Missing some of the friends I made in Taiji-Kii Katsuura. Think of my sweet Japanese friend who came over the night before I went to the Cove at Dawn...she brushed my hair and carefully tied it up in a Japanese bun for the following morning....an unspoken ritual of support...and so I showed up at Dawn looking six feet tall, feeling like a Samurai woman.
My Kung-Fu master's teachings has been very helpful, something which has also helped me in my sport of fencing and a life philosophy I carry in my heart and mind. It has taught me about following my senses and changing my tactics. When an opponent becomes the sea...you become a mountain....when your opponent becomes a mountain...become the sea. There is a saying in martial arts called 'letting go of the hilt"...one of the meanings is "winning without a sword". A wise phrase is "You should restrain your mood, so that it does not hurry"... a fisherman made a point to laugh my way (like a serial killer) after the family of Pilot Whales were slaughtered....had to restrain myself.
Would like to thank all those for giving me emotional support while in Taiji....at times my phone would be ringing non stop....one time, when my friend and I were at the hot springs, relaxing in the water.....we heard a faint "ring, ring" from afar inside the locker.... she said "There's your phone AGAIN".
Sad that there are so many dolphins whom I bonded and played with that are subjected to tiny and cramped swimming quarters.....they only dream of the times were once they swam free with their family which where caught and most slaughtered. The dolphin friend I made at the Whale Museum, became so excited to have a person "play-friend" that he would leap out of the water. It brought back memories of Sosa, a chimpanzee, I use to visit and play with the whole day inside a cage ....his dead eyes would always come alive when he saw me. Have promised my dolphin friend that I would return again.
Think about my fisherman friend who is the new generation of what's to come in Taiji.... sensed embarrassed feelings on his part about the dolphin slaughter. He carries the family line of Harpooners......to a time when harpooning whales out at sea was considered an act for only the brave.....13 men would risk their lives in a tiny paddle boat as they searched the endless sea for a whale...which they would triumphantly bring home to feed the entire community. Today, our world of technology is wiping out our dolphins and whales, replacing bravery with special boats which track the dolphins sonars......and now they are able to kill thousands throughout the "killing season". And it is no longer a hunt....it is a slaughter. It is no longer about survival..... it is about greed. Can only hope that the next generation is becoming aware of this self destructive path of depleting our and their resources....and hope that they will see that they have more to gain by embracing Eco-Tourism.
Still think about the two Pilot Whale families....and especially the one who fought so hard for his life......he outsmarted and outmanoeuvred the 9 fishermen who looked like angry clowns while yelling at each other as they could not catch him. He refused to give up his life so easily. When I heard his last gasp for air, I knew he was tiring.....and it felt like the world was ending. Taiji is a microcosm of the brutality to the ocean's intelligent beings....the "people of the sea" as they have been called.
Very soon, Canada will be killing our Baby seals in the World's largest mass marine slaughter....have been both a vocal and a financial supporter of ending the seal slaughter. I can only give so much money.....therefore, now trying to give my efforts which I hope amount to more.
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