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Articles "Hudson River swim protests killing of dolphins" Local activists take on mass slaughter of wildlife in
Japan THE JOURNAL NEWS - 18 Sep
2006 YONKERS - Taffy Williams of Yonkers founded the New York Whale and
Dolphin Action League because there was 'something unique' about the
creatures. Yesterday, Williams organized the Festival and Swim to Save Dolphins, a
.93 mile swim across the Hudson River ending at the Beczak Environmental
Education Center on the Yonkers waterfront, "because America and all the
world loves dolphins." "They help us out there on the water and they're in trouble. We have to
help them," Williams said. Williams is protesting "dolphin drives," a process in which fisherman go
out on boats and use loud sound of banging metal to frighten dolphins into a
bay so that they can be captured or killed. William Rossiter of the Cetacean Society International said the dolphins
are panicked as they wait in the harbor, sometimes for several days, before
they are squeezed together as a long net pushes them into shallow water. Some are captured and selected for captivity. The others are slaughtered
by men who wade out with long stakes with knives on the ends to stab them to
death, he said. "I don't think people know what really goes on, and it's just the most
brutal thing," said Kiley Blackman of the Animal Defenders of Westchester.
"All they see is the frozen smiles on the dolphins at the aquarium.
"They are stolen from their families, and they scream and cry for their
babies." Aaron Welt of Chappaqua, who was first to finish the Hudson River swim,
said the Yonkers Canoe Club kayakers acted like coaches as they glided him
to shore. "Wildlife is important, and by being here I'm mixing activism and
exercise," Welt said. Rossiter said thousands of dolphins are killed every year in Japan, the
largest slaughterer of dolphins in the world. "The Japanese have gotten very good at restricting media coverage of
these inhumane practices," he said. "They don't want to lose face." He said some dolphins are captured and sold, while others are used for
school lunch programs and hospital food. Rossiter added that he would like
people to be educated about food safety and "cause them to pause and choose
something else." Williams said she will participate in Japan Dolphin Day, an annual
international protest against Japanese drive fisheries, at the Japanese
Consulate in New York City at noon Wednesday. "It's a very inhumane practice, but it's not immoral or unethical in
Japanese culture," Rossiter said. "In Japan, this is a matter of
efficiency. In their minds, there's nothing wrong with that." Fair Use Notice: This document may contain
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