Cape Cod Dolphin Rescue Is Empathy Lesson for Taiji Fishermen

Dear Taiji Fishermen,

This is how people with compassion in their veins treat their fellow mammals.

Instead of savagely butchering dolphins for profit, like you’ve done for years in the infamous Cove, a group of hard-working, kind-hearted volunteers in Massachusetts are doing the exact opposite: rescuing beached dolphins stranded on the shores of Cape Cod.

Here is a video of the life-saving operations conducted by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

What you don't see: harpoons puncturing their skin, spikes getting rammed down their blowholes, or shameful, death-shielding blue tarps. 

Note the calming hands on the backs of the frightened dolphins to let them know the rescuers mean no harm. Note the fact that they are returning the dolphins to the open ocean, instead of killing them or capturing them so they may become corporate cash cows for dolphinariums like Sea World.

Since January 12, there have been 161 dolphin strandings. “So far, 57 dolphins have been found alive and 40 of these have been released,” wrote Katie Moore, a manager of IFAW’s Marine Mammal Rescue and Research team.

Not all of the dolphins have been rescued. In fact, more than 104 have sadly perished—but this was before they were ever discovered.

While scientists have yet to pinpoint the reason for the dolphins’ self-stranding—some say Cape Cod’s hooked shape confuses dolphins that swim into the bay, and they can’t find their way out—this much is true: it ain’t your death weapon of choice, the banger boat.

Sincerely,

Anybody and Everybody Who Thinks This Must End