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Credits: Dolphin Project

Seventh pod of melon-headed whales viciously slaughtered in Taiji

On the first hunt of 2018, a pod of melon-headed whales was driven into the Cove.

Initially, the pod was very large, Cove Monitors witnessed the vast majority swimming frantically away to open ocean, but thick black smoke still billowed from the banger boats who were chasing after the remaining dolphins.

The pod fought hard and tried several times to escape, but it only made the hunters rev their engines louder and drive them in more forcefully.

Once they had been netted in, the dolphins clung together tightly, swimming in circles, in their last living moments as a family.

Skiffs then aggressively pushed them under the tarps to their deaths. Cove Monitors witnessed one panicked individual trying to evade the killers before a diver then launched himself at him, tied a rope around his tail, and dragged him back to the killing beach to be slaughtered.

There was lots of loud thrashing, before three skiff emerged dragging along dead bodies of the dolphins who were swimming wild and free just hours ago.

This was the seventh pod of melon-headed whales to be driven in this season, and all 16 of them lost their lives today.

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