By David Kirby
If a dolphin were captured by Japanese fishermen and sold at great profit to a faraway amusement park, but no one was willing to fly the animal there, would the fishermen want to capture more dolphins? Probably not.
That thinking has fueled a growing international effort to convince the world’s airlines and airfreight companies not to fly marine mammals captured from the wild to theme parks and aquariums. Citing the severe stress placed on whales and dolphins from hours in the restricted confinement of air transport, many air-cargo carriers are joining a “green list” of airlines vowing not to fly wild-caught cetaceans (unless an animal is being moved for health, safety or conservation reasons).
Many international activists believe that air transportation is the weakest link in a chain that sustains not only the infamous dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, but also the international trafficking of all whales and dolphins for …