a dolphin's view's topics - tribe.net

Beach Lovers tribe!

missbug — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:37:01 GMT

Life is a beach!
For those of you who love the beach- beach lovers tribe is the tribe for you! Anything to do with beaches anywhere in this world! Photography, hiking, beach combing, surfing, skimming, kite-boarding, wind surfing, kayaking, suntanning, chillin', or any other appreciation of this amazing ecosystem is where we are headed! Let's explore our love of the transition zone between land and sea!
thanks and I hope to see you there!
Nora :)

posted in a dolphin's view - 1 reply

Dolphin hunt sags amid mercury fears

Emily — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:10:49 GMT

By JOSEPH COLEMAN
updated 2:09 p.m. PT, Wed., Jan. 30, 2008

TAIJI, Japan - Every autumn and winter, hunters from this craggy Japanese fishing village corral thousands of dolphins into a tiny, isolated cove and kill them for meat and fertilizer, turning the water red with their blood.

And every year, foreign animal rights protesters converge on the town, interfering with the slaughter, clashing with fishermen and broadcasting grisly photographs of the slayings around the world _ all without stopping the hunt.

Now, Japan's dolphin hunters face a new, powerful opponent: mercury contamination.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

A series of scientific studies in recent years in Japan have documented high levels of the toxic heavy metal in dolphin meat, and a group of city councilmen in Taiji launched an unprecedented campaign against the hunt several months ago after doing their own tests.

A leading regional supermarket chain has pulled dolphin from its shelves over the health concerns, and hunt critics in the town say villagers are shunning it. Meat from pilot whales _ a type of dolphin _ was taken off local school lunch menus in October.

"The mayor says we've caused 100 million yen ($1 million) in damages to the industry, but I don't know how that's calculated," said Junichiro Yamashita, a city councilman spearheading the anti-hunt movement. "They say the business is important for Taiji, but we say that health is more important."

Indeed, while animal rights arguments against the hunt have fallen on deaf ears in Japan, the threat of mercury contamination strikes a chord in a country where food safety is rapidly becoming a paramount public concern.

Though no mercury poisoning cases from dolphin meat have been publicly documented in Taiji, such contamination resonates loudly in Japan, where thousands were killed or crippled by mercury poisoning in Minamata in the 1950s and 60s. The poisoning was triggered by massive dumping of industrial mercury into the fishing grounds around the village in southern Japan.

Taiji is one of several Japanese villages where dolphins are hunted. The town this season has a nationally set quota of 3,015, of a total national quota of nearly 21,000. The actual take tends to be about 30 percent lower than the quota, depending on demand for the meat.

While other villages usually harpoon their quarry out at sea, the particularly bloody killing methods in Taiji have made the town a focal point of animal rights activists worldwide.

The village resents the attention and accuses outsiders of interfering with a hunting tradition of hundreds of years. Standoffs between protesters and hunters quickly boil over into arguments and threats. The town erects barriers and hangs tarps to block activists from photographing the kill, and daily hunts can be canceled if foreigners are seen in town.

"No thank you," said an official at the fisheries union when approached for comment on the hunt. "You've come at a bad time."

The recent findings on mercury levels, however, have given pause to many would-be consumers.

Tetsuya Endo, a researcher at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, in northern Japan, has co-authored numerous studies showing dolphin meat can contain mercury at concentrations many times higher than the 0.4 parts per million allowed by the Japanese government for many types of fish.

The highest concentration he has found so far was 100 parts per million from a bottlenose dolphin _ a species whose meat is butchered in Taiji.

"This ought to be investigated," Endo said, calling for a government probe into the dangers of eating dolphin. "There are people who eat it a lot, and those people could be suffering health effects."

The threat of mercury contamination, however, failed to cause a stir in this isolated village until Yamashita, irked by the town's plans to build a $3 million dolphin slaughterhouse and spread the use of local dolphin meat in school lunches, decided with allies to conduct their own probe.

The results on tests of three locally bought pieces of dolphin meat at a government-run lab confirm their fears, he said.

The pieces of meat taken from pilot whales were all many times the 0.4 parts per million threshold. One piece logged 11 parts per million of mercury, and 2.6 parts per million of PCBs, an industrial pollutant that Japanese regulations limit to 0.5.

Yamashita and his allies announced the results in a handout distributed with local newspapers, and he expanded his crusade by appearing at a news conference in Tokyo for foreign reporters _ a move that angered village elders and hunters.

"They said that if dolphin hunting disappears, then Taiji will disappear, but I say it's important to look at developing other industries," he said. "They're upset that I showed this to the outside world."

The anti-hunt movement, however, faces substantial hurdles.

The Taiji leadership _ only three of 10 councilmen oppose the hunt _ is clinging to plans for the new slaughterhouse, counting on sales of dolphin meat outside the region, where the mercury concerns have not spread because of lack of national media attention. Captured dolphins are also sold to dolphin aquariums in Japan and abroad, at substantial profit.

Taiji has powerful contacts at the national level. Lawmaker Toshihiro Nikai, a top executive of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is a native of the prefecture where Taiji is located, and he recently visited the village. Campaign posters of him can be seen around town.

Tokyo _ which is also battling international protesters over its whaling program on the high seas _ is not getting involved in the dolphin dispute, despite a Health Ministry survey in 2003 confirming high levels of mercury in the mammals. The Fisheries Agency in 2005 upgraded a 2-year-old advisory to urge pregnant women not to eat dolphin more than once every two months.

In any case, the 0.4 parts per million limit on mercury does not apply to dolphin meat, and there are no plans to strengthen the guidelines, officials said.

"We are aware that mercury content is particularly high in dolphins," said Yuichiro Ejima, a food safety official at the Health Ministry. "But ... most Japanese seldom eat the meat, except in some areas where dolphins are caught traditionally."

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

sharkwater

missbug — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:29:35 GMT

saw this movie on the weekend...I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in ocean conservation! I warn you tho that it is extremely graphic...there are images from this film that will be burned into my memory cells forever!
thank you rob stewart for caring about these beautiful creatures and may we all help to save sharks from becoming extinct!

posted in a dolphin's view - 5 replies

Blessed by those mystical beautiful dolphins

shawna — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 01:06:49 GMT

I recently went to hawaii and have ahd the dream all my life to swim with the dolphins, went out on a raft boat, got in the water in general area where some spinner dolphins were swimming. I swam away from the ffew people i was with, and I got blessed with 3 dolphin encounters, one of these encounters the adult spinnners swam literally on both sides of me and at the same time the baby spinners swam under me, they embraced me,,,,, with such magic,... wish I could swim with them always...
I was blessed
shawna

posted in a dolphin's view - 7 replies

OT- Sociology Survey--I Need Your Help!

lunarose — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 22:25:38 GMT

Hey everyone, I am doing a survery for my sociology class which is a part of my final, and I need some people to fill out a survery regarding the environment. It's only 10 questions and will only take a couple minutes of your time. If you are interested, please copy and paste this survey into a message to me, then fill it out and send it. It will be completely confidential. Thank you!

Environment

1. What is your age?
___ 18-25
___ 26-44
___ 45+

2. What is your gender?
___ Female
___ Male

3. What is your ethnicity?
___ White
___ Latino/a
___ Asian American
___ African American
___ Native American
___Multi-Ethnic (_______)
___ Other

4. What is your marital status?
___ Single
___ Married
___ Divorced
___ Widowed/Widower

5. What is your parent’s highest level of education?
___ High School or less
___ High School Diploma
___ Some College
___ Bachelor’s Degree
___ Master’s Degree
___Doctorate Degree

6. Do you currently recycle?
___ Yes
___ No

7. How often do you buy biodegradable products?
___ Always
___ Sometimes
___ Never

8. Would you consider buying a hybrid car?
___ Yes
___ No
___Maybe

9. Do you bring your own shopping bags (canvas, cloth, etc) when you go grocery shopping?
___ Always
___ Sometimes
___ Never

10. Do you think that our country is doing enough to help the environment?
___ Yes
___ No

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

Dolphin Class-Escondido; Ca. San Diego

Gina — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 07:33:58 GMT

I will be giving a class on dolphin physiology, healing capabilities, and the messages they've given me while swimming with them. We will see dolphin pictures and a Joan Ocean video. It's sure to be fun and spiritual! Free gift for everyone and a raffle for a dolphin gift basket will be available. Donations gladly accepted.
Date: Friday October 5
Time: 7-9 p.m.
Location: Philosophical Library
2091 East Valley Parkway Suite D
Escondido; Ca. 92027
(760) 745-2724
Hope to see you there!

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

please don't swim with the dolphins!

missbug — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:48:19 GMT

Don't Swim With the Dolphins
Paula Moore 03 Jul 2007 14:11 GMT

If your summer vacation plans have you buying tickets to a marine mammal park or a “swim with the dolphins” program, be forewarned: You could be helping to finance the slaughter of dolphins in the wild.

This is the captive-animal industry’s dirty little secret. Every year, thousands of dolphins are killed in gruesome “drive fisheries” in Japan. Most end up as meat in local supermarkets. But a few of the dolphins captured during these government-sanctioned oikomi will end up in aquariums and marine parks instead. The sale of a handful of live dolphins funds the deaths of all the rest.

In October and November 2006, photojournalist Boyd Harnell observed the drive fishery in Taiji, Japan. “It was a repulsive, barbaric event,” Harnell says. During a capture in October, Harnell watched as a dozen “drive boats” chased a pod of dolphins. Crew members aboard the boats clang metal poles together underwater, creating a wall of sound. The clanging metal disorients the dolphins, while the boats, blocking every avenue of escape, force the panicked animals into a small “capture cove.” Some dolphins are pursued for hours. “It was like a military operation,” writes Harnell. “The pursuit was relentless.”

Some of the dolphins were able to break away and escape, “but the others,” says Harnell, “including some calves, were trapped and hyperventilating. A few calves were unable to keep up and became separated from their mothers. They were left to die of starvation or be eaten by sharks.”

Once the exhausted dolphins are inside the capture cove, their fate is sealed: The mouth of the cove is blocked with nets and the dolphins have no way out.

The morning after this first capture, Harnell saw fishers, armed with long knives, arrive to begin the slaughter. More nets are used to force the dolphins into the “killing cove,” where they are speared or their throats are cut. Video footage of past hunts shows dolphins thrashing in their own blood for many agonising minutes. Their bodies are taken to local slaughterhouses and chainsaws are used to hack them apart.

This spectacle is repeated again and again from September to March. At least 400,000 dolphins have died this way in the past two decades alone. Local fishers consider dolphins to be their competition for dwindling fish stocks and they describe the violent oikomi as nothing more than “pest control.”

But not all of the dolphins are killed. Every year, an unknown number of young dolphins captured during drive hunts is sold into the captive-animal entertainment industry. Some will be displayed in aquariums. Others will be used in “swim with” program or trained to perform in marine parks.

According to a report released last year by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, dolphins captured during drive fisheries have ended up in aquariums all over the world. Even countries that no longer allow the importation of dolphins collected during drive fisheries may be displaying animals purchased before the ban or moved through other countries to disguise their origin. The U.S., for example, stopped importing animals from drive hunts in 1993 but not before at least 20 false killer whales (a type of dolphin) were sold to U.S. facilities.

Activists working to stop the drive fisheries have been told that the huge sums of money offered for “show” dolphins are what fuel the hunts. Dead dolphins sold as meat aren’t worth much – a few hundred dollars. But a healthy young dolphin is worth tens of thousands. Without that incentive, local fishers would find other sources of income, such as conducting dolphin watch tours, as one former fisher in Futo does now.

If you don’t want to support these barbaric hunts, please don’t patronise marine parks or “swim with” programs. We’ve long known that captivity is a death sentence for marine mammals. Now we know, too, that the dolphins swimming endless circles in concrete tanks are not the only ones suffering.

Paula Moore is a senior writer for the international animal protection organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, based in Norfolk, Virginia; www.PETA.org.

SOURCE:
www.indymedia.org/en/2007/0...8470.shtml

posted in a dolphin's view - 1 reply

Dolphin Healing

John — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 07:44:58 GMT

Here's a great article!

http://www.massageandbodywork.com/Articles/OctNov2005/Dolphin.html

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

plastic ocean

missbug — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 01:08:14 GMT

an interesting article that some of you may be want to read!
nora

"A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse."
more...
SOURCE:
http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publish/travel-leisure/Our_oceans_are_turning_into_plastic_are_we.shtml

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

has anyone?

Mon, 23 Aug 2004 04:30:08 GMT

has anyone swam with dolphins before? and what was the experience like? i wish that i could....

posted in a dolphin's view - 2 replies

Seahorse the canary of world's oceans

missbug — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:38:45 GMT

Seahorse the canary of world's oceans
By ROBYN STUBBS, 24 HOURS

A local researcher is making big waves in marine conservation across the globe.

Recently named Canadian Woman of the Earth by botanical cosmetics company Yves Rochers, Amanda Vincent has poured her heart into researching a small but lovable sea creature: The seahorse.

Seahorses are a "quirky" species with a kind of universal mythical appeal, but they are also a flagship species that calls attention to "a whole mass of marine conservation issues," says Vincent, director of Project Seahorse and Canadian research chair in marine conservation at UBC.

The first researcher to study seahorses in their natural habitats of sea-grass beds, coral reefs, mangroves and estuaries, Vincent discovered huge trade opportunities that today threatens seahorses and their closest relative, the pipefish, all over the world.

Seahorses are a popular item for traditional Chinese medicine, used to cure ailments such as lethargy, impotence, asthma and general pain.

Many are also destined to become aquarium features in North America, Europe, Japan and Taiwan.

So far, Vincent's research team has made a huge impact on seahorse populations and other fisheries: The international team has set up 28 locally managed 'no fishing' zones in the Phillipines, helped Chinese herbalists to use seahorses in a more sustainable way when developing traditional medicines, and establishing the first-ever global trade regulations to ensure exports for a handful of species are sustainable.

The team also works personally with fishermen, from small-scale fishers to large shrimp trollers that routinely catch seahorses and other marine animals in incidental bycatch.

"What worries me most is that we as a global citizenry need to grasp that the seas are limited and that fish populations are collapsing," she says, recalling a conversation with a Phillipino fisherman ekeing out a meagre living on the sea.

"'Conservation is personal discipline,' he told me. We can respond to that and choose our seafood wisely - the single biggest thing people can do is refuse to eat imported shrimp because it either comes from terrible fisheries with 95 per cent unwanted bycatch, or from aquacultures (such as trollers) that have eliminated one quarter of the world's mangroves," she explains.

"We're not beyond redemption, but my goodness, we've got to get on board."

DEEP BLUE FACTS

- The seahorse and its close relative, the pipefish, are the only species in which males become pregnant.

- Most seahorse pregnancies last about two to three weeks. Seahorses are also a monogamous species.

- Seahorses have mobile eyes to watch for predators and prey without moving its body. It sucks up prey with its long snout and uses its tail to curl around vegetation to prevent being swept away by currents.

SOURCE
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/2007/03/14/3748140-sun.html

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

Dolphins Need Our Help ...S.O.S.

☼Sunshine☼ — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 04:24:40 GMT

Two American aquarium specialists are brokering the sale and transfer of twelve bottlenose dolphins from the Japanese slaughter pens to a Dominican Republic amusement park, Ocean World Adventure Park. We believe the dolphins will be transferred to the Dominican Republic sometime before March. We are trying to stop this and need your help.

Stefan Meister, a German national and vice president of Ocean World Adventure Park, Dr. Michael Briggs DVM, who is an American citizen associated with the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, and another American dolphin dealer and marine mammal veterinarian, Dr. Ted Hammond, are all involved in the deal.

The 12 dolphins, now known as "The Taiji Twelve," were recently captured in Taiji, Japan. This was an extremely violent and deadly dolphin capture, with dolphin hunters and dolphin trainers working side by side, killing several "reject" dolphins in the grueling selection process. The more than 200 bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales that were not selected for the aquarium industry were killed and slaughtered. By purchasing select dolphins from the Japanese drive hunts, the western dolphin dealers are making the hunt extremely profitable, thereby causing the hunts to continue. We have been successful, at least to some degree, in shutting down the demand for dolphin meat for human consumption, by exposing the mercury contamination of the meat. We now want to expose aquarium industry members who support the dolphin slaughter by doing business with the hunters. The campaign in the Dominican Republic is the first important step toward our effort to shut down the demand for live show dolphins from Japan.

You can see the capture here:

www.youtube.com/watch ( Please send this link to all your contacts.)

We are in the process of composing a letter to the president of the Dominican Republic, asking him to not allow The Taiji Twelve into the country. If your organization wants to be included in the sign-on letter, please let me know ASAP. We need to act quickly.

Thanks,

Richard O'Barry
Marine Mammal Specialist
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute
Miami Florida Branch
Phone/Fax: 305-668 1619
Mobile Phone: 786-973 8618
ricobarry@bellsouth.net
www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

posted in a dolphin's view - 1 reply

Dolphins & Sea lions for military in Seattle

Emily — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 03:37:20 GMT

THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer
Mon Feb 12, 11:04 PM ET

SAN DIEGO - Dozens of dolphins and sea lions trained to detect and apprehend waterborne attackers could be sent to patrol a military base in Washington state, the Navy said Monday. In a notice published in this week's Federal Register, the Navy said it needs to bolster security at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, on the Puget Sound close to Seattle.

The base is home to submarines, ships and laboratories and is potentially vulnerable to attack by terrorist swimmers and scuba divers, the notice states.

Several options are under consideration, but the preferred plan would be to send as many as 30 California sea lions and Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins from the Navy's Marine Mammal Program, based in San Diego.

"These animals have the capabilities for what needs to be done for this particular mission," said Tom LaPuzza, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Program.

LaPuzza said that because of their astonishing sonar abilities, dolphins are excellent at patrolling for swimmers and divers. When a Navy dolphin detects a person in the water, it drops a beacon. This tells a human interception team where to find the suspicious swimmer.

Dolphins also are trained to detect underwater mines; they were sent to do this in the Iraqi harbor of Umm Qasr in 2003. The last time the animals were used operationally in San Diego was in 1996, when they patrolled the bay during the Republican National Convention.

Sea lions can carry in their mouths special cuffs attached to long ropes. If the animal finds a rogue swimmer, it can clamp the cuff around the person's leg. The individual can then be reeled in for questioning.

The Navy is seeking public comment for an environmental impact statement on the proposal.

The Navy wanted to deploy marine animals to the Northwest in 1989, LaPuzza said, but a federal judge sided with animal-rights activists concerned about the effects of cooler water, as well as how the creatures would affect the environment. Water in the Puget Sound is about 10 degrees cooler than in San Diego Harbor, which has an average temperature of about 58 degrees, LaPuzza said.

Since then, the Navy has taken the dolphins and sea lions to cold-water places like Alaska and Scandinavia to see how they cope.

"They did very well," LaPuzza said. If the animals are sent to Washington, the dolphins would be housed in heated enclosures and would patrol the bay only for periods of about two hours.

Stephanie Boyles, a marine biologist and spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said that sea mammals do not provide a reliable defense system, and that they should not be kept in small enclosures.

"We believe the United States' citizens deserve the very best defense possible, and this just isn't it," Boyles said, adding that dolphins are easily distracted once in open water. "They don't understand the consequences of what will happen if they don't carry out the mission."

Dolphins can live as long as 30 years. LaPuzza said the Navy occasionally gives its retired animals to marine parks but generally keeps them until they die of old age.

The Navy has been training marine mammals since the 1960s and keeps about 100 dolphins and sea lions. Most are in San Diego, but about 20 are deployed at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga.

The Navy hopes eventually to downsize its marine mammal program and replace the animals with machines.

"But the technology just isn't there yet," LaPuzza said. "The value of the marine mammals is we've been doing this for 35 years, and we've ironed out all the kinks."

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

MAJOR JAPANESE SUPERMARKET BANS DOLPHIN MEAT

Emily — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 04:24:22 GMT

MAJOR JAPANESE SUPERMARKET CHAIN PERMANENTLY BANS ALL SALE OF DOLPHIN MEAT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2007

On December 26, 2006, the director of food products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari Kanki, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores. The ban is now permanent, according to a statement from Okuwa:

"We have decided, as a matter of company policy, that we will discontinue permanently the sale of dolphin meat regardless of test results currently being conducted by the company at an independent lab." The supermarket adds: "Those test results will be concluded next week, but the results will not be revealed."

The Save Japan Dolphins coalition (Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Animal Welfare Institute, and In Defense of Animals) applauds this major development in efforts to stop the Japanese dolphin slaughter. Our coalition members formally thank the Okuwa Supermarket chain for their landmark decision to protect the Japanese people from contaminated food products.

Mercury Contamination in Dolphin Meat

During our recent investigations in the Japanese fishing village Taiji, where each year hundreds of dolphins are brutally slaughtered, we visited several nearby supermarkets owned by the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation. The supermarkets are located in Taiji, Katsuura, and Shingu. Our team was very visible with our cameras in hand, and we asked whether the supermarkets would sell imported American or Australian beef if you knew mercury levels were the same dangerous levels as dolphin meat caught in Taiji? We also asked them to conduct independent tests on your products to see if the mercury levels are safe. We also asked, in light of The Japan Times report (11/01/06) of unsafe mercury levels in dolphin meat, why do you continue to sell the tainted dolphin meat and are you concerned about lawsuits by consumers?

We also informed the supermarkets that Dr. Tetsuya Endo, of the Hokkaido Health Science University, the Dai Ichi Health Science University and New Zealand Health Science University conducted a three-year joint study of mercury levels in dolphin meat from dolphins caught off the coast of Japan -- including Taiji. They found very high levels of mercury in every sample of dolphin meat that they tested. Their conclusion: nobody should consume dolphin meat. Dr. Endo is a highly respected Japanese scientist. His report on mercury tainted dolphin meat was published in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Minister of Health and Welfare has known about the danger yet has chosen not to warn the public about it.

As we reported in our Taiji blog on December 12th , we bought a package of striped dolphin meat from the Shingu Okuwa Supermarket and delivered it to The Japan Times in Tokyo to be independently tested. Here are the results: The second random sample of dolphin meat (iruka niku) sold at the Shingu Central Okuwa Supermarket was tested for total mercury with a readout of 5.40 ppm -- 14 times above the Koseisho's advisory level of 0.4 ppm. The first sample tested in February was over 4 times the advisory level at 1.77 ppm.

Dolphin Meat Now Banned

On December 26, 2006, the Director of Food Products for the Okuwa Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari Kanki, banned the sale of all dolphin meat in all of their stores. The ban on dolphin meat is official and permanent. The supermarket chain and conglomerate is comprised of drug stores, movie theatres, home store centers, sports clubs, hotels and amusement facilities.

Richard O'Barry, Marine Mammal Specialist for Earth Island Institute, on behalf of the coalition called the announcement: "a bold decision that should immediately be followed by other sources of this toxic meat." He continued: "We also salute the only newspaper in Japan reporting this most urgent and controversial issue. Journalist and photographer Boyd Harnell wrote the story for The Japan Times."

Approximately 23,000 dolphins, porpoises and other small whales are slaughtered in Japan every year. David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute's Int'l Marine Mammal Project stated: "It is crucial that we track where all this poisoned dolphin meat is going and stop its sale." He continued: "The Japanese public deserve better than to have this toxic product on their store shelves, and the dolphins deserve better than this cruel slaughter."

O'Barry continued: "We must also get the dolphin trainers and dolphin dealers out of Taiji. Leading aquariums and swim-with-dolphin dealers are subsidizing the Japan dolphin slaughter by paying $50,000 or more for a few 'show' dolphins from the catch -- the rest of the pod is slaughtered for dolphin meat on the Japanese market for much less money."

For further information on the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition effort to end the Japan dolphin slaughter, go to:

www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

SECOND ANNUAL DOLPHIN RALLY

serda — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:35:26 GMT

Hello all!! I just stumbled on this coalition and I would like to remind everyone that the 2006 dolphin rally is slowly approaching (September 20). I am in charge of organizing the rally in DC. Below is the info for the DC rally as well a listing of other participating cities. Please tell your friends and come on out!!

HELP STOP THE SLAUGHTER!

It's time for the annual rally against Japan's dolphin slaughter and we NEED your help!! Here are the details:

WHAT: An international day of protest to urge Japanese authorities to ban annual dolphin slaughters.

WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 at noon.

WHERE: Japanese Embassy; 2520 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. (1/2 mile NW of Dupont Circle Metro station).

WHY: Japanese fishermen BRUTALLY chase and KILL approximately 20,000 dolphins and small whales every year. This is the largest massacre of these animals anywhere in the world, and it is causing a systematic serial depletion of dolphin species. The fishermen say they kill the dolphins as a form of "pest control." They say the dolphins eat too many fish, so they are simply eradicating the competition. These days, the hunts are also used to supply a select few dolphins to marine theme parks that pay tens of thousands of dollars for capturing star attractions.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please come!! Mark this date on your calendar. Bring friends, family, coworkers, etc. Post fliers around your campus/community. Check out www.savetaijidolphins.org for more info.

** Please send me an email if you can help/make it (or if you have any questions) **

THANK YOU !!

Other venues include:

North America: Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver;

Europe: Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris, Rome, Stockholm;

Central and South America: Mexico City;

Asia/Pacific: Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taipei,Waikiki.

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

The Dolphin Embassy comes to Malibu, June 3rd, 2006

Dolphin_Embassy — Tue, 30 May 2006 01:21:17 GMT

The Dolphin Embassy comes to Malibu

Ambassadors Scott Taylor and Amanda Hain from The Dolphin Embassy in Bryon Bay, Australia will be presenting a multi-media event with topics sure to interest California residents-- scientific, therapeutic, political, and spiritual-- describing work going on around the world about our extraordinary and vital link to the People of the Sea: @ Wright's Ranch, 24680 Piuma Rd, Malibu, from 7:00 til 10:00pm. Tickets $20 at the door, and $35 for couples.

The Dolphin Embassy's highly acclaimed multi-media presentation has video clips, animations, unique images, music, dolphin sounds, and live narration.

YOU WILL SEE AND HEAR THE BEAUTY OF THE DOLPHIN AND WHALE WORLD AS NEVER BEFORE

The Dolphin Embassy was started by an Australian and an American, Amanda and Scott, who have spent over 25 years studying and working with dolphins.

Scott is the author of "Souls in the Sea: Dolphins, Whales, and Human Destiny", published by Frog Ltd, Berkeley 2003. He is also the founding Director of the Cetacean Studies Institute, a research and education organisation based in Byron Bay.

Amanda, a trained counsellor, is the Director of the Dolphin EDventures Wellness Program in Coff's Harbour, Australia. The Wellness program is designed for adults to be able to have up-close and intimate contact with dolphins in a safe environment. The program offers "non-clinical, self-directed therapy", and has been helping people for over three years.

The Dolphin Embassy has been invited to bring the voice of the dolphins to the United Nations. "This is an extraordinary moment in history, when the other highly intelligent, socially sophisticated, language-using mammals with whom we share this world are able to take their rightful place among the community of nations--as the Cetacean Nation", says Scott Taylor.

Please pass this on to your lists.

see www.dolphintale.com for more information.

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

Gay Dolphins?

DHW — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 02:16:41 GMT

Not only are dolphins one of a few spieces that have sex for pleasure (as well as population growth) they are bi-sexual.

Females use their flippers, noses, tails and mouths to stimulate each other.

Males bond with each other as young mamals and find food for each other, protect each other, play and trade sexual favors.

posted in a dolphin's view - 1 reply

DOLPHINS SING "BATMAN" THEME

Bob — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 06:24:55 GMT

Here is an article I found that ya'll might find interesting.
Bob From: www.tribes.tribe.net/freedomguardians

DOLPHINS SING "BATMAN" THEME
News in Science - 03/10/2005
[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1473208.htm]
Dolphins sing 'Batman' theme
Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News
Monday, 3 October 2005

Dolphins are the only mammals other than humans to recognise rhythms and reproduce them vocally (Image: iStockphoto)
Scientists have taught dolphins to combine both rhythm and vocalisations to produce music, resulting in an extremely high-pitched, short version of the Batman theme song.

The findings, outlined in two studies, are the first time that nonhuman mammals have demonstrated they can recognise rhythms and reproduce them vocally.

"Humans are sensitive to rhythms embedded in sequences of sounds, but we typically consider this skill to be part of processing for language and music, cognitive domains that we consider to be uniquely human," says Professor Heidi Harley, lead author of both studies.

"Clearly, aspects of those domains are available to other species."

The studies will be presented at the joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and NOISE-CON 2005, which runs from 17 to 21 October in Minneapolis.

Learning to sing

Harley, who is associate professor of social sciences at the New College of Florida in Sarasota, says that both studies tested dolphins at Disney's Epcot Center in Florida.

The researchers first had an adult male bottlenose dolphin position itself in front of an underwater sound projector, called a hydrophone, that produced six different 14 kiloherz, 4 second rhythms.

The dolphin was rewarded for performing a certain behaviour to each rhythm. For example, when rhythm 1 played, it waved its pectoral fin and when rhythm 2 played, it tossed a ball.

The various rhythms were played at different frequencies and tempos to ensure the dolphin was recognising rhythms instead of just frequencies or sound durations.

Another adult male was trained to produce similar rhythms using a pneumatic switch, essentially a small, air-filled ball connected to a computer that then generated sounds whenever the dolphin pressed the switch.

"The dolphin was reinforced for producing a specific rhythm to a specific object," says Harley.

"For example, when we presented him with a Batman doll, he received a fish for producing a specific rhythm, in this case, a short sound and then a long one."

"If you recall the original Batman TV series musical intro you'll probably remember the way they sang 'Bat-maaaaaaaan'," she adds.

The dolphin spontaneously vocalised to the rhythms, so the researchers started to reward the male with fish whenever it matched its 'singing' to the rhythms.

By the end of the studies, the scientists could show an object, such as the Batman doll, which represented a certain rhythm-vocalisation combo to the dolphin, and it would create the correct sounds both vocally and using the switch.

Batmaaaaaaan

Gordon Bauer, associate professor of psychology at the New College of Florida who did not work on the studies, says, "This is the first report, to my knowledge, of a nonhuman mammal's ability to discriminate rhythmic patterns."

But Bauer doubts that dolphins realise they are producing what people consider 'music'.

"I think music is a human construct," he says. "I doubt that it has pertinence to animals, although the elements of music, such as pitch, time, timbre, rhythm, etc, may be incorporated into animal communication."

Harley agrees, and hopes the everyday vocalisations of dolphins will be analysed in terms of their rhythmic content.

In the near future, she and her team are planning to test the dolphins on their ability to recognise recordings of their own rhythms by having them associate their own sound creations with identifying objects similar to the Batman doll.

Related Stories
Dolphin mums teach daughters to sponge, News in Science 7 Jun 2005
Dolphin-friendly tuna may still kill, News in Science 5 May 2004
Dolphins better at networking than the web, News in Science 17 Jul 2003
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posted in a dolphin's view - 1 reply

Dolphin conciousness

lowbelly — Thu, 06 May 2004 23:07:54 GMT

So, I heard on my local radio station a discussion about dolphin conciousness; specifically how their brains are in a constant alpha/ beta wave mode (which is the modes of meditation and deep sleep.) The mentioned a couple of books like, "the real life of dolphins" by Lee Calvaya (Calvalla?) and "Between Species" by Brnda Peterson. The show was fascinating, I'd forgotton how amazingly intelligent these creatures are. I've also read a couple amazing stories of dolphins saving humans that are in danger while on or in the ocean. It makes me ill thinking of them getting caught in tuna nets or squirming in pain from navy sonar testing or swimming through our pollution.

Anyway, I'd be intersted if you have any more books, websites, or film recomendations that are good.

La di dah,
travis

posted in a dolphin's view - 5 replies

more dolphins WILL BE KILLED oct-march - PLEASE HELP!!!

Sat, 27 Aug 2005 03:06:29 GMT

hi everyone, i'm not sure if you are aware but there is a dolphin drive kill massacre to be happening in japan this oct-march.
thousands will die by being rounded up and stabbed to death -some taking many minutes of horrific struggle before dying.

we are a group of action with the founder of earth trust as a member and sage (dj's got 25+ years working directly with the ones we love, dolphins) to watch over us and give us guidance - believe me, it was not easy to recruit him either!
btw - he's got an incredible site about dolphin cognition,etc.

so come by and join if you want to make a difference, read over the posts and get a general idea what is going on and then give captain a shout about what you want to do. we have a LOT to do in a short time so we need as many skilled or just motivated individuals to help. sorry for such a short notice but i just learnt about this last week.

tribe link:
http://tribes.tribe.net/dolphinprotection?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B823a02e5-6627-4df6-a135-9443e0674904%5D&r=10372

article link that fuelled this:
http://www.earthisland.org/saveTaijiDolphins/

see you there!!!

sf ><{{{'<

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

pictures added

Fri, 12 Aug 2005 19:54:55 GMT

I've added some new pictures,hope you like them!

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

New dolphin species discovered in Australia

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:31:34 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050705/sc_afp/australiawildlife_050705172006

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

Another great story about beautiful and amazing dolphins...

dyan — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 02:14:55 GMT

Check out this dolphin story from the BBC , UK. Click the link below to see original article at website...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4034383.stm

Dolphins prevent NZ shark attack
By Phil Mercer
BBC, Sydney

The dolphins swam in a tight, defensive circle
A group of swimmers has told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark off New Zealand's coast.

The lifeguards were training at a beach near Whangarei on the North Island when they were menaced by a 3-metre shark, before the dolphins raced in to help.

The swimmers were surrounded by the dolphins for 40 minutes before they were able to make it safely back to the beach.

Marine biologists say such altruistic behaviour is not uncommon in dolphins.

Lifeguard Rob Howes was in the water with two colleagues and his teenage daughter.

It was an uncomfortable experience, as they were circled by a great white shark, which came within a couple of metres.

He said around half a dozen dolphins suddenly appeared and herded the swimmers together. The mammals swam in tight circles to create a defensive barrier as the great white lurked under the surface.

The swimmers said the dolphins were extremely agitated and repeatedly slapped the water with their tails, presumably to try to deter the predator as it cruised nearby.

The drama happened in New Zealand three weeks ago, but only now are the lifeguards telling their story.

It is a day they will never forget, especially for one of the swimmers, who was on her first day as a volunteer.

They have no doubt that the dolphins acted deliberately to protect them.

Researchers have said they are not surprised. A marine biologist insisted that dolphins, which are considered to be one of the most intelligent mammals, "like to help the helpless".

posted in a dolphin's view - 2 replies

some new pictures

Tue, 24 May 2005 17:04:49 GMT

I added some pictures. I hope you like them!

posted in a dolphin's view - 1 reply

Hi there,I'm new to this site...

Tue, 24 May 2005 16:59:08 GMT

Greetings, even through I maybe new to this site, I have always had a love for dolphins,which has carried over to my daughter now. For anyone who may be interested, there's a real good site at/www.dolphins.org/. It also has info on the manatee,which is an endangered species(less than 3,300 left). It also has links to other marine conservation groups and watchdogs and a awesome learning about marine mammals area.

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

Sweet Dream's

Chipper — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 18:03:20 GMT

...Do dorphin's go to sleep ??At night ??.If so can you roll them over like a cow when you are trying to tip them ..
They have E.S.P.?..Would they see you comeing??

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

Would a dolphin sell out and go corporate or hang with its Pod and keep it real?

trig — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 04:06:30 GMT

Hello All,

New to this thing and was checking for life on this tribe.......?

Trig

posted in a dolphin's view - 0 replies

dolphinsexual

Fern — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 20:44:47 GMT

so. i am reading for some idiot reason this review of shark tale on some christ thumper website and they are saying that the little guy shark that was a vegetarien remember who dressed up like a dolphin is really a homo shark. because he dresses up like a dolphin. now i dont care if a dolphin is a homo or not but how retarded is that the christ guy says if you dress up like a dolphin if youre a shark youre really a homo. no. who cares.

posted in a dolphin's view - 3 replies

this is the most quiet tribe....

Sat, 06 Nov 2004 19:48:00 GMT

does anyone have any topics or interests you guys want to talk about...i'm in alot of tribes and no one ever talks in this one but me...lol

posted in a dolphin's view - 5 replies

SHUSH

Fern — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 01:14:38 GMT

hey!!! i just thought about this how its funny that this tribe is so quiet but dolphins are NOT QUIET AT ALL.

posted in a dolphin's view - 9 replies

does anyone have anything......

Sun, 13 Jun 2004 16:46:12 GMT

does anyone have anything they want to talk about??lets get some topics going....

posted in a dolphin's view - 7 replies