Ric O’Barry answers a few commonly asked questions.

If Dolphins are so smart, why don't they just jump over the nets?
Dolphins and other whales normally live without borders. Walls and nets are alien and confusing to them. They panic when they come in contact with these foreign obstacles. Even though they physically could jump over the nets, they play it safe and just stay away from them.
 
Is the capture industry part of the "Tradition"?
Yes. The dolphin captivity industry is supporting the annual dolphin slaughter. Some facilities support it by rewarding the Japanese dolphin hunters for their bad behavior, other facilities support it with their silence. They also support it by refusing to police their own industry.

What "science" is obtained from the dolphin capture/ slaughter?
None.

If we eat cows and pigs, why can't the Japanese eat dolphins?
The Japanese people do eat cows and pigs. If these same cows and pigs were as contaminated with mercury as the dolphins, they would stop eating them. The Japanese public who have become aware of the danger have stopped buying dolphin meat.
 
Who profits from Taiji selling dolphins into captivity? The fishermen, the town, the government?
All of the above. The Taiji fisherman sell the dolphins to the Taiji Whale Museum for a profit. The Museum -- including Dr. Ted Hammond, the dolphin dealer -- sell the dolphins to international captive facilities for a profit. The local government owns the Taiji Whale Museum.
 
How much do they make from the dolphin trade?
We know that some Taiji dolphins have been sold for $28,000. Others were sold for $154,000. The dolphins are sold for whatever the dolphin dealers can get for them.
 
Are swim with dolphin programs valuable tools for educating the public about dolphins, whales and our oceans?
No. There are swim with dolphin programs in Taiji. These same dolphin swim programs are in business with the dolphin hunters. Japan has 50 captive facilities, most of them have obtained their dolphins from the dolphin drive. The popularity of the captive dolphin swim programs work against the dolphins by creating a demand for more and more dolphins to swim with.
 
How much money is generated from worldwide swim-with-the-dolphin programs and dolphin shows?
 It's a two billion dollar a year industry in the USA alone. Nobody knows for sure how much money is generated on an international scale.
 
Is it OK to swim with dolphins and whales in the wild if you don't touch them?
It's best to leave the dolphins alone.

• Pollution of our seafood is now the greatest public health threat that humanity has ever faced.

• Mercury in the oceans has increased 5 times since the Industrial Revolution and is getting worse, scientists measure a 2% rise in mercury per year.
  
  
• 70% of the human race relies on seafood as a major source of protein.
  
  
• Mercury bio-accumulates in the food chain. Top ocean predators like sea mammals and tuna have high levels of mercury in their meat. These range from 5 to 3500 times the amount of mercury allowed by Japanese law. 0.3 parts per million (ppm) is the published safe limit. The highest concentrations of mercury are found in the animals’ organs.
  
  
• Mercury is a neurotoxin and is particularly damaging to fetuses and small children.
  
  
• All tuna, including canned is potentially harmful.
  
  
• High-grade sushi is the worst source of mercury and other pollutants. Since the best cuts of the meat are from the bigger, fattier fish, more pollutants have bio-accumulated in the meat.
  
  
• All Japanese scientists, doctors and medical researchers interviewed for our film have radically reduced or completely eliminated their tuna consumption.
  
  
• The half-life of mercury in the human body is about 70-90 days.
  
  
• Acute cases in children resemble mental retardation and in adults, dementia.
  
  
• Tuna, swordfish, tilefish, king mackerel and marlin should never be eaten by a woman who expects to become pregnant. Children should not eat those fish as well. Even fresh-water lake fish, like walleye pike, has shown toxic levels of mercury toxic.
  
  
• Even in small doses of a few parts per million, mercury can cause learning disabilities and damage the senses, especially touch, hearing and vision.
  
  
• Mercury is caused mainly from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and gasoline). Coal, when burned, releases mercury which accounts for 70 percent of this pollutant's presence in the atmosphere.
  
  
• China has plans to open about one new coal-fired power plant a week, for the next 20 years.
  
  
• The solution to reducing the mercury in the oceans is to reduce our dependence on coal and increase our smart choices of energy like solar, wind and hydro.

• The Taiji Dolphin Drive is the largest slaughter of dolphins in the world, about 2300 dolphins per year, more than 3 times the amount of whales killed in the Antarctic.
  
  
• About 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year.
  
  
• Dolphins and porpoises are small whales, but size doesn’t matter.
  
  
• The dolphins are killed in a secluded cove three hours south of Osaka. The slaughter is hidden from public view with tarps and nets. Access is blocked by steel gates, barbed wire, razor ribbon and guards. The government is clearly trying to hide something.
  
  
• Only a few people, 26 fishermen, are actually involved in the drive in Taiji.
  
  
• Migrating dolphins and porpoises are rerouted by 13 fishing boats. They become disoriented when the fishermen bang on long, metal pipes that have been lowered into the water, eventually getting herded, then sealed into the cove by drawn nets across the entrance.
  
  
• The Taiji dolphin drive season is from September 1st until April 30th.
  
  
• Most Japanese people are not aware of this annual ritual.
  
  
• The meat is distributed throughout Japan for consumption.
  
  
• Much of the dolphin meat is given away to Japanese children for school lunch programs and the parents do not know it is toxic.
  
  
• All dolphin meat has toxic levels of mercury. If an average bottlenose dolphin on the East Coast of the US washed ashore, it would technically be considered toxic waste.