Taiji dolphin drive hunt
- Communities and civil society Ceta-Base: Recorded 416 killed and 84 captured alive in 2025/26, against a quota of 1,814. Ceta-Base
- Communities and civil society PETA: Reported 286 killed and 94 captured alive in 2024/25. PETA
- Communities and civil society Observer groups: The record states that observer counts do not match one another.
In the town of Taiji, Japan, dolphins are driven into a cove each season; some are killed and some are captured alive. Advocacy groups report that the live animals are sold to aquariums and marine parks, including parks in China.
Ceta-Base season results; the quota for the season was 1,814. Observer counts are reported not to match.
Status As of October 2026: the 2026/27 season is under way with no killings and 24 live captures recorded so far; no legal proceeding or sanction is on record.
- Buyers of live dolphins, including the Taiji municipal development company (per the Dolphin Project) — Live animals bought under sales contracts at $7,085 to $131,200 each. Dolphin Project
- Marine parks in China — Received 1,122 of the 1,336 live dolphins exported from Japan in 2012–2024. Action for Dolphins
- Dolphins — 416 killed and 84 captured alive in 2025/26. Ceta-Base
What happened
Each season fishers in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, drive groups of dolphins into a cove. Some animals are killed; others are taken alive. Ceta-Base, an advocacy-run database, recorded 416 dolphins killed and 84 captured alive in the 2025/26 season, against a quota of 1,814. Its record states that observer counts do not match one another.
PETA reported 286 killed and 94 captured alive in the 2024/25 season, and said that captures of bottlenose dolphins increased while the number killed fell. For 2026/27, Ceta-Base recorded no killings and 24 live captures so far, six weeks into the season (as of October 2026).
Action for Dolphins, citing the CITES trade database, reported that Japan exported 1,336 live dolphins in 2012–2024, 1,122 of them to China, and that a live dolphin could sell for up to $100,000. The Dolphin Project, reviewing sales contracts, reported prices of $7,085 to $131,200 per dolphin and said that one of the buyers was the Taiji municipal development company.
The sources reviewed record no criminal or civil proceeding and no sanction connected with the hunt. A statement attributed to the Wakayama prefectural government says that since 2008 dolphin killing has been moved to an enclosed area out of public view; no source link is on record for it.
- 2008Wakayama Prefecture moves dolphin killing into an enclosed area out of view (no URL on record for this item)
- 2012–2024Japan exports 1,336 live dolphins, 1,122 of them to China (CITES, as cited by Action for Dolphins)
- 2024/25286 dolphins killed, 94 captured alive (PETA)
- 2025/26416 killed, 84 captured alive; quota 1,814 (Ceta-Base)
- 2026/27First six weeks: no killings, 24 live captures (Ceta-Base, October 2026)
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
Recorded 416 killed and 84 captured alive in 2025/26, against a quota of 1,814.
Ceta-BaseThe record states that observer counts do not match one another.
How it looked
Shown
- A 'bloody cove' mass killing in TaijiAdvocacy campaigns against the hunt, as characterised in the record
- A 'smiling dolphin' as an attraction in shows and swimming programmesMarine parks and aquariums, as characterised in the record
Recorded
- 2025/26 season: 416 dolphins killed, 84 captured alive, quota 1,814; 2026/27 to date: 0 killed, 24 captured alive.
- 2024/25 season: 286 killed, 94 captured alive; bottlenose captures increased.
- CITES records cited by Action for Dolphins: 1,336 live exports in 2012–2024, 1,122 to China.
- Sales contracts reviewed by the Dolphin Project: prices from $7,085 to $131,200; a municipal company among the buyers.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- wakayama-prefecture (2008 (measure)): A statement attributed to the prefectural government, as paraphrased in the record, says that cows and pigs also have feelings and intelligence; the prefecture moved dolphin killing into an enclosed area in 2008.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
- Disputed How many dolphins are killed and captured each season?
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Record
- None on record Observer counts of animals killed and captured are reported not to match one another; the sources reviewed do not reconcile them.
- None on record The record of the Taiji municipal development company as a buyer comes from an advocacy organisation (the Dolphin Project); no response from the company or the town is on record.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the Environmental Investigation Agency said in 2014 that dolphin meat sold for about 4% of the price of a live animal and that large-scale driving began in 1969.
- None on record No population assessment of the dolphin groups taken is on record in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
No killings were recorded in the first six weeks of the 2026/27 season (24 live captures); the season is not complete and the hunt has not been stopped.
Who paid?
Not established in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Communities and civil society
- Taiji Seasonal ResultsCeta-Base · 2026-10
- While the 2025-26 Taiji drive hunt season is over, our work continuesAction for Dolphins · 2026-03
- Behind the Business Side of TaijiDolphin Project · 2025-11