Operation Infinite Patience: March 27, 2012

The Killing Continues Here in Taiji.

Each day we anticipate the return of the killing boats to the Taiji Butcher house. We monitor how many boats have gone out each morning and document what is brought into the Fisherman’s Union that afternoon. On March 18th, we have confirmation that at least three dolphins were loaded onto a forklift into the Taiji Fisherman’s Union.

Today all twelve killing boats were out at sea. Some left as early as last night and before dawn. We arrived at the Taiji harbor around 12:30pm when we noticed a fishing boat unloading. This was not a vessel that we were familiar with during the dolphin drive season. Our cameras were rolling as two large Pantropical spotted dolphins were dragged by a rope from the deck of the fishing boat and onto the butcher house kill floor.

Operation Infinite Patience: March 25, 2012

Scott and Elora West Return to Taiji as Operation Infinite Patience 2011-2012 Winds Down.

This is the first year that Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has had a continued presence in Taiji after the dolphin season has ended. It seems we have really annoyed many people and will continue to do so until the slaughter ends. Last week we were visited by Japanese Nationalists. They weren’t very friendly and it ended with a police convoy to Kushimoto for our safety. As SSCS Cove Guardians, we are here because we are dedicated to being a voice for the dolphins. We volunteer at our own initiative, responsibility, and risk and we will continue to do so until Taiji stops killing dolphins. We are not easily intimidated nor are we going to back down.

Scott West and his daughter, Elora Malama West, have returned to Japan.  Scott and Elora spent three months in Taiji in late 2010, when Captain Paul Watson asked them to organize the Infinite Patience campaign.  With the second season of the Cove Guardian campaign coming to a close, Scott and Elora have returned to help.  They will be meeting with attorneys, the US consulate, and law enforcement officials to discuss the recent criminal activities conducted by a group of Japanese nationalists against Sea Shepherd supporters.

Operation Infinite Patience: March 5, 2012

“In Taiji…the killing never stops.”

It may be the end of the dolphin drive-hunting season, but that doesn’t mean the killing stops and neither does our presence. Cove Guardians remain a strong force here in Taiji.

We watched as some of the dolphin killers removed banger poles from their killing vessels and discreetly laid them inside their boats. The tarp covering the harbor entrance of the butcher house was dismantled and yet tarps are still hanging at the front entrance and at the cove. All twelve boats are now rigged for Bonito fishing, but if they come across a pod of dolphins or pilot whales an exception can be made by Wakayama Prefecture. It would be easy to slaughter a family of pilot whales like they did last year. In May 2011, Cove Guardians witnessed a large pod of Pilot Whales being brutally killed in the cove two months after the dolphin drive season had ended.

Heavy rain and wind have kept all the killing boats in port for much of this week. We continue to monitor all killing boat activity and also the captive dolphins here in Taiji.

Operation Infinite Patience: March 1, 2012

Cove Guardians with Erwin Vermeulen on his last day in Taiji.There is no such thing as “humane slaughter”

It was another bloody week here in Taiji. There was so much blood in the cove that the tarps could not even hide the massacre. 98 Pan Tropical Spotted Dolphins were brutally slaughtered, including many babies and juveniles. The entire pod was butchered for consumption.

There is no truth to the Taiji Fisherman’s Union claim of “humane and quick slaughter”.  These dolphins die a horrible, painful death. They fight and struggle to stay alive in the bloody water as divers try to wrangle them back to shore.

Operation Infinite Patience, February 22, 2012

Judgement Day

Bottlenose Dolphin taken into captivity and transferred directly into above ground tank at Taiji Dolphin Resort.I have been here in Taiji for six weeks now. I have witnessed good days and bad days. Today was not a good day. After a week of no murder in Taiji, three Bottlenose Dolphins were driven into the cove today.

As Cove Guardians, we always prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Every morning we are up before sunrise and out the door to monitor the killing boats. It is not until we see that line of boats in drive formation at the horizon that we know they have found a pod. Our hearts sink and yet we are still hopeful that the pod will somehow escape. As the killing boats creep closer and the banging of the poles gets louder it becomes inevitable that this pod holds the next victims of Taiji.

Today, when we realized the killers were only driving three Dolphins into the Cove, the motive behind this long, drawn out process became clear. These were Bottlenose Dolphins and the motive was money! These Dolphins were being kidnapped. The profit from this small pod would make up for the lost week without killing.

Operation Infinite Patience: February 15, 2012

The Keystone Cops (Wakayama Prefecture Police) never cease to amaze me.  This is the second year we have been using our walkie-talkies in Taiji.  Same radio this year as last.  In addition, Erwin had one when the Wakayama Prefecture Police arrested him on December 16, 2011.  They had the radio in their possession for several weeks and it was even presented in criminal court.  No one seemed to think anything about it.

Then, on February 8, the Keystone Cops reacted!  We knew something was up for their finest investigators were hiding in the shrubbery that morning and filmed us through parted leaves.  Very clever they were for they caught us red-handed using the walkie-talkies.  Who would have guessed that on February 8 we would be using radios that we have used here every day?

Operation Infinite Patience: February 3, 2012

Left to Right: Jon, Troy, Janice, Emile, Melissa, Guilherme, Scott, KyleThe criminal case against Dutch citizen Erwin Vermeulen is a farce.  The allegations against Erwin are false.  It is very rare in Japan for such a minimal infraction to be charged, much less tried.  Erwin is not the one on trial here however.  Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is on trial.  The Netherlands is on trial.

Most of the Dutch government and most Dutch citizens support Sea Shepherd in its efforts to stop the illegal activities of the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.  Two of our ships proudly fly the Dutch flag.  The Japanese government is the criminal there, but the government of Japan cannot face that reality and therefore push their shame and responsibility onto Erwin.   Erwin is a Dutch citizen standing for the dolphins with Sea Shepherd.