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The last of the captive orcas dies in the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium

The female orca "Coo" held in captivity in the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium died at 7:55AM(JST), September 19th.

News story (Japanese)
asahi.com http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0919/NGY200809190009.html
mainichi.jp http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20080919k0000e040078000c.html
Chunichi http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/article/2008092090104356.html

The death of "Coo" is announced also posted on the official site of the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium.
http://www.nagoyaaqua.jp/aqua/topi/20080919/index.html

This orca was the last survivor of the five orcas captured for "Academic Purposes " 12 years ago. We have been raising our voices against this historical capture on SHA-CHI.JP.

How big is the loss? The media and the aquarium may not talk about the significant implication of this event, but as previously stated on SHACHI.JP, and as you can see in the footage below, the death of "Coo" ultimately lead to an extinction of a pod of rare wild orcas.

Take: February, 1997 / Edit: February, 2007
Related movie with YouTube
- Here for the reference when you set the link

The capture 12 years ago took the core of the matrilineal pod: a nursing mother which was very possibly pregnant. Soon after the capture she died along with the nursing baby. In 2004, a juvenile male from the pod died in captivity. On September 19th 2007, a female from the pod died in captivity. And on the same day on September 2008, the last hope for the pod vanished forever

*ref: "Orca capture in Taiji - Overview"

The aquarium commented that it was regretful that it couldn't help Coo to her recovery and that despite what happened it was able to advance research on their reproduction in areas such as ovulation. Is this progress? Can they succeed in artificial insemination and reproduction when they are not even able to keep an animal alive? We are very doubtful.

It is necessary to ask again, how much was gained for "Academic Purposes" as it seems like the annihilation of a pod is a big sacrifice to pay.

*ref: "Is the academic research really for the orcas?"

We would like to ask the opinion of the Fishery Agency that permits capture for "Academic Purposes."

*ref: "What is Capture for Academic Purposes?"

Moreover, do not let the economic benefits of a related organization, i.e., the aquarium, get priority, and do not let further captures be done.

"Coo" should be the last one.

Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium
http://www.nagoyaaqua.jp (Japanese)
Minatomachi1-3, Minato-ku Nagoya 455-0033
Phone:(052)654-7080 FAX F(052)654-7001
http://www.nagoyaaqua.jp/aqua/othe/engl/index.html

Taiji Town Office
Oaza Taiji 3767-1
Taiji-cho Higashimurogun,
Wakayama 649-5171
Phone :0735-59-2335 Fax :0735-59-2801
http://www.town.taiji.wakayama.jp/index.html (Japanese)

Wakayama Prefectural Government Office
1-1 Komatsubaradori Wakayama City,
Wakayama 640-8585 Japan
tel:+81-73-432-4111
http://www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/english/top.html
mailto:webmaster@pref.wakayama.lg.jp

Nagoya City Hall
1-1, Sannomaru 3-chome, Naka-ku, Nagoya, 460-8508
Tel: 052-961-1111 (front desk)
http://city.nagoya.jp/global/en/
mailto:shimin-no-koe@shiminkeizai.city.nagoya.lg.jp

Aichi Prefectural Government Office
1-2-3 San-no-maru, Naka-ku, Nagoya City 460-8501
Phone: 052-961-2111 (Front desk)
http://www.pref.aichi.jp/global/en/index.html

(Translated by google)
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pref.aichi.jp%2Fkoho%2Fteigen%2Fteigen_bako%2Fform%2Findex.html&hl=ja&ie=UTF-8&sl=ja&tl=en

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries
1-2-1,Kasumigaseki,Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo 1008950,Japan.
http://www.maff.go.jp/e/index.html

Opinion Form:
https://www.voice.maff.go.jp/maff-interactive/people/ShowWebFormAction.do?FORM_NO=5

Information on Whaling Issues:
http://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/whale/index.htm

Is the academic research really for the orcas?

On November 23rd was held at Kaiyo University about the 5 orcas that were captured, for "academic purposes," off Taiji, Wakayama in 1997. The symposium marked the fact that 10 years had passed since the research started.
While the orcas were specifically captured for "academic purposes," none of the research has ever been made public.

The main purposes of the symposium were to release a report providing a 10 year summary of research and to provide an understanding of the changes that have　occurred in wild orca populations off the coast of Japan.

Details are as follows:

The chairman for the first section of the symposium was Dr.Seiji Osumi, honorary director of the Taiji Whale Museum. Professor Motoi Yoshioka of Mie University chaired the second section, while the third was chaired by Mr.Uchida, a director of the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, who both serve as advisers to the Taiji Whale Museum.
The Mayor of the town of Taiji sat next to the Fishery Agencies staff in charge of whale issues in front of the speaker desk.

Many people in the wildlife protection community believe the symposium was held as a vehicle for introducing a new plan to capture orcas, something that was first discussed last year.

§1. The first section of the symposium dealt primarily with changes to wild orca populations and aspects of orca ecology. Dr.Tomio Miyashita and Dr.Toshihide Iwasaki from the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries made presentations and Dr.Ueda from the Institute of Cetacean Research made a presentation about genetic research and how it relates to the social history of orcas.

The report of the ICR sighting survey, based on eyewitness observations of wild orcas, indicated that orcas off the Japanese coast are frequently sighted north of the Hokkaido area, while sightings in the Pacific south of 40 N.L. are low. However, it is important to note that individual identification of orcas and the analysis of biopsies, both important methods, have not been carried out.

It is still unclear about the relationship between and the continuity of Japanese and Russian orca populations, such as the Kamchatka region which has a high frequency of orca sightings. As well, almost nothing is known about changes in individual populations and their prey, and the findings off Taiji, where the capture is expected, are mostly absent.

It was suggested that the orcas did not reside permanently in one area because the research sightings were not consistent.

Categorization, based on orca ecotypes, was added as an overseas research report, but it is still unclear how much this of research is going on in Japan.

Three primary concerns were identified for the future.
They are, changes in 1) orca stocks; 2) prey; 3) social structure.
These issues were summarized by ecotypes.

Dr.Iwasaki said making resource assessment is not well-timed under such a circumstance although the capture for scientific purpose is another issue.

§2. The second section started with a report about breeding research in Kamogawa Sea World, which has successfully bred orcas.
The speaker talked about sexual maturity, changes in blood hormones of captive orcas, as well as the past 6 pregnancies and 5 deliveries.
The three aquariums and the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium each talked about the 5 orcas captured in 1997.
The three aquariums used to keep them and the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium has kept one orca from the Taiji Whale Museum, in the name of a ‘breeding loan,’ since 2003.

The Taiji Whale Museum talked about the capture and transportation of orcas and Adventure World spoke about food, the captive environment and diseases. Izu Mito Sea Paradise presented changes in the orca hormones, and the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium discussed health management, enrichment and the improvement of captivity techniques. They showed only limited data.

They mentioned that the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium keeps Coo for breeding purposes, but they did not give a clear answer to the audience about the possibility of breeding, or concrete future plans for accomplishing this. The Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium keeps him on loan using a system in place for breeding.

These reports at the symposium made it clear that researching orcas in captivity does not contribute at all to the understanding of the living conditions of orcas on the coast.

Although the orcas were captured for scientific purposes, the above aquariums have not worked cooperatively until recently. We could say the research has not been conducted with any detailed plans.

In addition, at this time we cannot find any detailed plans with a vision for the future.

It seems clear that they do not consider how a potential introduction of orcas to aquariums would effect individual wild populations.

It is easy to surmise that the potential capture under such circumstance would damage our understanding of the ecology of the orcas.

§3. In the third section, researchers presented their case studies. The topics were as follows:

Orcas in Northern Pacific Ocean - Findings by the research whaling (It reported cases of orcas attacking Brydes whales.)

Orcas off Ogasawara islands and the status of their data collection (There are a few sightings of orcas off Ogasawara islands, but the information is limited only to fishermen's sighting reports and no other data, like photos, are available.)

Distribution and organization of orcas around Hoppo Islands (The distribution of orcas and other marine mammals correlated around Hoppo Islands.)

Stomach contents of the mass-stranded orcas off Rausu, Hokkaido (Rausu orcas were mainly eating seals.)

Judging from the fact that the vomit of an orca captured in 1997 consisted of minke whale blubber, it is likely that orcas found in Japanese seas mainly eat marine mammals.

They are quite possibly transient orcas because no reports show they permanentaly habituate the coast, and they are seen traveling off Ogasawara and around Wakayama.

§ The general discussion at the fourth section did not have enough time.
Dr.Kato therefore named the speakers.
In that discussion, they concluded that future research at aquariums will focus on breeding, like that of Coo at Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium.
However, the conclusion was vague because they did not decide which way to take in the future - an artificial breeding or an introduction of male orcas.

Dr.Kato suggested that aquariums are not related to conservation of species and they should be more concerned about financial management.
Dr.Osumi said capturing further orcas is a way not to waste the past 10 years since there are many orcas and he also said Fishery Agencies should make more effort.
A lot of attention was paid to these two individuals during the discussion

In the midst of such a discussion around "academic captures", if another permit to capture orcas is issued, the quality of Japanese cetacean research and those involved will be questioned by the international community, about how we see species preservation and biological diversity.

On The plan to capture orcas has finally moved on.

-The town of Taiji plans to capture orcas in order to
secure financial resources. -

We are sending the latest unfortunate information on the capture of orcas.

Background:
The Taiji Whale Museum has been lending Coo, one of 2 orca survivors that were captured in 1997, to the Nagoya Port Aquarium since October 2003 under the guise of "breeding loans". The contract period is 5 years.

At the end of March, we learned that Taiji received an official letter asking for an extension of the loan period of Coo from Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium (PNPA).
We presume that members of the town's assembly committee, which is in charge of this matter, visited the PNPAto exchange their opinions because the town assembly's approval is necessary for the extension.

Taiji lent Coo to PNPA in the name of joint research in 2003 because Coo was seen as a financial resource to rescue the Whale Museum from financial difficulties.

The following might have been discussed:

1) The Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium and the Taiji Whale Museum will complete a summary research report on orcas from 1997 to 2007, at the end of October. They will publish the results to the authorities concerned.
Their aim is to receive permission to capture orcas from the Fishery Agency and hope to begin capture early next year.

2) The major topic of their joint research is of Coo's ovulation in the PNPA with regard to breeding.
PNPA thinks capturing orcas is a secure way of breeding them, which is the main theme of their research.
Taiji thinks the animals will be a significant financial resource for the town. As a result, the town and the aquarium found a common interest in the capture of orcas .

3) If they cannot receive permission to capture orcas easily they plan to pressure and lobby the Fishery Agency by encouraging senators to discuss the issue in the Diet, Japan's parliament.

4) In 2003 Taiji lent Coo to the PNPA in thename of "joint research", however, they actual reason they did so is because Coo is afinancial resource and could rescue the Whale museum from their financial difficulties. Currently ,they are actually considering other ways to raise money, such as lending or and selling the animals to other aquariums including ones in China.

If this comes to fruition, it would mean that the Japanese government will have given permission to capture orcas( killer whales )for a small party's interest, even though we do not even know the ecology of these rare animals.

In addition, it is not acceptable in the 21st century that an official town - even if it is small - captures rare wild animals for it's own private interests.

It is not only Taiji that is in critical financial difficulty in Japan's local areas. We believe that that temporary financial benefits expected from capturing orcas will be sustinable in the long term and will prevent the town from building a sound development in the end.

At the G8 conference which will be held in Japan next year, the conservation of Biological Diversity is supposed to be a significant issue along with the issue of global warming.
Capturing orcas ahead of the conference would be a huge blemish on Japan's record.
(Also, the Japanese government decided to host a conference on the Conservation of Biological Diversity (COP10) in 2010. The host nation will be chosen in 2008(COP9) in Germany.)
At this important conference, action plans intended to stop the loss of species, and reduce the speed of species extermination, by 2010 will be assessed.

Therefore Japan will be inevitably receive a lot of attention from around the world.
If Nagoya, where this conference will be held, promotes this reckless capture, it will be to Japan's shame.

On the Possible New Plan to Capture More Orcas

The orca hunt that took place in 1997 shocked and outraged the world. Japanese embassies around the world received angry protests, and thegovernment and the aquariums in Japan struggled to deal with the constant protest faxes pouring in.
Having to have experienced this, the Japanese government stated thatfrom then on, it would not grant permits unless a thorough evaluation of a properly submitted research proposal was done.

A decade later, however, another plan to catch orcas has arose.
At the end of last year, the mayor of the very same town from ten years ago, Taiji-cho in Wakayama Prefecture, declared its plan to capture more orcas, and this time, they were plannig to capture an entire pod. It is said that they are now working with a prominent cetacean scientist to obtain permit from the Fisheries Agency.

It is known that deminishing a local population of a species could lead to the extinction of the entire species. Orca is registered as a 'threatened spieces` with its ecology still largely unknown. It is obviously against the Treaty on Biodiversity and is a shameful act, if we end up killing a population of such species.

It has been adopted at a Cabinet meeting that the city of Nagoya is to be the 2010 host city for the COP10 ("Tenth Session of the Conference of the Parties" to the Covention on Biological Diversity). The COP10 is a very crucial meeting for prevention of species extinction around the world. Japan is now facing great expectations from the international community, that it would lead the preservation of biological diversity in the future.

Having such meeting in just a few years, Japan should really be sensitive to the movement around the world, and take appropriate actions.
Please, send your voice to the addresses below to let them know we expect our governmet to be responsible:

Contact information:

Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime
Minister of Japan
Public Comment
Form: ( Japanese Only )

Mr.Toshiro Shirasu
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries
Public Comment Form:

( Note that they say they can accept domestic comments )

Fisheries
Agency whaling-section
*English Web Page(Abandoned)
whaling-section@nm.maff.go.jp
Fax:+81 3 3502 0806

Mr. Kazutaka Sangen, Mayor of Taiji
E-mail: taiji@town.taiji.wakayama.jp
Fax: +81 735 59 2801

Mr. Bunmei Ibuki
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
E-mail: voice@mext.go.jp
Fax: +81-3-3597-2757
*Aquariums and Zoos in Japan are under their control.

Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums

Mr.Teruyuki Komiya, Director of JAZA
Fax:+81 3 3837 1231

Message from Paul Spong Ph.D.

Japan’s tragic orca anniversary

February 7th 2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the tragic day in 1997 when 10 members of an orca family were herded into a small bay near the Japanese coastal town of Taiji.

Within a few days, 5 members of the family had been shipped to captive tanks, and the other 5 members released (they had to be chased away). Three of the captives were taken to Shirahama Adventure World, one to Izu Mito Sea Paradise, and one to the Taiji Whale Museum. Collectively, they became known as “The Taiji Five”. A great cry arose from around the world. Literally thousands of people made impassioned appeals to Japan to return the orcas to the ocean, and dozens of rallies and demonstrations were held, all to no avail. Within a few short months, two of the Shirahama captives were dead, a young male, and a female who was pregnant when captured and soon aborted her baby. Some years later, in 2003, the Taiji Whale Museum sold their female, then 10 years old, to the Nagoya Aquarium. The following year (2004) Shirahama’s last captive died. Today, there are just 2 survivors; both are females: “Ku” at the Nagoya Aquarium, and 16 year old “Asuka” at Izu Mito Sea Paradise. The fate of the 5 members of the pod who survived the capture remains unknown.

In part, the tragedy of the Taiji Five lies in the certain damage the capture did to Japan’s fragile orca population. In part, it lies in the lost opportunity Japan had to correct a great mistake that occurred out of ignorance. Very little is known about Japan’s orcas, but their numbers are certainly tiny. In the 1950s and 60s, the population was decimated by coastal whaling operations, and in recent years it has suffered other tragic losses in ice entrapments. The fragility of the population makes it imperative that such captures never happen again!

At this time, so many years after the event, it is very unlikely that any appeal will convince Japan to release the two surviving captives. However, Japan must be convinced to take steps to prevent any future repetition of the Taiji tragedy.

Please take a moment to appeal to Prime Minister Abe requesting that Japan’s orca population be fully protected under Japanese law. Please also copy your letter to the other officials on the list below. Thank you!

If the legacy of the Taiji Five is that Japan’s orcas forever remain free from threats of harm, including capture, their tragic fate may not have been in vain.

Paul Spong & Helena Symonds,

OrcaLab, Hanson Island, B.C. Canada

Contact information:

Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime
Minister of Japan

Public Comment
Form: ( Japanese Only )

Mr.Toshiro Shirasu
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries
Public Comment Form:

( Note that they say they can accept domestic comments )

Fisheries
Agency whaling-section
*English Web Page(Abandoned)
whaling-section@nm.maff.go.jp

Fax:+81 3 3502 0806

Mr. Kazutaka Sangen, Mayor of Taiji
E-mail: taiji@town.taiji.wakayama.jp
Fax: +81 735 59 2801

Mr. Bunmei Ibuki
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
E-mail: voice@mext.go.jp
Fax: +81-3-3597-2757
*Aquariums and Zoos in Japan are under their control.

Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Mr.Teruyuki Komiya, Director of JAZA
Fax:+81 3 3837 1231

10th.Anniversary of TAIJI 5

Even though orcas are listed as a threatened species and regulated by the government, under the title of "academic research and zookeeping" five orcas were captured. This website was developed to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the capture of the five orcas at Taiji-cho, Wakayama Prefecture, in February 1997. We hope this will give everyone the chance to revisit the problem so that it will never happen again.