dolphins (brought in from japan last year - yep, you guessed it) gave birth to a still born yesterday at the vancouver aquarium.

coalition against whales in captivity said it's a good thing cause at least it won't suffer living out it's life in a pool. i agree.
when are these idiots gonna learn that dolphins and whales do not belong in bathtubs?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 7 replies

Sad News in the Dolphin World......

lunarose — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:19:10 GMT

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061214-dolphin-extinct.html

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Dolphin Healing

John — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:40:46 GMT

Pretty good proof that they are smarter than us...

http://www.massageandbodywork.com/Articles/OctNov2005/Dolphin.html

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Bloodbath: Japan's dolphin cull gets underway

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:36:59 GMT

Bloodbath: Japan's dolphin cull gets underway
The nation's annual hunting season is underway, a tradition stretching back centuries. Now, though, protesters from abroad are trying to end this way of life. David McNeill reports from Taiji
Published: 06 January 2007
In Taiji, the fishermen say that dolphin tastes like venison or beef. But eaten raw with a dab of ginger and soy sauce, the glistening dark flesh resembles liver, with a coppery aftertaste that lingers on the roof of the mouth long after you've chewed it past your protesting taste buds. The ripe, tangy smell stays longer.

"I hate cutting up dolphin," says Toshihiro Motohata, who runs a nearby whalemeat shop. "The stink stays on you for days, even after several baths."

Dolphin-hunting season has arrived again in this sleepy harbour town. Perhaps 2,000 small whales and striped, bottlenose, spotted and Risso's dolphins have been slaughtered for meat that ends up on the tables of local homes and restaurants, and in vacuum-packed bags in supermarkets. By the end of March, many more will go the same way, part of what is probably the largest annual cull of cetaceans - about 26,000 around coastal Japan, according to environmentalists - in the world.

Six hours from Tokyo and accessible only via a coastal road that snakes through tunnels hewn from dense, pine-carpeted mountains, Taiji for years escaped the prying eyes of animal rights activists, but the isolation has been abruptly ended by the internet and the cheap rail pass. A steady trickle of foreign protesters - most Japanese people know little about the tradition - now arrive in the rusting town square to cross swords with the local bureaucrats and the 26 fishermen who run the hunt.

Taiji's notoriety has grown, fuelled by gruesome videos of the dolphin kill posted on YouTube, and by criticism from celebrities such as the American actors Joaquin Phoenix and Ted Danson and from high-profile environmentalists, and tensions have sharpened. Protesters have repeatedly clashed with the fishermen. Nets and boats have been sabotaged, activists arrested and several environmental groups have been effectively banned from the town.

Foreigners now almost inevitably mean trouble, especially when they come with cameras; local people speak with special venom of a BBC documentary that they say depicted them as barbarians. "One fisherman told me if the whalers could kill me, they would," says the best-known protester, Ric O'Barry, who trained dolphins for the 1960s television series Flipper. "But I always try to stay on the right side of the law. If I get arrested, I'm out of this fight."

Around Taiji and in the nearby towns of Kii-Katsura and Shingu, whale meat has been eaten for hundreds of years, claim local officials. Restaurants and shops offer dolphin and whale sashimi and humpback bacon, along with tuna and shark fin soup. A canteen next to the Taiji Whale Museum, where dolphins and small whales are trained to perform tricks for tourists, sells minke steak, sashimi and whale cutlets in curry sauce, in a room decorated with posters of the 80 or so "cetaceans of the world" - whales, dolphins and porpoises.

According to Ikuo Mizutani, a local wholesaler, dolphin meat sells for about 2,000 yen (£9) a kilo, cheaper than beef or whale.

Unlike most Japanese children, who have no idea of what whale tastes like, children in Taiji know their cetaceans. "I don't like the taste of dolphin because it smells," says nine-year-old Rui Utani. "I prefer whale."

In the museum, out-of-towners are often stunned to learn of the local specialities. "I'm shocked," says Keiko Shibuya, from Osaka. "I couldn't imagine eating dolphin. They're too cute."

The hunts are notoriously brutal, and blue tarpaulin sheets block the main viewing spots overlooking the cove where the killings take place, to prevent photographs being taken. Beyond the cove, small boats surround a pod of migrating dolphins, lower metal poles into the sea and bang them to frighten the animals and disrupt their sonar. Once the panicking, thrashing dolphins are herded into the narrow cove, the fishermen attack them with knives, turning the sea red before dragging them to a harbourside warehouse for slaughter.

The fishermen, who consider dolphins just big fish, like tuna, are bewildered that anyone would find this cruel, and describe the protesters as extremists. "If you walked into an American slaughterhouse for cows, it wouldn't look very pretty either," says one, who identifies himself only as Kawasaki. "The killing is done in the open here, so it looks worse than it is." Most of the fishermen are descended from families that have been killing and eating the contents of the sea around Taiji for generations, and reject arguments that dolphins are "special". Says Kawasaki: "They're food, like dogs for the Chinese and Koreans."

Mr O'Barry claims, however, he was told in private by town officials that tradition is not the real reason for the hunts. "It's pest control," he says. "They want to kill the competition for the fish. That's unacceptable. These animals don't have Japanese passports, they belong to the world. They're just trying to get around this town and these 26 guys."

He calls the town "schizophrenic". "It's as pretty as a 1950s postcard, and the people are so friendly, but this secret genocide takes place every year."

The schizophrenia is sharpest, say activists, in the Taiji Whale Museum, where tickets for whale-watching trips in dolphin-shaped boats are sold, while the non-performing animals bump up against each other in a tiny concrete pool. The trainers here help sort the "best-looking" dolphins from the kill, and train them for use in circuses and aquariums across Asia and Europe.

The museum recently made the world's science pages when fishermen handed over a dolphin with an extra set of fins, possibly proving that they once had legs and lived on land. But Mr O'Barry says the story had a dark side. "The Japanese media didn't report that this particular dolphin was taken away from her mother. The mother's throat was slit and she was butchered in the Taiji slaughter house along with more than 200 other bottlenose dolphins."

The bitter controversy over what fishermen in Taiji and other Japanese ports take from the sea is salted with nationalism, one reason why they are backed to the hilt by the Tokyo government. In a country that produces just 40 per cent of its own food, fisheries bureaucrats bristle at "emotional" lectures from Western environmentalists, and amid an intensifying fight for marine resources, they are determined not to yield. For some, cetaceans are a line in the sand. "If we lose on whales, what will happen next?" asks Akira Nakamae, deputy director general of Japan's fisheries agency.

Next, it seems, is tuna, a staple of the Japanese diet in contrast to whale, which is a minor delicacy now eaten by a tiny proportion of the population. Japan's voracious appetite for tuna shows no sign of abating: a report last December claimed that Japanese fishermen poached a staggering 100,000 tons of the coveted southern bluefin tuna above quota between 1996 and 2005.

The Taiji fishermen deny they are taking too much from the sea. "We would be cutting our own throats," says Kazutoyo Shimetani, sales manager of the dolphin hunters' cooperative in Taiji. The cooperative - essentially a closed guild - says it rigidly controls fishing, limiting dolphin hunting to just 26 of the town's approximately 500 fishermen.

Taiji's growing notoriety has widened the cultural gulf between the town and the rest of the world, and most senior officials will no longer talk to Western journalists. But the head of the local board of education, Yoji Kita, who lectures on whaling to schools and colleges, agrees to a brief, testy meeting.

Like many in the town hall, he is defensive, accusing Westerners of failing to understand or explain Japan's culture to their readers, and of inciting protesters, but he is guardedly polite - until a question about the dangerously high mercury levels detected in whales and dolphins. "Why pick on those as reasons to stop eating them?" he asks, voice rising. "The whole environment is poisoned. There is no point in talking to you, because you don't want to listen. That's just racism," he says, standing to terminate the interview.

"It's very difficult," sighs a clerk in the museum. "The town leaders are just so tired of having to deal with this. They want it to go away."

There seems little chance they will get their wish, despite an offer to fund the retirement of the dolphin hunters from a US environmental group. Few in the town took the offer seriously, and the fishermen say they would in any case reject it. "Why should we give up our tradition on the orders of somebody else?" asks Mr Shimetani.

In a world racked by wars, greed and environmental destruction, the fate of a few thousand animals might seem small fry, but activists say the plight of the dolphins is connected to all three. "The dolphin hunt is a symbol of our utilitarian view of nature," says Mr O'Barry. "That we can use and abuse the sea. I honestly believe when the world finds out about this, it will be abolished. It can't possibly survive the light of day."

One man's campaign

Ric O' Barry is one of the world's best known environmentalists. A former US Navy diver, he later trained the five dolphins that played Flipper in the Sixties television series before turning against dolphin captivity in 1970. He has spent his life since as an animal rights campaigner and much of the past decade fighting what he calls the "secret genocide" of dolphins in Taiji, where thousands of the animals are killed between October and March every year. Mr O' Barry travels to the small port town several times a year to film the annual dolphin hunt for a coalition of environmental groups (at www.SaveJapanDolphins.org). He claims he is despised by officials at the town hall, trailed by goons, and harassed and threatened by whalers. "One fisherman down there told me if the whalers could kill me, they would," he says. "I was kind of flattered. They call me 'Samurai dolphin man', which shows that, at least, they respect me." Oddly, the first time the 67-year-old visited Taiji in 1975, he met the mayor and was given the keys to the town after leading a campaign against a US boycott of Japanese products led by anti-whalers whom he considered "racist". He still believes boycotts will not stop whaling. "Boycotts are completely useless because the Japanese people don't even know about this. They are a blanket condemnation of the Japanese people, and the dolphin hunt is led by just 26 fishermen."

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The Amazing Work of the Sea Sheperd

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:26:19 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdxpH4IYTGY

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Very Important Whale Decision approaching - repost please

Fri, 04 May 2007 15:18:26 GMT

Time for action folks Fri, May 4, 2007 - 5:07 AM
In less than a month, the fate of the world's whales will be decided by delegates from 73 nations. Beginning on May 28, the International Whaling Commission will meet in Alaska to decide whether whales can once again be hunted commercially, or will be kept safe another year.

This is a pivotal year -- Japan and other pro-whaling countries will do everything they can to make the commercial slaughter of whales legal. I hope that you will stand with Humane Society International to protect these magnificent mammals.

HSI is lobbying government representatives, gathering scientific evidence, and working closely with ally organizations and national delegations to stop the pro-whaling interests. But we need your help!

In the face of a 20-year international moratorium, Iceland recently resumed the commercial slaughter of two whale species, including endangered fin whales. Because no market exists for whale meat, some carcasses were left to rot.

Please take action today! Email Iceland's Prime Minister and your country's Icelandic Ambassador and ask them to stop whaling.

Your support does make a difference! Nicaragua recently decided to break its streak of pro-whaling votes and instead support whale protection. There is still time to influence other International Whaling Commission member nations.

Thanks for all you do for animals and please watch your inbox in the weeks to come for updates and additional ways to take action for whales.

Sincerely,

Andrew Rowan
Chief Executive Officer
Humane Society International

community.hsus.org/campaign...82hxme7te

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Message from Paul watson about the seal hunt

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 05:44:04 GMT

Canada’s Annual Ritual of Shame Began Today

Report from Captain Paul Watson

This morning, the hot blood of the baby seals began to cool and congeal on scattered patches of ice where surviving harp seals lay.

After weeks of mass horrific mass drownings, as baby seals slipped from melting, crumbling and broken ice in the cold blackness of the Atlantic, the merciless clubs of Canada ’s hordes of barbaric sealers began to once again smash mercilessly in the fragile skulls of defenceless seal pups.

The perverse slaughter of baby harp seals has begun and this after an estimated one quarter of all the seals born this year have already perished due to the consequences of global warming. Canada wants to kill 275,000 survivors and the sealing boats are scouring the shore fast ice and searching for scattered pans to unleash their club toting thugs upon the defenceless.

The slaughter is underway, the largest massacre of marine mammals on the planet and it has been sanctioned by a Newfoundlander who holds the position of Minister for Fisheries and Oceans. He has this week demonstrated a complete and utter contempt for the science and the reality of global warming and has set the kill quotas solely for the purpose of appeasing the seal hating fishermen of Newfoundland .

What has been an annual tragedy of immense proportions is now despicably more abhorrent considering that the killers are dispatching survivors of hellish conditions on broken and melting ice floes. These seals have struggled and suffered to survive the natural elements and now they lay upon small pans of broken ice with no means of defence or escape.

What a cowardly bunch these baby killers are. They are an embarrassment to Canada and as a twelfth generation Canadian whose family is rooted in the Maritimes, I am disgusted at the brutality and the obscenity of this mass slaughter on the ice in the ravaged nurseries off the Eastern Canadian shore.

I am unable to go to the area this year because of a court order that bans me from half my own country. I was convicted recently of the crime of witnessing a seal being killed and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and prohibited from entry to the Atlantic coast for two years.

We associate being banned with apartheid in the former white ruled South Africa and now Canadians are being banned for simply witnessing an atrocity in Canadian territory.

Canada argues that the seal “hunt” is the most humane well regulated animal hunt in the world. If so then why is it a crime to witness or document it?

But more importantly why are sealers being allowed to savage the survivors of the greatest die-off of seals in history due to global warming? Adding a quota of 275,000 seals to an estimated 250,000 killed by lack of ice gives us a staggering 525,000 seal deaths for 2007.

This is not a hunt, it is a massacre. It is an attempt to exterminate a species.

The Canadian government will argue that this is not so. Why would they wipe out the seals that sealers depend upon for their livelihood? The same argument was made in defence of over-fishing of the cod. The cod were wiped out and will never recover because of the incredible arrogance and ignorance of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The harp seals are being systematically exterminated and the DFO is overseeing this so called final solution because the seals are the scapegoats for the mismanagement of the fisheries. If the government blames the seals and promises a solution to fish recovery with the removal of the seals, the voters will continue to back them and since Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn is dependent only on the voters of Newfoundland , he need not care for the concerns of Canadians outside of Newfoundland .

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society predicted the extermination of the Cod as far back as 1982, ten years before the fishery crashed. We said in 1992 that it would not recover and it has and will not recover.

We are predicting now that unless these madmen at the helm of DFO are relieved, the harp seals will be driven into the oblivion of extinction because of over-hunting and global warming.

Although we cannot get a ship into the ice this year, we are working to undermine markets for seal pelts in Europe . We are in the courts with a lawsuit challenging that the regulations preventing the witnessing of the slaughter are unconstitutional. We are continuing to promote the international boycott of Canadian seafood products and we are organizing protests internationally.

We are working to get our ship the Farley Mowat into a position to challenge the sealers in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in April of 2008.

Only through massive economic pressure will Canada surrender it’s policy of brutality on the ice floes off Newfoundland . We must work to intensify this pressure and we must work to ensure that Canadian businesses pay a huge price to endorse the slaughter. This level of cruelty and wanton slaughter has no place in the 21st Century

Captain Paul Watson
Founder and President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (1977-
Co-Founder - The Greenpeace Foundation (1972)
Co-Founder - Greenpeace International (1979)
Director of the Sierra Club USA (2003-2006)
Director - The Farley Mowat Institute
Director - www.harpseals.org

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Dolphin Massacre on Video

Aletheia — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:58:20 GMT

It might hurt your sensitivity

http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin

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Dolphins & Sea lions for military in Seattle

Emily — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 03:36:01 GMT

THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer
Mon Feb 12, 11:04 PM ET

SAN DIEGO - Dozens of dolphins and sea lions trained to detect and apprehend waterborne attackers could be sent to patrol a military base in Washington state, the Navy said Monday. In a notice published in this week's Federal Register, the Navy said it needs to bolster security at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, on the Puget Sound close to Seattle.

The base is home to submarines, ships and laboratories and is potentially vulnerable to attack by terrorist swimmers and scuba divers, the notice states.

Several options are under consideration, but the preferred plan would be to send as many as 30 California sea lions and Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins from the Navy's Marine Mammal Program, based in San Diego.

"These animals have the capabilities for what needs to be done for this particular mission," said Tom LaPuzza, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Program.

LaPuzza said that because of their astonishing sonar abilities, dolphins are excellent at patrolling for swimmers and divers. When a Navy dolphin detects a person in the water, it drops a beacon. This tells a human interception team where to find the suspicious swimmer.

Dolphins also are trained to detect underwater mines; they were sent to do this in the Iraqi harbor of Umm Qasr in 2003. The last time the animals were used operationally in San Diego was in 1996, when they patrolled the bay during the Republican National Convention.

Sea lions can carry in their mouths special cuffs attached to long ropes. If the animal finds a rogue swimmer, it can clamp the cuff around the person's leg. The individual can then be reeled in for questioning.

The Navy is seeking public comment for an environmental impact statement on the proposal.

The Navy wanted to deploy marine animals to the Northwest in 1989, LaPuzza said, but a federal judge sided with animal-rights activists concerned about the effects of cooler water, as well as how the creatures would affect the environment. Water in the Puget Sound is about 10 degrees cooler than in San Diego Harbor, which has an average temperature of about 58 degrees, LaPuzza said.

Since then, the Navy has taken the dolphins and sea lions to cold-water places like Alaska and Scandinavia to see how they cope.

"They did very well," LaPuzza said. If the animals are sent to Washington, the dolphins would be housed in heated enclosures and would patrol the bay only for periods of about two hours.

Stephanie Boyles, a marine biologist and spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said that sea mammals do not provide a reliable defense system, and that they should not be kept in small enclosures.

"We believe the United States' citizens deserve the very best defense possible, and this just isn't it," Boyles said, adding that dolphins are easily distracted once in open water. "They don't understand the consequences of what will happen if they don't carry out the mission."

Dolphins can live as long as 30 years. LaPuzza said the Navy occasionally gives its retired animals to marine parks but generally keeps them until they die of old age.

The Navy has been training marine mammals since the 1960s and keeps about 100 dolphins and sea lions. Most are in San Diego, but about 20 are deployed at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga.

The Navy hopes eventually to downsize its marine mammal program and replace the animals with machines.

"But the technology just isn't there yet," LaPuzza said. "The value of the marine mammals is we've been doing this for 35 years, and we've ironed out all the kinks."

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URGENT REQUEST FOR SIGN-ONs

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:19:12 GMT

REVEALED: WESTERNERS SECRETLY DEAL IN DOLPHINS FROM JAPAN.

Two American aquarium specialists are brokering the sale and transfer of twelve bottlenose dolphins from the Japanese slaughter pens to a Dominican Republic amusement park, Ocean World Adventure Park. We believe the dolphins will be transferred to the Dominican Republic sometime before March. We are trying to stop this and need your help.

Stefan Meister, a German national and vice president of Ocean World Adventure Park, Dr. Michael Briggs DVM, who is an American citizen associated with the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, and another American dolphin dealer and marine mammal veterinarian, Dr. Ted Hammond, are all involved in the deal.

The 12 dolphins, now known as "The Taiji Twelve," were recently captured in Taiji, Japan. This was an extremely violent and deadly dolphin capture, with dolphin hunters and dolphin trainers working side by side, killing several "reject" dolphins in the grueling selection process. The more than 200 bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales that were not selected for the aquarium industry were killed and slaughtered. By purchasing select dolphins from the Japanese drive hunts, the western dolphin dealers are making the hunt extremely profitable, thereby causing the hunts to continue. We have been successful, at least to some degree, in shutting down the demand for dolphin meat for human consumption, by exposing the mercury contamination of the meat. We now want to expose aquarium industry members who support the dolphin slaughter by doing business with the hunters. The campaign in the Dominican Republic is the first important step toward our effort to shut down the demand for live show dolphins from Japan.

You can see the capture here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCx0ORuDZFE ( Please send this link to all your contacts.)

We are in the process of composing a letter to the president of the Dominican Republic, asking him to not allow The Taiji Twelve into the country. If your organization wants to be included in the sign-on letter, please let me know ASAP. We need to act quickly.

Thanks,

Richard O'Barry
Marine Mammal Specialist
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute
Miami Florida Branch
Phone/Fax: 305-668 1619
Mobile Phone: 786-973 8618
ricobarry@bellsouth.net
www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

Dolphin meat selling banned by largest Japanese store

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:58:47 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2007

On December 26, 2006, the director of food products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari Kanki, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores. The ban is now permanent, according to a statement from Okuwa:

"We have decided, as a matter of company policy, that we will discontinue permanently the sale of dolphin meat regardless of test results currently being conducted by the company at an independent lab." The supermarket adds: "Those test results will be concluded next week, but the results will not be revealed."

The Save Japan Dolphins coalition (Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Animal Welfare Institute, and In Defense of Animals) applauds this major development in efforts to stop the Japanese dolphin slaughter. Our coalition members formally thank the Okuwa Supermarket chain for their landmark decision to protect the Japanese people from contaminated food products.

Mercury Contamination in Dolphin Meat

During our recent investigations in the Japanese fishing village Taiji, where each year hundreds of dolphins are brutally slaughtered, we visited several nearby supermarkets owned by the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation. The supermarkets are located in Taiji, Katsuura, and Shingu. Our team was very visible with our cameras in hand, and we asked whether the supermarkets would sell imported American or Australian beef if you knew mercury levels were the same dangerous levels as dolphin meat caught in Taiji? We also asked them to conduct independent tests on your products to see if the mercury levels are safe. We also asked, in light of The Japan Times report (11/01/06) of unsafe mercury levels in dolphin meat, why do you continue to sell the tainted dolphin meat and are you concerned about lawsuits by consumers?

We also informed the supermarkets that Dr. Tetsuya Endo, of the Hokkaido Health Science University, the Dai Ichi Health Science University and New Zealand Health Science University conducted a three-year joint study of mercury levels in dolphin meat from dolphins caught off the coast of Japan -- including Taiji. They found very high levels of mercury in every sample of dolphin meat that they tested. Their conclusion: nobody should consume dolphin meat. Dr. Endo is a highly respected Japanese scientist. His report on mercury tainted dolphin meat was published in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Minister of Health and Welfare has known about the danger yet has chosen not to warn the public about it.

As we reported in our Taiji blog on December 12th <http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org>, we bought a package of striped dolphin meat from the Shingu Okuwa Supermarket and delivered it to The Japan Times in Tokyo to be independently tested. Here are the results: The second random sample of dolphin meat (iruka niku) sold at the Shingu Central Okuwa Supermarket was tested for total mercury with a readout of 5.40 ppm -- 14 times above the Koseisho's advisory level of 0.4 ppm. The first sample tested in February was over 4 times the advisory level at 1.77 ppm.

Dolphin Meat Now Banned

On December 26, 2006, the Director of Food Products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari Kanki, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores. The ban on dolphin meat is official and permanent. The supermarket chain and conglomerate is comprised of drug stores, movie theatres, home store centers, sports clubs, hotels and amusement facilities.

Richard O'Barry, Marine Mammal Specialist for Earth Island Institute, on behalf of the coalition called the announcement: "a bold decision that should immediately be followed by other sources of this toxic meat." He continued: "We also salute the only newspaper in Japan reporting this most urgent and controversial issue. Journalist and photographer Boyd Harnell wrote the story for The Japan Times."

Approximately 23,000 dolphins, porpoises and other small whales are slaughtered in Japan every year. David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute's Int'l Marine Mammal Project stated: "It is crucial that we track where all this poisoned dolphin meat is going and stop its sale." He continued: "The Japanese public deserve better than to have this toxic product on their store shelves, and the dolphins deserve better than this cruel slaughter."

O'Barry continued: "We must also get the dolphin trainers and dolphin dealers out of Taiji. Leading aquariums and swim-with-dolphin dealers are subsidizing the Japan dolphin slaughter by paying $50,000 or more for a few 'show' dolphins from the catch -- the rest of the pod is slaughtered for dolphin meat on the Japanese market for much less money."

For further information on the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition effort to end the Japan dolphin slaughter, go to:

www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

do any of you still cut the rings on soda cans?

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 05:02:36 GMT

do any of you still cut the rings on soda cans? remember being a kid and they would tell you to do that?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

Thank you.

Eldra — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:57:17 GMT

I had no idea all of this was happening to dolphins and whales.

Living in a landlocked state, I get very little info about this sort of thing unless I go looking for it. I did find info about the overharvesting of swordfish and have worked to educate people about that ever since.

I didn't even know that there were "wildlife preserves" for the ocean! I guess it's all a metter of what you are exposed to.

I'm glad something is working in the dolphins favor, though I can't say I'm happy that they are murcury poisoned. I have studied that and know about some of the dangers most don't understand.

It crosses the blood brain barrier, and the similar membrain that protects fetus'. It is also a mutegen (mutates DNA). Perhaps those 4 fins are from the mercury poisoning (or possibly a parasite -- there is a parasite that causes frogs to grow extra limbs.)

At any rate, it is tragic that those fishermen are so blind to what they are really doing.

Thanks for the info, and I whish the best for all our ocean friends!

Eldra

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Mercury poisoning may save whales

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:35:47 GMT

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:

Mercury poisoning may save whales

TAIJI--Three days after Christmas 2006, a long-anticipated
confrontation between the two-ship fleet of the Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society and the Japanese whaling fleet inside the
International Whaling Commission-designat ed Southern Oceans Whale
Sanctuary had yet to develop--but Ric O'Barry took the fight against
Japanese whaling right into Japanese supermarkets, and on Boxing Day
2006 scored a second round knockout against the Taiji coastal whalers.
Taiji coastal whaling little resembles high seas whaling.
Instead of shooting great whales with harpoon guns and butchering
them aboard the factory ship Nisshin Maru in the name of scientific
research, the coastal whalers drive small whales into shallow water
where a few are selected for sale to marine mammal parks.
The rest are hacked, stabbed, hanged, and even butchered
alive with chainsaws, in a frenzied massacre of marine mammals
rivaling the violence of seal-clubbing in Atlantic Canada and
Namibia, and the comparable whale killing conducted in the Faroe
Islands, a Danish protectorate.
The mayhem in each instance vents the frustration of fishers
who blame marine mammals for poor catches in polluted and long
heavily overfished waters, and lack the education to pursue more
lucrative work. While high seas whalers pretend to be scientists,
coastal whalers and sealers have small chance of ever passing for
anything other than chronically underemployed.
Despite the outward differences between so-called "research
whaling" and Taiji, the slaughters both produce meat for Japanese
tables. Both are politically defended as part of the Japanese food
tradition, even though the weight of evidence suggests few Japanese
ate much whale meat before post-World War II food shortages.
Minimata precedent
During that same era, politicians looked away as fishers
marketed catches collected from Minimata Bay, contaminated by
mercury and other toxins discharged for decades from a nearby
chemical processing plant. More than 3,000 people eventually
suffered from symptoms of mercury poisoning that came to be known as
"Minimata Syndrome." Forty years of lawsuits followed, as the
survivors sought compensation. Mercury pollution has been
politically hot in Japan ever since.
O'Barry happened upon information indicating that the mercury
levels in small whales caught in Japanese waters tend to be
abnormally high. That gave him an idea.
"During our last campaign in Taiji," O'Barry e-mailed to
ANIMAL PEOPLE, "we visited several supermarkets owned by the Okuwa
Supermarket Corporation. We asked if they would sell imported
American or Australian beef if they knew the mercury levels were at
the same dangerous levels as in the dolphin meat caught in Taiji.
"We also informed the supermarkets that Dr. Tetsuya Endo of
the Hokkaido Health Science University, the Dai Ichi Health Science
University and New Zealand Health Science University conducted a
three-year joint study on mercury levels of dolphin meat from
dolphins caught off Japan--including Taiji," O'Barry said. "They
found very high levels of mercury in every sample of dolphin meat
that they tested. Their conclusion: nobody should consume dolphin
meat.
"That the Japanese Minister of Health and Welfare has known
about the danger yet chose not to warn the public defies logic,"
O'Barry remarked.
"On December 12th," O'Barry continued, "we bought a package
of striped dolphin meat from the Shingu Okuwa Supermarket and
delivered it to The Japan Times in Tokyo to be independently tested.
The second random sample tested at 14 times above the advisory level.
The first sample tested was over 4 times the advisory level.
"On December 26, 2006," O'Barry said, "the Okuwa
Supermarket Corporation, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all
of their stores. They will decide if the ban is to be permanent
after they test their own samples. The testing will be done in Tokyo
by an independent laboratory. Based on the science we have seen, we
expect the ban on dolphin meat in this supermarket chain to be
permanent."
Through the end of 2006, only Japan Times reporter Boyd
Harnell had made the mercury testing data accessible to the Japanese
public--in English. O'Barry said he was unaware of any exposure in
Japanese.
But O'Barry anticipated that, "Now that the largest
supermarket chain in Japan has banned the sale of dolphin meat, it
will be very difficult for other markets in Japan to continue selling
it."
There is some question as to whether much dolphin meat is
actually sold in Japan. Ocean Project director Paul Boyle and Emery
University biologist Lori Marino recently told reporters that they
believe dolphin meat is extensively used for pet food and fertilizer.
"Approximately 23,000 dolphins, porpoises, and other small
whales are slaughtered in Japan every year," O'Barry said. "Where
is all of this poisoned dolphin meat going? Nobody knows for sure.
Some have speculated that it might be exported to North Korea and
China.
"These countries have a protein shortage and welcome any help
that they can get. But do they know that they are importing
mercury-contaminate d dolphin meat? Probably not," O'Barry
speculated. "We know that a lot of the meat from Japan's so-called
'scientitic whaling' is stored in freezers because there is not
enough demand to sell the stuff. We are not sure where the dolphin
meat is going," O'Barry admitted, "but are encouraged that the
demand side is drying up.

"It's about genocide"

"If the Japanese dolphin hunters continue the annual dolphin
slaughter despite the mercury poisoning of the meat, they will be
forced to tell the world the truth--that it is not about culture or
tradition," O'Barry said. "It's about genocide. The dolphin
hunters are killing the competition while playing the culture and
tradition cards."
Boyle, a past director of the New York Aquarium, told
Associated Press that there is no scientific support for the belief
that dolphins compete to catch fish of the species that the coastal
fishers want.
"Now," O'Barry said, "if we could only get the dolphin
trainers and dolphin dealers out of Taiji. Especially the
westerners!"
The Taiji slaughter has been formally opposed by the Alliance
of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums and the American Zoo & Aquarium
Association since March 2004, and by the World Association of Zoos
& Aquariums since June 2006, but many trainers from western nations
work for marine mammal exhibition and "swim-with" facilities that do
not belong to the professional associations.
Noted Mark Palmer of Earth Island Institute, "Scientists
calling a [recently caught] dolphin with four fins, instead of the
usual two, a throwback to the evolutionary past. What they are
not saying is that this dolphin was captured in a brutal 'drive
fishery' at Taiji. The dolphin in question is housed in the Taiji
Whale Museum, where visitors can see trained dolphins perform and
then go to the souvenir shop and buy whale and dolphin meat."
Said O'Barry, "I was there when the 4-finned dolphin was
captured. Aquarium representatives actively helped the fishermen
catch the dolphins to be butchered."
Campaigning against the Taiji killing are the Elsa Nature
Conservancy of Japan, the International Marine Mammal Project of
Earth Island Institute, and the French organization One Voice.
Meanwhile off Antarctica.. .
The five-vessel Japanese "research" whaling fleet departed
for Antarctic waters on November 15, 2006, planning to kill 945
minke whales and 10 fin whales within the designated but unguarded
Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary. This will be almost as many as the
1,253 minke whales and more than the nine fin whales that the
Japanese fleet has killed within the sanctuary since 2001.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson told
Guardian environment writer John Vidal on December 11, 2006 that the
newly purchased and renamed former U.S. Coast Guard vessel Leviathan
"is at sea and on the way south to the coast of Antarctica. It looks
as if we will be in a position to confront the Japanese whaling fleet
in the Antarctic during the last week of December," Watson said.
"This time, with the new ship," Watson continued, "they
can't lose us. If they can't shake us off, I am pretty confident we
can stop them. If they get violent toward us, I suppose it could
get very physical. We are quite willing to instigate an
international incident over this," Watson declared.
Watson said earlier that the Sea Shepherds would also have
the Farley Mowat in Antarctic waters, the vessel that was shadowing
the Nisshin Maru on January 8, 2006 when the Japanese factory ship
collided with the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise.
Greenpeace spokesperson Sara Holden, in Amsterdam,
indicated that Greenpeace would again deploy the Arctic Sunrise and
the Esperanza, the same two ships that it used to follow the
Japanese whalers in 2005-2006. As of mid-December, however, the
Arctic Sunrise was in the Baltic Sea, at almost the opposite end of
the globe, and the Esperanza was off Baja California.
--Merritt Clifton

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

View this now....www.flightofthehumpback.org

Nadja — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:07:08 GMT

Hey All...
....Just returned from an amazing trip up north, to Frazer Island-Hervey Bay, here in Australia.
Check out the weekly raw footage/preview clips for the "Flight Of The Humpback" film due for release soon.
I had the most amazing time with the Whales, Dolphins and Beautiful crew....Life is expanding for me now, in so many Beautiful ways....
....watch these clips #'s 4&5....Enjoy my song....the peace of the Whales....and magical sights of our Oceanic Brothers and Sisters.

Peace...

* Nadja ~ OM Shanti *

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Video from last years protest

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 14:56:08 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMDcKRpRl8o

There are more to be made but I wanted to get at least one ready.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Who's around?

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 22:39:43 GMT

Just wondering how many people are tarcking this tribe and would participate if some action was happening. Chontler? Starfish? All of you....shall we attempt to make some noise again???? Maybe we try something new???

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

SECOND ANNUAL DOLPHIN RALLY

serda — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:30:38 GMT

Hello all!! I just stumbled on this coalition and I would like to remind everyone that the 2006 dolphin rally is slowly approaching (September 20). I am in charge of organizing the rally in DC. Below is the info for the DC rally as well a listing of other participating cities. Please tell your friends and come on out!!

HELP STOP THE SLAUGHTER!

It's time for the annual rally against Japan's dolphin slaughter and we NEED your help!! Here are the details:

WHAT: An international day of protest to urge Japanese authorities to ban annual dolphin slaughters.

WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 at noon.

WHERE: Japanese Embassy; 2520 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. (1/2 mile NW of Dupont Circle Metro station).

WHY: Japanese fishermen BRUTALLY chase and KILL approximately 20,000 dolphins and small whales every year. This is the largest massacre of these animals anywhere in the world, and it is causing a systematic serial depletion of dolphin species. The fishermen say they kill the dolphins as a form of "pest control." They say the dolphins eat too many fish, so they are simply eradicating the competition. These days, the hunts are also used to supply a select few dolphins to marine theme parks that pay tens of thousands of dollars for capturing star attractions.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please come!! Mark this date on your calendar. Bring friends, family, coworkers, etc. Post fliers around your campus/community. Check out www.savetaijidolphins.org for more info.

** Please send me an email if you can help/make it (or if you have any questions) **

THANK YOU !!

Other venues include:

North America: Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver;

Europe: Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris, Rome, Stockholm;

Central and South America: Mexico City;

Asia/Pacific: Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taipei,Waikiki.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 4 replies

The Dolphin Embassy comes to Malibu, June 3rd, 2006

Dolphin_Embassy — Tue, 30 May 2006 01:23:57 GMT

The Dolphin Embassy comes to Malibu

Ambassadors Scott Taylor and Amanda Hain from The Dolphin Embassy in Bryon Bay, Australia will be presenting a multi-media event with topics sure to interest California residents-- scientific, therapeutic, political, and spiritual-- describing work going on around the world about our extraordinary and vital link to the People of the Sea: @ Wright's Ranch, 24680 Piuma Rd, Malibu, from 7:00 til 10:00pm. Tickets $20 at the door, and $35 for couples.

The Dolphin Embassy's highly acclaimed multi-media presentation has video clips, animations, unique images, music, dolphin sounds, and live narration.

YOU WILL SEE AND HEAR THE BEAUTY OF THE DOLPHIN AND WHALE WORLD AS NEVER BEFORE

The Dolphin Embassy was started by an Australian and an American, Amanda and Scott, who have spent over 25 years studying and working with dolphins.

Scott is the author of "Souls in the Sea: Dolphins, Whales, and Human Destiny", published by Frog Ltd, Berkeley 2003. He is also the founding Director of the Cetacean Studies Institute, a research and education organisation based in Byron Bay.

Amanda, a trained counsellor, is the Director of the Dolphin EDventures Wellness Program in Coff's Harbour, Australia. The Wellness program is designed for adults to be able to have up-close and intimate contact with dolphins in a safe environment. The program offers "non-clinical, self-directed therapy", and has been helping people for over three years.

The Dolphin Embassy has been invited to bring the voice of the dolphins to the United Nations. "This is an extraordinary moment in history, when the other highly intelligent, socially sophisticated, language-using mammals with whom we share this world are able to take their rightful place among the community of nations--as the Cetacean Nation", says Scott Taylor.

Please pass this on to your lists.

see www.dolphintale.com for more information.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

Convincing the world not to eat fish

veganesh — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:43:20 GMT

Convincing the world not to eat fish is one of the best
ways to help dolphins

http://www.fishinghurts.com
http://www.network54.com/forum/460325
http://www.worldanimalnet.org

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

Some Uplifting News

crystalioness — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 07:38:13 GMT

Check out this BBC article...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4464784.stm

Blessings To Everyone Involved In This Struggle, Including Out Special Dolphin Friends...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 6 replies

more self glorifying (LIES) from the VANCOUVER aquarium...

Mon, 20 Feb 2006 20:12:54 GMT

From: Annelise Sorg
To: Coalition For No Whales In Captivity
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 8:46 AM
Subject: ACTION ALERT: please write to the North Shore Outlook

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR, PLEASE!!!

Read this nauseating article (SEE BELOW) on the aquarium and Nightingale and PLEASE send the North Shore Outlook a letter exposing the lies.

1. NIghtingale says people didn't know about killer whales "until an injured killer whale was brought to a pen in Jericho Beach for rehabilitation" - "THE WHALE WAS "INJURED" BY A FREAKING HARPOON THAT WAS MEANT TO KILL HER SO SHE COULD BE USED AS A MODEL TO PRODUCE A PLASTIC REPLICA TO HANG AS ANOTHER DISPLAY AT THE VANCOUVER AQUARIUM. IT WAS THE VANCOUVER AQUARIUM THAT ORDERED THE WHALE SHOT DEAD AND WHEN SHE DIDN'T DIE, THEY DECIDED TO TOW HER TO VANCOUVER BY THE HARPOON LINE THROUGH ROUGH SEAS FOR 80 NAUTICAL MILES. SHE WAS CAGED AND PUT ON DISPLAY AND ONLY LIVED A MONTH IN CAPTIVITY. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAME OUT TO SEE HER AND THE INDUSTRY WAS BORN. THE AQUARIUM INDUSTRY DEVASTATED THE NOW HIGHLY ENDANGERED RESIDENT POPULATIONS OF ORCAS BY TAKING ALL THE YOUNG ONES INTO CAPTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE 60S AND 70s. THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE LIES THAT COME OUT OF THE AQUARIUM. THE WHALE WAS NOT "INJURED" SHE WAS HARPOONED BY THE AQUARIUM!!!!

2. THE VA IS NOT A "SELF-SUPPORTING" STRUGLING NON-PROFIT!!!
THE VA BUILDINGS WERE PAID FOR AND CONTINUE TO BE PAID FOR BY GENEROUS GRANTS FROM THE GOVERNMENT COURTESY OF CANADIAN TAXPAYERS. The reason the aquarium keeps whales in captivity is for profit. The aquarium takes in over $20 million a year, and that's just the "non-profit" society. The “for-profit” businesses are all called Vancouver Aquarium something: Vancouver Aquarium Ltd., Vancouver Aquarium Marketing Ltd., Vancouver Aquarium Consulting Ltd, etc. The same name is used for their businesses operating in the US. Most of the directors of these companies are people who are now or have before, served as directors of the Executive Board of the Vancouver Public Aquarium Association, the "non-profit" society. Of course this is all legal, but is it moral?

3. "During his reign the aquarium has seen many firsts, such as the first beluga whale in Canada to be conceived and born in captivity. " HOW ABOUT TELLING US ABOUT THE BABY BELUGA THAT WAS CONCEIVED IN THE WILD AND DIED IN CAPTIVITY AFTER HIS MOTHER WAS CAPTURED PREGNANT. AND HOW ABOUT THE OTHER BABY BELUGA THAT SUDDENLY DIED AT 3 YEARS OLD LAST YEAR? AND WHAT ABOUT THE THREE ORCA BABIES THAT DIED IN THAT FACILITY? NO MENTION OF ALL OF THEM, OF COURSE.

The only thing we can do to help the whales is protest and there is no better way to do that than to write letters. Whenever you see anything in the news about the VA - PLEASE WRITE - and send us a copy!

Many thanks,

Annelise Sorg annelise@direct.ca

COALITION FOR NO WHALES IN CAPTIVITY

www.nowhalesincaptivity.org

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NORTH SHORE OUTLOOK
editor; newsroom@northshoreoutlook.com

Coffee With ...

Rob Newell photo
LIFE IN A FISH BOWL - Vancouver Aquarium President and CEO Dr. John Nightingale with the Stanley Park facility's star attraction, beluga whale Quila.

By JENNIFER MALONEY Staff Reporter
Feb 16 2006
Dr. John Nightingale has a job most kindergarten students envy.
Each day that he bikes from his Ambleside home to his Stanley Park office, the Vancouver Aquarium president is exposed to a world most children only know through cartoon depictions of Nemo's adventures. But Nightingale didn't aspire to run Canada's largest underwater attraction when he was in primary school.
In fact, where he grew up in a small town in Eastern Oregon, there wasn't even an aquarium. There was however, a connection to the natural world, something he says is missing in most big cities.
"It was a great edge-of-country upbringing," he explains from an office chair. "I think [that connection with nature] is something that's greatly reduced in cities, particularly. Two hundred years ago you had to know about nature to get dinner or you were dinner.
"Today most kids think food comes from a factory or the grocery store. The fact that the food they're eating was living doesn't even register."
That severed connection to nature is what Vancouver's aquarium is trying to mend, he says, but in a city where animal activists are more vocal than most, Nightingale admits it's been a challenge to get the non-profit organization's vision out to the public. Particularly through a media that thrives on controversy.
"I'd be the happiest person in the world if we didn't need animals in captivity," he asserts. "But we do because we as a human race are making a mess out of nature. The aquarium is a connection for people for learning and awareness."
Nightingale entered his field the way many great people do - by accident. As a grad student at the University of Washington, he acted as a tour guide for the on-campus salmon hatchery. The fact that most salmon reproduce only once and then die a week later was a footnote in Nightingale's marine curriculum, but for the tourists he shared this knowledge with, the scaly creatures became nothing short of heroic.
"It was just amazing for me, what I took for granted, other people were fascinated by," he recalls.
"The whole power of the connection, that's where all that came from."
But grad school was opening his mind to another concept. As he soaked in literature about biological systems, Nightingale started to see parallels in the operations of organizations. He began to view the world as a collection of inter-connected systems. The epiphany impelled him to switch studies from biological to organizational systems.
Out of school, Nightingale found work with a firm that designed the Seattle Aquarium. Young and admittedly less tactful than he is today, Nightingale was vocally critical of the attraction's operations. In the end his irrepressible remarks landed him a job as first curator of the aquarium.
"I was on about the sorry state of the aquarium," he recalls. "It was basically like home fish-keeping. I would've expected them to be operating with science, but they weren't."
At the time only two cities, Tacoma and Vancouver, kept sea otters in their aquariums. However, both were unsuccessful in keeping the mammals alive, let alone reproducing them.
Nightingale spent time studying the otters in Vancouver until the problem was discovered. Sea otters have no fat, but the world's thickest animal fur. Their lush coats repel water and prevent them from freezing. However, the aquariums were feeding the sea otters rich fish and seafoods, which left oil residue on the water's surface. Once the oil penetrated through their fur, water could seep in and like any human in fresh water, they froze. The discovery prompted aquariums to bring in tools to skim the oil off the water's surface.
"There wasn't as much information about animals," Nightingale explains. "People still thought killer whales were dangerous."
That was until an injured killer whale was brought to a pen in Jericho Beach for rehabilitation - an event Nightingale credits for changing how Vancouverites viewed the mammal.
"People are so disconnected now from nature," he says.
"That's really the aquarium's primary role, to be the bridge to the natural world."
But Nightingale himself was becoming accustomed to city life. The Seattle job had led him to take another position at an aquarium in New York where the small town scientist was introduced to tuxedo fundraisers at Tiffany's. However, his vision of life allowed him to make sense of the new culture.
"If you wanted to, you could look at Manhattan like an eco-society," he says. "Who eats who?"
New York had energy, but it was like living in a movie, Nightingale explains. So when he heard Vancouver Aquarium founder Dr. Murray Newman was retiring he didn't wait for the job posting.
"Wild horses wouldn't keep me from the West Coast," he says. "I always thought living in New York was temporary. When you grow up in the outdoors you like to ski and bike. Some of those things are hard to do in New York."
It's been 12 years since Nightingale took over as president of what has become one of the largest self-supporting non-profit organizations in Canada. During his reign the aquarium has seen many firsts, such as the first beluga whale in Canada to be conceived and born in captivity.
Last year more than 38,000 people also took part in the TD Canada Trust Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, which was initiated by the aquarium. The annual operating budget has tripled to $20 million over the years and its new Discovery Entertainment Centre, a 55,000 square foot addition of classrooms, theatres and work spaces, is scheduled to open in October.
"Do I think we've made as much progress in sustaining nature's ecosystem as possible?" he asks. "No. But I'm an eternal optimist. I always think we can get more done than we can."
Yesterday, the aquarium unveiled its new logo in celebration of its 50th anniversary and with it a vision for the future (check out vanaqua.org).
"We're going to push harder to try and help people understand their role and what they can do," Nightingale reveals. "That's everything we're going to be doing in the next decade. If we manage to engage you and get into your heart and into your mind to be a part of the solution for preserving our amazing natural world in Canada, then we've done our job."

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Animal Rights Links.. and Japan's Treatment Of Dolphins

veganesh — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:48:34 GMT

Japan has allowed fishermen to knife dolphins in the water
and is requesting to kill double last year's several hundred whales
God in each of you.. stop them

ANIMAL RIGHTS LINKS: A BEGINNING LIST

Directories
http://www.worldanimalnet.org 20,000 links
http://www.ivu.org
http://www.navs-online.org/
Animal Rights Vegetarian And Vegan Groups:
http://www.earthsave.org
http://www.vrg.org
http://www.veganoutreach.org/index.html
http://www.vegan.com
http://www.vegan.org
http://www.vegan.net/
http://www.vegsource.com
http://veganic.net/currentissue.htm
http://www.veganquest.com/
http://www.vegweb.com
http://www.veggie.org
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan.htm
http://vegweb.com/nutrition/
http://sugarrocket.com/vegan/vegan-myths.php
http://www.veganhealth.org/sh/
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/ Compassion Over Killing
http://www.govegwi.com/ Wisconsin
http://www.vivavegie.org NYC
http://www.egroups.com/messages/vegan
http://www.egroups.com/messages/vegans
http://www.egroups.com/messages/vegan2
http://www.egroups.com/messages/vegans2
http://www.farmsanctuary.org
http://www.peta.net
http://www.lcanimal.org
http://www.idausa.org
http://www.ddal.org/
http://fund.org
Animal Rights News
http://groups.msn.com/welcometoaworldwedontsee Susan Roghair
http://www.animalconcerns.org
http://www.animalpeoplenews.org Kim Bartlett & Merritt Clifton
http://groups.msn.com/ar9
http://www.dawnwatch.com
http://www.vgt.at/ Austria
http://vegnews.com/veggieawards_2005.html
http://veganic.net/currentissue.htm
http://www.egroups.com/messages/animal-life
http://www.egroups.com/messages/arn9
http://www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/pr_home.htm
Bears:
http://www.animalsasia.org/
http://www.freethebears.org.au/projects/letters/jiang.htm
http://www.bearprotectionnetwork.org/
http://www.wspa.ca/bearbile/bearbile7.html
http://www.chinatoday.com/gov/a.htm (has addresses of Chinese Officials)
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=117581 petition
http://www.marylandbears.com (NY, PA, NJ allow bear murdering)
Beginners it's easier than you might think
http://www.goveg.com
Birds:
http://www.brooklynparrots.com/
http://www.audubon.org
Blogs
http://www.ingridnewkirk.com
Blood Sports: Cockfighting Ban
http://www.teentalknetwork.com/gif/cockfighting.jpg
http://www.hsus.org
Books Online
http://www.highvibrations.org/archive3/veg.htm online vegan bk
http://www.flashback.se/archive/ar_man.html 176 questions answered
http://www.sumeria.net/health/prism.html antivisection book
Boycotts
http://www.kfccruelty.com
http://www.iamscruelty.com/ (Procter and Gamble)
http://www.lobsterlib.com re Canada seals: Red Lobster and Olive Garden
Campaigns
http://www.petlibrary.com/goldfish/walmart.htm
http://www.shac.net/ Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
http://www.poetwill.org working against Ohio State micespine breaking
http://www.pcrm.org lawsuit against Ohio State for micespine breaking
http://www.pcrm.org 1 by 1 medical schools are eliminating live animals
http://www.mcspotlight.org 15 year trial.. London Greenpeace
http://www.arkangelweb.org focusing on Oxford's labs etc
http://www.harpseals.org Canada's shame
http://www.meatout.org
http://www.wfad.org
http://friendsofanimals.org/ Connecticut parakeets
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/newsletter/foiegras.htm Forcefeeding
http://www.rso.cornell.edu/ccad/ Stop Primate Research, Frogpithing etc
http://www.VictoriasDirtySecret.net destroying animal habitat forest
http://www.kleercut.net/en destroying animal habitat for Kleenex
Cats:
http://www.vegancats.com
http://www.veggiepets.com/
http://www.poetwill.org (OSU giving cats aids)
Chickens:
http://www.upc-online.org
Children and Humane Education:
http://www.hennet.org/home.html
Circuses
http://www.circuses.com/
Clothing:
not all of these are totally vegan but all provide vegan options
http://vegweb.com/shopping/
http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/
http://www.peopletree.co.uk
http://www.bishopstontrading.co.uk
http://www.traidcraft.co.uk
http:// www.ethicalwares.co.uk
http://www.veganwares.com/
Colleges:
http://www.peta2.com/COLLEGE/index.asp
http://www.animalactivist.com (for students of life and paying students)
http://www.urveg.org Univ of Rochester.. petition drive
Communities:
http://www.thefarm.org Summertown Tenn 38483
Companion Animal Diet Vegetarian and Vegan Pets
http://www.madcowboy.com/02_VeganPets.html
http://www.vegetariandogs.com/
http://www.vegancats.com
http://www.vegancats.com/pages/1007/FAQ.htm
http://www.pcrm.org
http://www.veganpet.com.au/whyvegan1.htm
http://ami.aminews.net/
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/animals/care/cats/
Dairy Problems
http://www.notmilk.com
http://www.milksucks.com
Deer:
http://www.sharkonline.org/deerkills.mv
Direct Action
(not an endorsement of the burning
of any human animal insect bird or plant)
http://www.directaction.info/
http://www.animalliberationpressoffice.org/
http://www.wfad.org/images/events/VGLSmithArrest5Wa.jpg
http://www.barryhorne.org
http://www.directaction.info/
http://animalliberationfront.com/
http://www.houstonanimalrights.com/photoalbum2001-wendysprotest.html
Dogs: Puppy Mills
http://www.prisonersofgreed.org/petstore-protests.html
http://www.roxievideo.com/html/borntodie_video.htm (dog auschwitz)
http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/banmines/schools/xafgh.asp
dogs blown apart in Afghanistan
Ducks
http://www.wakefieldanimalrights.com/duck_liberation.wmv
Education
http://www.animalsandsociety.org/
Elephants:
http://www.savewildelephants.com
Environment
Env. Devastation of Factory Farms http://www.hogwatch.org
Habitat Preservation:
http://www.sierraclub.org
http://www.ran.org
http://www.planttrees.org
No Dead Holiday Trees: http://www.elements.nb.ca/pub/forum/winter/trees.htm
Nonmowing: http://dontmow.blogspot.com
http://www.epa.gov (supportive briefs to fight compulsory mowing)
Rainforest
http://www.ran.org
http://www.gci.ch/ Green Cross Int'l founded by Mikhail Gorbachev
http://www.greens.org
http://www.earthisland.org
Factory Farming: End I
http://factoryfarming.com/
http://www.factoryfarm.org/
http://www.ciwf.org.uk
http://www.farmusa.org
http://www.upc-online.org
http://www.eggcruelty.com
http://www.egroups.com/messages/buckeye18
http://www.wfad.org
http://www.farmedanimal.net/infoindex.shtml
http://www.mercyforanimals.org
http://www.hogwatchmanitoba.org
Famous Veg
http://www.famousveggie.com
Feminists and Ecofeminists:
Farmers' Markets Facilitate Vegan Diet
http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm
Film Cruelty
http://www.americanhumane.com
Films Online
http://www.themeatrix.com/
http://www.vivausa.org/visualmedia/videos.html Adidas using kangaroo
skins
http://www.petatv.com
http://www.xxxexpose.com/ link between violence to animals & humans
Films And Videos For Sale
http://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?number=VP502&variation=&aitem=1&mitem=1
Fishes Can't Scream
http://www.fishinghurts.com
Food Distribution In Emergencies
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/ vegan
http://www.fflvrindavan.org/ veg. not vegan
http://www.sathyasai.org
http://www.adra.org SDA vegan relief but hospitals do vivisection
http://www.ammachi.org vegetarian..much relief but gave money for new fishing boats after flooding
Forums:
http://www.envirolink.org/forum/index.php
http://www.animalsuffering.com/forum
http://www.zogby.com
http://www.veganforum.com
http://www.libertyforum.org
http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/
http://engforum.pravda.ru
http://allnurses.com/forums/
http://www.itshappening.com
http://www.happycow.net/forum/index.php
http://www.petshub.com/forums/
http://forums.petfinder-network.com/
http://tribes.tribe.net/animalrights
http://tribes.tribe.net/ar9
http://www.quicktopic.com/27/H/KttUWSWiL2L Wisconsin Veg list
http://www.dogster.com/
Fruitarian Links: Plant Rights And Consciousness
http://fruitarians.blogspot.com
http://www.fruitarian.com
http://spot.acorn.net/fruitarian
http://www.rawtimes.com (not necessarily plant-respecting)
http://dontmow.blogspot.com 50 reasons not to mow
http://www.epa.gov (Chicago office has legal brief for
people fighting compulsory mowing)
http://www.inq7.net/lif/2003/jun/24/lif_22-1.htm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106...32a4560,00.html
http://www.randomterrain.com/possib...egetarians.html
http://ar.vegnews.org/what_if_plants_feel_pain.html
http://www.gardenseeker.com/do_plan...e_feelings_.htm
http://www.everything2.org/index.pl?node_id=1137988
Fur Dismantling:
http://www.caft.org.uk
http://www.furkills.org
http://www.caafgroup.com
http://www.furfreeaction.org
http://www.animalactivist.com/groupofmonth.asp
Geese
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/newsletter/foiegras.htm Forcefeeding
http://www.pghfoiegras.com
Holidays and Holy Days: http://www.totalliberation.co.uk/turkey/turkeys/index.html
Horses
http://www.chai-online.org working to end Israeli horseracing
http://equineprotectionnetwork.com/press/paperhorse.htm
(slaughtered)
Humane Societies:
http://www.hsus.org
http://www.cfhs.ca/teachers/humane_education_links/ Canad. Fed of HS
http://www.peta.net/feat/military
Hunter Exposes:
http://www.huntsabs.org.uk/
http://cobalt0.stm.it/efah/ Europ. Fed Against Hunting
Interfaith
Buddhist:
http://www.plumvillage.org
http://www.dalailama.com kept KFC out of Tibet
http://members.tripod.com/anatta0/L1-Geen-Diet.htm
Trapping: End It
Christian
http://www.christianveg.com
http://www.all-creatures.org
http://www.jesusveg.com
http://groups.msn.com/catholicveg
http://www.compassionatespirit.com
http://www.jesusveg.com
http://groups.msn.com/christianveg
http://www.matthewscully.com
http://www.ldsveg.org
www.ivu.org/history/christian/christ_veg.html by Ted Alter
also
http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/theclabackground.stm Paul's Veg
http://www.adventist.org promote vegan diet as church
but hospitals vivisect
http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Philosophy/Religion/Early%20Christian%20Vegetarians.htm
Bible Quotes:
http://www.thenazareneway.com/index_vegetarian.htm
http://www.thenazareneway.com/Biblic...esh_Eating.htm
http://www.thenazareneway.com/biblic...enis_giron.htm
http://www.thenazareneway.com/thou_shalt_not_kill.htm
Jain
http://www.egroups.com/mesages/meatfreezone
Jewish:
http://jewishveg.com
http://www.jewishveg.com/schwartz/
http://www.chai-online.org
http://www.egroups.com/messages/jewishvegans
www.ivu.org/jvs
Hindu
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.sathyasai.org
Muslim Vegetarians
http://www.bmf.org Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
http://sss.vn.ua/sb_mm.htm
http://ipaki.com/content/html/28/1203.html Muslim
vegetarians
http://www.ivu.org/news/1-96/muslim.html
http://www.islamveg.com
http://www.crescentlife.com/dietnut...ian_muslims.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Muslim-Vegetarians/
http://www.allaahuakbar.net/jain/religious.htm
http://www.islamicconcern.com
http://members.aol.com/yahyam/muslim_vegetarian.html
http://www.veda.harekrsna.cz/bhaktiyoga/islamveg.htm
http://www.veg.ca/newsletr/janfeb96/Islam_recipes.html
http://www.islamicconcern.com/fatwas.asp
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video...r=wm&speed=_med
http://www.answers.com/topic/druze The Druze are Muslim
vegetarians of Lebanon. One wellknown vegan Druze is Casey
Kasem.
http://www.saibaba.org/ The Saint of Shirdi who left his
body in 1918 is revered by Muslims and nonMuslims
http://www.saibaba.org/saisatc.html is an online book
about the Saint of Shirdi
http://www.saibaba.ws/teachings/quranicmyths/sbqm.htm
http://engforum.pravda.ru type in Islamic Vegetarians in search
Kangaroos:
http://compassionatetraveler.org/art/2003-09-03.htm
Lab Animal Freedom:
http://www.columbiacruelty.com
http://www.animalliberationfront.com/slideshow4.htm
http://www.envirolink.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1259
http://www.pcrm.org/resch/anexp/chimps.html
http://www.stopanimaltests.com
http://www.sumeria.net/health/prism.html
http://civitas.com
http://www.primatefreedom.com
http://www.ippl.org
http://www.shac.net/
http://uk.indymedia.org
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/topic/animalrights/
http://www.neavs.org
http://www.navs.org
http://www.aavs.org
http://www.war-online.org/ has an update on the divestiture of
Huntingdon Life Sciences stock
http://www.peta.net/feat/military
http://www.banpoundseizure.org
Lab Research: Humane Alternatives
http://www.drhadwentrust.f2s.com/J_FS-RP_ResProjects2005.html
Law
http://www.aldf.org
Lawsuits:
http://www.hsus.org/in_the_courts/
http://www.pcrm.org
Legislation: http://www.hsus.org
Life Ins. Discounts To Vegetarians:
http://www.vegblog.org/archive/2002_03_01_archive.php
Links Lists
http://www.greenpeople.org/animalrights.htm
http://www.animalinks.net/home.html
http://www.envirolink.org
http://www.campaigningforanimals.co.uk/links.htm
http://www.banbloodsports.com/links.htm
http://www.earthsave.org/links.htm
http://www.mathaba.net/www/animal/
http://www.dmoz.org
http://groups.msn.com/arlinks
Lobsters
http://www.lobsterlib.com
Mad Cow Mad Pig Mad Sheep Mad Fish Mad Chicken Mad Deer etc Links
http://www.envirolink.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1260
Magazines Online
http://www.satyamag.com/feb05/glickman.html
Mailing Lists
Mice:
http://www.pcrm.org suing OSU for breaking mice spines
Military Abuse of Animals
http://www.peta.net/feat/military
Nonviolence Link: Humans And Animals
http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php
Organic
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://www.allorganiclinks.com/
Organic Vegetarian Restaurants
UK
http://www.manna-veg.com/ world class... London
http://www.thegate.tv/
http://www.marlborough-house.net/ One of the most
beautiful restaurant structures in the world
http://thephoenixorganic.com/ another sweet setting
http://www.freshorganics.biz/ Vegan pastries.. not sure if a veg.rest.
http://www.theorganicjuiceco.co.uk/ Juice Bar
US
http://www.lunahsea.com/ Geneseo NY.. near the no mammal
eating Trappist monastery
Peace Prevents The Bombing of Animals
http://www.publicintegrity.org/pns/ see who are making $ from cruelty
Physicians
http://www.pcrm.org
http://www.drgreger.org/ http://www.veganmd.org
http://www.geocities.com/athens/agora/7732/meat.html Parrett
http://www.vegsource.com/harris/cancer_vegdiet.htm Harris
http://www.goveganradio.com Dr Jerry Vlasak LA Surgeon and AR
http://www.drday.com
http://www.springerlink.com/(sjeczx34xdcqmyyn0l33h3jw)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,11,15;journal,3,39;linkingpublicationresults,1:400150,1
http://www.vegsource.com/klaper/ vegan lectures on impotence and
animal fat
http://www.christianveg.com articles by Stephen Kaufman, MD
http://news.adventist.org/data/2001/06/0995375716/index.html.en
Adventists longest lived community in US.. Ellen White said to be vegan
Physician Exposes:
http://www.envirolink.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1264
Pictures of Animals Suffering
http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/21713.php
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/11/329348.shtml
http://www.all-creatures.org/wlalw/pics.html
http://cleveland.indymedia.org/news/2005/11/17953.php
http://www.envirolink.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17127
http://groups.msn.com/vc18/pics.msnw
http://www.animalrightsmedia.com/
http://www.animalsrighttolifewebsite.com/
http://www.sos-magots.com/ monkey with skullcap removed?
http://www.menzelphoto.com/gallery/big/agriculture8.htm
http://groups.msn.com/ar9/shoebox.msnw
http://www.awpc.org.au/campaigns/rooheads.jpg 6 million a year
http://www.defendingfarmanimals.org/pictures.htm
http://fortheloveofanimals.bravepag...xperiments.html
http://www.endtrap.org/pictures.php?Understand=Yes
http://www.wvec.com/news/local/mcchicken_head.htm
http://www.animalliberationfront.com/slideshow4.htm
http://ohio.tribe.net/veganesh/photos
http://www.animalrightsmedia.com
http://www.animalsvoice.com/PAGES/features/roos.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/wlalw/media-20040421.html
most of the following websites are from Andy G
www.hsus.org/ace/14622
http://h4ha.org/stopcruelty
http://www.animaladvocacy.net/legacy_abuse.html
http://www.animalsrighttolifewebsit...l%20Failure.htm
http://www.animalsvoice.com/PAGES/archive.html
http://www.aapn.org/endangered.html
http://www.betrayed.org.uk/
http://www.boycottohsu.com/tax-waste.html
http://www.bushmeat-campaign.net/engsite/index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/...homaston89.html
http://www.cok.net/camp/exhibit/intro.php
http://www.defendingfarmanimals.org/investigations.htm
http://www.defendingfarmanimals.org/pictures.htm
http://www.factoryfarming.com/gallery.htm
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/newsletter/foiegras.htm
http://www.fox5atlanta.com/iteam/bred.html
http://www.freefarmanimals.org/gallery/index.htm
http://www.freetheanimals.homestead.com/photos.html
http://www.freetheanimals.homestead.com/photos.html
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest...51/gallery.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHil...09/gallery.html
http://www.graphicwitness.org/coe/factory.htm
http://www.greyhounds.org/gpl/contents/proof.html
http://www.hfa.org/photo/index.html
http://www.isecruelty.com/photos.php
http://www.isecruelty.com/videos.php
http://www.koreananimals.org/cats_p1.htm
http://www.koreananimals.org/dogs_p1.htm
http://www.theminx.com/iss4vol2/cruelty.htm
http://www.nodowners.org/gallery/index.htm
http://www.novivisezione.org/mostra/index_en.htm
http://www.novivisezione.org/mostra/index_en.htm
http://www.pet-abuse.com/database/
http://www.petadvantage.net/mypet/r...Real_World.html
http://www.peta.org/feat/film/
http://www.petatv.com/
http://www.quovadimus.org/spain99/toro/
http://www.sharkonline.org/
http://www.slaughterhousecam.com/
http://www.helpsleddogs.org/dogdrag.html
http://members.tripod.com/acos2/
http://www.upc-online.org/molting/
http://www.upc-online.org/merchandi..._factsheet.html
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/kgaedin.../picsmills.html
http://www.honorandnonviolence.com/main.htm
http://www.animalsvoice.com/PAGES/archive.html
Poetry:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1133/animalpoems/bees.html
http://www.postpoems.com/members/ar
http://groups.msn.com/av/avpoetry.msnw
http://www.network54.com/Forum/291522/thread/1130963564/last-1130963564/animal+poems
Primates:
http://www.ippl.org
http://primatefreedom.com/
http://www.primateresearch.com/
http://www.stopanimaltests.com/pdfs/wca_primate_resolution.pdf
Prisoners Of Conscience:
http://www.vpsg.org
http://www.supportpeter.com/
Prisons: Vegan Food (2 million prisoners in the most punishing nation)
Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Educators
http://psyeta.org/
Publicizing Pickets, Lectures, Vigils etc.
http://protest.net/add_an_event.html
Quotes:
http://www.stopanimaltests.com/pdfs/CS_Lewis_on_Vivisection.pdf
Radio:
http://www.goveganradio.com/ as well as radio shows in NH and TX
Recipes.. 46 Vegan Recipe Links
http://www.envirolink.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1273
Regional
Austria:
http://www.vgt.at/
Australia:
http://www.savethesheep.com
http://www.animalliberationqld.org.au/
http://www.vnv.org.au/ Vegetarian Network
http://www.veg-soc.org/ Australian Veg. Soc.
Canada:
http://www.harpseals.org
http://www.spca.bc.ca/100milehouse/
http://abbeycats.org/
http://www.spca.bc.ca/abbotsford/
http://www.actionagainstpuppymills.zoomshare.com/
http://www.actionvolunteersforanimals.com/
http://www.adoptananimal.ca/
http://www.adopt-a-chimp.com/
http://www.adopt-a-greyhound.com/info.html
http://www.adoptapet.lucknow.on.ca/
http://www.spca.bc.ca/alberni/
Israel:
http://www.chai-online.org
Italy
Novivisezione.org
Korea
http://www.koreananimals.org
Portugal
http://www.acafrao.com/ Portugal
Switzerland
http://www.civitas.com
UK
http://uk.indymedia.org
http://www.buav.org
http://www.rspca.org
US
AR: http://www.lastchancearkansas.org/
CA:
http://www.sfbaveg.org
CT:
http://www.friendsofanimals.org
GA:
http://www.savannah-humane.com/
HW
http://www.animalrightshawaii.com/
MD
http://www.marylandbears.com
MA:
http://www.massachusettsanimalrights.com/news/
http://www.mspca.org
http://www.egroups.com/messages/veganmass
MT
http://www.madcowboy.com
NJ:
http://protectnjanimals.com/
NY
http://www.columbiacruelty.com
http://www.vivavegie.org
http://www.animaldefense.info/ Long Isl.
http://www.aspca.org not yet a no kill shelter
http://www.acauseforpaws.com/
http://www.wetlands-preserve.org/
http://www.adkhs.org/home.htm
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/NY61.html
http://www.adoptadog.org/
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/NJ05.html
http://www.akitarescuewny.com/
http://www.all-creatures.org/
http://www.civitas.com
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/
http://www.navs-online.org
http://www.canines.com/rescue/
http://www.geocities.com/angelpawsrescue/
http://www.aspca.org,
OH
http://www.poetwill.org
http://www.mercyforanimals.org
http://www.egroups.com/messages/ohioanimalrightsnetwork
http://www.egroups.com/messages/ohiovegans
OR
http://portland.indymedia.org
PA
http://www.pghfoiegras.com
http://www.veganoutreach.org
TN
http://www.thefarm.org
TX
http://www.houstonanimalrights.com
WI
http://www.govegwi.com/ Wisconsin
Rats
Rescue International
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/
Restaurants
http://www.happycow.net/
http://www.vegdining.com
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net
http://www.eatveg.com
http://www.acafrao.com/ Portugal
Rodeo:
http://www.anti-rodeo.org/thePeople.htm Europ. Anti Rodeo
Sanctuaries: Turn Pounds Into True Shelters
http://www.bfasfarm.com Colorado
http://lapaw.org/gaschamber.htm Louisiana
http://www.farmsanctuary.org New York
http://www.primarilyprimates.org/ Texas Primates
Scientists
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/f-w99/orthomolecular.html
Linus Pauling, only person to win 2 Nobel Prizes, one for peace
and one for neurotransmitters, vitamin C, etc.
Seals:
http://www.harpseals.org
Sheep:
http://www.savethesheep.com
Singles:
http://www.veggieconnection.com/?AC=1&KW=vegan_singles
http://www.veganmeetup.com
Slaughterhouses
http://www.wickedwendys.com/gaskilling.html
Soy:
http://www.soystache.com/
Sports:
http://members.tripod.com/anatta0/L1-Geen-Diet.htm
http://veggie.org/veggie/famous.veg.athletes.shtml
Trapping: End It
http://www.endtrap.org
http://www.caft.org.uk
Thanksgiving 2006: Turkey Freedom Day
http://www.gentlethanksgiving.org
http://www.goveg.com
http://www.tofurky.com
http://www.mercyforanimals.org
Vegquotes
http://engforum.pravda.ru search for vegquotes
http://spot.acorn.net/av/avquotes.html
Veterinarians: (these are not meat inspector or vivisector vets)
www.avar.org
Whales
http://www.greenpeace.org
http://www.cousteau.org
http://www.seashepherd.org
http://members.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=72
Wildlife Protection:
http://www.defenders.org
Zoos
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zoo10.htm
http://www.keithewolf.com/
Envirolink Threads:
http://www.envirolink.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1259 Methusaleh Diet
BSE Diseases:
http://www.cwd-info.org/index.php/f...ffb122b1992753d
http://www.madcowboy.com
http://www.maddeer.org
http://www.mad-cow.org
PETITIONS:
http://www.petitiononline.com/lovepigs Approx. 2700 have signed
re Clear Channel animal torture
http://endtrap.org/petition.php
http://www.urveg.org
http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=474 (easy to
send several letters)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/905007036 adoption of mil.dogs
QUOTES
http://www.petsinpastel.com/quotes.htm
http://www.quotesland.com the animals category
http://www.catquotes.com/catquotes1.htm
http://spot.acorn.net/av/avquotes.html out of date address
REFERENCE TOOLS:
http://www.answers.com (thank you Josh)
NEWSPAPER FORUMS:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newguide/index.shtml
http://forum.japantoday.com
MOVIES:
Who Killed The Chefs of Europe
Mondo Kane
Dr. Dolittle with Rex Harrison and Semantha Eggar
Dr Dolittle with Eddie Murphy
The Shooting Party
Free Willie
Project X (based on Dr Don Barnes resigning from Air Force over
primate radiation)
BOOKS:
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
Diet for A New America John Robbins (vegan heir of Baskin Robbins)
Fast Food Nation
Diet and Nutrition Rudolf Ballantine, MD
Diseases Of Food Animals Owen Parrett, MD
Free the Animals! The Untold Story of the U.S. Animal Liberation Front and Its Founder, ‘Valerie.’ - Ingrid Newkirk
Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, And Money (Paperback)
by Erik Marcus
Radical Vegetarianism Mark Braunstein
Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz
Vegetarian Alternative: Vic Sussman
Vegetarianism A Way Of Life by Dudley Giehl
--------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ANIMAL HARMERS
Nature Conservancy.. working with cattle abusers
Consumer Freedom .. funded by KFC and other butchers
http://www.fact.cc/ .. sells veal..
Wall St. Funds Vanguard, Fidelity, Citibank, Charles Schwab etc.
(Please suggest vegan funds)

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Clean Sweep Alert

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:57:55 GMT

This is an announcement to everyone in this tribe. There will be a Clean Sweep this Sunday night.

This means that you have a decision. This is switching gears to be a core working group of people who are doing work in regards to creating this Dolphin Protection Coalition.

No Lallygoogers, slackers, observers and lurkers. Anyone who says your in and want to continue and do something....say aye aye........anyone who does not indicate they wat to stay will be swept off the deck.

Time to go to phase 2. Each person who says they will work say how many hours you'll put in per week.

Energy was built up, then it receded...let's move it pass the level that keep sit out of the public eye. Everyone in Japan has to know of this issue and we are going to do our part.

We need at least 13 people...1 would be nice...minimum 5 hrs/week....

80 hrs a week and we can start to do something. We have some brilliantly talented people in this tribe. Lets put it together and make the team.

We have to tap into the energy wave thats coming in and focus in the right direction throuh the power of our shared thought.....

You are here because we share the same devotion to protecting our dolphin kin....let's bring it in...lets kick it up...tap into the energy field and ride it....

So I says to you....ere you one of the 16? Who's stepping on the court to play?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 44 replies

What Will We Do Right NOW??

totalextinction — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 06:01:42 GMT

We need to get moving on this, folks. This is important!!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

Lawsuit againt Navy

sixthsense — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 22:06:13 GMT

this hot off the press:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051019/ap_on_sc/sonar_whales

good start...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

post protest feedback

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 17:54:22 GMT

ok, so i thought i'd start a new thread for everyone who was involved in the protest, little or lots, doesn't matter, to post your thoughts on the experience. anyone who wasn't participating in any way, but has something to contribute, go right ahead! all comments welcome :-)

for me, it's hard to pace myself, as i'm always told to do. i act out of passion when the cause hits me so hard, right in the heart of my being...and i go go go, forgetting about everythning else, till the task is done...or i'm spent.

watching the tape, putting together the posters/flyers, staring at the bloody pics, really put me on a roller coaster. i cried that whole month, i was also healing whip lash and in a lot of pain to begin with. yet at the same time i felt incredibly real and connected, to those i worked with and to the earth. my daughter and i even went back to being vegetarian. i love animals, big small, dolphins and all...and i love fighting for a cause other then my own stuff. mostly i love the way a shared goal brings people together. this event demonstrated that for most part..for me anyway.

not being a very structured being, i'm an artist, and never putting together a protest, in such a short time too, was intense. our core vanc. group consisted of 5 very buisy people and so much needed to be done. i would have liked to see more join in, and was kinda dissapointed by the lack of passion from most individuals and overall vancouver community.

while i'm on this subject, i would like to thank those that did participate and contribute online and otherwise, and those here in vanc: william, captain, my family, woo, yvonne, the folks at 930 station studio, anthony marr, no whales in captivity, sea shepherd,ric for providing us with so much info, don with some sage advice...and many more...and the so many other folks that came out to support the dolphins, thank you!

next year, i would like to plan things out a bit more.
i think we did really well under the circumstances. we pulled it all together and had a very interesting protest, with the marching band and the dolphin death dance.

this part was exhausting. running around with a heavy mask on my head for 4 hrs was nuts. the reactions from people varied too, some were afraid and avoided me, the little kids however loved it. go figure.

the dance was so real, i felt incredible fear while the fishermen banged the poles together and surrounded us (3 dolphin dancers) if the fishermen played by our friends feels like that imagine what the real thing feels like to the dolphins.

so many people say, 'oh why don't they just jump past and swim away, they can do that...' they CANT! they are exhausted by that time. i fully understood this because i was part of that renactment...otherwise i probably wouldn't.

next yr i would like to be more prepared, rush less, try to balance things out a bit more, like taking better care of my body and soul, it's so important to be supported at a time like this...have more dinners/potlucks rather then everyone fending for themselves pretty much...and most important get the MEDIA to come to the protest! oh yah, stage the protest in a BUISY location, and co-ordinate the team that people have assigned tasks, rather then doing everything.

i know everyone was tied up this yr with the teacher's strike and the fact that the aquarium is expanding and does not want bad publicity, our timing with the media was bad.

we also missed the abc documentary. which i'm still wanting to get.
now what about the tape that was sent in??? i never got to see. is there a way? who's responsible for that?

i don't like the way we handled or more like did not handle things at the end of this. it feels like it did not have closure, feedback, something to show for what we did...things did not get wrapped up.

we dispearsed and moved on. i'd like to bring things back into the centre. still wating for some answers from captain...who i think might be trying to do the same?
what's up?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Permission

just4fun6464 — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 18:35:43 GMT

I have been looking for at least a year for a tattoo for my back, I have posted the description on several tribes for months now. I love the art that is used for this tribe, earth dolphins, and sky. I wanted to ask if anyone would object to me using this the foundation for my piece. So you know, Gaia would be added inside the earth as well as the constellations for our 3 children above the earth.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

Ric's blog from Taiji

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 20:44:05 GMT

updates:

http://www.earthisland.org/saveTaijiDolphins/weblog.html

looks like we missed the airing of abc's primetime, we were in a middle of a move. anyone seen it?
i'm gonna try to acquire a copy from abc..

hope you are all well (and managing the limited hrs of daylight in vancouver )

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Keep it up!

Bucky — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 15:27:01 GMT

This tribe is awesome. Dolphins are amazing animals!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Where be the captain?

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:24:21 GMT

Haven't heard a word from the man in the funny hat for a while yet. Sure hope the Japanese navy didn't make him walk the plank, har.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Go Rome!

sixthsense — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 19:47:18 GMT

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/10/25/italy.fishbowls.reut/index.html

small step in a positive direction...agree?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

want a scary halloween?

Sat, 22 Oct 2005 03:42:06 GMT

for all of you in vancouver, considering that you still read these posts or even care to be involved now that the protest energy has diffused, there is once again a meet at the parks board in support of no whales in captivity...this has very much to do with the dolphins too...unfortunately falls on ol hallow's eve...
here's a letter from erica, also check out the rather nasty, sarcastically strained and rather stupid province article below it...

--------------
Hope to see you all there!

Erika

WANT A SCARY HALLOWEEN?
Come to a Halloween Park Board meeting
and show your support for a
WHALE REFERENDUM IN 2005
- it's too late in 2008!

WHEN: Monday, October 31, 2005 at 7:00 pm

WHERE: Park Board Offices on 2099 Beach Ave.

DIRECTIONS: Drive into Stanley Park by English Bay
and you will see the brown building (Park Board) on your right.
Turn right and park on the other side of the building.
Pay parking continues down the road across from the tennis courts.

SPEAKERS NEEDED!!!
PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME TO THIS PARK BOARD MEETING
TO TELL THE ELECTED PARK COMMISSIONERS IN PERSON THAT YOU EXPECT THEM
TO APPROVE HOLDING A WHALE REFERENDUM DURING THE UPCOMING NOV.19
VANCOUVER CIVIC ELECTIONS, NOT IN THE ELECTIONS OF 2008! IT'S TOO LATE IN 2008!

HALLOWEEN SPOOKIEST QUESTION: HOW MANY MORE WHALES AND DOLPHINS
WILL THE AQUARIUM BRING INTO STANLEY PARK IN THE NEXT 3 YEARS???

IF YOU CAN'T COME TO THE HALLOWEEN MEETING,
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER !!!

PARK BOARD COMMISSIONERS
Alan DeGenova adegenova@sutton.com
Anita Romaniuk aromaniuk@ca.inter.net
Eva Riccius riccius@sfu.ca
Heather Deal heather_deal@telus.net
Lyndsay Poaps lyndsayp@telus.net
Suzanne Anton suzanne@suzanneanton.ca
Loretta Woodcock lorettaisalways@shaw.ca

PROPOSED REFERENDUM QUESTION:
"Are you in favour of phasing out whale and dolphin exhibits in Stanley Park?"

FOR MORE INFORMATION
or if you want to speak at the Park Board meeting:

COALITION FOR NO WHALES IN CAPTIVITY
(604) 736-9514 cfnwic@whaleprotection.org

----- check out this letter

Please send a letter to the editor!!!!

provletters@png.canwest.com

Thanks!

Annelise Sorg
COALITION FOR NO WHALES IN CAPTIVITY
cfnwic@whaleprotection.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activist ire over aquarium animals is extremely difficult to fathom

Alan Ferguson
The Province

Friday, October 21, 2005

Except that it would be unfair to the humbler creatures, I have often wondered whether the best thing to do with animal-rights "activists" would be to lock them in the pound along with other strays.

An obvious drawback lies in their sheer numbers -- there would be so many volunteers lining up to liberate them that they'd be free again long before the time limit expired for putting them out of their final misery.

It ought to be hard not to admire the devotion to their cause that motivates the earnest efforts of the activists.

Clearly, they are not all nutbars, although their ranks include such people as Rocco DiSpirito, the stupendously boring New York "celebrity" chef who is part of a campaign to end the East Coast seal hunt.

This is the same giggling fool who condones the cruel and unusual torture of geese to produce the inedible foie gras that tickles the palates of the rich and stupid.

One wonders in passing just how many of these avid advocates of live animals sit down at suppertime to fill their faces with dead ones.

Not that being a vegetarian should be a mandatory qualification for defending the beasts of the field, but it might help to give a proper sense of direction to the movement.

Everyone knows that horrible things go on in the production of our food, even though by the time it gets to our plates the blood and gore has been cleaned up.

I once toured a slaughterhouse where semi-stunned pigs squealed in terror as they were hauled on a hook to where a blood-soaked butcher waited to slash their throats. I've not eaten bacon since.

So, I am not saying there isn't fertile ground for animal- lovers to till. All I ask is that they keep things in a proper perspective.

A case in point is the current controversy brewing over the keeping of whales and dolphins at the splendid Vancouver Aquarium.

Loretta Woodcock, a Vancouver parks board commissioner, is agitating for a plebiscite in 2008 to decide whether the aquarium should cease to display these animals.

Other "activists" are more impatient, demanding that the question should be tacked on to the municipal vote this November. Their ire is fuelled by the recent addition of two rescued dolphins to the aquarium's stable.

The activists claim (though by what rare power of divination I am at a loss to comprehend) that the animals are unhappy.

The pair of sea otters I saw recently, lying hand-in-hand on their backs, basking in the sunshine, were a picture of contentment. Would they thank me for returning them to the wild to face a certain, nasty death?

With more than 19,000 members, the popularity of the aquarium is at a peak. Almost eight out of 10 Vancouverites want the whales to stay.

The thousands of children who go there to wonder at these marvels of nature will learn more from them than they ever will from the prattling of preachy busybodies.

aferguson@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2005

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

WE'VE BEEN CHOSEN for ABC DOCUMENTARY!

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 19:25:46 GMT

whoever has the footage from the protest please get a hold of captain or me ASAP!!! we've been chosen along with 5-6 other cities out of 40 places that protested to send in the footage to ABC new york! they will be doing a documentary and featuring our work and protest in an ABC PrimeTime Live!

congrats everyone who participated. our voice is going to be heard all around the world and we just might actually save some dolphins!!! :-D

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

thumbs up - humorous article

wil — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:14:11 GMT

This isn't new, but i seem to have missed it till this morning. I think its very funny, and don't see how it would offend anyone.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28315

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

2 new dolphins at the vanc. bathtub!!!

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:58:33 GMT

2 new dolphins arrived at the Vancouver Aquarium !!!

One is 17 years old and the other one is 11 years old. They came from an Aquarium in Japan, where they were
" rehabilitated ", after getting tangled in fishing nets. So, they came all the way to Vancouver, Canada, to
keep " been rehabilitated and rescued "... by the aquarium !!!!

So, I beg you to pass this e-mail to everyone who cares for animals in captivity, and please, come tomorrow at The Parks Board meeting at 7pm (Monday, October 17), at 4147 Dunbar Community Centre. Bring friends, family, partners, so on The more people the better !. We will have a banner and signs.

THANKS SO MUCH. SEE YOU TOMORROW !!!!

Erika Ceballos

The Whale Referendum Campaign continues...

NO NEW WHALE POOL$
NO NEW WHALE$

Please help the whales and come to a Park Board meeting
to show your support for a Whale Referendum in 2005.
It's too late in 2008 - the tanks will be full of whales again!
New whale pools mean new whales = MORE $$$$

NOTE: MEETING IS AT DUNBAR COMMUNITY CENTRE
not in Stanley Park Park Board offices

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Coalition For No Whales in Captivity
cfnwic@whaleprotection.org
Tel (604) 736-9514

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Greater Cause

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 17:48:35 GMT

I read a blog (thanks Starfish) which if I unederstand it correctly, makes a plea for expanding the DPC or an entirely new group to act as an umbrella for all the causes that are interlinked. Any opinions?

Are people OK with focusing entirely on Dolphins? I know in the Bay Area a group called "Seeds of Peace" does logistical work for many organizations. I had the pleasure of meeting/working with them during Redwood Summer.

This thread is for free association. Say wut you want, but don't ax me where that mysterious door leads to in my basement.
-DaveX

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 8 replies

ANY NEWS?

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 04:06:34 GMT

why is it that 81 groups in 40 cities protested and i can't find any news or pics from it?????? am i just tired and looking in the wrong places?

the only thing i found was on abc - an online article how on the 8th the tin can bay could go ahead and feed the dolphins as long as it monitored their condition and health!
what a slap in the collective dolphin face! 'people can feed the dolphins' passed on an international day of the dolphin...a day to free it from human slaughter, captivity and abuse!!!

i am outraged! here you're not allowed to feed the swans!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 4 replies

Status Report

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 17:29:22 GMT

This is going to be qquick since I have so much catch up to do on other projects. The weather was good which helped...about 30-40 people turned out...we had the band...the re--enactment..the speaker,..,.petitions...it all went quite well except the gas generator was so loud you couldn't hear the dvd so we didnt really play it.

There was teachers strike here in Vancouver and that got all the news and we didn't get a bite except for a couple of alternative media sources. That was very disappointing. We captured it on video and are going to make a 1/2 hour show for a local station that needs content.

We picked up about 5 more people very committed to helping so that was probably the biggest success and one guy was a database expert so thats great news.

The dolphin death scene was quite surrealistic,...Starfish may add her own experience with doing it...

I have to focus a bit on some other projects but will be coming back with the next steps...which will be the development of the web site, getting theword out in Japan...and supporting Anthony Marrs efforts...I also want to use the Inflow Matrix organizational structure.

I also see a bit of a clean sweep to see who is committed to continuing and working and who is not going to participate for any number of reasons.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

Castro's Cuba is killing endangered DOLPHINS-SPEAK OUT & FIGHT!

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 18:39:45 GMT

DOLPHINS ARE OUR FRIENDS!

Castro's Cuba is killing endangered DOLPHINS-SPEAK OUT & FIGHT!

Castro authorizes it, your dollars pay for it while ecologists look the other way.

By Carlos Wotzkow
Gundlachi@hotmail.com
Bienne, Switzerland
English translation by Robert A. Solera

Carlos Wotzkow is an ornithologist and a writer, author of the books "Natumaleza Cubana" (1998) and "Covering and Discovering" (2001) with Agustin Blazquez, and of dozens of articles in favor of nature and human rights in Cuba. His articles are distributed monthly in magazines and via the Internet. He has lived in exile in Switzerland since 1992, in Bienne since 1994.

November, 2003

The problem of exporting Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Cuba is not new. What happens is that no one, not even the International Convention on Trade on Endangered Species (CITES), wants to talk about it. When some illegality makes itself evident, or when some violation of international conventions points toward Cuba, most ecologists, non government organizations and even the United Nations turn their eyes somewhere else. How do you defend socialist ideas through an ecologist’s tools and criticize the model country of all those eco-guerrillas? Is not Cuba the example of centralized government that the UN wants to impose throughout the world little by little and without us taking notice?

One of the first campaigns against capturing and exploiting Cuban dolphins was begun in Switzerland by an organization called “Working Group for the Protection of Marine Mammals” (ASMS). In 1998, Mrs. Nöelle Delaquis wrote a brave protest letter to the Cuban Ambassador in Bern about the conditions in which they kept some Dolphins in Switzerland captured in the Cuban seas, and that were being exploited in various Dolphinariums without the adequate attention to the law of protection in force in this country (1). Later, the letter was distributed through several travel agencies with the intent of damaging the Cuban tourist industry.

Despite the efforts that year to save those beautiful cetaceans, some of them died in captivity and with their death, the story also died. Only Natumaleza Cubana’s book echoed the incident, as part of a denouncing that also sounded the alert about the frequent killings (using machine-guns) of those mammals south of the Cuban archipelago (2). Afterwards, ASMS and even Mrs. Delaquis, in similar way to other ecological organizations of the world, turned their backs on the Cuban problem and nobody, not even CITES, wanted to get involved in it, much less to ask the Cuban regime about the details of that dirty and cruel business.

Once the United States decided to ban the capture of Dolphins for lucrative purposes, the Cuban government, predator of the environment as no other, took control of the world trade. Since then, the Caribbean nation whom all world environmental organizations congratulate and reward became the world leader in dolphin exportation, followed by Russia and Turkey. It strikes the mind that while the authority of CITES and of Greenpeace in Mexico dedicated themselves to aggressively criticizing Japan and Chile for their captures, those same entities do not say anything about the marine mammal business that Cuba, Spain and Mexico are consolidating.

Since 1989, when I entered the National Aquarium on an almost daily basis to fill my deep-diving tanks to collect specimens for the National Natural History Museum (MNHN), Celia Guevara was already known at the aquarium, sadly, for inoculating Nurse Sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and dolphins with the aids virus For hours under bright sunlight, both sharks and dolphins, were restrained by several people and martyrized on a concrete table near the edge of the tank while the “eminent veterinarian” took blood samples looking for the desired antibody. According to an assistant, those animals would enable Cuba to discover a vaccine against HIV before the Americans would.

It may seem strange that the National Aquarium of Cuba reports on its own internet page the freeing of only two of the dozens of dolphins that they kept in captivity there (3). But it should not seem strange to us if now we comment on the destiny of all that died there due to the maltreatment that the institution gave them. According to the divers with whom I shared moments of ease in several occasions, the order from the Director Dario Guitart was to take out to deep sea the corpses of dead animals before the facility opened its doors to the public. In another instances, they sent rare specimens that died there to the Department of Taxidermy of the MNHN, but labeled “collected dead in the Northern coast of Havana.”

How many dolphins infected with the HIV virus might have been set free by that Cuban aquarium among individuals of the healthy population of the Caribbean? How is the health of those wild dolphins that may have accepted as new members, dolphins sick with that virus? How many dolphins are really in Cuban waters for the Cuban government to consider them plentiful and allow itself the luxury of exporting them? Why doesn’t National Geographic Magazine and the book Deep Cuba (that has so many nice things to say about the environment in Cuba) mention these barbarian things? Might it be that the foreign ecologists that travel to Cuba are not interested in criticizing the Castro’s environmental policies so not to lose their privileges?

I do not have an adequate answer to the majority of these questions, but rather, I can assure you that the dolphins that I saw in Havana’s National Aquarium had ample areas of their bodies reddish and clearly affected by mycosis. At least one of them showed big scabs in its ventral area and others (crowded in a makeshift artificial pond in the rocks of the coast) showed enormous scars resulting from fights within the species. It is widely known that Fidel Castro’s government does not have any remorse when it is time to make a few bucks by selling our national patrimony. To wit, even the dolphins that Guinea Bissau wanted to sell to Portugal were rapidly offered by Cuba before the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) had time to react (4).

There was a denouncing in dozens of pages on Internet (5) in 1999, of the endless capture of Cuban dolphins bound for Europe. At that time, Spain was already the main client of Cuba after Mexico, and it was followed very closely by France, Germany, and even the island of Malta (6). While England prohibited using dolphins for human entertainment in its territory, the Spaniards were augmenting their supply. If one visits any of the Dolphinariums in Barcelona, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Alicante and Tenerife one is brought to tears, not only for the conditions of scarcity where those creatures survived, but for the strong odor of chemical substances that they had to add to the water in an attempt to stabilize its quality.

Of the six aquariums that nowadays exploit more than 50 dolphins in the Iberian Peninsula, 29 were taken out of their natural habitat and the immense majority are Cuban. Among them, the one called “Octopus” in the Playa de las Américas (Tenerife) had four Cuban animals being exploited in very deplorable conditions (5). Another very sad Spanish example of dolphin commerce is that of four Cuban specimens that were exported from Cadaqués (Girona province) to Costa Rica. If the life expectancy of a dolphin is less than 30 years, one has to take into account that those animals not even surpassed one sixth of it, because all were captured in Cuba in 1993 and all died before 1998. (7)

Mexico also does not do anything to impede this thriving business. The recent case of imported dolphins from the Solomon Islands is the proof that Cancun and Cuba have very similar conservation policies. Notwithstanding President Fox’s order to stop the trafficking, Raúl Arriaga (Undersecretary of Gestation for the Environment Protection of Semarnat) and Jorge Soberón (scientific authority of CITES in Mexico), appeared in the news to be most interested that this would not be divulged (8). It is valid to say that article 8.7 of the legal letter in force for Punta Nizuc says: “it is prohibited . . . To introduce exotic species.” (9).

In March 1999 four Cuban dolphins arrived in Acapulco, Mexico. By then, Cuba was receiving a minimum of $50,000 for each dolphin. But the traffic of those mammals was a part of the business that the Cuban state kept with the known narcotrafficker and former Quintana Roo’s governor. Mr. Mario Villanueva, head of the Juárez Cartel (now protected by Castro in Cuba) moved his offices to Cancun and Mexican Joaquín Codwell, moved to Cuba to initiate an enterprise for exporting dolphins in cooperation with the environmental authorities of the island. (10)

Since then, the Cuban counterpart receives $20,000 for each animal shipped Via Mexico, or $50,000 if the company sells them directly to other enterprises or individual buyers. Using this plan, Cuba exported eight dolphins in 1994, seven in 1995, four in 1996, and 13 in 1997, just to Mexico. Nonetheless, to these 32 dolphins exported, one has to add an undetermined number that went to Chile, the four imported by “Paradise” resort in Acapulco in 1999 and another 10 that Mexico re-exported later to Peru. According to the authors of this report (10), the great uncertainty of the data that add up the Cuban dolphins exported might be caused by the imprecise nature of the information provided by the people involved.

The majority of the dolphin exports that Mexico does are really re-exports of cetaceous captured by Cuba. Because there are no norms in our country that regulate the keeping of dolphins in captivity, nor members of the NGO’s willing to denounce the government, nor interest by the environmentalists, that the free world protest any traveling show with dolphins, Cuba enjoys total impunity when exploiting this marine resource. It is valid to clarify that Cuba pays the diver employed by the state the equivalent of 15 dollars per month for capturing dolphins, while she might receive up to $100,000 dollars in Europe for a trained one.

One of the most resounded cases of cruelty that Cuban dolphins suffered is the case of “Meñique”, a specimen that Cuba exported via Mexico to Chile. Lucia Newman, the news reporter known for manipulating what she reports, who is employed by Ted Turner, did not hesitate even a minute in presenting propaganda for Ché Guevara’s daughter who had tortured so many Cuban dolphins at the Aquarium in her biomedical experiments. Nonetheless, the article that CNN aired in 1997 as the true story of Free Willy (11) never had a second sequence in the American news broadcasting company. Meñique died after arriving in Cuba and CNN never revealed that Cuba had been the first country that condemned him to captivity (1995) and that three years later left him to die. (12).

One of the things on which apparently all nature lovers coincide is on the ill treatment that dolphins get from the so-called “specialists” and medical veterinarians. The sinister Cuban veterinarian is not the only case. Veterinarian Victor Rivero Vergara (from Chile) had not even the necessary knowledge to treat Cuban dolphins that he had under his care (10). The same happens yet with German vets, and the ones in Asterix Park in Paris (13).

At the end of 2001 a group of Cuban, Mexican and Spaniard “scientists” rented a luxurious bungalow in the National Park of Punta del Este (Dominican Republic) and promptly attracted attention for their ostentatious and “happy” style of life. They paid local fishermen great amounts of money (up to 2,000 pesos) for capturing dolphins that they wanted to investigate. But when locals took notice, there were no more dolphins in the Canal de la Mona, nor could they be seen from the promontory of the Park. In barely two months, the Cubans, Mexicans and Spaniards made the population of cetaceous flee from nearby places like Bayahíbe, Saona, Miches and Chavón and none of the ecological organizations of the neighboring countries could impede it. (14)

In August 2002, the inhabitants that live near this Natural Park believed that the marine mammals had disappeared from Punta del Este for the disturbances caused by the “investigators”. But soon it was known that Spain and an English national were in this dark business. Even though it is true that dolphins are not an endangered species with peril to become extinct in the Caribbean, it is also fair to say that does not authorize Cuba, Mexico or Spain to exploit a resource inside the national waters of another country and to diminish with it the tourist attraction and the rational and sustainable use that, for example the Dominican Republic practices (15).

It should be considered shameful for all world ecologists for Cuba to hound, capture, and exterminate with nets, firearms, and explosives any marine mammal that gets near its coasts. How is it possible that the UN, while rewarding the Cuban regime for its supposed protection of the environment, has not made even a simple comment? How is it possible that Richard O’Barry, who is tired of running behind Che Guevara’s daughter has not decided to inform the world that in Cuba dolphins are extremely ill attended? While Norway, Austria, Poland, Israel (and even Lula da Silva’s Brazil) close their Dolphinariums, Castro’s Cuba tripled theirs.

It almost seems that for the fate of the world’s dolphins and Cuba’s people maintain a certain analogy. Otherwise, how can we explain that nobody in the world protests seeing Cuban dolphins jumping and acting publicly as clowns and for such miserable dead fish? Is it not the same when we see a whole people to go out into the streets in Havana to protest monthly for a pound of minced Soy meat? Why does the civilized world reject this type of ill paid theatre inside its frontiers, while it accepts them outside them? Why doesn’t the UN apply it’s own Universal Declaration of Animal Rights, Article 4, to Cuban dolphins?

This UN article says: “An animal belonging to a wild species has the right to: (1) Live freely in its own natural habitat. . . and to reproduce themselves” (2). All depravation of freedom, including that with educational purposes, is contrary to this right. In accordance with the competencies established, CITES must, by principle, believe in the declarations that the signing states send to that convention. But on seeing this and other Cuban irregularities (among which must be included the case of the Hawksbill Turtles), what is the sense of keeping on believing in Cuba? Up to where an entity like CITES can accommodate its creed? What is the sense of having Cuba in a convention, if in fact it she is always breaking it?

My friends in some Cuban scientific departments of the Ministry of the Fishing Industry (MIP), Gaviota Corporation and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) have confirmed to me that while capturing dolphins they are frequently observed hitting their heads against the vessel that has trapped them. I have been told about dolphins that have cut themselves a portion of their tail with their own mouth so to free themselves of the loop that was tying them. Scientists working in the National Aquarium, with dolphins supplied by fisherman working intensively for a pittance, assure me that the fisherman are kept busy because more than half of their dolphins that arrive alive to their destiny are kept for some days in a buoyant state and then they die.

Thanks to regulations and to American authorities that yet observe the trade in and out of Cuba, is that we get to know now that Mr. O’Barry was working in Cuba to save Che Guevara’s image from his daughter’s malignity. (16) Only for that we also know that the British (who take pride in not having Dolphinariums in the United Kingdom) are the ones that promote this dirty business in the Caribbean Sea. It is of significance that the authority of Cuba’s CITES has not said a word and this, although Cuba is the one that exports and mistreats more dolphins (about 86 that may be known, between 1986 and 1999) than any other country in the world.

I still remember as if it were today when Mrs. Nöelle Delaquis told me in 1998 that an authority on dolphins in the United States had assured her that the biggest Dolphinariums in the world would be built in Havana for rehabilitation purposes. Since then, the ASMS, previously involved in the problem, has not denounced Cuba. Might it be that the American ecologist lobbies are the ones that make Cuba untouchable? If that would be the case, could you tell me the address of that Cuban center that puts free dolphins into Nature? Then, I used to think that even Delaquis would have believed the story of the illustrious “gringo”. But a reality check demonstrates that world ecologism is infected by the leftist virus. A virus that blinds even the best willing people.

Cuba has broken international law from the moment at which the Bottlenose Dolphins were placed on the list in Appendix II of CITES, of which Cuba is a signatory. In view of the fact that more than 70% of the dolphins that Cuba has exported have died a miserable death, and that CITES demands strict regulation so to avoid their utilization in a way incompatible their survival, it is obvious that Castro’s government breaks the laws that himself promised to enforce in the international world arena. Moreover, the legislation that CITES puts in force in Europe clearly states the prohibition of importing dolphins with a primary commercial goal. It is insulting that for Mr. O’Barry the most important thing is to save Che’s image and of his playful daughter.

Cuba contributes to breaking the European laws from the moment it exports a species listed in Annex A of the UE Council Regulation 338/97, which prohibits all commerce with dolphins inside Europe. CITES and the EU establish that: “trade is allowed . . . only when it has been found that it will not be detrimental to the survival of the species. Although it is true that Cuba can state that the dolphin population is not in danger with these exports, it is also a moral obligation for CITES and for Europe to demand of Cuba the results of a dynamic population study that evidently has never been done.

Cuba violates the regional law in the Caribbean since the dolphin species is on the list of Appendix II of the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) of which Castro’s government is a signatory. From 1986 to 1999 Cuba has exported at least 86 dolphins and the WDCS assures that it has reason to believe that the market of individuals captured directly from natural habitats has continued notwithstanding that the protocol of SPAW was put in force in the year 2000 (17). What is contradictory here is that when I addressed these organizations looking for an update to fight the problem from its roots (that is, attacking Cuban policy) all conversations got cold.

Cuba violates its own conservationist laws of nature protection. Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) has as a duty (among a lot of other things) to support the development of tourism” (18). It is the first time in Cuban history that a ministry in charge of preserving nature has among its duties and obligations to guarantee that the exploitation of its natural resources does not to put in danger the economic interests of the state. It seems absurd, but an analysis of the “environmental licenses” granted in Cuba since the new law went public (19) has simply been to give authorization to all foreign enterprises to locate themselves in areas that had been declared “protected” and now are “protected areas for multiple uses.” That Cuba disregards the environment is clearer than the transparent Caribbean waters.

References

1.- Foundation for the Animal in Law 2001. Dolphinariums in Europe from the animal protection law viewpoint taking into account the legal situation in Switzerland in particular. Zurich, Switzerland. Dec. 19th. 32 pp.

2.- Wotzkow, Carlos 1998. Natumaleza Cubana, Ediciones Universal, Miami. USA 294 pp.

3.- Acuario Nacional de Cuba. Who are we? www.acuarionacional.cu. 3 pp.

4.- Born Free Foundation 2001. Applications to import wild caught dolphins to Portugal are in breach of International Regulations. Animal welfare and conservationist organizations demand refusal of import permissions. www.bornfree.org.uk. 2 pp.

5.- Wotzkow, Carlos 1999. “Nueva ley del medio ambiente, ecosistemas cubanos, e inversores extranjeros. Fundación Argentina de Ecología Científica. 7 pp.

6. - WDCS 2003. Malta imports dolphins from Cuba. The Malta Independent Daily Website. Sept. 13. 2 pp.

7. - WDCS 2003. Spain. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. 6 pp.

8.- Margaux Dodds 2003. Urgent Press Release: four Dolphins already dead in Solomon Islands Capture. Marine Connection Caring for Dolphins and Whales. 3 pp.

9.- Greenpeace Mexico 2003. Autoridad ambiental fue informada de las irregularidades y aún así importó los delfines. Boletín 354. 2 pp.

10.- Castelló, Hugo, Yolanda Alaniz y Cecilia Vega 2000. Dolphinariums and Swimming Programs with dolphins in México. A critical report. Document in PDF. 34 pp.

11. - Newman, Lucia 1997 Free Willy was a movie, Meñique is real. CNN Interactive, April 16, 1997.

12. - Wildlife Rescue of Dade County 1998. Meñique. J. D. Van der Toorn. Cetacean releases. 6 pp.

13.- Marchal, Julien 1997. Dolphins in Asterix Park, Paris, France. Captivity Conditions in Parc Asterix. www.daunphinlibre.be. 3pp.

14.- D’Leon, Nexcy 2001. Delfines pico de botella se fueron de las aguas del Parque del Este. Listín Diario. Edición Digital. 3pp.

15.- Bonelly de Claventi, Ideliza y Ivelisse de Porcella 2001. Frente al uso de delfines en cautiverio en el Parque Acuático, Cofresí, Puerto Plata. Medioambiente. Perspectiva Ciudadana, Noviembre 2001. 4 pp.

16.- Jordan, Sandra 2002. “US join fight for dolphin freedom”. Guardian Unlimited, February 24, 5 pp.

17. - Born Free Foundation, No permission for dolphin capture. www.bornfree.org.uk. 2 pp.

18.- Google 2003. This Internet search engine returns, under the words “Cuba” + “Delfines”, more than 100 advertisements for shows with dolphins in Cuba. These are promoted by several travel agencies from Cuba, Germany, France, Spain, England and Mexico.

19.- Asamblea del Poder Popular 1997. Ley N° 81 del Medio Ambiente. Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. Extraordinaria. Viernes 11 de julio de 1997. Año XCV, pp 47-68.

Carlos Wotzkow is an ornithologist and a writer, author of the books "Natumaleza Cubana", 1998 and "Covering and Discovering", 2001 with Agustin Blazquez, and of dozens of articles in favor of nature and human rights in Cuba. His articles are distributed monthly in magazines and via the Internet. He has lived in exile in Switzerland since 1992, in Bienne since 1994.
You may reach Mr. Wotzkow at Gundlachi@hotmail.com

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

On the eve of battle

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 02:51:19 GMT

Perhaps one shouldn't think of it as a battle, but it seems that way.

We have a marching band called the Carnival band which is vancouver's best known activist band...not sure how many will come. http://www.thecarnivalband.com/index2.html

Zoey Wren a local singer is coming: www.zoeywren.com

We have two videographers.

We have Anthony Marr, probably the 2nd most informed speaker on the subject...

We have 3 dolphin dancers and heads..one aquarium trainer and at least one fishermen but I hope to recruit a few more.

We have a gas generator and Ric's DVD...\

A city council member may come down.

All the television stations have been notified. All the papers. Many emails have been sent by many people to many groups.

An article will be written fo the Japanes newspaper here.

The posters have been put up at strategic spots.

A DVD and posters will be going to Japan at the end of the month.

The weather looks like rain which is not that supportive. Everyone pray for good weather...that will make a big difference...

Many blessings to all of you who will be there in spirit...The energy of all of us will be carried by all of us...our intention is strong and we may be weary but we are not weak. This is not the last step but the first flashpoint...

You have all contributed even if all you did was read a few posts...and many of you have taken your valuable time and did what you could...I feel great appeciationand gratitude for all of that. I know that I can have too many expectations and I get frustrated.

For all of you in different cities...much luck and good tidings. if you are looking for something to do..scour the net for media coverage and collect it..that is invaluable...

We'll let you know what happens...should be interesting.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

Tragedy in Queensland

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 02:16:14 GMT

http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,16841738%255E14787,00.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Communication & Trust in Virtual Teams

Sun, 02 Oct 2005 19:28:19 GMT

I am taking an online course in this subject and I thought I would share one of the papers here. We are involved in quite an experiment here and I would like to start to get some discussion about the process itself. I think this may help in creating something long term that produces results.

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue4/jarvenpaa.html

Read this and see how it relates to what we are going through.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 8 replies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!!!

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 15:17:30 GMT

Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan
Earth Island Institute
One Voice - France

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 5, 2005

Contacts: David Phillips, Earth Island
(415) 788-3666 x145

Richard O'Barry, One Voice
(305)-668 4834
(33) 6 79 83 1661 (France)

Sakae Hemmi, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan
(81)-298511637 (Japan)

Memo Reveals Japan Aquarium Industry's Secret Sponsorship of Dolphin Slaughter

An international consortium of environmental organizations*, fighting to end the world's largest dolphin slaughter in Japan, today released an internal memo prepared by the Japan Cetacean Conference on Zoological Gardens and Aquariums to its member aquariums encouraging the buying of more dolphins from the Taiji drive fishery.

"The aquarium industry is secretly subsidizing the violent slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Taiji and other fishing villages in Japan," stated David Phillips, Director of the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute. "This memo is the first direct proof from the Conference to its member aquariums soliciting buyers for dolphins."

"In a key part of the memo," adds activist Richard O'Barry, former trainer of TV star Flipper and marine mammal specialist for One Voice, a leading French animal welfare organization, "the Conference encourages its member aquariums to request even more dolphins that are currently not available due to permit restrictions."

"Fishermen herd dolphin schools into shallow waters, where around two thousand are annually slaughtered for meat," adds Sakae Hemmi, spokesperson for Elsa Nature Conservancy. "The aquarium industry subsidizes the slaughter by offering thousands of dollars to buy a few prime specimens of dolphins from the shallow waters of the blood-filled slaughter pools. Without these enormous prices for prime specimens, it will be quite difficult for the drive fishery to survive, for dolphin meat is much contaminated with mercury."

The memo was prepared by Senzo Uchida, Executive Secretary of the Japan Cetacean Conference on Zoological Gardens and Aquariums and sent to the directors of aquariums that are members of the Conference. The memo outlines a meeting held by representatives of the Conference, the Taiji Fishing Cooperative, Taiji town councillors, and the Isana Union, representing the drive fishermen at Taiji. Even the Japanese government was involved, as Mr. Hidehiro Kato of the Japan National Research Institute, a government agency, originally recommended this meeting be held. The memo states in part (English translation):

"...for the purposes of continued cetacean capture and stable supply, it is necessary to have frank expressions of opinion from fishers involved in dolphin drive fisheries and from aquariums needing cetaceans."

"Currently when dolphins are captured in drive fisheries, they are sorted live to select individuals for captivity, after which the rest are all used for meat."

"Pacific striped dolphins cannot be taken in drive fisheries at Taiji because no permits have been granted. However, if the capture of this species at Taiji were to become possible, this would benefit fishers and the aquariums which keep cetaceans...Applying for a permit to capture a new cetacean species at Taiji would require that there is a need. Accordingly, from the perspective of exhibiting cetaceans for educational purposes, we would like to perform a questionnaire survey to determine the extent to which aquariums participating in the Cetacean Conference want Pacific striped dolphins, and then use the results to justify applying for a permit to capture them at Taiji."

A copy of the original memo in Japanese and an English translation are attached to this press release.

David Phillips concluded: "The public, including the people of Japan, would be outraged if they knew the truth -- that thousands of innocent dolphins die a horrible death so that a few can be shown doing tricks in aquariums. The drive fishery and the slaughter must be stopped, and the aquarium industry should be ashamed of sponsoring the killing of thousands of dolphins annually."

* The campaign to stop the dolphin slaughter is a joint project of the Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute, and One Voice, a leading French animal protection organization

- 30 -

Copies of the original memo and English translation are attached as an Acrobat "pdf" file.

MEDIA ALERT: VIDEO FOOTAGE and PHOTOS of the dolphin drive fisheries of Japan is available from Earth Island Institute by calling (415) 788-3666 or faxing (415) 788-7324. For further information, visit http://www.earthisland.org/saveTaijiDolphins/.

>>> i have the original docs - and will upload em later - they are in pdf. if anyone wants a copy to email out to their friends please email me anjlfsh@sprint.ca and i'll send them to you.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

London Calling...

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 02:14:53 GMT

http://www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/International/London_supports_internatinal_day_of_protest_against_secret_dolphin_slaughter_37713.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

a treat for the vancouver pod!

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 05:43:45 GMT

i have been really blessed to be connected online, clearly and strongly, out of the blue (pun unintended ;-) with people that have spent years researching and playing along side dolphins.

a package came tonight, and what a surprise! i opened it and there was a video from ric. (not the taiji ones), but a piece of work from the dolphin project. i could not help bawling my eyes out yet again...this time it was not for the dolphins being hacked to pieces, but rather because of the overpowering beauty of the dolphins that this movie captures...amazing!

i feel at piece..for the moment, even if it has been a small space in the universe, a pocket of time, that i can enjoy the peacefulness and the amazing visuals left in my mind's eye..before the protest.

anyone who'd like to drop by the pod to see this amazing vid and get a sense of who ric is and what his life has been about, let me know. we are buisy and have to move at the end of this month, along with all else goin on, but we will make the time for THIS!

blessings...sf

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

UPDATED LIST of protesters and cities!

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 15:41:15 GMT

some of you have asked me what can you do in your city and who can you join - so i'm reposting the updated list of protesting international organizations:

*Action Against Poisoning ~ Den Haag
*Americas Whale Alliance ~ San Francisco
*Animal Defenders of Westchester ~ New York
*Animal Friends ~ Croatia
*Animalisti Italiani Onlus ~ Rome
*Animal Voices Radio, CIUT 89.5 FM ~ Toronto
*Anima Mundi ~ San Francisco
*Animals Voice.com ~ Seattle
*Animal Welfare Institute ~Washington DC
*Animanaturalis ~ Buenos Aires, Lima, Yucatan
*Bite Back ~ Brussels
*Blue Voice ~ San Francisco
*Born Free Foundation ~ London
*British Divers Marine Life Rescue ~ London
*Campaign Whale ~ London
*Captive Animals Protection Society ~ London
*Captive Dolphin Awareness Foundation ~ Houston
*Catastrophes ~ London
*Cetacean Defense ~ London
*Cetacean Society International ~ New York
*Comarino ~ Mexico City
*Committee for a Dolphinarium-Free Belgium ~ Brussels
*Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting ~ New York
*Dolphin Encountours ~ Mozambique
*Dolphin Project ~ Miami
*Dolphin Protection Coalition ~ Vancouver BC
*Delphis ~ Rome
*Diana Thater Studio ~ Los Angeles
*Earth Island Institute ~ San Francisco, Manila, Solomon Islands
*EcoTerra ~ Nairobi
*EDEV ~ Den Haag
*Environmental Investigative Agency ~ London
*Fundacion Altarriba ~ Barcelona
*Friends of the Dolphins ~ Toronto
*GAIA ~ Brussels
*Georgia Animal Rights and Protection ~ Atlanta
*Green Beings Animation Studio ~ San Francisco
*Guardios dos Animais ~ Brasilia
*Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society ~ Hong Kong
*HSUS ~ Washington DC
*In Defense of Animals ~ San Francisco
*International Animal Rescue ~ London
*Irish Seal Sanctuary ~ Dublin
*Last Chance for Animals ~ Los Angeles
*Marine Connection ~ London
*Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition ~ Boston
*Morigenos ~ Slovenia
*NYC Pigeon People ~ New York
*New York Whale and Dolphin Action League ~ New York
*NYC Wildlife Watch ~ New York
*Nomades des Oceans ~ Paris
*Ocean Defense International ~ San Francisco
*One Voice ~ Paris, Marseille, Strasburg, Miami
*Orca Network ~ Seattle
*Philippine Society for Animal Protection ~ Manila
*Rattle the Cage ~ Miami
*Re-Earth ~ Nassau
*Reseau-Cetaceas ~ Paris, Strasbourg
*Rio Rossellino Studio ~ Kaikoura, NZ
*RSPCA ~ London
*Sonoma People for Animal Rights ~ San Francisco
*Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ~ Vienna, Brussels, Paris, London, Den Haag, Strasburg, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Miami, Portland, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Vancouver BC
*Sasha Farm ~ Detroit
*SHARK ~ Chicago
*Sea Flow ~ San Francisco
*Sea Vita ~ Caracas
*Sonic Cowboys ~ Miami
*SOS Grand Bleu ~ Marseille
*Thursdays Child ~ San Francisco
*United Action for Animals ~ New York
*WDCS ~ London
*Wellington Animal Rights Network ~ Wellington NZ
*Whale Workshop ~ London
*Wild Earth Foundation ~ Buenos Aires
*WSPA ~ London
*Zoo Check Canada ~ Toronto

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

Up Date From Ric O'Barry

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 15:46:41 GMT

JAPAN DOLPHIN DAY: UPDATE 12

Just got word that ABC PrimeTime Live will cover Japan Dolphin Day for a larger piece they are doing. Their two part story is about the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan and about the international traffic in captive dolphins. Air date to be announced.

Since ABC News has studios in New York City and in London, they will have a film crew in these two cities. Please remember to videotape the demo in your city and send us a SHORT version. We will forward it on to ABC PrimeTime in New York.

Posters/Flyers are now available at www.savetaijidolphins.org

We have "PRINT optimized" and "PRESS optimized" PDF versions of the flyer at this website. Just click on the desired version and download. The "print optimized" version is used for laser printing. The "press optimized" PDF is for offset printing.

By the way, the artwork we are using for the Poster/Flyer is the official Japanese life-saving flag. We just added a dolphin in the middle of their flag. ("Life-saving" -- "dolphin." Get it?)

We are starting to get the word out in Japan. Check it out here: http://ikjeld.com

Cetacean Society International has photos that can be e-mailed to anyone who still needs them for the October 8th event. Contact Bill Rossiter at rossitercsi@aol.com

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society also has photos available. Contact Connie Domenech at connie@seashepherd.org

These photos are to be used for the Japan Dolphin Day ONLY. One time use. They are not to be published without the owners' permission for any other occasion. Please remember to credit the images properly.

Only 10 short days to Japan Dolphin Day. Please contact every man, woman and child on the planet and ask them to SHOW UP in front of their local Japanese Embassy or Consulate Generals office. We are only going to get one shot at this. (this year) Lets do it right!

Dolphin Day has been cancelled in Switzerland and German due to a lack of interest. Sorry to report we still can't find anyone willing to protest the Japanese embassy in these two countries on October 8th.

Thanks, Ric

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Good news

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 17:52:26 GMT

Hello,

I haven't been that talkative lately....so here's so me updates that are good news in some respects....ijuts spoke with Anthony Marr

http://www.hope-care.org/u
Who has been touring around the United States specifically showing a power point presentation about the Taiji and Futo situation...so he has agreed to be a speaker at both Friday and Saturday...

There is an animal protection radio show this friday on CO-OP radio that is plugging the protest and Im going to give abit of speal on...

Starfish has done an amazing job on the dolphinheads...rounding up people for the re-enactment.

Ive been putting up posters and handing out flyers...

William has been spreading the word...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 6 replies

Anthony Marr presentation tonite!

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 05:07:38 GMT

It was a real honor to have Anthony Marr from HOPE with us tonite to show us his Power Point presentation. He's very knowledgebale and trully motivated, and I would highly reccomend him to anyone interested in saving the dolphins...and seals and tigers! We leart a lot tonight if a very short time from someone who has their facts down and been doing this for some time.

I can't help but feel like a juvenile sitting there looking up to him...our group is only a month old can you believe this?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

slogans in japanese for signs

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 15:05:22 GMT

ric was kind enough to send me some protest slogans that melissa from zoocheck canada has translated into japanese. anyone wanting these for their protest please let me know. they can be made into large protest signs.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

OUTDATED TRADITIONS: post your's to the list

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 16:20:54 GMT

the dolphin killing 'tradition' has ispired me to look at some outdated traditions. traditions make up a mind frame of the community, to change we need to shift gears out of the past and evolve...this means breaking outdated traditions.
here's my list, please feel free to add to it, i'd love to see what you all have to say!

-not so long ago only men could vote, and female circumcision was tradtion in some parts of the world.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

the fishermen of taiji and tradition

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 15:51:01 GMT

it has come to my attention time and time again that people are concerned about taking away the jobs of fishermen of taiji with this protest.
i too have had that concern in the beginning, but as the information poured in, and after i saw the dvd from ric o'barry, i no longer had any doubts in my mind that my priority resided with the dolphins.

the fishermen have been offered money to stop this practice, which they didn't take, they are getting a whole lot more from the dolphinaria. selling dolphins to aquariums is in no way part of tradition. selling pcb, mercury laced toxic meat to the public telliing them it's 'whale' meat is also not tradtional. it's fraud and greed. also, tradition is something that is part of culture, that people of the nation are united with and proud of, these guys work in total secrecy! hiding it in shame! and no one else in japan knows about it. so how is it tradition if no one knows about it?

on the subject of tradition ask yourself this:

just because someone repeats something over and over again does it make it tradition? and does it automatically justify it as right?

NO. it's just a tactic to get away with wrong doing. anyone can do it - doensn't make it right or fair or with balance to the rest of the environment.

the oceans nourish the earth with energy. like yin and yang they are in a constant balance, if out of balance (take a look what's already happening) then the earh will die.
the oceans is alive, and no one has the right to say they are getting rid of pests, no one has the right to control and dictate the laws of nature. these ignorant greedy views of the fishermen make me so mad, and those whose hearts still bleed for the fishermen make it even sadder.

btw, the fishermen have said that they can switch fishing targets...why haven't they? cause they get big $$$ from captive dolphin facilities from around the world...including the west!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

flyers/posters at a high school!

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 19:16:48 GMT

my daughter just called me from her high school after hanging up a poster and some flyers...she says that there has been a really good response so far..looks like some of her friends will be coming out to the protest too!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

MORE psters/flyers and media updates from ric!

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:38:22 GMT

just forwarding this to you guys from ric o'barry - more media stuff for protest use, pics, flyers, posters!

JAPAN DOLPHIN DAY: UPDATE 12

Just got word that ABC PrimeTime Live will cover Japan Dolphin Day for a larger piece they are doing. Their two part story story is about the annual dolphin slaughter in Japan and about the international traffic in captive dolphins. Air date to be announced.

Since ABC News has studios in New York City and in London, they will have a film crew in these two cities. Please remember to videotape the demo in your city and send us a SHORT version. We will forward it on to ABC PrimeTime in New York.

Posters/Flyers are now available at http://www.savetaijidolphins.org

We have "PRINT optimized" and "PRESS optimized" PDF versions of the flyer at this website. Just click on the desired version and download. The "print optimized" version is used for laser printing. The "press optimized" PDF is for offset printing.

By the way, the artwork we are using for the Poster/Flyer is the official Japanese life-saving flag. We just added a dolphin in the middle of their flag. ("Life-saving" -- "dolphin." Get it?)

We are starting to get the word out in Japan. Check it out here: http://ikjeld.com

Cetacean Society International has photos that can be e-mailed to anyone who still needs them for the October 8th event. Contact Bill Rossiter at rossitercsi@aol.com

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society also has photos available. Contact Connie Domenech at connie@seashepherd.org

These photos are to be used for the Japan Dolphin Day ONLY. One time use. They are not to be published without the owners' permission for any other occasion. Please remember to credit the images properly.

Only 10 short days to Japan Dolphin Day. Please contact every man, woman and child on the planet and ask them to SHOW UP in front of their local Japanese Embassy or Consulate Generals office. We are only going to get one shot at this. (this year) Lets do it right!

Dolphin Day has been cancelled in Switzerland and German due to a lack of interest. Sorry to report we still can't find anyone willing to protest the Japanese embassy in these two countries on October 8th.

Thanks, Ric

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Habits Of The Giant Squid

Bob — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 07:39:41 GMT

Although this has nothing to do with Dolphins, I thought ya'll might find it interesting reading. The Giant Squid is such a mystery but Scientists seem to be finding out more all the time. One thing I've always wondered is if they have the same high intelligence of the Octopus.
Bob From: www.tribes.tribe.net/freedomguardians

Mon 26 Sep 2005

Suckers for gay trysts, fiery females and rough sex - squid secrets exposed
FRANK URQUHART
RESEARCH by marine scientists has shed startling new light on the secret sex life of the giant squid, one of the most mysterious monsters of the world's deepest oceans.
The breakthrough came after a recent spate of strandings on the Atlantic coast of Spain when five of the huge invertebrates - one of them 12 metres long - were washed ashore in a single week on beaches on the Bay of Biscay.
One of the two males washed ashore was found to have been accidentally inseminated - backing the findings of research in previous strandings.
And scientists now believe the males had either accidentally inseminated themselves during "violent" lovemaking sessions with females or been inseminated by other males after "bumping" into them in the dark depths of the ocean.
The new discovery is reported by a team of Spanish scientists at the Institute of Marine Research in Vigo in the latest edition of the monthly magazine of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas.
The researchers state: "The giant squid, Architeuthis, is not only a cultural and media icon, but also a scientific enigma. Although it is among the largest living invertebrates ... most of our knowledge of its biology and ecology is still fragmented. So each time a giant squid is washed ashore or gets brought up in a fishing net, it provides a gold mine of information. A recent spate of strandings along the Spanish Atlantic coast has shed new light on their unique sexual behaviour in the ocean depths."
The report goes on: "Although mating has never been observed in giant squid, it is thought that what happens is that the male injects his sperm packages into the female's arms. The process is likely to be a fairly violent affair as the female is probably not that keen on being injected. This is a problem for the amorous male as females are normally a third bigger than they are.
"But males get round their inferior size by being endowed with a particularly long penis, which means they can inject the female without having to get too close to her chomping beak. The male's sexual organ is actually a bit like a high-pressure fire hose and is normally nearly as long as his body - excluding legs and head.
"But having such a big penis does have one drawback: it seems that co-ordinating eight legs, two feeding tentacles and a huge penis, whilst fending off an irate female, is a bit too much to ask, and one of the two males stranded on the Spanish coast had accidentally injected himself with sperm packages in the legs and body. And this does not seem to have been an isolated incident since two of the eight males that had stranded in the north-east Atlantic before had also accidentally inseminated themselves.
"It is also possible that the sperm packages had come from other males that they had 'bumped' into, in the dark depths of the ocean. However, the sperm packages ended up in the squid - it is just another part of the mysterious lives of these creatures of the deep sea."
Fewer than 600 specimens of giant squid have been recorded around the world since the 16th century, with the majority of landings and strandings in the north-east Atlantic and off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia. The giant squid can reach up to 18 metres in length and weigh up to 900kg.
The researchers state: "For many years the race has been on to try to film a giant squid going about its business in the ocean depths, and many marine scientists are vying to get the first video footage. So far all expeditions have been unsuccessful, but a new Spanish expedition is currently being planned and maybe this time we will be lucky."
Animal instincts
GIANT squid are not the only members of the natural world to display unusual sexual behaviour. In Australia, the male Yellow-footed Antechinus - a mouse-like marsupial - goes through such a frenzy of mating that they die of sexual stress. The female praying mantis often eats her partner during or after sex, while homosexual behaviour is also known in geese, ostriches, cichlid fish, rats and monkeys.
This article:
http://www.scotsman.com/?id=1993462005

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

BIGGEST DOLPHIN PIMP! moby solangi and marine animal productions

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:38:05 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 26, 2005

Media Contact: Richard O'Barry, Marine Mammal Specialist, One Voice-France (Miami, Florida office)
Email: ricobarry@bellsouth.ne Phone: 305 6684834

ONE VOICE-FRANCE CALLS FOR A BALANCED STORY REGARDING MOBY SOLANGI AND MARINE ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS.

Moby Solangi, owner of Marine Animal Productions (MAP) in Gulfport Mississippi, is being painted as a hero by CNN, ABC News and other media outlets for rescuing the very same dolphins that he abandoned before hurricane Katrina struck. So far, none of the media have investigated Solangi's background or his track record. If the media had done a little research, they would have learned that Solangi has captured more than a hundred dolphins in US waters, particularly in Mississippi Sound. These victim dolphins have been sentenced to a miserable life in sea circuses, amusement parks, the US navy and other captive dolphin facilities. Some of the captured dolphins were rented to zoos in the United States, such as the Oklahoma City Zoo. The Zoo's dolphin exhibit was finally closed when animal protection organizations exposed the high death record. It is therefore ironic to see how the media is now portraying Solangi as a heroic figure who actually cares about dolphins.

The media is not telling the public the whole story, and the dolphin protection community is calling for a balanced account. The media left out one of the most important parts of this feel-good-story: Who is Moby Solangi, and what exactly does Marine Animal Productions do?

Everyone knew in advance that a category five hurricane was bearing down on the Gulf states. There was plenty of time to evacuate the animals from this disaster. Why were these helpless animals abandoned in the first place?

Dolphin captures are carried out in great secrecy, as dolphinariums don’t want the graphic images of struggling and panic-stricken dolphins to reach the public. We will never know how many dolphins have died as a result of capture operations orchestrated by MAP but, according to a sworn statement written and signed by a former employee of Marine Life, Gulfport, Mississippi, more than twenty dolphins were killed during a single capture. Here is an excerpt from the account:

"Every diver had a dolphin, although they could not keep their blowholes above water (…) Through the semi-circle the float corks were going under, obvious signs of netted, drowning dolphins. We could not help them, just watch until they went still. It did not take long for the dolphins to start drowning, probably because of their extreme exertion and panic. (…) One dolphin had a loop around his fluke. (…) We continued to remove the net from the dolphins, and they just slowly sank to the bottom.”

The eyewitness account ends: "The permanent Marine Life employees who were on that collection were later told by Moby not to discuss Marine Life business with any other employees or with anyone outside of Marine Life (...) I have since learned that there is good reason for Moby to be concerned, given the fact that Marine Animal Productions delivered at least 23 dolphins to the navy in 1988. The death of over 20 other animals would have exceeded his quota for capture by at least 18."

Solangi is one of the world's biggest traffickers in captive dolphins, and his track record is a litany of violent dolphin captures and exploitation. One Voice-France hereby urges US government officials to deny Solangi a permit to rebuild another captive dolphin facility anyplace.

(END)

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

Navy Dolphins

just4fun6464 — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 17:13:31 GMT

My apologies that I do not know how to move posts from tribe to tribe. Anyway, on Political Junkies, a member has posted that apparently Navy Dolphins, trained to kill terrorists may have been released by flooding in New Orleans. This was reported, per the post, in British papers.

I have no knowledge of the truth of this report, if it is indeed true then I am very concerned about dolphins in the Gulf Coast. If people believe these dolphins may be dangerous are they likely to kill any dolphin they see?

If any of you know more please share.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 12 replies

pbs article: timeline of military dolphin events

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 15:04:56 GMT

The Navy's Marine Mammal Program began in 1960 with two goals. First, the Navy wanted to study the underwater sonar capabilities of dolphins and beluga whales to learn how to design more efficient methods of detecting objects underwater, and to improve the speed of their boats and submarines by researching how dolphins are able to swim so fast and dive so deep. In addition to this research component, the Navy also trained dolphins, beluga whales, sea lions and other marine mammals to perform various underwater tasks, including delivering equipment to divers underwater, locating and retrieving lost objects, guarding boats and submarines, and doing underwater surveillance using a camera held in their mouths. Dolphins were used for some of these tasks in the Vietnam War and in the Persian Gulf. The Marine Mammal Program was originally classified, and was at its peak during the Cold War. The Soviet Union's military was conducting similar research and training programs in the race to dominate the underwater front. At one point during the 1980's, the U.S. program had over 100 dolphins, as well as numerous sea lions and beluga whales, and an operating budget of $8 million dollars. By the 1990's, however, the Cold War was over, and the Navy's Marine Mammal project was downsized. In 1992, the program bec ame declassified. Many of the dolphins were retired, and controversy arose over whether or not it would be feasible to return unnecessary dolphins to the wild. ðSpecific Tasks Navy marine mammals are trained to perform many underwater duties, including Bottlenose dolphins detect and mark of underwater mines. The animal locates a mine and then deposits a weighted buoy line near the mine in order to mark it.
California sea lions attach grabber devices to underwater objects for retrieval. This system is used extensively in training exercises with divers for Explosive Ordnance Disposal units. Practice mines are placed on the sea floor; those not found by the divers during the exercise are retrieved by the sea lions.
Bottlenose dolphins are used to detect and defend against enemy swimmers. This procedure was used in both the Vietnam war and the Persian Gulf to protect Navy anchored vessels from enemy swimmers seeking to plant explosives. The dolphins would swim slowly, patroling the area with their sonar, and alert armed trainer guards if they located a swimmer. They are also trained to "tag" the enemy swimmer with a marker so that Navy personnel can apprehend him. During the Vietnam war, rumors circulated about a "swimmer nullification program" in which dolphins were also being trained to shoot at enemy swimmers with a device similar to the tagging device. The Navy denies that any such program existed or that any dolphin has ever been trained to attack a human.
1960's navy begins use of marine mammals

1965 sea lab II
In 1965, the Marine Mammal Program began its first military project: Sea Lab II. Working in the waters off La Jolla, California, a bottlenosed dolphin named Tuffy completed the first successful open ocean military exercise. He repeatedly dove 200 feet to the Sea Lab II installation, carrying mail and tools to navy personnel. He was also trained to guide lost divers to safety.

1965-75 dolphins used in vietnam
The Navy sent five dolphins to Cam Ranh Bay to perform underwater surveillance and guard military boats from enemy swimmers. Although during this era rumors circulated about a "swimmer nullification program" through which dolphins were trained to attack and kill enemy swimmer, the Navy denies such a program ever existed.

1975 introduction of sea lions and beluga whales
With the success of the dolphin program, the Navy began working with sea lions, training them to recover military hardware or weaponry fired and dropped in the ocean. The sea lions could dive and recover objects at depths of up to 650 feet.

The Navy also began exploring the use of beluga whales, which, like dolphins, use sonar to navigate. Beluga whales could operate at much colder temperatures and deeper depths than either dolphins or sea lions.

1965-75 navy builds up collection of dolphins
The Marine Mammal Program reached its heyday in the 1980's, with an expanded budget and increased number of dolphins. In 1986, Congress partially repealed the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act by letting the Navy collect wild dolphins from for "national defense purposes." The Navy planned to use the dolphins to expand its mine disposal units and to stock a breeding program.

1986-88 dolphins in the persian gulf
The navy sent six dolphins to the Persian Gulf, where they patrolled the harbor in Bahrain to protect US flagships from enemy swimmers and mines, and escorted Kuwaiti oil tankers through potentially dangerous waters. One of the dolphins, "Skippy," died of a bacterial infection.

1986-88 missile guarding project in bangor abandoned
In the late 1980's the Navy began a project through which dolphins would act as guards at the Bangor Washington Trident Missile Base. Animal activists opposed the project, and filed suit against the Navy under the National Environmental Protection Act claiming that the Navy must do an environmental evaluation to determine whether deployment in the cold northern waters off Bangor would harm dolphins originally captured in the Gulf of Mexico. A judge ruled that such a study must be completed before the project could continue. The Navy abandoned the project.

By 1994, the Navy policy on moving dolphins to environments with radically different water temperatures changed; a spokesperson said that in general, the Navy would only move dolphins between environments with a 20 degree difference in temperature, except in emergency situations.

1990s downsizing, declassification, retirement
With the end of the Cold War, the Navy's budget for the marine mammal program was drastically reduced, and all but one of its training centers were closed down. Of the 103 dolphins remaining in the program, the Navy decided it needed only 70 to maintain its downsized operations. Much of the project was declassified, although certain details remain protected.

This raised the question of what to do with the remaining dolphins. In the 1992 Defense Appropriations Act, Congress alloted a half million dollars to the Navy to "to develop training procedures which will allow mammals which are no longer required for this project to be released into their natural habitat." The Navy held two conferences of researchers and experts and determined that a reintroduction program would not be cost effective.

In an attempt to downsize its dolphin troops, the Navy offered to give its surplus trained dolphins to marine parks. However, interest in the free dolphins was low because many marine parks by this time had developed successful in-house breeding programs. The Navy only got only four requests, but pledged to care for the unclaimed dolphins until their deaths.

Later in 1994, the Navy agreed to send three dolphins to Sugarloaf sanctuary, near Key West in Florida, a rehabilitation facility run by Ric O'Barry. O'Barry planned to reeducate the dolphins so they could be safely released into the wild, once the necessary federal permits were granted.

1996 illegal release of Luther and Buck
Two of the dolphins being held at the Sugarloaf Sanctuary, Luther and Buck, were being prepared for life in the wild while awaiting federal permits for their release. In May, before the permits had been issued, O'Barry released the dolphins into the Gulf of Mexico. He believed that the dolphins were ready for release and that the bureaucratric requirements for a permit were designed to prevent the release of the Navy dolphins. He thought that to wait any longer before letting them go would jeopardize their chances of successful adaptation to the wild.

read O'Barry's defense of his actions, and criticism of the release from Naomi Rose

The dolphins were recaptured less than two weeks later and returned to the Navy. All three of these dolphins are now back with the Navy. One of them is still in Florida;the other two are back in San Diego in the Navy facility there.

1997 Ukrainian dolphins trained by the Soviet Navy for military operations are now being used for therapy with autistic and emotionally disturbed children.

here's the link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/etc/navycron.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

military dolphins - interview with ric o'barry! - A MUST READ!

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 15:02:34 GMT

F R E E T H E A D V A N C E D
B I O L O G I C A L W E A P O N S Y S T E M :
A N I N T E R V I E W
W I T H R I C H A R D O ' B A R RY .

BY BRENT HOFF

- - - -

[Author's note: Navy dolphins are operating in the Gulf as we speak to locate enemy mines, to stop enemy divers from planting mines on allied ships, and to clear a path for humanitarian aid ships waiting dock in Iraqi ports. Richard is the original trainer of "Flipper" the dolphin and now a captive dolphin rescuer. I spoke with him about the current navy dolphin program and other things.]

- - - -

Q: How did you come to be involved in dolphin rehabilitation? What are you and your organization up to these days?

A: I became involved in captive dolphin rehabilitation on the first Earth Day in 1970. Having captured more than 100 dolphins by that time, I had a "ding" moment in which I realized that what I was doing was wrong. I used to capture and train dolphins for the dolphin captivity industry, and now I un-train them and put them back where they belong. Instant karma, you might say. I am now working for the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) in Miami, Florida, USA. We are very involved in trying to stop the trade in captive dolphins, and educating the public about this issue.

Q: You once spent six months with your wife on an island that was barely 984 steps in circumference at low tide. What was the most memorable part of that adventure?

A: Observing the healing process of a dolphin named Stephania was the most memorable part of this or any captive dolphin rehab project that we do. We had just rescued Stephania from a dolphin abusement park in San Andres, Colombia, and transferred her from a small sub-standard tank that she had been living in for ten years to a natural sea pen that we built on this tiny island far away from civilization, literally in the middle of nowhere. When Stephania was re-united with the ocean, she could once again experience the natural rhythms of the sea, the tides and currents, and take advantage of the trace elements of natural sea water, which have healing properties. For the first time in ten years, she could chase and eat live fish. Seeing a captive dolphin get its life back is the most memorable experience that I have had.

Q: Approximately how many dolphins are currently in captivity worldwide? On average, what are their living conditions like?

A: There are about 1,000 captive dolphins spread out around the world, not counting the military dolphins. The Russian military had about 500 and the US Navy have about 100. They all live in sub-standard conditions and are controlled by food.

Q: Do you personally know any of the dolphins currently in the Gulf?

A: I spent some time at the US Navy marine mammal facility in San Diego, so yes, I met all the dolphins and the beluga whale there. As you know, the navy dolphin program is top secret, thus we really don't know which dolphins are in the war zone and which are standing by to be trained to enter the war zone, but yes, I have met all of them.

Q: What is your take on the navy's Marine Mammal Program? And more importantly, why on Earth do they call their trained dolphins "Advanced Biological Weapon Systems?"

A: I think that the program is cruel and unusual and it should be abolished. In a perfect world, the animals would be given an honorable discharge and sent home. The term Advanced Biological Weapon System (ABWS) is an accurate job description. It is also very revealing as it describes our relationship with nature. In my opinion, this is a faulty weapon system and should be replaced with an alternative such as side scan sonar, which is cruelty-free and more dependable.

Q: First the navy dolphin named Tacoma goes AWOL, now he's reportedly back. What do you think is going on?

A: Tacoma may have been outfitted with an Anti Foraging Device (AFD). This is a simple strip of orange Velcro that is attached around the snout. The AFD prevents the dolphin from opening its mouth, which is necessary for the dolphin to catch fish and eat. This is how the navy dolphins are controlled when they are in the open sea. When one is lost, they send out a search team to look for the "system" using a "recall pinger," which can be heard by the dolphin from a great distance. If the dolphin returns to the pinger and trainer, the AFD is removed and the ABWS is rewarded with food. If the "system" is lost, they simply replace it with another one.

Q: I heard that the real worry to the mine-sweeping effort was from Iraqi dolphins. What do you know about these Iraqi dolphins? How tough/territorial are they? How many in their crew?

A: The real danger to the dolphins — and I'm talking about all dolphins in a war zone — is the fact that every dolphin in the area, wild or trained, is placed in harm's way because the enemy simply kills every dolphin that they come across. One can't really tell the difference between the friendly and the enemy dolphins. "Kill them all and let God sort them out" is the plan of the day. This is done with bombs, hand grenades, and especially "ashcans," which is an anti-submarine explosion devise. I really can't tell you much about the Iraqi dolphins. I do know that when the Cold War ended, many of the Soviet navy dolphin trainers started working in the Middle East capturing and training dolphins for the captive dolphin industry, but I don't have any insight into their activities.

Q: Can different pods communicate, or is there a language barrier?

A: There is a language barrier. They may be able to achieve some degree of communication by reading body language, however.

Q: From my understanding, the mine-sweeping effort to clear waterways for allied ships carrying humanitarian aid is vital to the overall war effort. (Only one ship, the Sir Galahad, has made it through as of March 31st, due to mines and weather.) Obviously, the effectiveness of the mine-sweeping operation determines how quickly aid will reach thousands of starving Iraqi citizens and thus how many Iraqi lives will be saved/lost. Our response to the urgent needs of Iraqi civilians will undoubtedly have a strong influence on how the US invasion of Iraq is ultimately perceived — which of course will carry innumerable geo-political consequences for the future for our country and the world. Really, if you think about it, it can be concluded that the fate of the planet is hanging on these five dolphins who may or may not be more interested in getting laid than sweeping mines. True or false?

A: True. Fact is, dolphins are not dependable; they are controlled by food. When they are full, they do not respond. This is exactly why I had five dolphins for the "Flipper" TV series. When Flipper #1 had ten pounds of food and was full, I lost control and I would bring on Flipper #2, and so on.

Regarding the recent reports of dolphins being used to help identify mines near the Iraqi port of Umm Qa, it is the position of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) that their welfare needs should be of paramount importance.

WSPA believes that all animals kept by, or under the control of, humans must be maintained in circumstances appropriate to their species. In the case of the US Navy dolphins, along with the inherent dangers of the duties they are called upon to perform, the suffering caused by the training, transport and keeping in captivity of this species is well-documented and a cause for great concern.

Animals are apolitical and should not be drafted into military service or deliberately put in danger during a human conflict.

Q: Why don't they use orcas instead? Orcas seem the obvious marine mammal weapon of choice, especially when it comes to dissuading divers from approaching your ship. Tagging an enemy diver's ankle, biting enemy diver in half, etc? They echolocate, are trainable. Please explain.

A: They did use orcas in the early days of this program. They went AWOL however. Another problem in using orcas is the warm water of the Gulf, especially in the summertime. This is also a huge problem for the dolphins that are currently being used. When the summer comes and if the dolphins are still there, they will indeed suffer. The navy lost some dolphins in this area during the last war because of warm water. Navy dolphins were also used in Viet Nam and some of them never returned.

Q: How smart are dolphins, really? What about the "healing powers" assertion?

A: Smart and dumb are human concepts and these concepts do not apply to other forms of life. Many people think that dolphins are more intelligent than us because they have a bigger brain and are more fully developed. Having worked with dolphins and other whales for more than forty years, I have come to the conclusion that they are not more intelligent, and they are not less intelligent, they are simply "different." Regarding the healing power of dolphins, it's bogus. These are victim dolphins that are captured and dragged kicking and screaming into captivity; there are no volunteers. Once in captivity, their job is to amuse an endless stream of people for the rest of their life. Many of these people are sold snake-oil medicine in the form of healing dolphins. It's all about money. It's inherently hypocritical to capture the dolphin and destroy the quality of life to enhance ours.

Q: Have you ever run into a dolphin you once rehabilitated and released? How did it react to seeing you? I mean, once a dolphin has been rehabilitated and released, does it ever interact with a human again? How do they generally react?

A: Yes, the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) has rescued, rehabilitated, and released several former captive dolphins back into the wild successfully. One of them was called "Flipper" -- the last captive dolphin of Brazil. We have good documentation of the dolphin doing well two years later. If one does this work correctly, and the trained behaviors are extinguished properly, the dolphin will blend back into nature. A successful release would mean that the bonds with, and dependency upon, humans are broken and the dolphin becomes more interested in other dolphins and nature, not in human contact.

Q: Following the cold war, Congress decided to scale back the military dolphin program and release all of their captive dolphins back into the wild. But then some people who perhaps had lucrative government contracts involving navy dolphins didn't want to lose that money and started saying it would never work — that the dolphins wouldn't be able to survive in the wild after years of captivity. You decided to release two of the navy dolphins, Buck and Luther, anyway, without getting permits first and got in some trouble. What happened to them and where are they now?

A: Buck and Luther were two navy dolphins that I released back into the wild. (This was before my WSPA days, incidentally.) They were recaptured by the navy a few days later. They were able to use the navy recall pinger that I mentioned earlier to lure them back into a sea pen. Fact is, that release was sabotaged because it had the potential to open the door of freedom for all navy dolphins. This was a major threat to the entire program and had the potential to end the flow of millions of dollars to the civilian corporation that run this program. After they were re-captured, Buck was sent to the Dolphin Research Center (DRC), also known as the Dolphin Riding Center. He spent a few years there painting pictures for tourists before he died of terminal captivity. Luther was flown back to the polluted waters of San Diego Bay and back into active duty in the navy. Luther — if he is still alive — may be heading for the war zone soon. By the way, I wrote a book about all of this. It's called: To Free a Dolphin.

Q: Dolphins are able to detect things like mines in murky water via "echolocation" — which is where they emit a sound and are able to deduce an image from that sound via the echo that bounces back off of underwater objects. Can you feel echolocation when dolphins use it around/on you?

A: Yes you can.

- - - -

Ric later sent the following addendum e-mail:

Brent,
I meant to add this to the interview:

Here are some of the listed causes of death among US Navy dolphins:

Foreign body
Capture related
Drowning
Failure to adapt
Related to jaw fracture
Possible toxic fish
During release
Spinal fracture
Toxic shock
Failure to thrive
During testing

Source: Marine Mammal Inventory Report (MMIR) 11/09/2000. (Available through the Freedom of Information Act.)

Ric O'Barry

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Dolphins and Sealines being inducted into the Military

Bob — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 07:47:09 GMT

Here is a link to an article with pictures about the dispicable use of Dolphins and Whales for War. I tried to make a copy for posting here but the Author apparently has it copyright protected and so copies cannot be made.
http://www.angelfire.com/nj4/navydolphins/

This Article is the Governments "Positive" spin on the practice as endorsed by the Government controlled media, in this case CBS's "The Early Show".

Dolphins, Sea Lions Serve Military

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Aug. 31, 2005

Boot Camp For Dolphins

A dolphin's sonar is unmatched by man-made technology, making it ideal for finding mines. (Photo: CBS/The Early Show)

Like other sailors, these sea cadets practice military maneuvers and they must be physically fit to serve. (Photo: CBS/The Early Show)

(CBS) The U.S. Navy's Marine Mammal Program has been around for more than 40 years.

Dolphins and sea lions are currently serving in the Persian Gulf where they help protect coalition forces. Theirs is the longest combat mission in the history of this special unit.

As The Early Show resident veterinarian Dr. Debbye Turner explains, about 100 marine mammals work as underwater allies.

In the early days of the Iraq War, Navy dolphins were deployed to clear mines from the port of Umm Qasr.

"Dolphins, with their echo-location capability to be able to look long-distance under water, and sea lions, with their great eyesight — five times better than yours and mine — so they can see in dark, turbulent waters," Marine Mammal Program director Michael Rothe says.

Half a world away in San Diego, Calif., new recruits are training for future missions.

"We start working with the dolphins born in our program in their first few weeks of life," animal behaviorist Mark Xitco says.

At their boot camp, for example, sea lions learn to attack a line to recover sunken objects. They can dive to depths of 1,000 feet.

Searching in extraordinary depths, looking for those objects, becomes a giant game of hide and seek.

The complex behavior begins with a simple training technique called targeting. Sea lions learn how to touch a target on command.

A dolphin's sonar is unmatched by man-made technology, making it ideal for finding mines. Although they will work in war zones, their missions are safe. Dolphins mark mines, but are too light to trigger an explosion.

Like other sailors, these sea cadets practice military maneuvers and must be physically fit to serve. The dolphins must submit to a daily health inspection.

"This is the first set of behaviors that they learn," says veterinarian Dr. Cynthia Smith. "We want to make sure at the beginning that we can get a good idea of their health status."

Smith starts with an inspection of the dolphins' teeth. They are taught to relax so that blood can be drawn, their temperature taken and their heart rate monitored.

"To get her heart rate, you're actually going to place the stethoscope bell under her pectoral flipper," says Smith as Turner listens with a stethoscope.

They also travel with a M.A.S.H.-style unit of specifically-designed medical equipment to monitor for illness.

Back at class, extra rations are rewarded for a job well done. Before graduation comes the final exam. Each recruit must master boarding the boat.

"It takes years to learn the skills ... to become part of our amphibious Navy where they can ride on ships, fly around on helicopters, be transported by a jet aircraft halfway around the world," Xitco says.

With a sea lion salute, the cadets are ready to report for active duty.

The Marine Mammal Program even boasts a Vietnam veteran. A female dolphin named Blank is still working for the Navy at the age of 47.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Dolphin Pod Taunted

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 02:20:14 GMT

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16699519%255E2862,00.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 13 replies

taiji video nite@ our pod

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:13:23 GMT

hey, 'welcome to taiji ' the video by ric o'barry has come in today and we will be showing it on thursday oct.29th. - time is not confirmed yet as we are trying to figure out the best for everyone.

this is not a popcorn movie nite, this is gonna be bloody and really tragic. i'm gonna preview both vids (edited and unedited verions) tonite....ugh...
so for all of you interested to see what really happens in taiji this is worth a thousands words. if you are squeamish i suggest you close your eyes from time to time, but i would advise seeing this for yourself and making your conclusions based on it.

i know i'll be bawling my eyes out for sure, so come join and let our grief fuel us to take action and change this!

blessings....

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

VANCOUVER pod - who's in the play???

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:37:47 GMT

hi everyone, i'm making dolphin masks and head gear for the protest for our play, and want to know how many i should make? this is timely process of paper-mache-ing...and my time is limited..so tell me who is showing up and wants to be the dolphins? i'll make you a mask!

this is what we will be needing for the play:
-------------------------
people for:

dolphins
fishermen
narrator
dolphinarium dolphin picker (my daughter has voluneered for this)
-----------------------
other stuff:

- we have a blue tarp to do this on, then fold over
- thinking of using red crape paper for bursts of blood
- need yellow raincoats for fishermen
- need metal poles
- need toy knives and spears
- need whip!
---------------------------
basically we are gonna reanact the drive kill in the simplest way:
- dolhphins are swimming around,
- fishermen bang metal poles to disorient their sonar
- dolphins huddle together as they get rounded up and driven to shore
- dolphinarium person comes in to pick out the cutest ones
- rest are killed by fishermen (red crape paper thrown into air for blood effects)
- tarp is pulled over the dead dolphins
-----------------------

we need your help everyone!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 4 replies

Postering Update

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 17:23:01 GMT

Yesterday I picked up the posters and flyers and started putting them up. Only having a 100 of each....they need to be put in strategic spots and handed to people who will use them.

I dropped in on Starfish and took a look at the Dolphin heads and she is doing a great job, of course. They look amazing just in paper mache without paint and will look pretty lifelike on camera.

I went to the Simon Fraser University Campus and put up a couple in the bulletin boards. Then it was moving towards the Japanese embassy and Robson where there are quite a few Japanese students around. At a round message board that people use to advertise apartments, I found 3 Japanese people, 3 men probably in the their twenties.

I told them of what was going on...they hadn't heard of it..turns out they are promoting a gig on Sept 29th, they are djs and promoters. I pitch the idea of adding a cause to their work...they have access to the Japanese youth....it was just quite synchronistic...they may post us on their web site and put the word out...we'll see...

So I then keep biking around and come across another Japanese student, having a little garage sale in a park. I bring out the flyer and have her read it. She hands it back. I ask how does it make her feel to know that is going on. She is clearly uncomfortable.

I wait..she gets a look in her eye. I leave it with her and ask to investigate herself but upon leaving I don't feel so good myself.

I bike down the road and pass two Japanese men looking in uniforms. I keep going but it is kind of strange because I have never seen Japanese men in uniforms in Canada. I go back and talk with them. I show them the poster. They patiently listen. The say they see dolphins. No they didn't know. I ask to take a flyer and they say they can't accept it while on duty. The say they are here on vacation. They just finished training.

I give them the name of the web site and say take a look. He says he will but I see them sort of laughing as they go.

But if I was on vacation in another country, would I still be in uniform? It just seemed strange to meet them. I know my attention has not been as focused on Japanese people and now it is so I am going to see more, but Japanese soldiers in Canada?

And then I read david Icke's newletter and there seems to be evidence that the levees might have been blown...

hmmm.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Return Messages from other Organizations

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:44:50 GMT

From:

Margaux Dodds
The Marine Connection,
Director & Co-founder

I just received a copy of the email you circulated regarding DPC which I read with interest, being the UK co-ordinator for the Taiji Day of Protest - I haven’t had a chance to “digest” the site yet, but it looks great.

I am fortunate to count myself as a fellow collaborator and friend of Ric O’Barry and the late Ben White, (may I respectfully suggest you add Ben to your picture gallery, he was a real hero – I have photos if you need them). I myself have been campaigning against captivity since the early 90’s and was fortunate to have helped close down the last 3 dolphin facilities in the UK. I have been working in the anti-captivity sector ever since, and as Captivity Director of the Marine Connection, continue to campaign worldwide on dolphin and whale related issues (more info on our site www.marineconneciton.org). From my experience I sincerely believe that co-operation and collaboration are vital to help fight the ongoing injustices we are faced with in general on our planet on a daily basis.

I will have a look at your site but in the meantime congratulations to DPC for wanting to make a difference. So few people today have the courage or belief to speak out or stand up for the voiceless, it’s great to have some more like minded souls joining the “tribe”, best of luck and hope to hear from you further.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 6 replies

happy birthday Lula!

Wed, 21 Sep 2005 05:44:24 GMT

Tis Lula's birthday today....much love from all the crew.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 5 replies

Web Site Up

Sun, 18 Sep 2005 05:19:15 GMT

Ok...here's a start...www.theverysecretplan.com

what's missing?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 4 replies

DPC Update Report

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 19:55:34 GMT

A message went out to the International NGO's (list compiled by Kent) and local NGO's (list compiled by Lula). The posters and flyers (created by Starfish) were the main tool sent out. Posters are being printed in Vancouver (funded by Will).

As seen in other message Starfish is busy on the Dolphin suits for the Dolphin Death Dance...

Joes Story
http://www.theverysecretplan.com/KnowledgeKnexus/Issues/DolphinProtectionCoalition/Oct8Protest_Imagine.htm

and Pauls Letter:
http://www.theverysecretplan.com/KnowledgeKnexus/Issues/DolphinProtectionCoalition/Oct8Protest_Documents_ProtestLetter.htm

are on the web site (stretched banner created by Chontler) and things are moving along grandly, (500 pieces of carboard foil cur and ready to put together)

Alex is organizing LA but is having trouble finding support (Rae is up to her eyeballs in eyeballs).

Ric and Dj have been kept up to speed and pass on Gems of wisdom when they are able.

Chontler is dancing the Mambo but the music is Sly and the Family Slone.

Contacted Paul Watson at the Victoria talk and he has the information too. Sea Sheperd is just getting back to us but we are in communication.

William has postered UBC. And Jules has just joined the team. A few others have come aboard and are starting to get their feet wet. If I have missed something of what is occuring, please excuse me....just wanted the people out there watching (observers) that things are going on behind the scenes, the Players are getting the job done (time permitting).

We need to wake up the Sleepers...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 4 replies

indy media

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:11:34 GMT

I did this in Vancouver's indy media calendar....

http://vancouver.indymedia.org/calendar/event_display_week.php?day=8&month=10&year=2005

perhaps you would like to post it in your hometown..or someone enterprising could post it on every calendar....
http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Mass email campaign has begun

firechylde — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 01:24:59 GMT

Here's the letter I just sent to all my freinds. Feel free to use it, it change it, whatever.

Hello my dear friends,
Thanks in advance for reading this message, I don't usually write things like this. I'm writing to let you know about a quick action you can take to help stop a truly awful practice: yearly slaughter of dolphins for meat. Each year from October through March, in small towns across Japan, Japanese fishermen herd thousands of dolphins, porpoises and small whales into shallow bays and mercilessly hack them to death. Most of these small cetaceans are sold as meat in restaurants and stores.

I've written a letter to the Japanese Prime Minister and sent it via his web feedback form which can be found at: http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment.html. If you have a few moments, I urge you to do the same.

Here's the text of my letter as inspiration, or you can use it word for word:

*** *** ***
Dear Prime Minister Koizumi,
I'm writing to urge you to end the slaughter of dolphins in the fishing towns of your country. Dolphins are intelligent mammals, they care for their young and will not abandon a wounded family member. They are widely regarded as one of the most intelligent creatures on earth. The fishermen in Taiji claim that hunting dolphins is an honorable Japanese tradition, yet they go to extreme effort to hide their actions from public view and will threaten and intimidate those who try to photograph the killing. How can this be seen as part of an honorable Japanese tradition? Consumption of dolphin meat is not even healthy for your people, as it has been shown that dolphin meat is heavily contaminated with mercury. Please do the honorable thing and ban this brutal practice.

Thank you for your consideration and time.

**** *** ***

Your note does not need to be long or detailed, just make the point: the Japanese government needs to put a stop to this practice. I believe with enough international pressure, the Japanese government will clamp down.

There's a group called Sea Shepherds that is organizing worldwide protests scheduled for October 8th. They organized protests last year as well, and they were the ones who exposed the situation to the world to begin with. If you want to participate or just learn more about the situation, check out their site: http://www.seashepherd.org/taiji/taiji.html. I know there will be a strong turn out in Los Angeles, and Alex and I plan to attend the protest in Portland.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. If you know of anyone else who might feel passionate enough about this to write a letter or go to a protest, feel free to pass this message on. Please don't send it to people who you know would be annoyed or offended.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

Ready to go

firechylde — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 20:00:07 GMT

Hi, I just joined up with this tribe. I've been away from the computer for a long time. It was pleasant. Now I'm back and ready for some action. Is anyone in Oregon in this tribe who wants to help organize a protest? There's a Japanese embassy in Portland.

I'm going to send an email out to most of my address book asking people to write to the Japanese Prime Minister about this. Maybe we can start a massive email campaign.

Here's a web form that can be used to email him directly: www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment.html

I've never organized a protest so I would love to team up with some organization that's already going or with some people who know what they're doing.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 7 replies

Introduction Room

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 05:09:48 GMT

Arrrr...so why is it ye want to protect dolphins are how committed ar ye tothis endeavour? We have until October 8th...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 22 replies

PROTEST NEED LIST:

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 15:51:01 GMT

we're gonna need stuff for the protest, this is the list i came up with so far, let's make it happen everyone!

-inflatable dolphins
-toy dolphins
-huge written signs that people can see from far away (i think my partner can take care of this as he owns a sign shop :-)
-fake blood or food coloring mixed with something to make it thick, but washable
- candles in tin cans or jars for overnighters
- generator, tv and dvd player and stand - i hope ric's tape gets here soon so we can play the tape of the slaughter
- recorded dolphin sounds, something to play them on

feel free to add onto the list
here is a link of inspiration:
http://www.seashepherd.org/events/protest041119.html

go big or go home! let's make this memorable!!!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

inspirations for PROTEST!

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 15:39:35 GMT

check out this link from sea shepherd's previous protests...scroll down to the belgium pics - i find them quite inspiring.

http://www.seashepherd.org/events/protest041119.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

FLYERS are up- ready for download!

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 20:05:03 GMT

hi all, the international flyers are up are ready to be downloaded by anyone who wants to print them out.
they are both 6x10 300dpi tiff zipped up files. (i strongly suggest these are printed out in color, the red of the blood makes an impact that otherwise lacks in black and white.)

you will also find a white space on the bottom to fill in the time, date and embassy location for your region. you can do this if you have software or after you print it, just write it in.

poster coming soon.

i also have the vanc. ones - they are getting printed, however if you have a way to print your own then ask me and i'll post the url's as well.

INTERNATIONA FLYERS:
www.silvergraphicsweb.com/FLYER...ernational.zip
www.silvergraphicsweb.com/FLYER...ernational.zip

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 4 replies

Katrina's Dolphin Victims Are Now Being Rescued

shakti411 — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 17:33:10 GMT

Only to end up back in tanks...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050915/ap_on_re_us/katrina_dolphin_rescue

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

speaker/ group rep needed! join me at surfrider meeting in vancouver

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 20:48:03 GMT

there is a surfrider meeting happening in vancouver on sept 12, as there is a new chapter opening here. most chapters are in the states and throughout the world.
this is a huge organization that takes care of beaches, water quality and the oceans.
not sure how our cause will fit in yet but i've been invited to participate and bring it to the table by adrian, the contact for vancouver.

so, anyone would like to come join me at that meeting?
i am not a great public speaker, at all actually, as i am an online writer. actually i am horrible at public speaking and prefer to observe from the sidelines.
i need some help here.
captain maybe you can join me as well?

oh, and you don't have to be a surfer to join, just ocean aware and willing to help out...which you already are.

let me know by posting here or messge me asap!
thanks!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 17 replies

Mind Blowing research on Dolphin Interaction

Tue, 06 Sep 2005 02:04:51 GMT

Read this. It shows what happens to human beings after swimming with dolphins. Amazing evidence as to their positive effect on human beings.

http://www.aquathought.com/briefing/dolphres.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 15 replies

Two Dolphins Dream

Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:37:28 GMT

Last night I had terrible stomach cramps which kept me awake till daylight, but when I finally fell asleep I had many disordered dreams (Nurse With Wound, cigars, showerheads...) - One of the dreams involved some dolphins...

Some guys I knew in the dream and I were going to do some fishing with nets along the shore - We had a fifty-foot long net which we held at intervals as we all stood out neck deep in the ocean - There were dolphins coming ashore and we wanted to avoid catching them... I saw a couple dolphins splashing around close to shore and there were a couple children playing alongside them, so I waded over toward them - The dolphins were frolicking and the kids were laughing and jumping about in the water with them, patting them - When one of the dolphins leapt from the water with his mouth open I could see rows of teeth - I felt kind of intimidated by the size of the creatures and their boisterousness, but I hesitantly began to pet one of them - He seemed to like it - They were 'bottlenose dolphins' I think (they had sort of bottleneck-shaped snouts) - I had a sense that they were marvelous creatures and I felt glad to be engaged with them...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

IMPORTANT - please read! dolphins and spirituality

Fri, 09 Sep 2005 01:40:16 GMT

hi everyone,
i know that some of you, myself included, that are spiritually tied with dolphins and want to help them in any way are honest in what you feel and connect with. i honor you for that greatly, but sadly there is an angle we need to consider to all this dolphin spirituality as well.

and once again, this is not to you directly, but to those that take advantage of people who think and feel like us..and then use that to take advantage of the DOLPHINS.

those evil doers will take just about anything and through greed or sometimes ignorance, will twist things around and exploit.
so please becareful of your posts about dolphin swims and spirituality, telepathy and all that. a lot of times the dolphins from the dolphinariums and swims come from the slaughter we are trying to stop! no kidding!

i'm not saying all, or everyone is like that, but someone who has over 30+ yrs experience on this brought up a good point to me today...and that is not to promote this kind of stuff.
you see, most folks are not like you and me, respectful of nature and humble, they are greedy or uneducated.
they need to be educated, and this is what we are trying to do.

so, i'm not condemning your posts, everything here is up for discussion, i'm just trying to warn you that this is a big issue.
i forgot about it, cause i come from pure heart and do not focus on those that do not, yet it is true, and it's out there. so let's see about the sources we get info from...who are they? are they trully spiritual or are they exploiting the dolphins because of THEIR OWN PROJECTIONS? THEIR OWN NEEDS?

love and light...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

Dolphins as fellow Lightworkers . . .

atruthseeker — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 11:12:32 GMT

from a friend's blog . . .

"The Dolphins and Whales who swim your oceans will also assist in holding the new vibration and transmitting it into the planet's Crystalline Energy Grids. Work with them - they are your helpers in this new phase of Light Work! "

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

dolphin/human communications

lula — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 08:09:11 GMT

http://www.interspecies.com/

http://www.joanocean.com/Human-do.html

http://www.joanocean.com/Dolphins.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 4 replies

children and dolphins

lula — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 06:24:38 GMT

here's some websites about kids and dolphins:

http://www.joanocean.com/Child.html

DOLPHIN CHILDREN:angels of earth
http://paulapeterson.com/Dolphin_Children.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

Dolphins and the tuna industry

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 01:29:24 GMT

Here is a comprehensive look...

http://www.nap.edu/books/0309047358/html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

International agreements Research

Thu, 25 Aug 2005 02:39:42 GMT

Marine Mammal Protection Act

some info

http://www.acsonline.org/issues/mmpa/index.html

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 10 replies

Researchers needed

Mon, 05 Sep 2005 18:36:14 GMT

Anyone out there that are not currently working on this project and would like to help out contact me to do some research...Thank you.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

vancouver island pod?

lula — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 02:00:11 GMT

i am in victoria and would like to gather with folks here for a protest, still figuring where and with who...drop me a line if u are interested...i want to involve children...and i will try to find a way to inform/educate as many children as i can

many blessings, lula

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 3 replies

Research Task: Fishermen Intelligence

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 16:51:38 GMT

Can someone do research into the fishermen group that are killing the dolphins.

What is the history from their perspective?
What are their reasons for doing what they do?
How else do they make a living?
Who secretly supports it?
Has it ever been stopped?
What did they do to stop it?
Who are their decision makers?
What is their decision making process?
Is their something they need they would trade to stop what they are doing?
Is there a way to communicate with them?
Where are there relatives abroad?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 20 replies

A Message to the Crew

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 06:09:33 GMT

Why do we seemingly do anything? There are hundreds of noble causes and billions of human beings who need assistance. Why would we waste any time protecting dolphins when we should be focusing on our own survival needs?

And what's the point? We won't be able to effect any real change....its just a bunch of people who joined another tribe to talk some more shit that will lead to nothing. Tomorrow another natural disaster could hit and we could all be dead or homeless.

So you don't really try. You find reasons to be distracted. You find a place for your attention. But your true gifts begin to disappear. Because if you are not using them to serve a greater cause..they go away...and if use them to only serve yourself...well...you create a the world in which we live today.

Why am I saying this now? For obviously this tribe is not 'those' people. This tribe is filled with those who dedicate every minute of there day to living their life with the highest integrity that is possible given the situations we find ourselves in.

I say this because there is a group energy field. There is a group unconscious belief system and it acts like a christmas light set. If one light is out all lights go out. If one person has a negative belief system about the possibility of something occuring, then it dampens the field. And there are a few in this tribe who see this as another lost cause.

My message is to you.

Leave this tribe.

Miracles are created by individuals and small groups who are so committed to a cause that they make the impossible happen. Their will aligns with Divine will and creates a wave of energy that sweeps everyone in its meme pools and reprograms how people think about something.

We are entering a new field of space where our consciousness is rising. All of us are waking up and some of us a little quicker than others. There are actions perpetuated by human beings which are almost insane to most of humanity. If people were educated to the truth, without the corruption, without the bullshit, and without the lies...then many ridiculous practices would stop.

A very obvious example of this is the slaughter in Faiji. Up until this time it has only been a few people fighting the battle alone. They are tired. They are worn out. They need help and support.

This is not a chit chat tribe.
This is not a wait and see tribe.
This is a tribe for those people that have decided to commit to stop the intentional killing of dolphins on this planet.

Why is this important now? It has always been important but now as our species enters this new space we will become more telepathic. Dolphins are telepathic. They have much to teach us. And there are indigos and other children and people who are communicating with them right now. What do you think would happen if most people in the world were aware that we were in telepathic communication with dolphins? What would they say to us? What would we have to realize as a species to realize there is a greater intelligence than our own...and in fact it is another species..which is in connection to a greater consciousness..our planet, Mother Earth.

We need to remember this.

All of us, every human being today has to take a stand and start to participate in the great shift of consciousness that is occuring. One of the first steps is to protect that which cannot protect itself. Larger causes are won by smaller actions symbolizing what has to happen in the bigger picture. Stopping the Faiji slaughter is linked to the greater protection of the dolphins which is linked to the greater protection of all life.

We are not a non-profit. We are not a gov't agency. We are a collection of artists, a collection of warriors, a collection of people who have made the decision to commit to something bigger than ourselves.

If you are in this tribe, make that heart commitment now. If you choose not to, then please leave this tribe and we wish you good luck in your own path. The energy of the group cannot be underestimated. There are a few core people now working diligently and making progress. It is up to you to find out what needs to be done. There is much that does and every little completed task adds up.

I say this because I am moved to to say this. As Starfish has pointed out about the tvshow...synchronicity is runny rampant. You will know if you are meant to be here. Your intuition will tell you. And your intuition will lead you to the best next step that you can take to make real magic happen here.

WE have an amazing crew here and we have already accomplished much. Step up to the plate and swing. Try the impossible. You might surprise yourself.

Open up the rum...pass the kegs around...we need to celebrate that we are here together and have met. We need to get to know one another and support each other to bring our gifts to the table. You are amazing. Lets bringour magic together and wake up the world....don't you think its time?

ESTRUGE!

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

THE DOLPHIN DEFENDER on pbs!!!

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 04:47:14 GMT

i no longer believe in coinsidence, there has been far too much of it.

last nite a good friend passed a link to me about his friend dexter and hardy jones (dolphin defenders! back before our time)
http://www.howardhall.com/stories/dexter.html

..oh friend could you tell us more at some point - hint -hint...

anyway today as we watched the last bit of holy cow, i was wondering when they will show something about dolphin saving...and holy *&^%$!
the dolhin defender - a film by hardy jones is on next time on nature!

'Nearly three decades ago, filmmaker Hardy Jones became fascinated by wild dolphins. Even though many said it couldn't be done, he set out to film these sleek sea mammals in the open ocean. Along the way, he became closely involved with his subjects and came to appreciate dolphins as highly intelligent creatures worthy of careful protection.

Eventually, Jones turned his camera into a tool for conservation. He filmed dramatic dolphin hunts, and the documentary footage made headlines and sparked international protests....'

read more here, there is tonnes on dolphin communication,etc. info too! gorgeous link:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dolphindefender/

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

Task: CD song search

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 21:11:12 GMT

Looking for someone to approach somgwriters and performers to compile a CD of songs about dolphin protection and such...

Anyone interested?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 17 replies

Marketing Resource Request: Poster

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 05:00:37 GMT

One or more posters that can be used and spread around needs to be created asap. Who knows an amazing artist and/or graphic designer who can come up with something asap?

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 7 replies

PROGRESS REPORT- what has been done so far

Sat, 03 Sep 2005 15:26:15 GMT

hi, there seems to be a bit of confusion going on what needs to be done and what has been done. so i decided to put up a progress report thread:

DONE
-logos
-posters - just in the process ironing out the dates of protest
-cards - need printer for them and posters
-been added to the protesters list around the world on earthisland website
-contact with richard o'barry (marine mammal specialist) from onevoice/earthisland

feel free to add to this list...

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

a new helper needs your help.

arwen — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 21:31:56 GMT

hi everyone,

this is a very perfectly forming tribe!

i am so eager to help with work but... i am coming in late and am tied up with helping coalate Katrina aid.

while i'm catching up on your mission here, perhaps some of you have some spare time for this New Orleans relief.. your knowledge and ready built systems will help us all;

http://tribes.tribe.net/katrinahelp?action=JoinTribe&_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5Bfcd312ec-ad05-42bf-9c07-10e221bd24ec%5D&_message_resource=info.tribe.joined&r=10311

blessings,

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 2 replies

WE'VE BEEN ADDED TO THE LIST OF PROTESTERS

Fri, 02 Sep 2005 17:01:05 GMT

(or are in the process of when Rick updates the site)
http://www.earthisland.org/saveTaijiDolphins/japanDolphinDay.html

i have officially made contact with Rick O'barry from earth island and he says we should organize a protest here in vancouver....for those of you elsewhere please check the list for your local group as well. if there is nothing please start a DPC in your town!

we need people to organize a protest now.

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 0 replies

some more links...

lookinglasssky — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 23:45:42 GMT

not sure if any either of these help but they're pretty damn interesting.

http://www.johnclilly.com/
http://www.starchild.co.za/Celestial.html

check em out, much info on cetacean consciousness and their contribution to our planets spiritual upliftment.

AUM Shanti

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 1 reply

DPC Logo - Creative Briefing

white_wizard — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:21:29 GMT

Namaste friends,

PIrate asked that I come over and lend a hand with regards to communications strategy . . . tis my thing you see . . .

I under and appreciate that some work has already been done in this department - but I would like to keep the doors open - assuming they have not already closed.

In creating a visual identity system or logo, one must first consider the objectives of the cause, and the criteria by which any proposed solution can be judged. In simple words - we need to define a 'brief' set of ojectives and ideas that we all agree on first.

Some of these objectives I would consider standard, in that they apply to any identity system that is required to function across multiple media and over time. i.e in Print, Online, etc . . . this is different to say a design that is purely for a "Website" or for "TV" - which have different criteria.

I would like to draft these objectives as follows:

1. Name = Dolphin Protection Coalition
2. Abbr. = DPC
3. The Logo should present the 'cause' in a visual language, in that as much as is possible, the Logo should transcend written word. This serves to provide an international basis for communication.
4. The Logo must function in its simplest form. i.e Black & White so that it may be used effectively in print.
5. The Logo must function at small sizes (c10mm) so that it may be utlised in circumstances where space is at a premium.
6. The Logo must work well a various sizes online - so that it can be used in banners, mastheads etc . . . I would suggest that it should function at 53 pix Height as a max (73pix is styandard for banners) . . . if it works smaller . . .great! It can be wider than it is high obviously . . . as you tend to have more spaced in that direction :-)

Think that's it for 'primary objectives'. ALthough if anyonhe would like to add/amend - please join in . . .

In addition to the above I would like to consider 'essence'. This can be somewhat subjective - but I would think there are a few ideas we all can agree on. This will then help during the 'creative' phase and ultimately ease consensus selection process . . .

Ideas . . .

A. It would seem appropriate that a Dolphin is featured within the identity, but not paramount. I would suggest that theme's of protection, or the relationship between man/dolphin/sea/earth may also be considered central.
B. Sacred Geometry. Icosahedron = Water - which seems appropriate sa a guiding power shared by Man/Dolphin . . . Icosa is comprised of 20 triangular faces. I would suggest that this could be used, hinted, or simplified to its base form.
C. PROTECTION : raises thoughts of a 'Shield'. This is a universal icon that is instantly recognised by anyone in the world. Typically this might take the form of a 'police' or 'knights' type shield.
D. GAIA - whole systems . . . symbiotic circles . . .

Obvioulsy we dont want a huge list . . . but please offer up ideas . . .

The process would then be as follows.

1. Define Creative Brief. Agree Objectives.
2. Brainstorming. Introduce ideas verbally or otherwise.
3. Visualisation. I can help here - and I understand we have a few artist/designers on board.
4. Selection.
5. Refinement.
6. Provision of Logo/Identity System in multiple formats ready for use.

Everyone happy with this . . . ?

Look forward to your suggestions . . .

Namaste

David

posted in 1 Dolphin Protection Coalition - 19 replies