Dolphins are Poisonous

We've said it before, but it bears repeating:

It is Dolphin killing season in Taiji, Japan again, so it is only fitting that two Japanese universities have announced research proving that Dolphin meat is extremely dangerous for human consumption. Citizens of Taiji, about the only people on earth who voluntarily eat Dolphin and Pilot Whale have levels of mercury 10 times higher than the Japanese national average. And, the Japanese have one of the highest mercury levels on earth due to their seafood consumption. The hair of three of the participants tested had mercury levels higher than 50 parts per million. How high is this? The level of mercury accepted as safe by the Japanese Ministry of Health is .4 PPM. At 50 PPM, this basically means that they have Minamata Disease. But what is Minamata Disease?

Here, have a wikipedia party:

Minamata disease (水俣病, Minamata-byō?), sometimes referred to as Chisso-Minamata disease (チッソ水俣病, Chisso-Minamata-byō?), is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease can also affect foetuses in the womb.

Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which when eaten by the local populace resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig and human deaths continued over more than 30 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution.

All the people tested with high levels of mercury reported eating Dolphin or Pilot Whale at least once a month. After two months of not eating the poison meat, their mercury levels were halved.

Every year the local fishermen of Taiji trap thousands of Dolphins into secluded coves where they--over a period of time--beat them to death with metal rods. The international community has been condemning the Dolphin kill for years but the Japanese government has ignored the international community for economic reasons. Each year a few of the Dolphins are spared and sold to water parks in the United States and Europe--Hooray!