Today, thousands of people around the world are joining their voices together in a call for compassion for dolphins being brutally captured and killed in Taiji, Japan. On the eve of Valentine’s Day, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s second annual “World Love for Dolphins Day” will bring the world’s love and reverence for dolphins to “Japan’s doorstep” at Japanese embassies and consulates across the U.S. and overseas.
Last year, people gathered in cities around the globe to participate in the first “World Love for Dolphins Day,” helping Sea Shepherd and Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians draw international attention to the annual drive hunt in Taiji, which claims the lives of as many as 2,000 dolphins and small whales each year, depending on the killers’ self-allocated quota. This year, Sea Shepherd’s event will be even larger, as Sea Shepherd USA chapters and volunteers across the world are holding 32 peaceful demonstrations across the U.S. and in countries including Australia, Denmark, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland, Brazil, Hungary, Canada and Chile.
Celebrity Sea Shepherd supporters and special guests are helping to shine a bright, global spotlight on the atrocities committed against cetaceans in the cove. In Los Angeles, Sea Shepherd will be joined by three celebrity supporters who have even joined the Cove Guardians on the ground in Taiji to witness and document the hunt firsthand—actress Shannen Doherty, best known for her roles on the hit television series Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed; Sam Simon, co-creator of The Simpsons TV show, noted philanthropist and sponsor of the Sea Shepherd vessel named in his honor; and Simone Reyes, star of Oxygen TV’s reality seriesRunning Russell Simmons and newly appointed Director of TV Development, Def Pictures Television.
Also participating in the LA demonstration are actors Eric Balfour, star of the hit television series Haven and Ross McCall, star of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and USA Network’s White Collar. McCall traveled to the Faroe Islands last summer, as part of Sea Shepherd’s Operation GrindStop 2014, opposing the mass slaughter of pilot whales and dolphins known as “the grind.”
I will also be standing alongside my fellow Sea Shepherds and supporters in Los Angeles, in solidarity with our brave international team of Cove Guardian volunteers currently on the ground in Taiji. This season I was denied entry to Japan to document the brutal drive hunt for what would have been my fifth season on the ground at the cove, as Japan continues its unsuccessful efforts to hide Taiji’s cruel capture and slaughter of cetaceans from the world.
Sea Shepherd and I hope that you will join us and Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians as we stand up and say, “Dolphins do not belong to Japan.”
Here is a list of official, confirmed “World Love for Dolphins Day” events in the U.S. and overseas.
U.S. DEMONSTRATIONS:
Demonstrations begin outside the following locations at Noon ET/PT and end at 1 p.m. ET/PT unless otherwise noted below. Please check the times for your demo location:
Los Angeles
350 South Grand Ave, Suite 1700
Los Angeles CA 90071-3459
Portland
Wells Fargo Center, Suite 2700
1300 S.W. 5th Ave
Portland, OR 97201
Seattle
601 Union Street, Suite 500
Seattle WA 98101-4015
Denver
1225 17th Street, Suite 3000
Denver CO 80202-5505
Houston (11am-1pm CST)
2 Houston Center Building
909 Fannin Street
Suite 3000
Houston TX 77010
Washington DC (12pm-2pm ET)
Meeting at DuPont Circle Metro station 12pm and marching to Embassy of Japan DuPont Circle Metro
1525 20th St. NW
Washington, DC 20008
New York
Consulate-General of Japan in New York
299 Park Ave, 19th Floor
New York NY 10171-0025
San Francisco (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT)
275 Battery Street, Suite 2100
San Francisco, CA 94111
Boston (12pm-2pm ET)
Federal Reserve Plaza, 22nd Floor
600 Atlantic Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
Atlanta
Phipps Tower, Suite 850
3438 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30326
Honolulu
1742 Nuuanu Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96817-3201
Indianapolis
11 South Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Chicago
737 North Michigan Avenue #1100
Chicago, IL 60611
Miami
80 Southwest 8th Street #3200
Miami, FL 33130
Dallas (11am-2pm CST)
Dealy Plaza
Dallas, TX
WORLDWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS:
Demonstrations will be held outside the following locations. Please check the times for your demo location:
Please note: Any locations outside of USA territory are to be considered “unofficial” Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) events organized by local volunteers and will NOT involve Sea Shepherd Global or other Sea Shepherd entities outside of SSCS/SS USA.
Rio de Janeiro (Feb 12. 15pm-17pm BRST)
Praia do Flamengo, 200
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* Because Feb 13 is carnival in Rio and the Japanese Consulate will be closed, this event is on Feb 12
Toronto (11:30am-1:30pm ET)
77 King Street West
Suite 3300, TD North Tower
Toronto, ON M5K 1A1
Vancouver
900-1177 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC, V6E 2K9
Melbourne (12pm-2pm AEDT)
GPO Steps
Cnr Bourke Street Mall & Elizabeth Sts
Melbourne, Australia
Copenhagen (3pm CET)
From City Hall Square to the Japanese Embassy
Copenhagen, Denmark
Chañaral de Aceituno (4pm CLST)
4th. Region
Chañaral’s harbor, Chile
Ottawa
255 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1N 9E6, Canada
The Hague (2pm-4pm CET)
Tobias Asserlaan 2
2517KC Den Haag
The Netherlands
Barcelona (11am-1pm CET)
Av. Diagonal, 640, 2ª planta D
08017 Barcelona, Spain
Madrid (11am-1pm CET)
Calle Serrano, 109
28006 Madrid, Spain
Perth (12pm-2pm AWST)
U22 / Level 2,
111 Colin Street,
West Perth, WA 6005
Mexico City (11am-12pm CST)
Paseo de la Reforma, 395
06500 Mexico City, Mexico
Wellington (12pm-2pm NZDT)
100 Willis Street
Wellington, New Zealand
Auckland (12pm-2pm NZDT)
41 Shortland Street
Auckland, New Zealand
Santiago (Feb 14. 4pm CLST)
Av. Ricardo Lyon 520
Providencia, Santiago, Chile
* Please note that this event is taking place on Feb. 14.
Budapest (2pm-3pm CET)
H-1125 Budapest, Zalai út 7
Budapest, Hungary
Dublin (1pm-3pm GMT)
Japanese Embassy
Nutley Lane
Merrion Road
Dublin 4, Ireland