After about six month and 41 drives that took place, the five species of dolphin populations can finally relax. The drives consist of capturing and killing dolphins in the waters of Japan. Some are taken to be placed in aquariums while others are killed for their meat. It’s some pretty horrible stuff- if you’ve seen Blackfish, it’s similar to how they capture orcas. They chase them into exhaustion until they have no where else to go.
These hunts are not without a little controversy. Hundreds to thousands of people go out to the beaches to witness what is happening. While legally they cannot interfere, they stand in protest to ensure the hunters know they’re being watched. They also collect data regarding the number of species collected and killed. This figure is showed below.
Japan is not taking any steps to stop the hunts. On the contrary they are cracking down on those how stand in protest and document the hunts. There is more information that can be found here concerning the Taiji hunts.
Unfortunately, offshore hunts and whaling will continue throughout May, but at least dolphin populations can recuperate for the time being
Environmental Geography 