Japan ‘Cove’ town plans dolphin park
JAPAN: The dolphin-hunting Japanese town of Taiji, made infamous by
the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove”, plans to open a marine mammal
park where visitors can swim with the creatures, a media report said.
The town intends to section off part of the cove and turn it into a
place where people can swim and kayak alongside small whales and
dolphins, Jiji Press news agency reported, calling it “a marine safari
park.” The cove is the scene of an annual slaughter when the fishermen
of Taiji corral dolphins, select a few dozen for sale to aquariums and
marine parks, and stab the rest to death for meat, turning the sea red.
The 2009 film “The Cove” brought Taiji to worldwide attention,
winning an Oscar the following year, after showing the bloody slaughter.
Activists continue to visit the town to protest the hunt. Taiji, in
western Wakayama prefecture, aims to officially launch the project
within five years after negotiating with the prefectural government,
which manages the bay, and with pearl farmers operating there, Jiji
reported.
The plan, compiled by a panel of residents, calls for the creation of
“a whale park” stretching roughly 28 hectares (69 acres) by putting up a
net at the entrance to Moriura Bay in northwestern Taiji, it said. Black
whales and bottlenose dolphins caught in waters near the town would be
released into the pool, which would be developed as a nature park that
also includes beaches and mudflats, it said.
AFP
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