A day of bloodshed here in Taiji, as a pod of striped dolphins were driven into the Cove. For 2 hours the dolphins could be seen stampeding and leaping clear out of the water in sheer panic as a formidable wall of sound pushed this family closer to their deaths. They traveled quickly and were at the entrance of the harbor when the pod split into two. Killing boats maneuvered swiftly and soon herded the pod back together and then on into the Cove.

Their confusion and fear could be seen clearly as they huddled closer together as nets were pulled slowly around, confining them to a small area in front of the killing cove. The sounds of thrashing flaying bodies reverberated loudly against the cliffs and the last moments of their death echoed around us.

The killers could be heard shouting and joking, whilst this pod of dolphins were being brutally murdered. Approximately 35 striped dolphins were massacred within the shallows. Some were caught in the nets, they pushed relentlessly against them trying desperately to reach their family, but the killers were only too happy to free them so they could join the rest and await their death. Two killers laughed and shouted as they grabbed the dorsal fin of one poor dolphin close by, then they held on to it as it pulled their skiff along.