Thursday, July 28, 2011

Looking back at our first trip to Japan PART 2

When activists volunteer for Sea Shepherd they are asked whether they would die to save cetaceans, the six of us nearly had to prove that.  We were 10 km's closer to the epicenter than Sendai, and the tsunami hit the town of Otsuchi 8 minutes after the earthquake hit.  The population of Otsuchi was 17,000 and more than 12,500 people perished.  We missed the deadly rush of water by less than 60 seconds.  If it wasn't for the navigation skills of Scott West, Tarah Shannon and Brian Barnes who were in the car in front of us we almost certainly would have died.  This next set of pictures shows the devastation we barely escaped when we drove to the top of the lookout.












Please support our campaign by donating.  Myself and Carisa will be returning to Japan this September, this time to Taiji.  Without your generous contributions we would not be able to travel to Taiji for the start of the dolphin slaughter.  This year Japanese police are training a task force to prevent activists from filming the capture and killing that takes place from September through March.  Last year there was a constant presence of activists in the Cove and we want to make sure that we keep the pressure on.

Marley Daviduk
Cetacean Defense League

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Looking back at our first trip to Japan





This first set of pictures here were taken in Otsuchi this March, an hour before the earthquake struck.  We were in the inner harbor waiting for the harpoon ships to come in when one returned without any porpoises on board.  The police took our passport numbers down and we spent some time watching the fishermen unload a catch of small fish.  The building you see is the fisherman's union building where they brought the porpoises to be butchered.  The FU building was almost completely destroyed and only 4 out of 13 harpoon ships were saved.  We are not sure whether the police officers were able to safely escape the tsunami.

More pictures to come soon, please keep checking back for updates!

Please support our efforts to return to Japan this September.  Myself, Carisa and Aster will be in Taiji for three weeks to help with the dolphin campaign in The Cove.  We rely completely on donations and are very grateful for any contributions!

Marley and Carisa
Cetacean Defense League

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

PLANS HAVE CHANGED!!!

Well are plans are changing!  Originally our intentions were to travel to northern Japan this September to document the Dall's porpoise slaughter and some coastal whaling on the west coast.  It looks like Carisa, Aster, and myself (Marley) will travel to Taiji instead.  Last year when we made the decision to travel to Japan we were going to go to Taiji but had to change our plans at the last minute when the slaughter ended early.   Instead we went to Northern Japan to document the Dall's Porpoise massacre and the same day we arrived was the day the earthquake and tsunami destroyed much of the east coast.

Unfortunately it looks like the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society may not have an official Cove Guardian campaign in Taiji this year.  This is due to lack of funds especially now that their ship, the Steve Irwin is being held in the UK for 1.4 million dollars bond after they rescued some endangered Bluefin Tuna from some illegal fishing operations- please donate at seashepherd.org to help them get the Steve Irwin back!  Since there will be no official Sea Shepherd campaign, it is even more important that all efforts are directed to Taiji starting this September.  Wouldn't it be great if we could continue the constant presence of activists in the Cove this year sending them a clear message that we will not back down.

If you have the ability to travel to Taiji during the slaughter (September thru March) please join the campaign, the dolphins need us there!  If you have any questions about what you can do please email us and we can tell you everything you need to know about how to get there, where to stay and how to get around.

If you would like to donate to our campaign in Taiji please do!  All money donated will pay for us to stay in Taiji and document the cruel practices of the butchers for 3 weeks.

Please keep your eye on our blog, we will be posting some of our pictures from our first experience in Japan very soon.

Thank you so much for your support!

Marley, Carisa and Aster