HELP KOREAN ACTIVISTS PREVENT IMPORT OF TAIJI DOLPHINS

[핫핑크돌핀스]

HELP KOREAN ACTIVISTS PREVENT IMPORT OF TAIJI DOLPHINS

Feb 15, 2017 | MARK J. PALMER

The Korean activist group Hotpinkdolphins were successful in getting three bottlenose dolphins rehabilitated and released back into the wild after they had spent up to four years in captivity.  The dolphins quickly joined their original pods from which they had been snatched.  The International Marine Mammal Project helped consult on that successful rehab and release of captive dolphins.

Now, aquariums in Korea are proposing to import several more dolphins for captivity from Taiji, Japan, the notorious slaughterhouse depicted in the documentary The Cove.  

Just in the past few days, one of two Taiji dolphins imported to Korea is dead, after being in the Korean aquarium for only five days.  Cause of death has not been revealed.

The activists are asking for our help.

This season so far, since Sept. 1st, 2016, the Taiji dolphin hunters have captured almost 200 dolphins for captivity, most of them bottlenose dolphins. (There have been some deaths in the holding pens, too.)  Once trained and eating dead fish, the dolphins are sold for thousands of dollars, as much as $150,000 or more, to aquariums and swim-with-dolphins facilities in Japan, China, Russia, the Middle East, and now proposed for sale to Korean aquariums.

The activists for Hotpinkdolphins note: “As of February 2017, there are a total of 43 cetaceans locked up in South Korean facilties, most of which are either Russian belugas (9 individuals) and Taiji bottlenose dolphins (29 individuals).  It is well known in Korea that even the association of aquariums of the world, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, have opposed Taiji dolphin imports due to the cruelty of the dolphin drive hunts.  Many Korean citizens recently voiced their fierce opposition when two Taiji dolphins were transfered to the Ulsan Dolphinarium; the dolphins were moved into the tank, located in Jangsaengpo town, Namgu district in Ulsan Metropolitan city, on Feb 9, 2017.  Jangsaengpo is a Korean version of Taiji, Japan.  Three adult bottlenose dolphins from Taiji and two aquarium-born baby dolphins have died of diseases such as septicemia and pneumonia in the short time since its opening in Oct 2009.”

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Hotpinkdolphins is urging the public to send a letter or email to the Korean Embassy, urging the Korean government to block the import of any dolphins caught in Taiji’s inhumane dolphin drive hunts.  Korea should not be contributing to Japan’s shameful treatment of dolphins in Taiji.  The Korean government should instead join other governments in protesting the slaughter and captures of dolphins authorized by the Japan Fisheries Agency.

Korean Embassy in the US

2450 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 939-5600

Email: consular.usa@mofa.go.kr

Thanks for your support!  For further information: www.hotpinkdolphins.org

Photo of Korean protest courtesy of Hotpinkdolphins and photo of dolphin from  Yonhap News.

from http://savedolphins.eii.org/news/entry/help-korean-activists-prevent-import-of-taiji-dolphins

[루카스]

속상합니다. 제가 무엇을 도울 수 있을까요? 끊임없이 관심갖고 있지만 할 수 있는 게 없어 답답하네요

[핫핑크돌핀스]

핫핑크돌핀스가 이 문제를 해결하기 위해서 일단 최선을 다하고 있습니다. 계속 돌고래가 폐사하고 있는 울산 고래생태체험관의 돌고래 사육허가 취소, 고래들에 대한 전면적인 수입 불허, 고래류 사육시설에 대한 현장 점검, 울산 돌고래들의 자연 방류 등 이 문제를 근본적으로 해결하기 위해서 매일 오랜 시간 노력하고 있습니다.
그리고 아주 조금씩 성과들이 나타나고 있습니다. 완전한 해결은 아직 멀지만, 그렇다고 진전이 없는 것은 아닙니다.

이 문제 만큼은 절대로 양보하지 않고 지켜나가겠다, 바다에서 고래와 돌고래들이 안심하고 살아갈 수 있도록 하겠다는 마음으로 핫핑크돌핀스 활동을 하고 있습니다.

[핫핑크돌핀스]

개인들이 함께 힘을 모아서 할 수 있는 일이 있으면 매일 상황을 지켜보면서 계속 알려드릴께요. 일단 이 문제가 잠잠해지지 않도록 저희 핫핑크돌핀스 홈페이지에 올라오는 소식을 주변에 계속 공유해주시면 좋겠습니다.

저희는 돌고래 문제 해결을 위한 여러 사회단체들과 연대해 해상 액션, 울산 남구청장 고발, 수족관 시설 현장점검, 환경부와 해양수산부 정책 담당자 면담 등을 다음주부터 계속 진행할 계획을 세부적으로 세우고 있습니다.

[루카스]

감사합니다. 저도 돌고래 보호를 위해서 할 수 있는 데까지 노력해볼게요. 더 이상 돌고래들이 고통받지 않았으면 좋겠네요.