The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #76034 Message #1343263
Posted By: The Shambles
30-Nov-04 - 11:16 AM
Thread Name: BS: Dolphins and Humans: Partners
Subject: RE: BS: Dolphins and Humans: Partners
No it was on the site.
Dolphin meat is a common sight on menus in Taiji, but food is not the only reason for drive hunting.
In 2003, 78 of the dolphins trapped in the hunts were used for dolphinarium shows and swim-with-dolphin programmes.
There are substantial rewards for dolphins employed by the increasingly-popular entertainment business; not for the hunters themselves, but for the industry's intermediaries - the groups who make money by buying the dolphins from the fishermen and selling them to dolphinariums for training.
It is estimated that "dolphin dealers" can sell one animal for up to $30,000 (£16,000). Paul confronts the head of one such intermediary organisation and puts it to him that the dealing business is actually the driving force behind the industry.
It also becomes apparent that there are international dealers. Footage of the hunts taken by Ric O'Barry show Westerners trying to buy dolphins from the fishermen in Taiji.