The Cove News

Taiji - Bowing to pressure amid threats of expulsion from the world's leading zoo organization, aquariums in Japan have voted to stop buying live dolphins from Taiji, where the annual slaughter of hundreds of cetaceans has drawn widespread criticism.

Taiji - Responding to pressure from conservationists, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) has suspended its Japanese member because it is involved in the controversial dolphin hunts that take place each year in Taiji.

I have taken part in the killing of approximately 156,000 pigs. It is not something I am proud of, but it is something in my past I cannot change. To say I can remember each pig's face as they looked at me would be a lie.

Osaka - BBC filmmaker and personal friend Martyn Stewart has been detained at Kansai Airport in Osaka on his way to document the dolphin drives that take place in Taiji, Japan. Stewart, known for his powerful filming, is being accused of eco-terrorism.

In response to international outrage over the dolphin drives in Taiji, Japan, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) issued a strong statement condemning the drive hunts. But they completely overlooked the main culprit — JAZA.

Taiji - The Japanese government on Monday defended the island nation's highly controversial yearly dolphin slaughter as "traditional," "appropriate" and "a right" as the annual corralling, killing and capturing of hundreds of bottlenose dolphins came to an end.

Three Japanese conservation groups are placing pressure on the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to take action and ask the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA), to comply with the WAZA Code of Ethics.

Dolphins suffer in captivity. These highly intelligent and self-aware creatures cannot be humanely kept in captivity. Therefore, a change in thinking in dealing with them is urgently required.

Miami - Lolita, the sole killer whale at a Floridian marine park, received another boost last week as advocates held a last-minute rally to plead her case to Dateline, one of Australia's longest-running international current affairs programs.

Taiji - In just a few hours, the Japanese dolphin drive season will officially begin in Taiji. The annual quota allocated by the Fisheries Union has also been established. It's set at more than 2,000 dolphins.

Buffalo - Buffalo, NY, will be highlighting the plight of Japanese dolphins on Sept. 1. The protest, timed to coincide with The Cove star Ric O'Barry and his trip to Taiji, will be hosted by two activists at Bidwell Park.

Taiji - With little more than a week to the start of the Taiji dolphin drive season, dolphin advocate Ric O'Barry will return to the Cove backed by more than 100 individual events around the globe.

Taiji - Dolphin advocate Sasha Abdolmajid has just returned from a visit to Taiji, Japan. Abdolmajid visited the tiny town made famous in The Cove documentary, to observe the dolphin drives and break down some barriers.

Taiji - After a brutal start to the dolphin hunt season, activists fight back by campaigning their way into CNN coverage of the mass killing of pilot whales and dolphins at Taiji Cove, in Japan.

Taiji - Within 12 days of the dolphin hunt season opening in Taiji, Japan, activists report that it has been an horrific few days for pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins driven into the Cove.

Taiji - Activists say that a pod of bottlenose dolphins fought for six hours to escape being captured before Taiji fishermen, with the help of the Japanese Coast Guard, wrestled the exhausted dolphins into submission.

Taiji - A week into the dolphin drive season in Taiji, Japan, fishermen have driven their first marine mammals into the cove, a pod of around 20-22 pilot whales with juveniles.

Washington - Digital Journal first caught up with grandma activist Barbara Napoles last January. Still actively campaigning for the welfare of dolphins, Napoles will deliver several petitions to Washington D.C. next week.

Berkeley - September 1 marks the official start of the dolphin drive season in Taiji, Japan. Every year, Ric O’Barry and his Dolphin Project team visit the cove to raise awareness over the forthcoming hunt and remember the thousands of dolphins already killed.

As dolphin advocates from across the US get ready to host individual events for Japan Dolphins Day, they were all united thanks to the Academy Award-winning documentary, The Cove.

New York - The Taiji dolphin drive season in Japan is just weeks away, and over 80 cities around the world are planning an event for Japan Dolphins Day 2012. One of those cities is New York, NY.

Taiji - Taiji's cove witnessed a bloodbath last night after 98 dolphins were driven in from the ocean and slaughtered. The massacre occurred on the tail end of the annual dolphin drive season, expected to cease Feb. 28.

Wakayama - Dutch stage, television and film actor Rutger Hauer, famous for movies such as Blade Runner and The Hitcher, has stepped up in support of Sea Shepherd activist Erwin Vermeulen, recently jailed in Japan for an alleged pushing incident.

Taiji - Dolphin advocate Ric O'Barry launches a new tool in his fight to stop the dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan. With the help of modern technology, events in the cove are being beamed live around the world.

Taiji - Two days after arresting Dutch citizen Erwin Vermeulen, Wakayama police stormed the hotel where Sea Shepherd cove guardians and a Save Japan Dolphins monitor is staying. What is going on?

As the Empire State Building in NY glowed red to highlight the slaughter of dolphins in Japan, the killing in Taiji's cove continued unabated.