Health risks from eating dolphin meat

The bottlenose dolphin is the most coveted species to capture and resale to dolphin cages. Since 2000, researchers and Tetsuya Endo (Professor, University of Health Sciences of Hokkaido), found high concentrations of mercury in whale meat and dolphin sold throughout Japan. In their studies, Taiji residents who eat dolphin meat had elevated mercury levels in their body hair from the evidence.

An investigation by the National Institute for Minamata Disease (NIMD) in 2008 to test mercury levels in 7 pieces of whale meat (two of which were from Taiji). Their results showed that meat from Taiji had more than 13ppm of mercury, more than 65% of which was methyl mercury. The entrails of whales (which are also consumed in the city) had high concentrations of mercury primarily caused by inorganic mercury. The Japanese Ministry of Health issued consumption advisories for some fish species, whales and dolphins since 2003. It is recommended that children and pregnant women to avoid eating them on a regular basis.

Most of the dolphins and small whales captured in the Taiji FU drive hunts are killed and the meat is sold in for human consumption. Respected scientists the world over report on the high levels of mercury and other contaminants in the meat of these animals, but many Taiji locals ignore these warnings. They often say that there are plenty of old people around who ate dolphin all their lives, and they unfortunately accept the propaganda served to them by the Japanese government that the levels and threat of mercury in the meat is not significant.