Keep the Taiji Dolphins in Your Prayers

Swimming Free away from Taiji

by Steven Thompson, TDAG 
November 27, 2012 

Are dolphins intelligent? Are dolphins spiritual? To those who believe...to those who are ready to give it a try. As you go to sleep or meditate today, please send a psychic message to the dolphin pod members who escaped today:

STAY AWAY FROM TAIJI! ...IF YOU HEAR THE BANGING, GO UNDER...OUT TO SEA

An entire pod of dolphins ESCAPED certain death today. They outsmarted the most ruthless technologically advanced dolphin murderers on the planet: the Taiji Killers, those who eat dolphins. There was no massacre today.

How do you think the escaped pod feels now? Happy? Exhausted? Did anyone die in the mad rush to escape? Are their hearts beating back to normal? Where will they swim to next?

Many of us sat on the edge of our seats waiting for the #tweet4taiji. We waited and waited...drank a cup a tea...felt like throwing up...not working...not sleeping...knowing the dolphins were swimming a race...a high speed marathon where there can only be one loser. And losing means you watch your friends and family get their throats cut or their spines pithed...blood still filling the water...screams piercing your soul...mothers and babies dragged by their tails, drowned in agony. This is the vision that may await the dolphins if they swim by Taiji.

Please envision the dolphins who escaped today, communicating with other dolphins to stay away from Taiji. Please envision the awareness of the Taiji hunt to spread among all dolphins everywhere. Please share the vision that dolphins must swim under the wall of sound and back out to sea.

Please tell the dolphins that you care...care enough to stay away from Taiji. Taiji is no place for a happy and free dolphin.

Swim fast and free

Away from Taiji 

Under the sound and out to sea

Telling all dolphins is the key.

A big THANK YOU to the volunteers in Taiji today guarding the Cove and monitoring the hunt. Without groups like Sea Shepherd, Save Japan Dolphins, and individual dolphin activists all over the world, we simply wouldn't know.

Michael Q Todd: Falsely Arrested at the Cove--Now Free

Sweet Reunion

by Steven Thompson, TDAG 
November, 8, 2012

My friend Michael Q Todd, arrested at the Cove in Sept 16, got out of jail on provisional release yesterday.

His case is looking much better. It's not over...Michael still must appear back in Osaka for two more hearings...but it looks much better and is much easier on him and his supporters to look at his case from the outside.

Thank you for supporting Michael.

It looks like Michael WAS within the law, legally in Japan, when he was arrested. The police jumped the gun on Michael to arrest someone, anyone for any reason like they did with Erwin Vermeulen. The way he was treated so badly and even illegally in Shingu Wakayama by a mean-hearted police officer, is one of the things that has helped Michael get out, yet he paid a heavy penalty: 54 days in jail.  Please take care if you go to Taiji.

For him, his fiancée, myself, and hundreds of supporters, it is a day to celebrate!

Passionate Dolphin Activist Susan Mabe...Rests In Peace...October 29, 2012

Join young Susan Mabe for tea

by Steven Thompson, TDAG 
Oct. 30, 2012

A friend of dolphins and a friend of mine passed away today. As an Administrator here on the Taiji Dolphin Action Group, she was instrumental in keeping us a strong independent voice for Taiji dolphins. Her words and thoughts live on in her facebook page.

Passionate and loving woman

I have known Susan Mabe as tough and beautiful, angry and kind, logical and emotional and so connected to Cetaceans and the people involved. Her native American roots she discovered later in life and upscale medical family gave her a spiritual way of living and an analytical mind.

Intense front-line activist

Susan was quick with intelligence and honesty. She has helped me to be a better activist. May we all remember her. I feel she would want us to work hard, keep our facts straight and share our passions.

Thank you Susan for sharing your passions. You have made and will continue to make a difference in my life and the lives of many.

A new way to spread awareness about Taiji?

Hi all :-) I've been doing some thinking about more ways to spread awareness in our own Towns, States and possibly to Japan. My thought was what if we contact all of the Japanese restaurants either by asking to hang flyers, email them or post on Facebook pages (politely of course) I have recently posted on a few Fb pages of Japanese restaurants and two of them liked the post and kept it up on their page, I also tweeted a local restaurant owner and he Re-tweeted! Not a miracle but still it does help with spreading awareness. Basically I just mentioned The Dolphin slaughters in Taiji, Japan, if they have any relatives in Japan to please warn them of Mercury poisoning in the meat (just in case) and how they kill thousands yearly for no reason, their only crime? eating the fish, just swimming through Taiji ? I also added a video of one of the slaughters to show the extent the Fishermen go to in order to catch and kill these beautiful, sentient beings (that should tug at their heartstrings?) but you can add an article, a picture or whatever you feel will catch their eye. Best bet is finding Restaurants on Facebook and asking them to help us spread awareness of this appalling act, not only are we informing the restaurants but their patrons who like their page as well. By the way, I also mentioned the captivity bit in my posts and asked them to watch "The Cove" This may or may not work but aren't our Dolphin friends worth the effort?

Donate Now! Help Dolphin Mel and the Taiji 12 Get Up Again

Give a Helping Hand!

by Steven Thompson, TDAG 
Oct. 12, 2012

What do Dolphin Activists do once they get knocked down?

GET BACK UP AGAIN!

Urgent! This is a setback. This is the result of the investigation into the accidental statue bending. The seizing of all of this property is police harassment.  Money will fix it.

Donate now!

All 13 Sea Shepherds are having their camera SD cards, computers, and mobile phones confiscated RIGHT now. This is confirmed. I just spoke with Sea Shepherds in the Taiji area. The Taiji police told Mel to expect to be without equipment for up to two weeks, IF it gets returned at all.

Earmark funds for Taiji: The Dolphin Defense Campaign on the Sea Shepherd site. They must be re-supplied. I reckon they need about $4,000usd to keep us and the world aware.

Please post this over and over. Keep it at the top till Taiji Sea Shepherds get on their feet again.

This is the least we can do...as we sit back and watch it unfold...at least we can donate a little to keep them there.


For the Taiji Dolphins!

Note: I am not a member of Sea Shepherd, but I think they are doing a heck of a good job spreading outside pressure (gaiatsu) awareness to end the dolphin hunt. Please support the individuals using their own funds to get involved. Please support Japanese activist when you find them. They are ones who will end this. They are the ones who will create an alternative.

Mel and the Twelve: The Dolphin Activist Experience of a Lifetime

Will the Cove Guardians be released soon?

by Steven Thompson, TDAG 
Oct. 11, 2012

Taiji Cove Guardian leader Melissa Sehgal and twelve other Sea Shepherds from Australia, Brazil, Germany, the UK, and the USA, are now being held for questioning in the Shingu police station and jail near Taiji, Japan. They have been detained since 10:00am today. It is now 16:10pm.

The Guardians reported that the hunt was unsuccessful today! Our friends must get out of detention in order to report on the hunt tomorrow. The world is watching.

It is assumed that this is in relation to the accidental damage to a statue of a man before he throws a harpoon at a defenseless dolphin or whale and the arrest of Nils Greskewitz for that mistake.

Please know this: the Sea Shepherd campaign in Taiji Japan works efficiently, organized with backup plans for predictable and even outrageous outcomes.

For all the times I have seen, contingencies are considered and worked out in advance. When the Cove Guardians were detained today, a one button call was certainly made that put a designated crew in several countries into action.

At this point, there is no hurry for information on our part. Either Mel and the Twelve are going to be held for anywhere from a day to 23 days or they will be let out soon. Japanese law allows the police to collude with a prosecutor and hold anyone, Japanese or other for almost two weeks incommunicado without access to friends or family or a lawyer. If this happens the Embassies can step in but rarely do.

Nils is another story of course. He will truly be lucky to not get deported after 23 days in solitary without ever seeing the sun.

If our other friends are let out soon, they will have had  brief but interesting stories of Japanese bureaucracy. If they are detained for longer, Taiji dolphin activism will move forward with a big powerful splash of her tail.

I was detained by the Shingu police when I was assaulted by the hunters. I went to report the assault, and the police bullied their way into my life, called my workplace and bullied my family. The pressure sent me back to Osaka that same day. We can expect this sort of pressure to be put on the 13 Cove Guardians and Nils too.

The Taiji police are doing what they do best: being pricks. They are defending the hunters and supporting the killing of innocent dolphins.

These 13 selfless Cove Guardian volunteers each have their own networks of hundreds or thousands of friends, families, and contacts. In a very short period of time, perhaps 10,000 will know if this "questioning" gets turned into jail time without charge or with some trumped up charge.

Either way, please know that outside pressure (Gaiatsu) works to spread the word of the crimes done to dolphins in Taiji. There are more Cove Guardians scheduled to arrive in the next few days. Rest assured, if Mel and the 12 are held for longer than a day, there will be a tsunami of Guardians getting on planes.

And we still need Japanese to step up for the inner pressure that will ultimately change things. Until then...please follow your inspiration to make a difference in the dolphin wars.

Please support Sea Shepherd. They have what it takes continue raising awareness and applying pressure. Please support other groups and individuals when they come to Taiji too. Please come to Taiji if you are ready for the activist experience of your life.

Baby Dolphins and Japanese Embassies

We save baby dolphins.

by Steven Thompson, TDAG 
Sept. 7, 2012

The next stage begins.

When the hunt is on and the dolphins haven't been netted yet, I hold a vision of escape: fast, far and free. Some dolphins are bound to escape. May they tell the tale to other dolphins to keep away from Taiji as scientists say they can.

When dolphins get roped into the Cove, it is time for the next stage: make the call to consulates and embassies and the people in charge. Get creative. Visit the embassies...remember the names of the people you talk with or meet with.

With a baby pilot whale in the Cove confirmed, our next step is clear. Please call any Japanese outlet and demand that at least the baby and his mother be saved. Killing a baby or pregnant female, even in a hunt, is murder.

This approach focus was suggested by a Japanese man in Taiji when Ric O'Barry and I showed The Cove in his home to him and his guests. He recommended an emotion approach after seeing the scene of the bloody baby dolphin swimming across the nets to diver Mandy-Rae Cruickshank "Japanese love dolphins; use this love to save them", he said.

Holding the pod overnight is rare now. It is an unusual opportunity. Please make calls every hour for the next 20 hours. Babies are the heart string. Play it!

Ask if there are any pregnant females. If Embassy officials don't know the answer, ask them to find out, you'll call back. Give them the numbers of the Mayor and the Taiji union in charge of the hunt. Give them the names.

Mayor SANGEN ,Kazutaka Taiji Town Hall
Call: 073-559-2335
Fax: 073-559-2801

Mr. MATSUMOTO, Shuichi, President and
Mr. Shimetani (Private Space) Kazutoyo, Chief Butcher
Taiji Isana Union
Call: 073-559-2340
Fax: 073-559-2821                                   (Add 81 for Int'l and drop the first zero)


Some may question the survivability of baby dolphins, and their mothers, pregnant females, and perhaps a few males. Dolphin scientist Diana Reiss told me that it is by no means certain that they will die. It is more possible that they will contact other dolphins and warn them! Baby dolphins have been released before with other remaining members of their pod when the pressure was on. Let's apply pressure any way we can!


Dolphin lovers, please place contact lists in the replies section in this document. Thank you.

For the baby dolphins and for all humanity!