Cove Guardian update

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in getting this first post up!

We've had quite an interesting journey so far. Our plane was caught in a storm on the way to Tokyo, which caused a delay. The weather was really on our side in the end though, as we were rushed through immigration and customs to catch our connecting flight with no delays. We made our way to the nice hotel at Kansai airport to prepare for the next day's journey to Wakayama. The train ride was pleasant and everyone started getting excited as we pulled on our Sea Shepherd gear to exit in style. Our hotel in Kii-Katsuura is wonderful and we were greeted by several of our fellow passionate activists. The first couple days were nice, no dolphins were caught and we had a chance to learn the ropes and get to know the area. The Cove Guardians have a good relationship with our hotel and a few restaurants in the area who offer good vegan options, a vast improvement from the food in the hotel in Osaka. One place brings out several plates of delicious food for everyone in our group, something different each time. We are all missing Spiral Diner and Veggie Garden, but
are stoked to have our local restaurants here.
Yesterday, February 12, 2012, we witnessed our first dolphin slaughter and it is really hard to describe the emotions and absolute draining effect of seeing these beautiful beings chased and herded for miles and miles to be killed under tarps in a little cove. The contrast of the beauty of the area and the ugliness of the slaughter is almost unimaginable. Without the support of this amazing group of activists and all of our friends and family back home I know I would've broken down and shut off. That experience makes us all the more willing to take time away from everything and spend the money to be here to help, as hard as it all is.
Today was much better. There were clouds all across the horizon and a threat of rain, and the dolphin killers called it a day early. We spent the rest of the day observing the trainers and captive dolphins at Dolphin Base in Taiji. We want them to always be reminded that their business leads directly to the slaughter.
It's raining now and the day is winding down. We'll have a small community meal then head off to bed to do it all again in the morning.
Oh, and by the way, driving on the left side is pretty fun.
- Jeff

Our Fundraiser was a success!

What a great night! Our fundraiser at The Veggie Garden was a awesome! Of course, the food was amazing, that is no big surprise. There was not a empty chair in the restaurant. During the viewing of The Cove, people seemed to really be paying attention. Many of us thought that people would need to walk out, or even leave during the movie, but few people even moved. People laughed it funny comments, hissed at the outrageous ones, and you could hear sniffles from some during the worst of it. We hope that those who may not have seen The Cove before, understand the importance of this cause. We hope that it changed their lives, the way it changed ours.


 We would like to say Thank You to the following:

• Joy and Jimmy~ for offering to have the event at Veggie Garden, and making WONDERFUL food!

• The wonderful people who volunteered for the evening

• All the people who donated items for the auction/raffle

• And EVERYONE who came out to not only support our trip, but to learn more about the dolphin drives of Taiji.

~TTT

Who are those Texas to Taiji folks?

 We are days away from our Fundraiser at The Veggie Garden, and yesterday we added another member to our team, making it 6 of us going to Taiji.  We are very happy to be able to go take a stand in The Cove, and tell  the world about this horrific slaughter. We all wish we could stay longer and have larger numbers, but for this year... we will make the best out of.

  There has been many people sending messages asking just who this "Texas to Taiji" group. We understand you want to know who we are, but it is in our best interest to keep our names off social media sites. We hope you can all understand this. Its not like we are trying to be sneaky, we just want to not have our names released, and have an issue at the airport. We can assure you we are real people, who are really going to Taiji, and as soon as we make it into Japan, we will let you know who we are. And, if for some reason, you figure out who some of us are, we ask that you keep it to yourself, for know.

 Another thing we have gotten comments about is who we are representing in Taiji. This is a silly question to us, is their really more then one answer? We are going to Taiji to represent the thousands of dolphins who are slaughtered every year and the hundreds who are taken into captivity! Who else would we be representing?  Now, if what people are wondering is.. are we going as Cove Guardians, Cove Monitors, some other group or independents.... that is a whole different story...

 For now, this is what we can say...

 Thank everyone for the support. Keep an eye on our Facebook page and this blog for updates.


  ~TTT

Preparing for Taiji

 Our tickets are booked, passports are in order, and we are ready to go.  Our wonderful friends at The Veggie Garden have set up a little fundraiser for us next weekend. It will be dinner and a movie..the movie being The Cove, of course, and we are hoping that we can spread awareness to many people about this important cause.
The night will be intense, how could a night watching a movie about dolphins being murdered not be? But we are looking forward to it.

 We would like to thank Joy and the staff of The Veggie Garden, and all of our friends and family for the support they have offered.

~TTT

Texas to Taiji Fundraiser

Join us for dinner and The Cove!