Turning the Tide

When i return to Taiji this year....it will be the same...having to bare witness to more killings. So the word gets out from me and others....and has been getting out for over 20 years since Hardy Jones first went to Taiji. Although the good news is that there are MORE people and organizations getting the word out because of the "The Cove" movie, Hardy Jones and Ric O'Barry.

From spending time with the younger generation directly and indirectly involved with the dolphin killings, some are having nightmares about it - secretly Wanting change; some are victims too...brain-washed or pressured into it by their families. There are many stories out there on individuals who turned their lives around to help protect the same species they once killed....many turned into heroes for those same animals. There are former African poachers who now protect gorillas.

So how do we turn the tables....get dolphin killers to protect dolphins(?) Although; i must admit there are Japanese dolphin killers who will not change...in fact i think all the brutality has changed them for the worst; because they have had to harden themselves in order to kill what they know is an intelligent species. I am sure they could ribald us with stories of how they have been outsmarted by the dolphins over and over again. However; there is a younger group among the dolphin killers who are confused and who deny their emotions in not wanting to take part.

When surfing different breaks all over the world, discovered that localism can be a problem....but have not(yet) encountered that because of a few etiquette rules of the waves - and showing respect to the locals. I have tried to apply the same principles while in Taiji.

Also discovered some of the fishermen were bluffing with their aggressive approach like Silverback gorillas bluffing a charge (hopefully, I am not jinxing myself for next time) ...and then softened when i yawned or turned my back on it all (was told later that I could have been blindsided). (But confess, there were times when I wanted to clobber Personal Space; such as when he turned and gave a sadistic laugh my way after an entire family of dolphins were slaughtered).