Why save dolphins?
I love dolphins as much as the next guy, but I really don’t see why they deserve the special attention that the feel-good self-proclaimed activists like to give them.
Red Alert 2 nostalgia
I am sure you have all heard of Hayden Panettiere‘s (Claire Bennett in Heroes) recent involvement in an attempt to disrupt a dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama. After failing to save the cute cuddly tuna-killers, Hayden and her friends drove their way to Osaka International Airport and fled the country before the ink on their arrest warrants dries.
Apparently, “risking” their lives (because we all know that Japanese fishing trawlers are heavily armed) is deemed a worthy sacrifice, but getting arrested for their expressed beliefs is a big no-no. What dedicated convictions! Mahatma Ghandi would’ve been so proud.
Before we go on any further, please be warned that some of the images that accompany this article may be graphic in nature.
Quoting a MSNBC report where Hayden responds to an arrest warrant issued for her in Japan.
“Obviously this issue has generated defensive behavior on the part of both the Japanese Authorities and Fishermen,” she said in the statement. “I have grown up hearing – and adhering to – this phrase: ‘condemnation without investigation dooms one to everlasting ignorance.’
“We must unite as a world to solve our increasing international environmental crises,” her statement continued. “We can no longer hide (behind) out-dated, senseless cultural traditions and lazy, bad habits that are resulting in the annihilation of our planet’s resources and the extinction of our species.
Overlooking the fact that the phrase which she claims to adhere to is completely irrelevant to the situation at hand (i.e. her breaking of Japanese laws), her statement is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with our media today.
“Dolphin killing? We are doomed I tell you!”
Annihilation of our planet’s resources? Environmental crisis? Extinction of our species? Wow, I guess that must mean The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was right after all! I never knew dolphins were that important!
This kind of celebrity activism actively discredits authentic efforts to combat real and significant issues that plague our environment today. Genuine environmentalists are forced into the same group as nut cases like Ms. Panettiere’s good friends and Greenpeace.
These people claim to be “raising awareness” for a good cause, but all they are doing is to encourage regular people to associate environmental protection with crazy hippies. Such a negative association is a serious detriment to the efforts of scientists and entrepreneurs who are actually making a difference in improving our world with real concrete efforts instead of incessant whining.
I doubt that reading about Rainbow Warrior‘s latest escapades actually causes people to change their consumption habits in the slightest bit or reconsider their next SUV purchase. All it does is to give lunatics like Greenpeace bragging rights among the tree-hugging extremists.
Would you do what this guy tells you to?
If someone was serious about saving the environment, he would do best to stay as far away from these people as possible, or risk losing all credibility in the eyes of sane, reasonable people. Al Gore is a good example of a sane person who has done things infinitely more practical and beneficial than picketing a chemical factory.
Before this post gets too tangential, let’s return to dolphins. I see two general flows of argument behind those who think Ms. Panettiere’s actions actually deserve our applause.
The first is that dolphins are supposedly an endangered species (as they have been portrayed by the media for the past millennium or so) and therefore deserve protection from being eaten.
But the truth is that, as noted by James of Japan Probe, none of the variants of dolphins being hunted in Taiji are actually endangered. Moreover, there is already a quota for drive hunting set in place by the central government and hunts like this have been carried out for centuries. So let’s get it straight, the dolphins in Taiji are in no danger of becoming extinct.
Conservation of an endangered species is a valid cause that I can agree with, but the fact is that these dolphins are simply not endangered.
Poor dolphins…
Secondly, people argue that dolphins are sentient creatures that deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. I would like to agree with that in principle, except that I eat beef and I really don’t think that cows are brainless either. I’m pretty sure a machete slash feels just as painful to a cow as compared to a dolphin. The slaughtering of dolphins, while admittedly cruel, is no different from that of cows and other similar-sized mammals. I don’t know about you, but there’s no way in hell that I’m going to become a vegetarian.
Poor McChickens…
Poor Big Mac…
Poor gazelle… Damn lions.
It’s regrettable that animals have to die to satisfy my taste buds. I’m sure one day we will all be eating some kind of mysterious meat grown in bio-vats thanks to the miracles of science. But until then, animals will just have to bear with it. I think that we can all accept this non-ideal reality.
So why should dolphins be any different? Why is it acceptable practice to kill cows? Is it because cows are less intelligent? (Shall we start killing stupid people for soylent green?) Or is it because cows are bred to die? (What an awful moral justification.)
If we are talking about net suffering, I think cows have it way worse than dolphins, and yet the poor bovinae often fall under the radars of teenage celebrities trying to fit in with the chocolate rainbow feel-good crowd.
An interview with Hayden Panettiere following the incident:
Dolphins are like “teddy bears in the water” (01:09), eh? I pity the cows for not being cute enough to garner the same attention. Perhaps they ought to consider hiring an image consultant and maybe work on a family movie or two with Walt Disney.
I do agree with Ms. Panettiere that “condemnation without investigation dooms one to everlasting ignorance” is an excellent doctrine. Therefore, I encourage her to conduct some investigation next time and find a real issue to use her celebrity influences on. Real issues such as America’s irrational love for SUVs and its asinine standards of automobile fuel efficiency. You know, things that are actually contributing to the annihilation of our planet and not just some feel-good fluff.
But I guess real issues that deserve serious attention seldom involve cute teddy bears. Aww… :(
That said, I don’t think eating dolphin is such a great idea either: mercury pollution is another genuine problem for Ms. Panettiere to consider tackling.
Well, I guess now people are going to accuse me of being an asshole. I really do love dolphins, though. I used to train tons of them in Red Alert 2 because their echo attacks are totally overpowered. :P
February 14th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
14.02.08
To date there is 2,700 tones of unwanted frozen whale meat…this consists of 30% dolphin…so its a simply question really…why the f*ck the need to kill more?????????????
February 16th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Help. I can` t tell the difference between a dolphin and a fish…
July 18th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
why save dolphines?………….it simple.dolphines save slives even thought they arent taught to do that.they drove off aa bunch of sharks to save humans!!..i aint turing to a vegetarian either but dolphines are the second most intelligent mammles besides human.no its not monkeys.its dolphines…..they are friendly and intelligent by nature…….yes i eat cows as well…..i aint turnin gto a vegetarian anytime soon either.but i have read so many article and seen news report that they save lives…….i just don wanna hurt them……………would u eat something that one day there might be a possible factor that might save ur ass?……
August 14th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Niche article, thanks you for write this article
December 19th, 2008 at 12:09 am
When animals kill other animals, it’s the cycle of life. We don’t need to kill neither dolphins nor whales to survive, and no other animal for that matter, but killing marine life is just pointless. It is so horrible. I can’t believe some of you guys don’t care.
December 19th, 2008 at 2:25 am
1)Talking about taboo? Well, I do share the same ideals with you.
1.1)Animals are just animals. Even humans are animals.
1.11)The reason why people object to the killing of the dolphins is because people are sentimental towards dolphins. (cute, intelligent, etc)
1.111) I quote from mcnick “why save dolphines?………….it simple.dolphines save slives even thought they arent taught to do that.they drove off aa bunch of sharks to save humans!!..i aint turing to a vegetarian either but dolphines are the second most intelligent mammles besides human.no its not monkeys.its dolphines…..they are friendly and intelligent by nature…….yes i eat cows as well…..i aint turnin gto a vegetarian anytime soon either.but i have read so many article and seen news report that they save lives…….i just don wanna hurt them……………”; this is a example of people having sentimental values towards one particular type of animal
1.12)The reasons why people does not object to the killings of other ‘normal’ animals is because there is no sentimental value to them attached at all.
1.121) The analogy of ‘normal’ animals is chickens, cows, ducks, etc
1.2) If i could alter the society’s perpective of ‘normal’ animals, the world would not be eating them at all
1.21) It is because society is usually swayed by viewpoints, and not logical truths at all.
1.211)Ever considered that most people would follow the actions of their idol(s), because it is considered ‘cool’ to them?
1.3) Cultural Difference also plays a part
1.31) If one culture does promote the cuteness of cats, and the other looks at cats as outright disgusting, there would be a difference in perpection of cats in different cultures
1.32) This leads to difference in sentimental values towards a particular kind of animal.
Ending statement: Are all animals considered equal in the eyes of the beholder?
(Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.)
PS: Acturally, I have more of these points committed in my concious mind, but I am too lazy to sum it all up in one post.
Please mind my attrocious english, I know it is quite bad
I welcome any comments to my post, be it critical or not. Because it is not much of the real truth anyway.
December 20th, 2008 at 4:14 am
if dolphin saves lives, than cow also saves lives. how? well, we eat cow meat to live, rite? they also were working animals which we sometimes use before cars were made and before horse were used to travel. basically, they saves lives MORE then dolphin. there is no difference, so its ok to hunt and eat them. they’re just ANIMALs. just because they cute and intelligence that does not mean we cant kill to eat it. maybe in distance future some mad-cow-loving scientist will altered cow genes so that they look cute and more intelligence that dolphin. see that if people still want to eat it or not…..
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:01 am
“Apparently, “risking” their lives (because we all know that Japanese fishing trawlers are heavily armed…”
actually, the Japanese fishermen, or should I say dolphermen, were threatening Hayden with a pointy stick or something (harpoon?), they were trying to “nudge” her away from the hunt.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:11 am
I love how the American media spins things so much, I’m getting dizzy from all the stupidity coming from them. Very nice article with a lot of good points, as usual. I hate to say I’m an American sometimes. Land of the free, home of the retarded.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Dolphins are not really like cow,…
dolphins are like dogs so intelligent and much important than that is their strong feelings and emotions,
their feeling and emotions are much more than humans, so how could they hurt them?>
because they dont want to know these reasons,
like Chinese that kill dogs!!
they compare dog with pig,cow…
dont remember ,the inteligent and emotions!!
also no ones excepts Chinese eat carnivorous animals(meat eating animals)!!!!!!!
of course i dont support killing cows,sheeps,…
for example cow cant be compare with fish,
why when meat is so bad for health human still eat it.
because they need blood.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Mehdi, would you like to stop babbling anytime soon?
I agree with this post.
March 30th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
this was an excellent read, it’s so satisfying to see someone casually and eloquently put down a foolish, attention-seeking celebrity who’s hiding under the umbrella of “awareness”.
as for the commenters arguing about why its okay to eat cows and not okay to eat dolphins… I’ll call bullshit. If an animal isn’t endangered, it’s game. It’s only a matter of preference and self-etiquette on which one would like to eat or not but I don’t think humans have the right to decide which animal isn’t fit for somebody else’s consumption.
Americans in particular have a very limited scope of experience as to which animals can be considered food or cooking materials. After all.. some parts of the rest of the world have been cooking for hundreds and hundreds of years with richer herbs and spices.
Animal cruelty is another different topic, while I think animals can be food, I don’t think we should inflict pain and abuse animals. Like I said, that’s an entirely different topic though, it’s not even part of the discussion here since it’s not like the fishermen tortured these fishes.
April 28th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I am pretty damn sure that most of you guys have pets…
a dog or a cat..
and that dog or cat can save your ass someday if your in danger..
Dolphins save peoples lives, So think about this..
would you eat your dog or cat????
hell no right…
i am pretty sure japanese people eat dogs too.
August 9th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
No animal deserve to be treated inhumanely! Remember this is not a debate of which animal serves a higher purpose. Animals in general are being tortured unecessarily for whatever purpose. In this case our concern is the japanese commiting needless vicious killings in massive numbers of dolphins and whales. We need these animals and they need us to care and help them. As far as the japenese comparing (justifyng)dolphin killing to cow slaughtering. Yes both can be out right brutal, however beef is one of the main proteins consumed all over the world with few exceptions. This does not justify cruel slaughtering of the cow they also should be treated with respect upon death. Dolphins on the other hand are not eaten all over the world in fact they may have the highest levels of mercury in marine animals, due to metal contaminates from polutions of various sources thanks to man.Therefor you would be poisoning yourself if you consume them. So now we know that these killings are for other purposes that are cruel and unecessary. Such as oil, bait for king crab,chicken feed etc… and many killed dolphins just waisted. Not to mention how they’re sold to marine parks where they’re trapped in captivity and are miserable and constantly die. All animals deserve to be respected and we all know when that fine line is being crossed. Stop IT!!!!!!! I want to help.
March 16th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Dont be so …….cruel……and comparing dolphins with home reared poultry…..chicken,cows and sheep……!!!!!!NAIVE …..stubborn….
just want to go opposite of what majority are thinking!!!!Friend Dolphins save lives!!!!!!!!
Dolphins rescue surfer from shark – People: Tales of survival
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21689083/
They dont deserve to me hunted down and killed by those violent japs….following some silly and curel heritage and custom…the have the sea of fishes….but just want to kill dolphins…..that their violent nature…..that runs in their blood!!!!!
The cove sea area turn into a huge patch of “Red Sea” ,Dolphins are harmless whales which are been lure to the cove and being wipe up!!!
Very Cruel and Sad ,reminds me of what happen during Japan Dormination of Singapore ,I’m being told by my mum ,Japs will rape any woman before they were married on their day of marriage! And ask people digging thier grave before the were exterminated!!!
Very Very Evil and Cruel !
Their cruelity really runs in some of their desendants blood!!!! But I’m not saying all the japs are bad people!!!Only the extreme ones!!!
regards
Andrew Koh
April 10th, 2010 at 10:48 am
and so, because of “that” movie, here i am, looking at this topic because i came to the same conclusion as DM.
ok, so dolphins are cute. cows are godly for the hindu. …
i do understand that theres a lot of dolphins around and ‘oh they`re not on verge of extinction’ so… well i also heard australia is into killing cats, they also kill a lot of cute rabbits(or so i’ve heard long ago).. but oh wait, they are not sea mamals, so no sea shepard..
maybe in 10 years when they cant milk more money from the sea.. will they open the earth shepard too?
oh well i rly just wanted to write a bit about it, thanks DM, for seeing this pov way long before me XD
oohhh, also sorry i digged this out from the grave but some stuff about dolphins showed up here recently XDD
August 30th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I think something completely missed is the overpopulation of one or more countries and or the resources required for this. Dolphins/whales are not a sustainable food source. Moreover, foolishly comparing dolphins to other animals on “cuteness” is simply ignorant. Countries supporting the slaughter of such animals use reasons that state dolphins “over-fish.” Well, in actuality humans are doing the over-fishing. Particularly a few countries whose entire livelihood relies on such practices claim to be using scientific research as a cloak or justification for whaling. I find this disguise disgusting. Moreover, you can’t compare the life saving capability of a dolphin to a cow or a horse (for purely our domestication of it). Dolphins that have been documented saving lives on their own in the wild. I think a little respect should be paid to such creatures (apex predators even) who made some sort of conscious effort to do so. Such a comparison to cows and horses can be made, but with this argument ANY food source saves life. That is purely ridiculous at best. Finally, it is true that pigs and cows are slaughtered. It is also true that the pig is one of the most intelligent animals (at least on par with the domesticated dog or cat). However, pig meat is not riddled with high contents of mercury. The pig also has a healthy population and is a sustainable resource. Finally, many countries that hunt whales/dolphins don’t have a high demand for the meat. It is not only mercury heavy (hint- bad for the brain – in case you didn’t know), it is also used for entertainment purposes. So you can watch flipper and then eat him for dinner. How gratifying and empowering?! I think the entire idea is disgusting and ironic. The justification for eating whales/dolphins is just ridiculous to me.. So, cows, pigs, fish, duck, geese etc etc is not enough of a variety of food sources? We are the smartest and most tyrannical species of them all. Sadly, we are “better” than all other organisms.
December 6th, 2010 at 8:32 am
we object to the slaughter of whales and dolphins because we dont eat the meat. its that simple. practically no one DOES eat the meat. so we cant figure out why people would slaughter thousands of a species to supply food to people who dont want it. also this food is in many cases toxic to our bodies. THAT is why we object to the killing of polar bears grizzlys gorillas etc. it is not needed.
and it is our fault.
this is inversely why the killing of cows and chickens is acceptable. they are raised to be killed, billions of them are raised to be killed. it IS needed because there is a huge demand for the meat. no one likes or often eats dolphin meat. have you?
oh, and complaining about too much media attention on a subject, implying we are somehow hipocryts is A TERRIBLE argument. as i have thus explained. complaining about the rain never made it go away, i say this because it is raining and its a nice metaphore
December 6th, 2010 at 8:36 am
sucks for japan though, fishing is really their only national buisness, well that and some pretty kick ass swords
December 6th, 2010 at 8:37 am
hahahhahaha kinsey i dont know you but i really like your comment hahaha
December 9th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Wow this article is the worst thing I have ever read in my life. I really hope for the people out there that think there is nothing wrong with this, that one day someone comes to your house and kills your family in front of your face and sells their meat to a local grocery store. Then cart YOU off to some 8×10 room with a big window that never looks outside, and makes you live in there for the rest of your life, with only a few toys and maybe one other person to talk to. Then when they want you to act crazy or do cool tricks, they wont feed you breakfast or lunch and force you to do cool things for a meal.
p.s. I really don’t hope that anyone kills anyone’s family, but I’m only trying to make a point. Also I really hope none of you are Jewish that think there’s nothing wrong with these Japanese fishing hunts or whatever they’re called. Because you’re basically saying that you can understand why the Nazi’s did what they did to your family… (why not, humans aren’t endangered)