Everyone here at Awesome Ocean is opposed to whaling and drive hunts that kill hundreds of dolphins and whales each year in Taiji, Japan.
We founded Awesome Ocean because of our strong love and belief in caring, protecting and conserving our natural world – full stop.
The drive hunts in Taiji, Japan are the antithesis of what we stand for.
It is also our position that it is through the up-close connections that people create at marine parks that people are then inspired to conserve and preserve our natural world. They are intertwined.
Those connections have led us to be passionate about ending the drive hunts.
Since the late 17th Century, Taiji has been known as the whaling center of Japan. In the 1960’s over 600 people were employed in the whaling industry in the small village on the Japanese coast, which at that point, represented over 60% of the town’s economy. Over the past 50 years as the Japanese have been exposed to marine life in other ways than hunting, whaling has decreased in Taiji. Now fewer than 100 people are employed in the industry and it now represents less than 3% of the town’s economy.
The times are changing, but the slaughter continues.
It is an emotional issue, but we believe logical solutions will provide the most expedient path to its end. Thus providing alternatives to the locals who are financially dependent on this industry is the key.
We ask you to please support and share these alternatives to commercial whaling.
- Support Taiji Fisherman – for the 100 people who depend on the drives, this is how they feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. By purchasing other forms of catch like the Taiji Lobster and other local fish, you are giving them economic incentive to move to a more profitable catch.
- Support Responsible Whale Watching – Recently in Taiji and across Japan, whale watching tour operators have been banding together to create a great alternative to the whaling industry. If you want to donate money to support whale watching, please consider helping these companies create great awareness.
- Support Eco-friendly Tourism in Taiji – Since whaling is now less than 3% of the local economy, supporting other local industries can help the local population transition away even further from whaling. You can directly affect the local economy and support local fisherman who do not participate in drive hunts.
Real solutions to world problems take more than 140 characters. It also takes a lot of people working together to solve problems. It’s time to put our actions and money where our tweets are.
Fans of zoos, aquariums and marine parks can unite with other activists as we work together to end the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, and make our oceans a little more awesome together.
Source: Japan Focus
(Photo Credit: Adrian Mylne, Reuters)