SEATTLE — As dolphin hunting season begins in Taiji, Japan, thousands of concerned citizens around the globe protested on Thursday to end the slaughtering of dolphins in the country.
A group of protesters marched through downtown Seattle in light of Japan Dolphins Day; an international day of awareness regarding the exploitation of dolphins.
The 2009 Academy Award Winning documentary, The Cove exposed fishermen in Taiji for dolphin hunting practices-- in which for six months, dolphins were chased into a hidden cove where they were either held captive or killed for their meat.
According to, the Dolphin Project and Ceta-Base, between the years of 2000-2013, a total of 19,092 cetaceans were killed or taken as live-capture and sold to the captive display industry.
The Dolphin Project states that in this year alone, the Japanese Fisheries Agency has authorized fishermen to kill or capture nearly 16,000 cetaceans. When The Cove documentary was filming, over 23,000 permits were reportedly issued at that time.
Former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, created the Dolphin Project, an organization working to educate about captivity and end dolphin exploitation. O'Barry was deported from Japan in January 2016, on accusations of about his intentions in the country.