Turn e d i t ing the We could have an important message in here!
ISSUE 1 Summer 2009
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Japan education programme WDCS has supported a number of public education campaigns through local Japanese NGOs (non-governmental organizations), which has included the distribution of information about the mercury and other heavy-metal contamination of whale and dolphin meat.
WDCS has visited Taiji and Futo in Japan, to witness and document the annual dolphin drive hunts which commence in September and continue through to April. During these hunts, over 2,000 small whales and dolphins, including pilot whales and Risso’s, striped and bottlenose dolphins, are corralled into small coves where they are subsequently slaughtered for their meat, or taken alive for the international aquarium industry. Working with WDCS, the Elsa Nature Conservancy, a Japanese conservation organization, has developed an educational road show that is traveling throughout Japan to educate and raise awareness amongst students and the general public about dolphins and the threats that they face, including the dolphin drive hunts, whaling and captivity. This educational exhibit will travel to various universities in Tokyo and through the coastal villages where the hunts occur, providing an opportunity to contrast the beautiful images of cetaceans in the wild with images of drive, harpoon and other hunts. WDCS will continue to foster the love and appreciation for cetaceans that can be found within Japan, and hopes to shape that into a public sentiment that
Letter from the Editor Hello and welcome to the first of your new look Turning the Tide newsletter. Our Turning the Tide members are some of our most committed supporters, raising over £100,000 a year to help protect whales and dolphins from the many threats they face. In recognition of your invaluable commitment to the safety and welfare of whales and dolphins, we wanted to make sure that your updates included the very latest from our campaigners and field researchers including comment and photographs from some of our less well known projects. I really hope you enjoy this newsletter, and I’d love to hear your comments and questions, maybe we could feature them in the next issue. Drop me a line on turningthetide@wdcs.org. Thank you Sign off