the Cove

[sillygoose]

I'm on a rant so feel free to ignore me...

I watched a film tonight about the dolphin slaughter that occurs in some isolated coves in Japan. The film is "The Cove" and it's pretty horrific. I'd heard of it before, but seeing the water turn bright red really was stark. I want to learn more about the situation so I can know what I'm talking about.

This is how it goes. Pods of dolphins are rounded up, corralled with noise and frightened into shallow lagoons. Representatives from sea parks, Sea World, etc. come chose the prettiest individuals who get whisked away. The rest of the dolphins get harpooned repeatedly until they are all dead. To quote my kids, "That's just messed up."

There are a couple reasons this goes on. The Japanese fisherman, who I'm sure are just trying to make a living, blame declining fish populations on the dolphins saying they eat too much fish. This is clearly not sound logic. Second, dolphin meat can be passed off as whale meat at a much higher price - sadly full of mercury. Third, people don't know about it. Security around the killing lagoons is incredibly tight. People in Tokyo and other cities had never heard of this practice and were very unhappy to see video of it.

I was saddened and disgusted. I wanted to do something. I feel compelled to at least tell people about this and let them decide what to think. Bad things can happen in secret and I want to shine the light a bit.

 

[Tucson Reef]

They will pay in the end. First, I want to clarify, I am not a tree hugger and think they are silly.

But everytime man trys to make things right, look out. We introduce bugs to protect crops, then those bugs cause problems. We try to reintroduce wolves after the fauna has adjusted to no wolves and so on. Taking these dolphins out will have an effect on something, it might improve fishing in the short term but what else were the dolphins controling, Sharks maybe? The earth survives and adjusts by itself for a reason, man being smarter, usualy manages to screw things up when he fixes things.

the cruelity is also factor and in the end they will get theirs for that also

 

[BAllen]

I'm on a rant so feel free to ignore me...

I watched a film tonight about the dolphin slaughter that occurs in some isolated coves in Japan. The film is "The Cove" and it's pretty horrific. I'd heard of it before, but seeing the water turn bright red really was stark. I want to learn more about the situation so I can know what I'm talking about.

This is how it goes. Pods of dolphins are rounded up, corralled with noise and frightened into shallow lagoons. Representatives from sea parks, Sea World, etc. come chose the prettiest individuals who get whisked away. The rest of the dolphins get harpooned repeatedly until they are all dead. To quote my kids, "That's just messed up."

There are a couple reasons this goes on. The Japanese fisherman, who I'm sure are just trying to make a living, blame declining fish populations on the dolphins saying they eat too much fish. This is clearly not sound logic. Second, dolphin meat can be passed off as whale meat at a much higher price - sadly full of mercury. Third, people don't know about it. Security around the killing lagoons is incredibly tight. People in Tokyo and other cities had never heard of this practice and were very unhappy to see video of it.

I was saddened and disgusted. I wanted to do something. I feel compelled to at least tell people about this and let them decide what to think. Bad things can happen in secret and I want to shine the light a bit.

I remeber that from the Oscars. I think it won for best Documentary.

 

[aquaph8]

They will pay in the end. First, I want to clarify, I am not a tree hugger and think they are silly.

But everytime man trys to make things right, look out. We introduce bugs to protect crops, then those bugs cause problems. We try to reintroduce wolves after the fauna has adjusted to no wolves and so on. Taking these dolphins out will have an effect on something, it might improve fishing in the short term but what else were the dolphins controling, Sharks maybe? The earth survives and adjusts by itself for a reason, man being smarter, usualy manages to screw things up when he fixes things.

the cruelity is also factor and in the end they will get theirs for that also

Im not a tree hugger either but didn't humans cause most of those issues in the first place? I'd be amazed if people didn't over fish those areas and blame it on the dolphins as an excuse to kill the dolphins and sell the meat for a premium.

 

[Tucson Reef]

Sure, but things adapt to fill the space, we hunted wolves out years ago, so other animals adapted, hunting or disease filled the hole. Back east the tree huggers made restrictions on evil hunting of deer and impeded hunts, great, deer populations rose, hunger and disease, replaced hunting.

My point here was right now there is a balance, the dolphin play a part in that balance, artificially alter those numbers and you get problems.

My favorite is global warming, the oceans are the earths thermostat. Get too hot algaes die, water clears and absorbs less heat, cools, algae grows absorbs more heat and warms. Sure our cities and such effect this, but the earth adapts just like our Reef Tanks, only more efficient.

I'm not saying be a slob and pollute, but lets not get carried away and go back to the stone age. After all ALGORE , my hero lives in a huge mansion and flys private jets, but sells us "Carbon Credits", Lol!

 

[aquaph8]

Awe man, you brought Al Gore into this :lol:
Don't get me wrong, I like dolphins as much as the next Guy but I think they got over populated cause they act like puppies and we all have a soft spot for em. Otherwise I'd have one on my grill:rollface:

 

[savageAJC]

^ lol mmm mercury meat ( who really knows though ).. i mean dolphin meat haha
yea i was watching the show on tv a few days back..i dont think it was the actual film though. It was pretty sick though the way they just stab the dolphins then tie em up and drag them around..the whole lagoon actually turned red with blood..

 

[sillygoose]

Well I am a "tree-hugger" and do feel like global warming is a real issue...but I love you all anyways. :beer:

It was a powerful film from whatever angle you take it. They also talked about how a town in Japan was one of the first places that systemic mercury poisoning was observed in a whole group of people. Birth defects, illness, etc. Hg levels are highest in apex predators (dolphins, tunas, etc) - aka we shouldn't eat them for our own good and not just to give them a hug.

I'm just really glad to be having conversations about things that matter. We all have more common than we might expect.

 

[flamron]

They also talked about how a town in Japan was one of the first places that systemic mercury poisoning was observed in a whole group of people. Birth defects, illness, etc. Hg levels are highest in apex predators (dolphins, tunas, etc) - aka we shouldn't eat them

Isn't this the same as not hunting deer and then disease and starvation take over? I say good for the poisoned fish - teach the dummies that overkill not to do it. Or is it because it is human beings, that it shouldn't happen? :furious:

Screwing with the oceans will probably be the demise of us as a culture. Killing sharks, whales, dophins, reefs, etc - I'm sure the ecological downfall will be a result of ALL of these things. Alone or with only a couple present, the world would likely be fine. But throw all of those in the mix (and the cause is people) and you get systemic failure. :fish2:

My rant!

 

[flamron]

Oh, and IBTL......:blown:

 

[sillygoose]

What's ibtl mean?

 

[sillygoose]

...I didn't mean to imply that it's OK for the fish or mammals to have high levels of Hg. It's just that good environmental policy is in out own best interest as well as the creatures we share the planet with. If human health is what will make people care, than that's a good incentive too. Whatever works.

 

[adambirk]

so i guess all the reefs that have bleached and died in the last 3 years due to just a degree or so rise in water temps in the pacific have nothing to due with global warming?

come on are there really people out there that are still that ignorant? i mean come on i guess that the miles of polar ice caps that are lost in greenland each year probably arnt from global warming either. or how about the miles and miles of pack ice in the bering sea that doesnt freeze anymore either threatening the life of polar bears that rely on this pack ice to hunt.

also how come this really messed up stuff always comes from asia? the killing of whales, dolphins, and the sharks. killed for fins that fetch up to 200 dollars a pound.

millions of sharks are killed a year just for there fins. when a top preditor is taken out of the equation everything else falls out of ballance.

now i am not a "tree hugger" i do hunt and fish and love the outdoors. the problem is we as humans do not know the meaning of moderation. we are now taking at a rate that the ocean cannot keep up with because of our such efficent ways of fishing that it is just a matter of time before this all comes crashing down. here in michigan we had unlimited doe permits about 8 to 10 years ago for private land. this lasted 2 years. this was done by our wonderfull dnr who thought the deer heard was getting to big. now 10 years later and with milder winters than ever the deer heard is at its lowest it has ever been. in the last two years the buisness during deer season in the town i live in has been down 30 percent from years past. also going to the buck polls is a joke now. when 10 years ago you had to have an 8 point to even get on to now a nice 8 point wins. all this from just 2 years of devistation by being able to shoot as many deer as you could.

so i have seen the damage that we are capable of doing and this is happening at a much bigger scale than a few deer heards in bfe northern michigan.


and as a parent i really worry about what it is going to do to my kids lives. because being 30 i highly doubt i will see the major impact in my life but i would bet a months salary that my 1.5 year old daughter will deffinently see what a devistating impact we have done to this earth. and that i am worried about!!

-adam

 

[adambirk]

man i so want to bash the dudes hitting the dolphins with the same poles to see how they think it feels. ***!!!!!!!!!! i can not belive some of the s@#t that still goes on around the world. just think of what our great great grandchildren will say about our generation. i doubt there will be much good in there.

-adam

 

[aquaph8]

I recorded it today and have watched a little. I will finish it later. The animal activist guy is the real deal. He's not scared of anything. Anyone notice how much he looks just like Jerry Jones? I had no idea how much mercury dolphins had. Guess you learn something new everyday. Adam, I hear you on being worried about our kids but they are smarter than us and even at a young age they understand the issue. Hopefully they will be the key to turning things around. Doesn't mean we cant do our share though but I feel teaching our kids is the key.

 

[2006]

come on are there really people out there that are still that ignorant?

When I was a grade school student we were taught that an ice age during our lifetime was a very real possibility. In high school we were told that because of the depleted ozone layer we would all die from cancer due too much UV reaching the earth's surface. Now the same people of the same political persuasion are trying to sell me global warming?

I am not denying there has been warming because there is evidence. There is none that indicates humans are the major reason. I also find it interesting that other planets in our solar system have experienced global warming. How do you explain this?

This is nothing more than a power and money grab, politics as usual.

Come talk to me in 10 years and we will see who is ignorant.

To the OP you would think this could be done in an humane manner if at all.

 

[fishaholic911]

What's ibtl mean?

In Before The Lock - Meaning they posted before the thread was closed

 

[Tucson Reef]

The killing of the dolphins en mass to improve fish harvest aside from being cruel could have other bad outcome. We only see the fish they eat as fish, they might be keeping something else in check also. My point with the deer was at one point nature kept them in check by predation and disease. We stepped in and and changed the balance years ago and things readjusted over time. In recent years hunting has gone down and protections put in place by the feel goods. Now deer have become a nuisance in some areas and overpopulation has led to disease. Again nature will step in over time and rebalance things, but it takes time.

The reefs have gone through cycles thru out time, Basket stars, bugs, even effluent and fertilizers are now in the game. Carl Sagen started taking us out of the coming Ice age to the now fire and brimstone, Heck I think a Meteor will hit earth soon and we will go the way of the dinosaurs, lol.

 

[john90009]

i would relle hate to see this thread closed but any japanese reefers over here in japan wanna speak up?

 

[flamron]

i would relle hate to see this thread closed but any japanese reefers over here in japan wanna speak up?

I'm sure there are plenty of Japanese fisherman that would love to say something.....:fun2: