Dear Colleagues, This Saturday, October 8th, is an international day of protest against the Japanese dolphin drive fisheries. As marine mammal scientists, many of us continue to be concerned about the brutal slaughter of thousands of dolphins annually in a few remote Japanese fishing villages. These drives are the largest mass killing of cetaceans in the world. The annual drives typically begin in October and last through April. According to the Earth Island Institute during the hunting season that began October 1st 2003 and ended March 30th 2004 the fishermen of just one Japanese village, Taiji, killed 1,165 dolphins and whales including 444 striped dolphins, 197 bottlenose dolphins, 102 pantropical spotted dolphins, 293 risso's dolphins, 117 pilot whales and 12 false killer whales. Altogether about 1-2,000 animals are killed every year in Japanese small cetacean drive hunts. Believed to compete for fish, fisherman herd dolphins into shallow coves and brutally and inhumanly kill the dolphins by slashing their throats and other parts of their bodies with knives or stabbing then with spears and hooks. Observations and video of this practice show animals thrashing about after being stabbed or slashed open, hoisted alive into the air by ropes tied around their tails, and dragged, still living along roadways. The dolphins are then processed for fertilizer or human and pet food. Yet, dolphin meat far exceeds contaminant levels set for human consumption by most governments (Endo et al. 2005). Furthermore, there are allegations and video footage of non-US and non-European aquariums and swim-with-the-dolphin programs procuring animals from the dolphin drives and thus contributing to this practice. Professional organizations such as the American Zoo and Aquarium Association and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums have policy statements condemning this practice and calling for its immediate termination. Up to now most efforts to end these atrocities have come from animal rights, animal welfare and animal conservation organizations. With few exceptions the voice of our community of marine mammal scientists, veterinarians, and conservationists has been silent. This is an opportunity to have a voice and encourage the application of what we have learned through our science to influence policy. IF YOU WISH TO GET MORE INVOLVED PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE: http://awionline.org/whales/news/DriveFisheriesMarmamInfo.htm Thank you. Lori Marino and Diana Reiss Endo T, Haraguchi K, Hisamichi Y, Dalebout M. Baker CS (2005) Total mercury, methyl mercury, and selenium levels in the red meat of small cetaceans sold for human consumption in Japan. Environmental Science & Technology, 39, 5703-5708.