From Dawn To Death is a documentary about the fate of dolphins and pilot whales hunted by Japan when their annual migratory route brings them near the coasts of Taiji in Japan. The dolphins and whales are driven to a cove where most are killed and some are sold into the slave trade in Dolphinariums all over the world. Thousands of dolphins and pilot whales are killed annually in this cove by Japan and the hunts are daily, starting on the first of September and going until the end of March.
The Japanese Government believes the cetaceans to be "the pests of the ocean" and blame them for eating too many fish. Yet Japan's fisheries are one of the most aggressive in the world, drying out 95% of the world's tuna population, as well as cod and other popular fish in the Japanese fish auctions. A heavy set tuna can fetch up a million dollars in these auctions. Whales and dolphins do not eat tuna and other big fish....They mostly eat squid, small fish and plankton. Yet the Japanese Government insists that the "pests of the oceans" are to blame for the depletion of tuna, salmon, cod etc.
While the town of Taiji and a few other coastal towns take part in this, the Japanese whaling ships harpoon thousands of whales annually. Their ultimate goal is to cull the already low numbers of all cetaceans so low that they are extinct. The movie was filmed on site and edited by Martyn Stewart, who flew to Taiji in September 2012 to witness and document the crimes against these peaceful, intelligent beings, just so the world can see it and hopefully take action before it's too late. Time is running out for the marine mammals of the oceans, with so many of them stolen into captivity or killed by the thousands each year. Because they only have one or two calves every 3 to 4 years, who don't always make it into adulthood- the danger of extinction is very real.