The work of PEACE, a Japanese group campaigning to end dolphin hunts
We have recently welcomed Robert Gilhooly as our new ambassador for Japan. Robert works for an organisation called PEACE, and has kindly provided us with a blog of the organisation’s work to end dolphin slaughter in Japan.
Each year, Japan authorizes the hunting of almost 11,000 dolphins. Permits are issued to a handful of municipalities nationwide, the most infamous of which is the small fishing town of Taiji, which became synonymous with the hunts following the release of the Oscar-winning documentary film “The Cove,” an exposé of the covert slaughter of dolphins in the town. While some of the catch there is slaughtered for meat, many more are hand-picked for trade in the highly lucrative captivity industry. The much sought after Bottlenose dolphin can reportedly fetch more than US$100,000 per head.
The hunt process is a terrifying experience for the dolphins, and research has shown that the chase, coralling and violent handling of dolphins cause them to suffer acute psychological stress and trauma. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for pregnant mothers that are herded into the cove to lose their calves through stress-induced stillbirths or miscarriages.
PEACE (Putting an End to Animal Cruelty and Exploitation) has been working to bring an end to the hunts, while also raising awareness about the detrimental effects of keeping dolphins in captivity, which has been banned, or is being phased out by numerous countries due to the growing public sentiment against it.
This is no easy task: Many Japanese are led to believe that the dolphin hunts are part of a centuries-long tradition, though in reality they are nothing more than a multi-million-dollar business that started in 1969 to coincide with the opening of an aquarium — in Taiji!
Furthermore, captive facilities and the bodies that govern them have long espoused their importance for educational, scientific and breeding purposes. These claims are questionable at best. Few Japanese are aware that of the small number of dolphins that are successfully bred in captivity, between 80 percent and 90 percent die before their first birthday. This awareness gap is partly down to a complicit media. When a baby Bottlenose dolphin was born at a facility in Shizuoka Prefecture in October 2024, it was widely covered in the news. But when that same dolphin died seven months later, the media was conspicuously silent.
Dolphin deaths are not uncommon in captive environments, and according to a former Taiji aquarium trainer, who I met about a year ago, death and disease can be found throughout the whole gamut of the captive industry.
The trainer told of how eight dolphins that were being transported by boat from Hatakejiri Bay (aka “The Cove”) to a dolphin trading company’s pens about 15 minutes away died in transit, probably of shock. Dolphins that survive that ordeal face further anxiety, sometimes leading to death, when they are then transported from a trading company to aquariums and other captive facilities within Japan and overseas, the trainer said. Furthermore, some of those that make it to their final destination will refuse to eat the frozen fish that they are fed – a kind of hunger strike that often leads to forced feeding, and sometimes death. Microplastics and other ocean contaminants, not to mention countless annual typhoons and the occasional tsunami, are a few other natural and man-made phenomena threatening the captive dolphin’s very existence.
Illness, too, is rife. The trainer told of a little-known incident at an aquarium in Yokohama, where swine fever wiped out most of the dolphins kept there. Psychological illness is also not uncommon. Numerous cetaceans in captivity show patterns of problematic behaviour, such as self-harm and hyper-aggression. Researchers such as Dr. Lori Marino, a neuroscientist and expert in animal behaviour, have ascribed this to the constricted, stimulus-poor environments of captive facilities.
What PEACE are doing
PEACE is now extending its awareness-raising efforts by urging Japanese municipalities and members of the public to look beyond captive environments such as marine parks. The aim is to encourage them to engage with dolphins through alternative, more responsible and kinder wildlife experiences such as sanctuaries, where the ultimate goal is to return captive dolphins to their natural habitat. We are currently planning an event in the run-up to World Animal Day 2025, that will examine the current situation, as well as what the future holds for dolphins. We will post more information about this event on the World Animal Day event calendar, and of course, you are welcome to join us remotely, or in Tokyo!
Dolphin hunting and captivity are just two of the issues that PEACE has tackled since its inception. Indeed, it has been taking action on a wide range of animal welfare issues, including as a member of the executive committee of the “No sacrifice for beauty” campaign against animal testing for cosmetics, and a campaign to end the National BioResource Project “Japanese Macaques,” which raises and breeds large numbers of Japanese snow monkeys for animal experiments in research labs. Furthermore, PEACE is lobbying the Japanese government for change to animal welfare legislation, which is woefully behind many other parts of the world.
The name of the NGO, “PEACE” is not just an acronym. It also reflects a core belief that true peace does not only mean peace for humans. PEACE believes animals also have the right to live peacefully, without being abused or exploited by humans.
This is a guest blog that solely contains the views and opinions of the author.