Dolphin Parenting

Like Mother, Like Daughter ~ Dolphin Parenting ~
For The Love of Dolphins
@Luv_Dolphins

The Magic of Children and Wild Dolphins

For The Love of Dolphins
Jackie Bigford

Simplistic Beauty ~ Dolphins playing with a dog, a swimmer and a leaf ~




For The Love of Dolphins
@Luv_Dolphins

Taiji: Types of Dolphin Hunting Throughout the Year

In Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan the killing of dolphins is not restricted solely to the much publicized drive hunts, which were the focus of Ric O’Barry’s great work in “The Cove”.


Taiji has a three pronged approach to the extermination of migrating dolphins here; first is the dolphin drive hunts in which up to 12 of the registered “banger” boats venture out to sea on an almost daily basis within their nominated season (1 September to 31 March). These are assisted by up to 4 smaller skiffs, used once the dolphins have been driven closer to Taiji harbour / the cove.

The dolphin drives account for the majority of the dolphins killed for their meat and skin and all of the live captures.

Secondly, Taiji has the provision to use up to 3 small coastal harpoon vessels. Within Taiji in 2007 and 2008 these reportedly killed 40 Risso and 16 short finned pilot whales. An example of this type of vessel is shown below – the sizable harpoon is covered with a green tarp in this photo;


These small whaling ships have their own separate annual quota and are believed to go out hunting between May and end August every year.

We found examples of the last of Taiji’s hunting equipment; the boats used for hand held harpoons. One of these boats, pictured below has one of these gruesome hand thrown lances on it’s bow;

These boats are equipped with a platform on the bow for the hunter to throw the sharp tipped spear into the back of the swimming dolphins, polystyrene floats are likely to be attached to the harpoon line to ensure that the dolphins stay afloat and can be retrieved. In 2008 the fleet of hand held harpoon boats recorded the killing of 122 Risso, 65 striped and 93 bottlenose dolphins although in previous years small numbers of spotted dolphins have been killed.


It is assumed that the May to end August period, being the drive fisheries ‘off season’, is when this type of dolphin killing occurs. This is another example of a brutal form of killing subjected on a species which far too many Japanese people still regard as fish.

Anyone that has a basic understanding of cetaceans knows that they are not fish, here are a number of the differences;

• Dolphins breathe air through a blowhole and have lungs, fish extract air from water through their gills.

• Dolphins are warm blooded, not cold blooded like fish.

• Dolphins give birth to live young, after a gestation period longer than humans. Fish lay eggs.

• Dolphin pups are fed mothers milk, just like humans. Fish fry feed for themselves and are not reliant on the maternal bond and nurturing.

• A baby dolphin needs to be with its mother for at least the first year, before it can feed and fend for itself in the wild.  Fish are able to survive on their own after emerging from their eggs.

• A dolphin’s tail is horizontal and moves up and down not vertical as in fish, which moves from side to side.

• Dolphins have complex feelings, emotions and are self-aware, fish do not have these characteristics.

The excuse that dolphins are fish thereby removing them from an animal welfare legislation, within Japan, is a convenience that allows a small group of individuals to continue to kill these mammals whose intelligence they profit from within the dolphinarium industry.

Original Story Posted Here: Eyes On Taiji

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@Luv_Dolphins

Tribute to the Cove Guardians

A Tribute to the brave young men and women who give of their time and personal safety to Stand Tall and report the to the world the gruesome and brutal slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan ~ The Cove Guardians ~ #EveryDayHeroes.  Thank you for your Love of Dolphins.






For The Love of Dolphins
@Luv_Dolphins

Dolphin Saves Whales in New Zealand

This is such a wonderful story of the communication between these beautiful cetaceans...a dolphin rescues a mother whale and baby in distress.




Please do what you can to save the lives of these magnificent mammals. We are their only voice and the annual slaughter of over 22,000 dolphins and whales in Japan alone is seriously reducing their numbers.

Stay Passionate
Jackie
For the Love of Dolphins

Educating People about the Oceans in 60 Seconds

   Educating People about the Oceans in 60 Seconds

Many years ago, I attended a session that focused on how to make business connections.  We were told to develop an “elevator speech” that described who we were and what we did and to be able to deliver that message during a period equivalent to the time it takes an elevator to travel 10 floors with one stop.   It takes practise, but it is possible to pack a lot of information in 4 or 5 sentences.     

I recently went on a vacation in the Caribbean.  Shortly after our arrival, we had the opportunity to attend an information session to learn about the various activities in the area. One of the options was a dolphin prison.

Of course, I spoke up. It is very easy to explain over dinner, when you have a couple of hours, why dolphin captivity is wrong, but my challenge was to quickly and succinctly convey the message in just a few sentences. It was time for my best elevator speech.

As a professional speaker and trainer, I always try to find out as much as possible about the audience, but if little information is available, I rely on a few key principles when selecting content.   Using these principles when creating an “elevator speech” can help deliver a powerful, timely message.

Often people need facts. Put at least one fact in your communication.  Some people dismiss messages that don’t have some sort of fact or properly referenced statistic.

Sometimes people need something upon which they can reflect because they need to come to their own conclusions.  For example, “Dolphins and whales are highly sentient beings and live in complex social structures.  How do you think the dolphins feel when they are torn away from their families and forced to live in a tiny pool instead of enjoying a vast ocean?”

Be memorable.   Paint a picture that leaves the listener with a clear image that is powerful visually or emotionally engaging.   Use one of your sentences to describe something you have seen or experienced and tell people how it made you feel.

There should be a call to action.   Ask people to not attend any attraction with captive whales or dolphins, recommend a website, or give them a few keywords they can Google.   

If you give this some thought, you might find that one sentence can satisfy more than one of the key components of your elevator speech.  Have a few different versions and practice with your friends, but don’t memorize your speech.

The same content does not work for everyone.  A person who requires facts will not be impressed if 4 of your 5 sentences are a call to action, nor will the person who is ready to act be interested in detailed statistics, but if you include different kinds of content, you are more likely to have one or more of your points achieve the desired result.

It would be wonderful if every time we tried to discuss our causes, the other person gave us an hour of their time, but those opportunities are infrequent. A powerful “elevator speech” could potentially be used several times per day.  In 30 – 60 seconds, we won’t create a new activist, but if we are prepared, we can make progress and we will probably have said something that resonates with the listener.

You can create a powerful elevator speech if you include:

·         at least one fact,

·         something upon which your listeners can reflect,

·         a description of a memorable image,

·         something that is actionable, and finally,

·         ask a question and try to turn your elevator speech into a dialogue.

As activists, our window of opportunity to impact our listeners can be very limited so we need to be prepared.

For the Oceans    

Reprinted from Ocean Activist

Stay Passionate  

~~><(((º>~

Jackie Bigford
http://twitter/Luv_Dolphins