 9 Dec 2003 @ 13:08, by Alana Tobin
[link] SEASHEPHERD.ORG
The Ten Most Dangerous Places for Marine Mammals in the World And What Sea Shepherd is Doing to Make These Places Safer
1. Canada - The Seal Hunt
2. Japan - The Dolphin Slaughter
3. Japan - The Japanese Whaling Fleet
4. Norway: - The Norwegian Pirate Whaling Fleet
5. The Faeroe Islands - The Pilot Whale Massacre
6. The Solomon Islands - Dolphins Killing and Captures
7. Iceland - Pirate whaling operations
8. South Africa - Fur Seal Slaughter
9. St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
-- the killing of whales and dolphins
10. The World's Oceans - International Pirate whaling and Poaching
SEA SHEPHERD ACTION ALERT:
Japan Arrests Crewmembers, Seizes Cameras, Film & Video
Dear Sea Shepherd Members and Friends,
If you've been visiting our website regularly and/or been receiving emails from us, then you're well aware that Sea Shepherd is currently in the midst of an urgent life and death campaign in Taiji, Japan, to stop the annual Japanese dolphin slaughter. Since late September, several Sea Shepherd volunteers have been Taiji, Japan, risking their lives to document and try to stop the dolphin drive which claims the lives of thousands of dolphins and small whales each year. Despite death threats, police harassment and constant hardship, the Sea Shepherd crewmembers have remained in the area on a round-the-clock vigil.
On October 6th, Sea Shepherd crewmembers exposed the atrocities of the Taiji dolphin slaughter to the world by providing major media the gory images and video of the hunt (can be seen at our website). This made headlines around the world and fueled a global protest on Nov. 4th in 22 cities.
Another protest is planned for Dec 10th - details are below. Although the dolphin hunt continues in Taiji, the ruthless fishermen are not able to kill as many as last year due to Sea Shepherd's direct intervention and the embarrassing media coverage provided by our documentation.
Rather than helplessly witness and document more dolphins being killed, on November 18 (in Japan) two Sea Shepherd crewmembers -Allison Lance-Watson of the USA and Alex Cornelisson of the Netherlands - jumped into the frigid waters and swam for an hour to untie and sink the nets penning a pod of dolphins awaiting slaughter.
Together Allison and Alex were able to save the lives of 15 dolphins by creating an escape route back to the open sea. Both crewmembers were immediately arrested by police when they swam on-shore and taken to a jail in nearby Shingu. The arrest left two other Sea Shepherd crewmembers to continue the campaign in Taiji -Nik Hensey of the USA and Thomas Heineman of Germany.
Nik has been in Taiji for over 2 months. During the evening of Wednesday, November 19 (in Japan), Japanese police raided the trailer park where the Sea Shepherd crew are based in Taiji. The Shingu police ordered Nik Hensey and Thomas Heineman to leave the trailer. The police then entered and boxed up all the property in the trailer including cameras, film, clothing and a laptop computer,leaving them stranded in a hostile village in Japan without personal assets.
Neither of the men was charged with a crime. The police have continued to hold Allison and Alex Cornelisson in the jail at Shingu. They have not been allowed to communicate with any persons outside of the jail. Sea Shepherd has been trying to reach them through diplomatic channels. In defense of the horrifically cruel slaughter of the defenseless dolphins at Taiji, the Japanese are exercising a police-state approach to any person who attempts to document the atrocities - it is now illegal to photograph or film the slaughter of dolphins and small whales.
**WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP** Contact the Japanese government offices below and request that they immediately:
1) Release Allison Lance-Watson and Alex Cornelisson from jail and drop any charges.
2) Return the personal property, cameras, film and documentation belonging to the Sea Shepherd crew in Japan.
3) Reverse any new law or regulation which makes it illegal to photograph, film, or videotape the dolphin slaughter.
4) Permanently stop the barbaric slaughter of dolphins and whales in Taiji and all coastal fishing villages in Japan. Japanese Embassies and Consulate Offices - To find a Japanese embassy or consulate office near you, link here: [link]
Mr. Yoshiki Kimura, the governor of Wakayama Prefectural Office of Wakayama 1-1 Komatsubaradouri, Wakayama-shi Wakayama-ken, 640-8269 Japan Tel: 81-73-441-2034 Fax: 81-73-423-9500 Email: teigen-s@office.wakayama.go.jp
Prime Minister of Japan Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, 1-6-1 Nagata-cho 1 Chome Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. 100-8968 JAPAN Tel: 81-3-3581-2361
Send an e-message by completing the form on this webpage: [link]
ALSO CONTACT the US STATE DEPT and urge it to put pressure on the Japanese government: [link] AND [link]
*DEC. 10 INTERNATIONAL PROTEST AGAINST DOLPHIN SLAUGHTER*
Sea Shepherd is organizing another "International Day of Protest Against Japanese Dolphin Slaughter" for December 10th at Japanese Consulates around the world. This will compliment to our successful world-wide demonstration held on Nov. 4 and keep the pressure on the Japanese government. For more information, please visit our Taiji webpage: [link]
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