A Denver author recently witnessed, up close, the slaughter of whales and dolphins in Japan.
Peter Heller, who has published a list of outdoor adventure books, recently traveled to Taiji, on Japan’s southern coast near Osaka, to publicize the annual slaughter of migrating pilot whales and dolphins.
Heller was sent there in part because of the success of his most recent book, “The Whale Warriors,” which chronicles the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ship “Farley Mowat.”
Fellow Denver author and friend Mark Stevens calls Heller “a balanced journalist. He’s full of energy and enthusiasm and is tough as nails as an athlete. He writes from the ‘let’s-go-see-the-world’ attitude.”
In Taiji, Heller joined professional surfers Karina Petroni and Dave Rastovich; Rastovich’s wife, model Hannah Fraser; “Heroes” TV star Hayden Panettiere; and actress Isabel Lucas in paddling surfboards out to a cove where fishermen were slaughtering pilot, or “short-fin,” whales and dolphins.
“The entire cove turned red from the blood,” Heller said. “It’s very, very brutal. It was one of the most horrendous forms of slaughter you have ever seen, absolutely heartbreaking.”
The protesters paddled to one pod of whales about to be slaughtered and formed a surfer’s memorial circle, holding hands while floating near the pod.
“The fishermen saw us and started yelling at us. We just held hands until they began to attack us with long poles. They hit Hannah pretty hard and tried to cut Hayden’s leg with the propeller.”
The group soon fled in three vans but were stopped by police on the road to Osaka. No one was arrested.
“None of this makes much sense because the whale meat is so poisoned with mercury,” Heller said from his home near Sloan’s Lake. “Until a few months ago, the meat was fed to local schoolchildren.”
The meat reportedly contains 10 to 16 times the mercury allowed for consumption by Japanese standards.
“What is driving this industry,” Heller said, “is the black market for captive dolphins. Out of this pod, they’ll cull the largest, healthiest females and sell them to dolphinariums and sea parks. It’s illegal in the U.S., but it’s become so popular that they still sell them here. One dolphin is now worth around $200,000.
“It makes you wonder if these killings wouldn’t stop if the captive programs weren’t so popular.”
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
