African Renaissance decided to raise awareness of the horrific slaughter of popoises and pilot whales that happens in Japan every year. You might remember that the African Renaissance team helped WWF raise awareness of the surge in rhino poaching last month by drawing rhino crime scenes all over the city. I love how these guys are doing things differently – taking the campaign to the main streets in Cape Town and making people curious about these perculiar artworks is definitely unique!
Michael Raimondo and his team tell how they went about creating awareness about this cause – their video is well worth a squizz:
Every year, in the small coastal town of Taiji in Japan, small schools of dolphin, porpoise and pilot whales are lured into a hidden cove, with the help of nets and loud instruments which confuse the dolphin’s sensitive sonar capabilities. Once captured, the dolphins are left for a day to calm down, before being mercilessly killed by fisherman. Some of the dolphins are sold to dolphinariums around the world, at a huge profit. This brutal massacre, the largest of its kind in the world, lasts for approximately 6 months.
Since the hunt began two days ago, 15 pilot whales and 14 dolphins have already been murdered. Although the Japanese Government claims that the marine mammals are hunted for food, it is more than likely that such an orchestrated and ruthless event, which sees 23 000 licenses being issued to fisherman across the country, is simply a means of ‘pest control’ given that the Government views local dolphins as a nuisance to the booming fishing industry.
Following on from a demonstration which took place in Cape Town, outside the Japanes Embassy yesterday, Green Renaissance, the environmental arm of African Renaissance Productions, in conjunction with Save Japan’s Dolphins, took to the streets, in an effort to raise awareness of the barbaric hunt, by hanging bloody dolphins from pedestrian bridges all around the city.
We wanted to really push the boundaries by making highly visible protest activations that were accessible to everyday people, people walking down the Sea Point Promenade, students at the Technikon, or simply pedestrians and motorists making their way through the city. Hopefully, activations like these will get people talking, and might even put pressure on the Japanese Government to stop what they’re doing.
The “Stop the Dolphin Slaughter” awareness campaign was a huge success with hundreds of people stopping and enquiring as to what we were doing. We hope to send a clear message to our local Japanese consulate, one of many around the world, that we will not tolerate harm to one of Nature’s most intelligent animals.
For more information on how you can get involved, visit www.savejapandolphins.org
