Celebration

Yesterday was a day of celebration for several reasons.

First and foremost, it was another day without any dolphins killed in Taiji. That's all three days since I arrived in Japan and five in a row, total.

Then while we were watching the banger boats come in without any dolphins, this guy was tugged into harbor:

We all hoped it was one of the Japanese whaling vessels currently in the Southern Ocean, but it wasn't quite that awesome. It's an older whaling vessel that's been decommissioned for a while and will soon be displayed at Taiji's Whale Museum (which not only displays whale and dolphin skeletons and whaling gear, but live dolphins and whales. You seriously can't go a block in Taiji without running into captive animals). So while it's not as great as a current whaling vessel being taken out of the loop, at least we know for sure that this old one will never harm another creature.

Outside Taiji's Whale Museum (a better description would be WhalING Museum)

Then the U.S. federal district court judge denied Japan's request for a preliminary injunction to stop our "harassment".

And THEN Erwin was released and came home (by home, I mean back to our hotel)! Words cannot describe our joy at having him back. Erwin's a brilliant activist and I'm privileged to have the opportunity to get to know him.

And best of all, it was taco night!