Japanese whale bloodbath

The blood of these highly intelligent and social mammals turns the water in the Taiji cove red as fishermen kill them or snatch the 'prettiest' from their natural habitat so they can be sold into captivity.

Disturbing footage filmed during the current hunting season shows a large pod of pilot whales being lured to their slow and painful deaths.

The video was filmed by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the organisation which laid the foundation for the making of the Oscar-winning dolphin-hunting documentary The Cove.

Captain Paul Watson, the group's founder, told MailOnline: 'The boats go out early in the morning and once they find a pod they drive them in to an area called the cove.

'They keep them in there for a few hours, sometimes even a day.'

Captain Watson said the 'prettiest' creatures - the ones with the least visible scars - are selected and the rest are butchered with knives or spears, or are drowned.

'They tie a rope to their tail and then pull them underwater,' he said, explaining it can take 15 minutes for the dolphin or whale to drown.

He said the fishermen responsible for the killings are wealthy, judging by the expensive vehicles in the nearby car parks.

Plugs are sometimes placed in their blow holes so the blood from their lungs does not turn the water around them red.  

The most attractive dolphins and whales are then sold on into captivity for around £140,000 each, or the meat ends up on dinner plates, Captain Watson claims.

'They sell the meat on the market, but the meat market is a secondary thing,' he added. 'That is diminishing. Now it's being fed to prisoners in prison.' 

Officials and fishermen in Taiji have defended the hunt as traditional, saying that eating dolphin is no different than eating beef or chicken, despite the fact it contains mercury. 

In one of the organisation's videos filmed during this season - which runs from September until the end of February - a pod of pilot whales was held in the cove without food or water for three days.

Some 70 pilot whales - among the largest of the oceanic dolphins - fought for freedom and were first split into two groups before spending days calling out to each other across the cove.

On the second day, the selection and slaughter process began while the protective matriarch of the pod was tied up to keep her from interfering with the killings.

After three hours, 11 were dead and one had been chosen for captivity and taken to a pen.

The remaining members of the pod huddled together through the night and over the course of them had been killed.

The next morning, Sea Shepherd 'guardians' saw the bodies of several pilot whales which are believed to have drowned.

It was then the camera captured the most disturbing scenes - one whale, which appeared to have a metal rod stabbed through its spinal cord, broke away in an attempt to escape.

It was dragged through the water and back to the boats by a hunter in a wet suit. 

It's tail was tied to the side of a vessel so it was unable to lift its head above the water and it was left to drown.

On the final day, a further 14 were killed, bringing the hit list to 46 members of the same pod. The remainder - small whales which would not produce much meat - were released but were unlikely to survive on their own.

Captain Watson added: 'After years and years of doing this, it always does make me angry and it's frustrating.

'We thought The Cove [documentary] would have an impact, but the Japanese ignored it. It's been a frustrating campaign.' 

The film's star, Ric O'Barry was deported to the U.S. on Friday after Tokyo airport officials barred his entry.

The 76-year-old had been held in a detention facility at Narita airport since he landed on January 18.  

He and his lawyer said officials accused him of lying during his past visits to Japan. He denies that, and said he is a tourist who came for dolphin watching. 

O'Barry, who heads the Dolphin Project, which aims to peacefully protect dolphins worldwide, said he was determined to come back to Japan and keep fighting to save the mammals by working with the Japanese people.

On Saturday, Sea Shepherd will orchestrate demonstrations around the world to highlight the link between captivity and Taiji cove.

David Hance, the society's campaign coordinator, said: 'Our utmost desire is to see a day when captivity is completely abolished and these beautiful, intelligent beings are allowed to roam free throughout the world's oceans, instead of being put into tiny tanks and forced to perform tricks, just to get their next meal.'

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3433145/Murderers-killing-cove-Shocking-footage-shows-wealthy-hunters-slaughtering-desperate-pilot-whale-Japan-rest-pod-drowned-kidnapped-sold-140-000.html?ito=social-facebook)