Une orque libre visite le delphinarium de Nagoya
22/2/ 2000
En cette fin d’après-midi du 20 février 2000, une orque solitaire adulte de sexe mâle et d’une taille de 7 mètres et demi a été aperçue dans le Port de Nagoya, au Japon. Nagoya est connue sous le nom de la « La Ville du Shachi d’Or », le terme « shachi » désignant l’orque en japonais.
Mais c’est aussi le lieu d’une grande controverse à propos des plans d’expansion de l’Aquarium de Nagoya, dont la direction est bien décidé à construire de nouveaux bassins pour accueillir les premières orques captives (russes) de ce delphinarium. Celles-ci ne sont arrivées que deux ans plus tard.
L’orque a disparu brusquement en soirée puis est réapparue le matin suivant.
Elle remontait alors un canal qui parcourt toute la ville et semblait se hâter vers le Nord, en direction du Château de Nagoya.
Des foules entières se sont pressées toute la journée le long de ce canal pour le regarder passer.
Finalement, après avoir attiré sur elle l’attention des médias japonais et internationaux, l’orque a été « encouragée » à rebrousser chemin. Elle est repartie vers l’océan le 23 février 2000
Wade Doak raconte qu’il y a quelques années, un dauphin ambassadeur s’était présenté devant les côtes de Napier, en Nouvelle-Zélande. Détail curieux : c’est la seule ville du pays à posséder un delphinarium !
A Panama City Beach (Floride) où résident une colonie de dauphins Tursiops qui nagent régulièrement avec les humains, il y a également deux delphinariums construits en bord de plage.
Paul Watson raconte qu’à Iki (Japon), des centaines de dauphins avaient coupé la route à un bateau de pêcheurs partis en mer pour les massacrer.
Ici, enfin, une orque libre vient protester en personne contre l’extension du Parc Marin de Nagoya. De nouvelles captures seront effectuées pour garnir cette prison d’orques fraîches.
Pourtant, cette fois, comme subjugués, les Japonais n’ont pas capturé ce mâle solitaire, qui s’offrait pourtant à eux gratuitement, mais s’en est retournée libre vers l’océan…
Intelligents, les cétacés ?
Bien que cela, sans doute…
(Lire ci-dessous le récit en anglais)
February 22, 2000
FREE ORCA VISITS NAGOYA MARINE PARK
An amazing scene has unfolded in Nagoya, Japan, over the past few days…
On the afternoon of February 20th, a lone adult male orca, 7.5m long & probably 20+ years old, came into Nagoya Harbour… and immediately attracted attention from local citizens and media. He disappeared overnight, but was sighted again next morning, by now well inside a canal which runs through the city. He seemed to be headed north towards Nagoya Castle. Crowds lined the canal all day, watching him. The next day he was still there. By now he’d attracted national media attention. No-one tried to capture him, the Nagoya Aquarium said he was too big for them, and the Fisheries Agency stated that no-one would be given permission to capture him anyway. The next day (23rd) he was « encouraged » out of the canal and harbour back to the ocean.
Here is the story as told by TBS news:
« Nagoya City in Aichi Prefecture is famous for Nagoya Castle and its tower, whose roof is garnished with golden fish sculptures. In a canal running through this city, one killer whale appeared, having attracted many
spectators. Hori-Kawa, a canal that runs through the center of Nagoya City is the site where one killer whale was spotted. The killer whale had appeared in Nagoya Port yesterday afternoon (February 21) but later disappeared.
It was past 6:00 a.m. of this morning that the killer
whale was discovered again, this time in Hori-Kawa Canal leading to Nagoya Castle, which is to the north of the port. This killer whale is presumed an over-five-meters-long male. He swims with grandeur in the center of the canal, occasionally blowing water.
Local residents and kindergarten kids flocked to the waterside to watch the unusual guest, who showed up out of the blue. One male spectator said that he had never seen such a huge killer whale before. Another man even told us his speculation that the killer whale would go up to Nagoya Castle to meet the golden fish sculptures on the castle tower. According to the local aquarium, it is the first time that a killer whale appeared in a river running
through the center of Nagoya City. »
There are many interesting sides to this story… not only is Nagoya famous as the « City of the Golden Shachi » (‘shachi’, translated as ‘fish’ in the TBS story, is ‘orca’ in Japanese) but it is also the scene of a controversy surrounding plans by the Nagoya Aquarium to build new tanks to hold captive orcas. Though construction is underway it is as yet unfinished. The City of Nagoya, which is underwriting the cost, has received considerable criticism and pressure from within Japan as well as from people in countries around the world.
To this point, neither aquarium or city have responded positively to pleas that exhibits be built which do not rely on captive
animals. The sudden appearance of this solitary orca, with its accompanying surge of public awareness, will certainly add fuel to the debate… who knows, it might even turn the tide!
Cheers, & our best wishes to you all,
Paul & Helena SPONG.
Received from :
Bob Chorush, Animal Rights Prankster
P.O. Box 33631, Seattle, WA 98133
206-362-8649, FAX 206-362-2975