Sarah Lucas, the advocate for cetaceans’ rights who was refused entry in a Japanese aquarium due to her position against their annual dolphin hunt, will receive compensation from the government.

The president of Australia for Dolphins tried two years ago to enter the Taiji Whale Museum, home to several species of cetaceans including bottlenose dolphins and short-finned pilot whales. According to the media, museum officials had prevented entry on the grounds that opponents of whaling were not to be admitted.

Taiji, a small port on the Western side of Japan, became infamous after Ric O’Barry’s  “The Cove.” This Oscar winning 2009 film shocked the minds of the West, depicting the massacre of thousands of dolphins and the capture of a sparse few condemned to a neurotic death at the hands of captivity.

Lucas explained her desire to visit the museum as concern for the health of Angel, the rare Albino dolphin that has quickly become a symbol of this city’s barbaric practices and the equally passionate fight against them.

The Wakayama district court ordered Taiji to pay 110,000 yen (roughly $1110) to Lucas, who, according to a court official, demanded 3.3 million yen.

“The decision today shows that the Japanese law can be used to stop the suffering of these animals,” remarked Lucas. “This is not just good news for Angel, but a sign of hope for the thousands of dolphins massacred in Taiji each year.”

During this annual hunt, village fishermen convene with nothing short of murderous intent to herd and kill the dolphins in the narrow bay, staining the water a harrowing shade of red.

Defenders of this practices disguise their merciless ways as tradition and use the Japanese government’s claim that the these animals are not endangered as a justification for one of the most malicious abuses of human power to date.

Source (FR): rtbf