Dear Next President:

Dolphin Hunting Dangers

¨We all have a responsibility to protect endangered species, both for their sake and for the sake of our own future generations.¨(Loretta Lynch)

Although dolphins aren’t the most endangered animals on Earth, over the last four decades the Solomon Island’s residents have killed over fifteen thousand dolphins. The hunters use the dolphin teeth for “bride prizes” that are given to the betrothed and recently, prices of dolphin teeth have skyrocketed, leading to more dolphin hunts. Not only do their teeth are sell in markets, but dolphin meat is sold, too.

In 2013, a group of researchers went to a village, and found that there had been 1,674 dolphin kills within the span of three months,"By-catches – incidental tagging of marine mammals – has been the primary concern over the past few decades, and that is a big issue," said study coauthor Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University. While concerned parties have been making efforts to save the declining population of dolphins, it is up to the dolphin hunters to stop their wrongful and detrimental actions.

The hunt was even more than the Taiji hunt in Japan, which occurred in 2013 as well. These events sparked inspiration for activists for hunting. Scientists and researchers have concluded that the altogether dolphin population has dwindled, which has researchers trying to plan ideas to save more dolphins. Many fishers have begun to switch from fish huntings to dolphin hunting because fishing grounds have been polluted by overfishing. Developing country fishermen have also started selling dolphin meat, called ¨marine bushmeat¨. Baker also stated that fishermen over the years have accidentally caught dolphins in fishing nets while fishing smaller fish, but over decades, their targets have been reigned in on solely dolphins. He also said the Solomon Island fishing depocal might take effect on other developing countries.

Sincerely,

Veronica