nPostednon September 1, 2013
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nDrivingndolphins together with boats, cutting off their escape with nets, andnthen driving them up onto a beach—this “drive hunting” has beennused against dolphins in the past, but I am surprised to learn thatnit is still used to hunt these intelligent mammals today!
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nMostnof the peoples in the world have agreed to stop hunting whales,nincluding dolphins. These creatures have huge brains, are highlynintelligent, and communicate with members of their own species. Manynwhales and some dolphins are endangered because of human hunting andnother activities, yet whales and dolphins are known to have savednhumans from sharks or from drowning on many different occasions.
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I read several reports of dolphins saving the lives of dogs as well as humans. |
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nSmallnpopulations of native groups that have always relied upon whalenhunting have been allowed to continue on a subsistence level—thatnis, killing whales only for their own use, not to sell for money—innAlaska, Canada, Indonesia, Russia, and a few other places in thenworld. Three modern nations still allow some commercial whalingn(selling whale meat for profit): Norway, Iceland, and Japan. n
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nPeoplenall over the world are complaining to the governments of those threencountries. It seems to me that people are especially upset at thendolphin slaughter happening in the waters of Taiji, Japan, probablynbecause the brute-force drive-hunting methods were captured in ancontroversial film called Cove. Apparently, whalers in Taijinwanted to increase their hunting of dolphins for meat, but they metnwith multiple set-backs as the international community protested suchna move, and (even more important) a lot of the dolphin meat turnednout to be contaminated and not fit for human consumption.
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nToday,nSeptember 1, the dolphin hunting season begins in Taiji. Peacefulnprotests against all dolphin hunting (and particularly drive hunting)nare planned to occur today. n
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nTonbe fair to the other side, the Japanese government has stated thatnmost of the dolphins herded onto their beaches in recent years havenbeen released unharmed, and others have been taken into captivity fornentertainment purposes and for aquariums. Officials state that thenpilot whales captured in these hunts were killed for meat, but notnthe dolphins. Dolphin advocacy groups dispute these statements—andnI’m not sure what to believe!
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nHownsmart are dolphins?
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nChecknout this short video…
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nAlsonon this date:
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nSelf-University Week Begins
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nAnniversarynof the extinction of the passenger pigeon
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nIndependencenDay in Uzbekistan
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nPlannAhead!
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on September holidays, September birthdays,nand historical anniversaries in September.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on October holidays, October birthdays,nand historical anniversaries in October.
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