{"id":8552,"date":"2013-10-25T08:01:43","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T12:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552"},"modified":"2013-10-25T08:01:43","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T12:01:43","slug":"dolphin-slaughter-fueled-by-illegal-shark-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552","title":{"rendered":"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by Alexis Manning<\/a> in Ocean Views<\/a> on October 24, 2013<\/abbr><\/p>\n

\"dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400\"<\/p>\n

Dolphins in Peru are having their lives cut short as fishermen take to the seas, illegally harpooning and killing the animals in order to harvest their skin for shark bait.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sharks are a profitable commodity to fishermen, as their meat has long been considered an expensive delicacy in Asia, and now, a new report by the investigative group and conservation NGO Mundo Azul<\/a> suggests that this shark meat demand is indirectly fueling another tragedy in our oceans: the slaughter of more than 15,000 dolphins each year in Peru alone.<\/p>\n

Undercover reporters were embedded with the fishermen who kill the dolphins and recorded the graphic techniques they use: Fishermen track dolphin pods, and when they\u2019re within shooting distance, they will aim a harpoon into the group and fire. Once they\u2019ve hit their target, the fishermen will hoist the dolphin onto their boat and slice off the animals\u2019 skin, sometimes while it is still alive. Other times, the animal is clubbed to death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just went numb looking at the pitiful dolphin being battered with a club,\u201d Stefan Austerm\u00fchle, the president of Mundo Azul and an undercover reporter himself, said in an interview with Blue Voice<\/a>, the organization that funded the mission. \u201cAll I could do was continue recording the event in the hope that making the world aware of this tragedy can somehow bring an end to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legal Status<\/strong><\/p>\n

While hunting dolphins is technically illegal in Peru, Austerm\u00fchle calls it an \u201copen secret\u201d in the fishing industry, with little to no enforcement. The practice was outlawed in 1996, but it is rarely enforced, he said.<\/p>\n

At its peak, nearly 20,000 dolphins were being killed in Peru each year, Mundo Azul estimates. Despite the threat of incarceration or seizure of their fishing licenses, fishermen continue to catch dolphins.<\/p>\n

And the slaughter continues.<\/p>\n

In other countries, where there are no specific laws to protect small cetaceans, including dolphins and porpoises, the killing is left entirely unchecked.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most well known occurrence of dolphin killing is in Taiji, Japan, the city made infamous by the 2010 Oscar-winning documentary The Cove<\/a><\/em>. In Taiji, dolphins are gathered and killed\u2014not for shark bait, but for human consumption and for selling to marine parks.<\/p>\n

Peru is not alone in their use of dolphins as chum. Fishermen in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Tanzania have also been known to lure sharks with dolphin meat, claims Hardy Jones, the executive director for Blue Voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing dolphins as bait?\u201d Jones asks incredulously. \u201cThat\u2019s like using Albert Einstein as a traffic bump\u2026It\u2019s an extraordinary act of cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Jones doesn\u2019t blame the fishermen. \u201cI blame the government,\u201d he says. \u201cNow that they know, they have to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petition to End Slaughter<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blue Voice has already obtained signatures from 33 international NGOs and plans to send their proposal to the Peruvian government, letting them know that their behavior is \u201cunacceptable.\u201d Once they stop the overfishing of sharks, Jones believes, only then will the dolphin slaughter stop too. (See \u201c100 Million Sharks Killed Every Year<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

The Peruvian government vows to investigate the crimes and plans to deliver a report by June 2014, according to the Los Angeles Times<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

Until then, what can you do to help? Stay informed. You can help spread the word, become a dolphin conservation volunteer,<\/a> or sign Blue Voice\u2019s petition<\/a> to the Peruvian government to stop the slaughter.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by Alexis Manning in Ocean Views on October 24, 2013<\/p>\n

Dolphins in Peru are having their lives cut short as fishermen take to the seas, illegally harpooning and killing the animals in order to harvest their skin for shark bait.
\nSharks are a profitable commodity to fishermen, as their meat has long been considered an expensive delicacy in Asia, and now, a new report by the investigative group and conservation NGO Mundo Azul suggests that this shark meat demand is indirectly fueling another tragedy in our oceans: the slaughter of more than 15,000 dolphins each year in Peru alone.
\nUndercover reporters were embedded with the fishermen who kill the dolphins and recorded the graphic techniques they use: Fishermen track dolphin pods, and when they\u2019re within shooting distance, they will aim a harpoon into the group and fire. Once they\u2019ve hit their target, the fishermen will hoist the dolphin onto their boat and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,171,59,241,90,172,176,40,45,82,154,32,31,41],"tags":[95,555,494,493],"class_list":["post-8552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation","category-divetalking-2","category-dolphin","category-donation","category-earth","category-education","category-extinction","category-featured","category-fish","category-ocean","category-preservation","category-reference","category-report","category-stories","tag-dolphin-2","tag-dolphin-slaughter","tag-peru-dolphin-slaughter","tag-slaughtering-of-dolphin"],"yoast_head":"\nDolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade - Divetalking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Divetalking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-25T12:01:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947\"},\"headline\":\"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-25T12:01:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552\"},\"wordCount\":577,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ngg_featured\\\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"dolphin\",\"Dolphin Slaughter\",\"Peru Dolphin Slaughter\",\"Slaughtering of Dolphin\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Conservation\",\"Divetalking\",\"Dolphin\",\"Donation\",\"Earth\",\"Education\",\"extinction\",\"Featured\",\"Fish\",\"ocean\",\"Preservation\",\"Reference\",\"Report\",\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552\",\"name\":\"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade - Divetalking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ngg_featured\\\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-25T12:01:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947\"},\"description\":\"Divetalking\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ngg_featured\\\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ngg_featured\\\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?p=8552#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Divetalking\",\"description\":\"The best thing to do during your surface interval\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d9d7d9c9f3f0e10a61a623acfd62ba1f1075d4407ece2d201f56ff9e1a448da?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d9d7d9c9f3f0e10a61a623acfd62ba1f1075d4407ece2d201f56ff9e1a448da?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1d9d7d9c9f3f0e10a61a623acfd62ba1f1075d4407ece2d201f56ff9e1a448da?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"description\":\"Founder and Master Moderator of Divetalking.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.divetalking.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade - Divetalking","description":"Divetalking","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade","og_description":"Divetalking","og_url":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552","og_site_name":"Divetalking","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Divetalking","article_published_time":"2013-10-25T12:01:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947"},"headline":"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade","datePublished":"2013-10-25T12:01:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552"},"wordCount":577,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg","keywords":["dolphin","Dolphin Slaughter","Peru Dolphin Slaughter","Slaughtering of Dolphin"],"articleSection":["Conservation","Divetalking","Dolphin","Donation","Earth","Education","extinction","Featured","Fish","ocean","Preservation","Reference","Report","Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552","url":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552","name":"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade - Divetalking","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg","datePublished":"2013-10-25T12:01:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947"},"description":"Divetalking","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/dead-dusky-dolphin-02small-600x400.jpg","width":600,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?p=8552#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/","name":"Divetalking","description":"The best thing to do during your surface interval","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/02d5721103fd9d171fcc8cfb74d80947","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d9d7d9c9f3f0e10a61a623acfd62ba1f1075d4407ece2d201f56ff9e1a448da?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d9d7d9c9f3f0e10a61a623acfd62ba1f1075d4407ece2d201f56ff9e1a448da?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1d9d7d9c9f3f0e10a61a623acfd62ba1f1075d4407ece2d201f56ff9e1a448da?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"description":"Founder and Master Moderator of Divetalking.","url":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divetalking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}