What are the slaughtered dolphins used for? 

Where do the captured dolphins go that are not slaughtered?

Why are some dolphins released back into the wild?

Dolphin meat being served at a restaurant in Taiji

The slaughtered dolphins are sold for their meat to be used in food dishes or as meat products to the public from local markets in Taiji.

Dolphin meat is not as popular to the Japanese people anymore though because it has been known to be traced with very high levels of mercury. The recommended mercury ppm is 0.4 but dolphin meat has 1000 times more mercury parts per million in it. Few educated locals or tourists will continue to buy this meat unaware of the health risks that are associated with eating dolphin meat from toxins such as, cadmium, pesticides and organic contaminants known as PCB’s. These toxins will especially affect pregnant woman and her fetus and children. There are no warning labels on dolphin meat packaging as well.

Dolphin meat

Iruka (left)

The captured dolphins that are not slaughtered are examined by dolphin trainers that assist the fishermen in capturing these dolphins. These dolphins trainers come from all over the world, but mainly from Asia, especially China. Bottlenose dolphins are very popular among the dolphin trainers because of the hit TV series “Flipper.” Japanese tourists and tourists from around the world get excited when they “see Flipper.” The dolphin trainers will go through a gruelling process of selecting dolphins that meet all their desired requirements such as, young female dolphins being no longer than 2.5 metres and uninjured.

Dolphin trainers will even go as far as to separate a baby calf dolphin from its mother so they are able to inspect the mother more closely near the shore of the cove. The baby calf is ultimately left to suffer alone while the mother is grieving and baffled from losing her baby.

Two Risso’s taken from their pod by dolphin trainers to transfer to captivity

Watched in horror as their family members were slaughtered

RELEASED DOLPHINS?

 Some dolphins that are captured are released back into the ocean, by the fishermen. The fishermen are said to be doing this as a way to maintain public relations by showing the public that they in fact, do not slaughter all the dolphins that they capture.