Dolphinariums and dolphin drives

Recently visited the Taiji Whale Museum in Wakayama prefecture, Japan.

Taiji Whale Museum

This is an "entertainment" facility that show the history of whale hunting, methods of hunting over the ages, various whale skeletons, there are also captive false killer whales, a single killer whale, Risso's dolphins and short finned pilot whales. Also what is on offer is a dolphin petting experience using a female bottle nosed dolphin.

Risso's Dolphin at the Taiji Whale Museum

There is an educational aspect to the "museum" in that tourists are able to see and have a positive experience with these various cetaceans. However at what cost... there is a darker side to Taiji and it's Whale Museum.

Many people will be familiar with or heard about Dolphin drives in Japan and the brutal nature of the slaughter (check out the following website Click HERE) Actually the Taiji Whale Museum has been implicated in these hunts. A certain percentage from the hunts are taken aside by the Taiji Whale museum to provide for the dolphin petting experience or to provide live cetaceans to Oceanariums worldwide.

Ocean Park, Hong Kong has done some studies into Mainland Chinese oceanariums/dolphinariums and where they source their dolphins and I have sent an enquiry to them for some information.

Taiji Whale Museum and any oceanarium that sources from this brutal slaughter are to be avoided at all costs.

Of course this brings the bigger question of whether we should have dolphins and other cetaceans in captivity at all.

Alaskan fisheries authority react quickly and close down commercial fishing

Interesting article passed to me by Alison Bradley (thanks Alison) points to a link between climate change and the stalled recovery of the 'overfished' cod fisheries in the North West Atlantic.

This link in a report by the University of Massachusetts, has led to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council making history by "summarily prohibited any bottom-trawl commercial fishing off the far north of Alaska past the Bering Strait — at least until scientists figure out the effects of sea ice retreat and warming."

The full story can be found HERE

The fast action of the Alaskan fisheries authorities should be applauded, fast and decisive action from scientific evidence is needed in many others areas, here's a few that immediately come to mind:

1. European fisheries in the North Sea and the Atlantic, near collapse.
2. WWF-HK's call for no catch zones in Hong Kong waters. Setting up of marine parks has seen little recovery
3. Bluefin tuna worldwide, a species now critically endangered.
4. The live fish trade in South East Asia, both due to unhealthy fishing practices and overfishing.
5. Shark finning, absolutely unsustainable.

Sea Turtle Conservation and Tourism Clash on Japan's Yakushima Island

An news item of interest that I have found on ENN (environment news network)
http://www.enn.com/net.html?id=2025

Essentially this article talks about how growing ecotourism on the island of Yakushima, Japan, is damaging the nests of the endangered North Pacific Loggerhead turtle.

To me this shows the increasing interest and thus the increasing value in environmental tourism, but clearly not all Ecotourism is created equal. Care must be taken to research and choose appropriate conservation enhancing Ecotourism destinations that also directly benefit local people. If you don't like what a tour group or "Ecotourist" site is doing, don't participate and publicise, on this BLOG and others, what you don't like.