Cali's notes:
This is all about money. The Japanese government, through its Los Angeles consulate's official, is on record as of Thursday October 14th, saying:
In Japan, dolphins “are regarded as naturally reproduced marine resources.” As such, “the Japanese government will continue to authorize the use of dolphins at a sustainable level.”
'And false labeling of food would be investigated “when provided with evidence.” Source: LA TimesTranslation
While each of us slept on this side of the International Date Line, 8-10 more Risso's dolphins were slaughtered, marking the 3rd pod slaughter of the 2010-2011 killing season. The monetary value the "fishermen" get for dead dolphins is reported to be $600 per dead dolphin, and $150,000 per captive dolphin.
Do the math!
EDIT/UPDATE: I have been corrected by a man in Japan who has given me figures, with citation. I will re-do the math here based on his information. See new thread . Cali
There were 4 dolphins purchased by a private person in Egypt. These 4 dolphins, now known as , were being contained in a backyard swimming pool until the "quarantine" time was over. These 4 dolphins were captured in Taiji, and sold for $300,000 EACH. An order for an additional 5 were placed, however when news broke of the conditions the 4 were being held in, Red Sea Governor issued a 48 hour demand for removal/relocation to another SAFER location as well as banned any future imports of any mammals that were not originally born in captivity. Not clear the status of whether the 5 additional will ever be sent, but the Taiji "Fisherman" received
EDIT/UPDATE: I have been corrected by a man in Japan who has given me figures, with citation. I will re-do the math here based on his information. See new thread . Cali
If you think visiting a SeaWorld, "swim-with-dolphin" program doesn't contribute to the slaughter of these dolphins in Taiji, Japan- THINK AGAIN. You are providing the "demand" for the dolphins- and the "supply" comes directly from these captures.
Please help Save Japan Dolphins
Friday, October 15, 2010
Scott West Removed From The Cove by Japanese Police for Filming the Dolphin Slaughter
Scott West has been taken away by the police in Taiji for attempting to film the slaughter of 10 Risso's dolphins. This is happening now.
Scott tossed his cell phone to his daughter Elora as the police led him away. It is uncertain at this time if there are any charges. Scott said before he began filming that he did not think he would be in violation of any Japanese laws. ##
Source: Sea Shepherd
Friday, October 15, 2010
Scott West Has Been Released
Scott West has been released. He was taken to the police station and told to empty his pockets. He then refused to answer any questions and kept repeating that he demanded to speak to the U.S. Consulate. They then said he was not under arrest. Scott stood up, put his things in his pocket, and walked out the door.
When the police said, "No." He said, "Am I under arrest?" They said, "No" again, so he continued walking out the door.
Scott being a former U.S. Federal agent for the EPA is well versed in legal procedures. He is now back at his hotel with his daughter. ##
Source: Sea Shepherd
"The first rule of law enforcement; don’t bluff”-David Wilma"
Throughout all of the craziness, it was important to remember that eight innocent lives were being removed from this world. Please keep that in mind as you are reading all of this.
Where to begin. How about when I woke up… I was so tired this morning that I didn’t even turn on my computer, instead I slept in a extra half an hour. I never do that! The first thing I do in the morning is read everyones comments on my blog and on my facebook accounts. But something just kept me in bed this morning, I felt like it was going to be a long day and that I needed that little extra sleep. Good thing I did too! Today was crazy!
Once we got to the Cove, it was almost two hours before we even saw the hunter boats from the binoculars! I had my tripod and camera set up, and I was ready to grab my camera and run to the beach to get some up close shots of the catch in case they got some. I was laying down on my sweat shirt- on the raised walkway next to the bathroom. With my feet through the wide spaces in the wooden fence. I was really comfortable! All I was thinking was “no dolphins, no dolphins, no dolphins!” and I fell asleep on the ground! I would wake up when the occasional person would walk by me. But for some reason I just could not stay awake.
A little while after I forced myself to get up… we saw the boats. They were in driving formation! NO! I was so upset… It was almost 40 minutes until they got them even close to shore though. The dolphins were not having it! The boats kept slowing down, speeding up, changing directions, turning around…. you could hear them talking on their speakers and yelling each other orders! It was nuts. When they got the dolphins to the harbor area, to turn and drive them into the Cove… it was pure magic! The dolphins would take in a big breath, and then two or three minutes later you would see them appear from the other side of the wall of sound. But they wouldn’t go any further… it was as if they wanted to make sure no one was left behind or something. The boats would catch them again though! They did this about three times… until finally the fishermen got angry and just starting putting nets out all over to try and block them at least into one area. It was awful. I felt like I was watching a horror film… the ones where the murderer just always seems to appear once the innocents seems to get away.
It was devastating when we saw them caught on the inside of the net. We were all trying to send them mental messages to run the other way and go deep…. We could here SJD screaming from the viewing deck on Tsunami Hill “GO SWIM! YOU CAN DO! RUN GUYS RUN! GO GO GO GO GO YES….. NO! YES GO GO GO!” It was awesome! then the net closed in around them. It was too late! At least four GIANT nets were all over the outside of the Cove hill.
They drove them in further… all the way into the killing cove. They didn’t even bother putting them in the larger swimming area, we knew that death awaited them here. And that feeling of helplessness is something that I will never forget. It was the second hardest thing I’ve ever had to endure.
Then they cleaned up the outside nets, leaving one on the opening. One net blocked the killing cove, and one blocked swimming towards that net. Then they left.
Not twenty minutes later did Private Space show up. With his buddies. I didn’t catch what happened, but all of a sudden Leilani and Private Space and a grumpy cop were in a dispute. Private Space was mad that Leilani had been referring to him as that on the internet and not using his real name. Leilani said that she was trying to protect his identity by keeping a character in a movie. It’s a long story, and I have leilani on film talking about it.
I stayed in the shadows, literally. I stood on the hill under a tree just filming the entire scene. It wasn’t long until Private Space saw me, and flipped out! He grabbed his camera and started filming me (I really don’t understand why they think that is so threatening! I’m all over the internet already, one more video really isn’t going to make a difference!). But the pin head decided that was getting to me I guess. I was filming all the activity going on. You can really see everything that was going on in my many videos.. but I want to take a moment to talk about Private Space. Now I know he is probably reading all of my blogs, in which case I would say; “Good!” This has to be the ugliest soul I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. I have absolutely no respect for this man, he wanted us to call him Mr. what’s his name, but we refused to. I actually think there is something wrong with this guy, I have never seen someone so angry and so filled with hate. He has what I call a black heart… he and all his buddies are nothing more then murders in my eyes. But then again, it may all be a result of Mercury Poisoning!
The police were very hostile and rude to us all of a sudden. They were “protecting” the fishermen. Protecting them from what!? A sixteen year old girl with a camera? My dad, who promised to not break Japanese law? Leilani and Greig who have been nothing but peaceful? They should have been focusing more on the fishermen’s angry behavior, they were the ones to watch out for.
Annie from New York joined us today! Thank you Annie! She is fluent in Japanese! So she was a huge help today with translating everything that lead up to my dad’s arrest.
Annie and a reporter worked together to translate Article 21 of the Japanese Constitution. Which states that “everyone has a right to film and post news worthy events”. Well all of this has been on the news here in Japan, so we consider this to be a news worthy event. The police were trying to tell us that it didn’t apply here, and we said “yes it does, not but a few days ago there were tons of news crews here filming what was going on-this does apply to everyone!” Not to mention the fact there was a student there making a movie about this! It did apply, it was just another bluff. When are these guys going to learn that we will not put up with being lied to?
I just want to say to the Japanese people who might be reading my blog. That you might want to do some research on what it is that your government is telling you about the Dolphin and Whale issue. I know you will find if you look hard enough, that they are lying to you! They really are. Look at all the holes in their stories, and all of the weak excuses they give you. The fact that every other scientist is saying that Tuna, Dolphin, Whale and Shark are loaded with mercury… but Japan scientists aren’t saying that!? No. It’s a lie. Watch the Cove… there is a Japanese scientist showing you just how much mercury is in the Dolphin meat. I am saying this sencerily! I really want you to stop poisoning yourselves and your children. And help save the Oceans, once we take out the Apex predators… humans and almost all other life on earth cannot exist! It really in your hands… the oceans are our main eco-system! We can put pressure on the fishermen and government, but this won’t stop until everyone stands up!
Annie took me over to the fence that is blocking the walkway across from the Cove. She showed me that the english sign says ” Please do not Enter, this is a restricted area, limited access only”…. but the Japanese sign says “This is a restricted area; keep out because of falling rocks”. Is this illegal in Japan!? It really should be! The mayor of Taiji wrote the english sign different from the Japanese because of what happens at the Cove! The signs say completely different things! That is or should be a crime! They cannot have certain rules for Japanese people and others for Western people. We follow all of the Japanese law and this was fishy.
Annie, my dad, and I walked up the stairs and looked straight at the grumpy cop that was giving us crap earlier (the same one that pushed Steven down that one early morning). We walked all the way over to him, my eyes didn’t move… I wanted him to know we were headed straight for him! We wanted to ask him what the punishment would be for crossing that barrier!? They said that Steven would have been arrested for swimming with dolphins in the Cove… and they couldn’t arrest him. We wanted to know 1. Why they lied to us when we have been nothing but honest to them. We have told them what time we will be places, told them everywhere we are going, we pull over and wait for them to catch up when they are following us. The least they owed us was an honest answer. Because we could have been making their lives hell the last five weeks, and we haven’t been! Because we wanted a good relationship with these people. And 2. What the punishment would be. Annie tried to translate ,but the cops were yelling at her and asking for her name, she wouldn’t give it to them… so they yelled even more! Finally she got the question through… No answer. In fact the police turned their back to us like children. They wouldn’t talk to us. So there was no other way to find out if they were lying… then to test it. Just like Steven did.
My dad and I walked to that gate again. We told Leilani what was going on. And she said that if he was going to do this, he had to do it now. Because while we were talking with the police (or more watching them act like kindergarden girls throwing a tantrum) three of the little motor boats came around the corner. Private Space had called on the slaughter for right then and there. Just to piss us off. My dad had to do this now if he wanted the footage. This was a news worthy event and he really wanted that footage. He asked me what I thought. I told him “it’s up to you. I support whatever you do, don’t worry about me. I know what to do and I have over six people here who will help me.” He handed me his wallet, the room key and they car key. And gave me a big hug. I ran and grabbed his camera, and he walked around the fence to film the slaughter.
The head cop looked like he was going to have a stroke. And grumpy cop’s neck vein started thumping. I’m surprised it didn’t burst. Squad police and the three head cops that we tried to talk to earlier went running onto the rocks and around the fence. Two minutes later, he came around the corner with the head cop holding on to his belt and everyone following. Dad tossed me his cell phone and told me that he had to go to the police station.
Keep in mind while all of this is going on… eight to ten Risso Dolphins where having metal poles shoved into their heads to smash up their brains. So that was in the back of my mind too.
They took my dad off and Annie, Patricia, Leilani and I grabbed everything off the beach and ran to my car. I have a international drivers license so we had to come up with a plan. But since the other two guys weren’t with us, we wanted to get out of the Cove area because there were more then a half dozen fishermen standing around us.
The game plan was this once the guys showed up Leilani would go with them, because she is SJD and even though she was going to help me, she had to do her job first. Totally understandable! Patricia, Annie and I were going to drive back (I had to drive AH! I had only driven once on the other side of the road here, and I have to be honest, I was trying to delay it as long as possible!) to the hotel and Skype my mom as I called the US Consulate in Osaka. We made it back to the hotel! I didn’t hit anything or kill anyone, whoo! All I could think about on the way back though.. was that my dad hadn’t drank much water today, he was sick and needed more medicine, and none of us had eaten more then pineapple at 8:00am. It was like 3pm!
I called the Consulate while my mom was on skype with me. Annie and Patricia were in the room too! The man I talked to on the phone was very nice and gave me some very good information about how the arresting system works. He was so worried about me and wanted to make sure I had money, food, a place to stay and people with me. I answered yes to every question and he seemed to relax a little. When he asked me if I knew why he arrested… I told him what happened, who my dad was and that he was with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. His response was “Is this the Cove in Taiji, like from the movie the Cove”? It was very funny. I said yes as a matter a fact it is. We both kinda laughed, he said that he would call me back soon after he talked to his boss… this was a tense subject here in Japan and he needed to find out what was going on for me.
After our long phone conversation I won’t bore you with… I hung up the phone. Literally a minute after Greig called me and said that they saw my dad walking down the street… and they had him in the car and were bringing him back. WHAT! I said. He was released. I knew it! They couldn’t arrest him for that! It was not against the law! Ha! Scoend bluff uncovered!
My dad told us the story he said that they took him into the interrogation room and asked him why he had done it, and why he was causing trouble. My dad did not answer. He looked at his shoes and he would sometimes say “Embassy”. They had put his pocket possessions in a tray on the table in front of him. Finally one of the police said “You are not under arrest. So my dad stood up collected his things, and started to walk out the door. They stopped him and said that he could not leave. My dad said “well then I am under arrest”. Sat back down and looked at the floor. When the police said that again, he got up and this time they offered to drive him back. He asked where I am and they said “We think Taiji.” So he had them drive him there. I was not there and neither was our car. He knew that I had done what we planned if he was ever arrested for any reason even though we don’t have plans to break law. That is when Creig found him.
When everything was dealt with like telling my mom, calling the embassy guy back, and talking to Paul. I made him come with me to get food. We weren’t hungry, but we had to eat! It was nice having food in front of us, it reminded us just how hungry we really were!
Now we are making videos and responding to tons of emails. Thank you everyone for being so supportive. I wish I had slaughter pictures from today… but I just couldn’t do both. Please see Save Japan Dolphins website because Leilani and Creig got some really good shots. Please take a moment for the innocent souls that were lost today… however it is you send good energy to them!
New You Tube videos at KahakaiGirl
— Won’t be up for a while! Sorry! I had three hours of footage to deal with!
For the Animals,
Elora Malama
Source: Elora Malama's blog, A Teenage Activist: This Girl's SoapBox
Note: Please visit the link to her blog for pictures.
Conversation with Scott West and his daughter Elora 16th October, 2010 by STOP killing Whales and Dolphins on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 2:09am.
It would seem that I initially called, just as Scott had tossed his phone to Elora, as he was being taken away by the police in Taiji, Japan today.
Elora was amazingly strong and said "My dad is being taken away, can I call you back?" (very cool under pressure :-)
I called back a little later, and coincidentally, it was JUST as Scott was walking through the door of the hotel room. The sound of jubilation filled Elora's voice, as she also had her mum, Suzanne, on a Skype call. The relief and joy was evident, as was the laughter that I heard over the phone. The room was busy, with about 7 or more people milling around in excitement (Elora tried counting as we spoke :).
After a few minutes Elora put me onto her dad, Scott, who told me the following:
He has NEVER seen dolphins fight as hard as they did today, but sadly the fishermen won the day by slaughtering 8-10 Risso Dolphins, behind closed doors, hiding their acts.
As it became obvious that something different was happening, Scott had walked beyond the blocked areas to film what was happening, and for this the police took him into custody. He was put into the back of a police vehicle and taken to an interrogation room at the Taiji police station. In his wisdom, Scott refused to answer any questions, but instead insisted that the US embassy be called, and he was asked several times to talk.
It became apparent, from what his interpreter was telling him, that he was actually NOT under arrest, so he tried to leave, but was asked to remain. This information was repeated and confirmed by the interpreter the second time and Scott (having the law enforcement experience that he does) realised that they were not able to make him stay unless he was formally charged.
He got up and walked out!
When he asked about his daughter Elora, it would seem that the local police realised his concern, and in fact drove him back to the cove. Everyone had left to get back to the hotel, (to report) but a couple of the team from 'Save Japan Dolphins' were driving by, so gave him a ride.
That is where our conversation started.
****
In my view, it would seem apparent that the fishermen chose to kill these dolphins today for a couple of reasons, primarily because if they left it until tomorrow, it was very likely that Scott, Elora, Lailani and others on the ground may have succeeded in capturing it all on film, and secondly because there have been thousands of people calling over the last 10 hrs or so, asking them NOT to kill the dolphins. Scott agrees.
In many ways I feel that this small group of fishermen chose to defy all protests, because they could.
It defies logic, it defies humanity, it is a blight on the Japanese government that they continue to allow this in this 21st century, BUT we must also remember that 'hating' the people is not the solution.
'Hating' the crime, yes!! But honestly, I know how much energy it takes to 'hate' and words are very, very powerful, so I would ask you all to try not to let this feeling in, but instead focus on the many things that we CAN do as a collective voice.
There is action happening in this crazy social networking world of ours, and a huge movement is taking place. IF we all choose to work TOGETHER as individuals and organisations, I honestly believe that stopping these heinous acts from continuing IS possible.
I send a HUGE virtual hug to Scott and Elora in Taiji with much love and thanks for their on-going efforts (as supported by SSCS) and a massive thanks from all of us at ARC - Animal Rescue & Conservation to you all, for your on-going support, encouragement, time and efforts in helping.
This is a wonderful 'team' that we are creating. Let's keep the momentum up.
****
**********
ALL embassies and many other details can be found in the discussion and 'notes' areas of these pages. Please be sure to cut and paste the sample letters (if you need to), the many email addresses and send to those listed. If you print it out (sorry trees) and mail a copy to the Prime Minister of Japan, I suspect it will also help. Details are also there.
*Keep copies of what you send (sadly we may need them again).
http://www.facebook.com/pages/STOP-killing-Whales-Dolphins/161639667187358
http://www.facebook.com/pages/WE-will-NOT-support-Whales-and-Dolphins-in-Captivity/151890801502673?ref=ts
Sincerely, Enviromending :-)
Source: Stop Killing Whales and Dolphins' Facebook Note/Interview
....more as it becomes available.: Dolphins are considered FISH by the "FISHermen" and Japanese government. Also, since most people in Japan will not eat dolphin meat, it is labeled as "whale" and sold for a higher price. "Evidence" re; this mislabeling has already been provided them, on several occasions, by several people and agencies.
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