Cove Guardian Melissa Seghal leads the way in Amazon whale meat petition

Watch Melissa Sehgal in an interview with Jane Velez-Mitchell live from Taiji, Japan tonight Friday, March 16th at 7pm EST on HLN LIVE.

Commentary by current Cove Guardian leader Melissa Seghal

Melissa SeghalI have been in Taiji, Japan for a few months now and I have witnessed hundreds of dolphins slaughtered for consumption and taken captive for human entertainment. It is barbaric and beyond words to describe the atrocities that happen during the dolphin drive season.

I have been involved with animal activism for over ten years, but nothing has prepared me for what I have experienced here in Taiji. My passion for animals has motivated me to travel to this dark little town and become a Cove Guardian. I chose to be here at the front lines to document and expose the truth, and to educate the many who can’t even fathom the idea of hurting an innocent creature.

When I heard that Amazon.com was selling whale meat, I was horrified that the largest online retailer would support such bloodshed. I decided to create an online petition with Change.org to gather signatures through social media. Over one week, we were able to gather over 200,000 signatures worldwide. Speaking from personal experience of witnessing dolphins murdered for their flesh, it gave others the ability to join the fight against this horrific practice. Through pressure, demand, and media exposure, Amazon.com now states that the sale of dolphin, porpoise, shark, and whale meat is prohibited from their site and that any part of marine mammals are not to be sold.

Although this is a huge victory for cetaceans, our work continues here in Taiji to document, expose, and put an end to the dolphin slaughter. I am now campaigning to get Yahoo.com to follow Amazon’s lead and ban all sales of dolphin, whale, and shark meat from their site. Together we can make this happen.

Please join me in signing and sharing this petition.

To volunteer as a Cove Guardian in Taiji please send an email to  Coveguardian@seashepherd.org

For the Dolphins,

Melissa Sehgal

Melissa Sehgal is currently on the ground in Taiji, Japan participating in the current Cove Guardian campaign, Operation Infinite Patience.  Melissa’s leadership skills were quickly recognized and she is currently the on-the-ground leader for Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardian campaign.

Visit our Cove Guardian campaign site to learn more about this issue.

dolphin meat