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

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

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

Help us return to Japan this September!

The Cetacean Defense League will be heading back to Japan this September!  Our group consists of Mike, Marley, Carisa (3 out of the 6 Sea Shepherd/Save Japan's Dolphins activists who survived the Otsuchi Tsunami this March) as well as Aster Demone from Canada.

We intend to return to Northern Japan this fall to carry out a complete inventory of the island of Hokkaido, driving every inch of coastline to document harpoon ships and investigate companies and individuals who are involved in the slaughter of whales, dolphins and porpoises.  We want to know exactly how many ships are operating, what species they are killing, which companies are involved and when they are carrying out their hunts.  Very little is known about the hunting of cetaceans in Northern Japan, especially since the cities of Otsuchi and Kesennuma were destroyed.  They were two key locations where the bodies of porpoises were brought in for processing, and both cities are gone.  At this point no one really knows if these headquarters have been moved to a different harbor.

BUT, we have a problem.  We have been turned down for funding from every organization we have approached.  Myself, Mike and Carisa fundraised our butts off to get to Japan in March, and after the earthquake and Tsunami our friends and families were so generous with donations when we lost our rental cars and had to buy new tickets home to escape the radiation.  Everyone has given so much already, and yet for the Cetaceans of Japan we have to ask for more.

We don't have administration costs, we don't even need a hotel, we are all prepared to sleep in our rental vehicles!!  During our first trip to Japan in March, the hotel was our biggest cost, we are willing to cut that cost by sleeping in our vehicles with sleeping bags even though it is much more dangerous.  When Scott West (Sea Shepherd) and Brian Barnes (SJD) were in Northern Japan last month they found three harpoon ships hunting in Kushiro, Hokkaido Prefecture.  They were constantly followed by unmarked vehicles, under surveillance by Japanese authorities, fishermen, and mafia.  These people are proven to be violent considering how they stab, slice and dismember dolphins while they are fully conscious.

Every dollar donated will help pay for our tickets, and the rental vehicle which we will drive from one coastal city to another, looking for evidence of harpoon ships and cetacean slaughter.

Please donate whatever you can for the animals!
Thank you!

Marley Daviduk
The Cetacean Defense League

Bike to Protect!!!

Former Cove Guardian Mike XVX is doing a bicycle ride to fund his trip back to Japan to protect dolphins! Visit: http://mikexvx.blogspot.com to find out more info, order shirts and support him in his endeavors!

We need your calls ASAP!

This post is bitter sweet because it contains both good news and bad news.

First with the good news. We just received an email from Ayaka, the woman whom we spent a night with in our rental car during the tsunami. She is doing well and we are all very excited to hear from her! It was very comforting to have her company and her help those 2 days and it was heartbreaking to have to say goodbye. We left her on March 11th, but she did not get home from the refugee camp until March 13th. We hope to keep regular correspondence with her and we'll post more information later on.

Now the bad news. Even though it's off season in Taiji at the moment, Scott West just reported that there are as many as 50-75 Pilot Whales currently being held just outside the slaughtering cove. Pilot Whales are a protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection act, and this is not only inhumane and unnecessary, but also a violation of international law. Call your local Japanese embassy and demand that those Pilot Whales be set free!!

Until all are free,
Mike, Marley and Carisa

To everyone who has helped us return home...

To everyone who has helped us return home,

We've received word from Delta Airlines that they'll be compensating us for our emergency flights back to the US, and since then we've been debating what we should do with the remainder of the donations that were sent to our Paypal account. Our minds and our hearts are with the people in Japan who have lost their livelihoods and their loved ones, so we've decided that the majority of our donations would be given to the Otsuchi Relief fund (http://otsuchi.org/) to aid them in their relief efforts. This fund was set up by their sister city of Fort Bragg, CA, and considering that Otsuchi is by far the most devastated area of Japan we feel that our money will have the greatest impact there. The rest of the funds will be recycled back into future Sea Shepherd dolphin protection campaigns and also to reimburse a few groups and organizations that helped us with other expenses during our emergency evacuation.

The support from the animal rights and environmentalist community has been absolutely amazing, and we want everyone to know how truly thankful and grateful we are for all the donations and support we've received during our ordeal. It's incredibly moving to see the amount of effort that was put into our return, and all the kind words and warm welcomes we received when returning home has helped ease some of the pain and anxiety we had experienced over the last week. We are truly lucky to be alive.

As of now more than half of the city of Otsuchi is dead or missing. If you have the means, please consider donating to their relief efforts and to Japan Animal Rescue.

We oppose all industries that profit off of animal abuse and exploitation. We support the efforts of the Japanese people to rebuild and return to economic stability, but we do not support the actions of the small group of individuals who profit off of murder and exploitation. We do not share the beliefs of the porpoise fisherman, but we will stand in solidarity with the effected people of Japan and do what we can to help them rebuild their communities and their lives.

With respect for the oceans, wildlife and the people of Japan,
Mike, Carisa and Marley