This is a 1 metre square painting in oils. The Japanese script is the title of the painting, "her home is in the ocean"
There is a promotional video by the Earth Island Institute which features some celebrities raising awareness about the Japanese dolphin drive and slaughter that takes place every year between September and March. The catch phrase of this video was "his home is in the ocean".
While hunting cetaceans is defined as a 'cultural' activity by some Japanese, the present day reasons for this brutal slaughter of bottlenose, Rissos and common dolphins and on occasion false killer whales, is the harvesting of young live dolphins for sale to the captivity industry.
The dolphins that are chosen for sale to the captivity industry are predominantly female. Hence the name of this piece.
These dolphins face a life in un-natural conditions in a concrete tank which no matter it's size, cannot compete with it's natural environment. A dolphins main sense is sound. It uses echolocation to survive. A dolphin living in captivity is like a human living permanently in a place where the walls are made of mirrors. Everything is distorted. Most dolphins in captivity only live for a fraction of the lifespan they are capable of.
A single dolphin can be sold for up to US $250,000. This is a very lucrative business for the "fishermen".
Dolphins family groups or pods are an inherent part of their life. These dolphins witness the brutal slaughter of their pod members. The slaughter is not humane. They are stabbed continuously and drowned. Some are even still alive while they are being cut up for food.
Dolphin and whale meat contains extremely high levels of mercury. This is a fact that the Japanese government do not advertise to their own people! As more people become aware of this, consumption has naturally declined. Dolphin meat is therefore ground up and used as fertiliser to grow crops. It is also used to bulk up cattle feed allowing the mercury to continue its journey through the food chain.
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