01/09/2023
๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐, ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ธ, ๐๐ผ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ
๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ธ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ถ๐ท๐ถ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ธ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ ๐ก๐๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐น๐ฎ.
September 1 marks the beginning of the largest dolphin slaughter in the world which happens yearly in Japan. Last season, the Japan Fisheries Agency granted a permit for 1, 849 dolphins to be either slaughtered or captured by fishermen in the Taiji. The 2022/2023 dolphin killing season ended in February and had 37 animals captured for ocean parks with 527 animals slaughtered. Among the species captured for ocean parks are bottlenose dolphins, striped dolphins and melon headed whales. Species slaughtered for meat are striped dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, Rissoโs dolphins, short-finned pilot whales, and melon-headed whales[1].
Historical data shows that the numbers being captured for entertainment is decreasing. According to Trixie Concepcion of Earth Island Institute Asia Pacific, โWe can end this senseless slaughter when people stop buying tickets to see dolphin shows.โ
Animal welfare group Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) urges the Philippine government not to allow any further importations from Japan as this violates the Animal Welfare Act of the Philippines.
โOcean parks are already closing in many countries because they are inherently cruel to the animals. We urge the Philippine government to ban this cruel form of entertainmentโ says Anna Cabrera of PAWS.
Apart from dolphin killings, advocates are also protesting the dumping of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean which started last 24 August. Japan plans to release about 1.3 Million cubic meters of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean for the next 30 years. The radioactive wastewater came from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant which was severely damaged in the 2011 earthquake that hit Japan.
According to the Japanese government most radioactive elements have been filtered from the water, except for radioactive forms of hydrogen and carbon - called tritium and carbon 14, respectively. Once mixed with seawater the tritium and carbon 14 levels will already meet safety standards, according to Japan.[2]
Environmentalists believe that in allowing toxic wastewater to be dumped into the ocean, that regulators failed to see the bigger picture as the oceans are already severely polluted and many marine ecosystems are already in danger.
โMicroplastics are already present from the smallest marine organisms to our drinking water, our oceans have been the dumping grounds for human sewage, fertilizers and pesticides since Western industrialization. The effects of climate change are already decimating marine ecosystems, so given these, why would we allow for toxic wastewater to be dumped in the oceans?โ, says Robert Medrano, campaign coordinator for Earth Island Institute
โWe would like to join the citizens of Japan, China, Korea and the countries in the Pacific Island Forum[3] in denouncing the dumping of wastewater in the Pacific. This action by the Japanese government endangers small island countries, which already bore the brunt of previous nuclear tests, as well as endanger the livelihoods of fisherfolk in the Pacific. While all the studies center on the concentration of toxic chemicals in the water, there has been no study on the social impacts to communities who are reliant on fisheriesโ, says Ronnel Arambulo, Vice Chairperson of the Pamalakaya Fisherfolk group.
Stop the Kills! Stop the Hunts! Save the Dolphins!
No to Radioactive Wastewater Dumping!
No to Nuclear Power!
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[1] https://www.dolphinproject.com/.../save.../statisticaldata/
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66094479
[3] Kirbati, Palau, Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue, Micronesia, Samoa
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