Painting Chinatown Red For Valentine's Day

With extreme cold weather my first attempt to post our new stickers that state "Say No To Shark Fin Soup" in chinese languages was a failure. The weather was around minus 13'C and the poles were not allowing them to stick so attempt was over and a plan to do it again had to be according to the temperature.

February 12th looked like the best day for the posting at a temperature of minus 2'C and it was a saturday which made it the only window. This day my daughter and I were heading to 2 anti-fur demos and we thought we could grab onto other activists that may want to help the sharks as well. Luckily were able to get 3 other people making our shark team for the evening posting at one Handful - 5!

We hit the streets of Chinatown in Toronto around 6pm and the sun was disappearing and the wind was picking up. The temperature has to be below the minus 2'C but we were all dressed for warmth and passion to speak for the sharks was our drive.

The reason for plastering Toronto's Chinatown area is:

" Toronto and the surrounding Greater Toronto Area is home to over 700,000
Chinese. As the festivities for the Chinese New Year begins, there will be
Banquets and dinners held for two weeks from Feb 3 to Feb 18th. Let's all
Encourage them to enjoy the festivities without the cruelty that is
Shark Fin soup."

As the 5 member team - Jordyn 9yrs, Sarah, Alex, Vanessa, and I posted these stickers up we had a lot of older asian individuals reading them. The first time one did he stated "Only Rich can afford that, and the animal needs to be protected, too expensive." I was first happy to know that the words on the sticker in the chinese languages were understood and second to hear such a positive response. The crowd of asian individuals kept checking out the stickers and kept responding, smiling, and some were even taking pictures of the poles all posted. Over-all the event was extremely positive! The one asian man kept saying "the Japanese love this soup too". I am aware of the Japanese finning sharks after seeing video and pictures from a few months ago.

Europe has been the largest finning operation in the world for this industry and just a few weeks ago the European Union is supporting the ban on Shark Finning! This is fantastic News for the sharks and the ocean!

We did the heart of Chinatown as our starting point - Dundas Street W and Spadina Street intersection. From here we went east of Dundas Street W on both sides and then North on Spadina hitting a few areas out front of restaurants that actually serve shark fin soup. Weather permitting we did quite a bit of area in chinatown but still have to get back there since these types of stickers are good 365 days a year!

How Many Sharks Killed Annually?

YEAR - 90 Million
WEEK - 1, 730, 769
Day  - 247, 252
Hour - 10, 302
Minute  - 171

Approximately 80 to 100 Million sharks are killed annually for their fins, meat, and
cartilage. About 80% are killed for their fins alone since the money generated
for just the fins is more than landing the body of the shark and fins attached,
which in this case takes up weight. After the fins are removed the shark’s body
is thrown back into the ocean alive to drown. A total of 80% of the fins removed
from the ocean end up in Hong Kong.


THE SHARK TEAM
Left to Right: Alex, Vanessa, Sarah, Jordyn and photo by me



An Asian lady reads the posting - Great Positive response!



Serves Shark Fin Soup
E-Pan Chinese Cuisine
#369 Spadina Ave
#416-260-9988
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 2G2



Serves Shark Fin Soup and Caters Weddings
Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant
#346 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 2G2

Serves Shark Fin Soup
New Sky Restaurant
#353 Spadina Ave
#416-596-8787
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 2G3

Serves Shark Fin Soup
XAMYU
#339 Spadina Ave
Toronto, Ontario
Phone #416-340-8603
M5T 2G2

`9 Days in Taiji` Posters

Its amazing how one thing leads to another and I am the first to tell anyone and everyone to take ALL OPPORTUNITIES - They will lead to more and take them too!

My 9 days in Taiji were life changing from the loss of almost 90 Dolphins of 4 species to the meeting of other passionate people that were able to make it to ground zero and share their energy and support for the dolphins. The stories I learned from each of the people I met are their own amazing stories that I can say are being talked about, shared, and respected from others within their own communities and myself.

I would like to share you with some amazing work done by three artists. One would be myself but not my art but my physical passion as an activist to use my fearless skill to create a mind over matter situation and endure the frigid cold for 30 minutes while it will never compare to the suffering and loss of life from the dolphins. The second artist would be Libby Katsinis - the Cove Guardian campaign leader who`s background is photography and she showed it very well with sharing her skill for these art pieces below. The third but not least of any sort is the artist who finalized the connection to us all and that is Pete Mander who is also an amazing artist in many ways from expensive collector costumes of the Predator to a visual artist.

I always say good things come in threes because I`m an optomistic person filled with positive energy and we connected in our own way to create a few posters that we hope to put out a great message - `PROTECT THE DOLPHINS`. These words were discussed to me by Ric O`Barry who knows how to do such that - Protect the Dolphins. So actually that would make 4 people and actually I`m sure there is more and that is what  positive energy does when emitted. The actions in a positive manner will extinguish the negative actions of any being that chooses to make such actions.

Please view the poster and share if you like - they will be up for sale soon to raise money for either the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society`s Cove Guardian action or Save Japan Dolphins. It will be the choice of the buyer where their money goes and both are for the dolphins.

So if you`re interested now then email me at timmons.animal.artist@gmail.com and tell me which one since there is 3 posted I will number them 1, 2, 3.

ONE

 

TWO

THREE

Final Day & Final Words of Taiji - Japan

January 27th in Japan I finalized my 9 days in a video response.

I did speak infront of my camera which sadly moved a bit and cuts off a bit of my head but its not my looks that means anything - its my words.

Just a recape of my 9 days:

Day #1 - Approx. 50 Black Striped dolphins were killed in the cove.
Day #2 - Dolphin Free
Day #3 - Approx. 15 Risso Dolphins killed in the cove.
Day #4 - Dolphin Free
Day #5 - Dolphin Free
Day #6 - Approx. 5 Risso Dolphins Killed in the cove and 1 that strayed rescued from the harbour.
Day #7 - Dolphin Free
Day #8 - Approx. 10 Bottlenose Dolphins killed in the cove.
Day #9 - 2 Pacific White-sided Dolphins killed in open ocean and 1 taken into captivity.

Its been a tough week with the above  9 day record and hopefully my video and pictures will continue to go further and educate. I will be sharing my video with a movie producer who needs ocean related topics for the upcoming movie "Don't Eat Me". This movie will be coming out in June on what they started - Animal Freedom Day.


PLEASE GO HERE FOR THE VIDEO ``FINAL WORDS``

The Cove Guardian Crew I was privy to be with while in Japan.

The second meeting with Ric when I interviewed him for Don`t Eat Me - John on the left drove 9hrs to meet us both.



A couple amazing ladies came from Hong Kong to help the Dolphins.

Mark with Ric O`Barry`s design stating `Protect Dolphins

`My most memorable positive action of the 9 days with Taiji Dolphins.

Please visit "Don't Eat Me" to mark your calenders to watch - I believe - the movie free on its launch in July.

Please contact your closest Japanese Embassy/Consulate and let them know you do not approve and want the dolphin slaughter to stop: Stop The Slaughter

Bob Timmons
Future Cove Guardian
http://www.bobtimmons.org/
http://thecoveguardian.blogspot.com/
_______________________________________________________________

It was a couple of years ago that I first learned about Taiji Bay aka "The Cove" when I did a painting that I called "The Rising Sun Exposes The Guilt". Now I have an opportunity to do more and this is becoming a "Cove Guardian" with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in Taiji Bay, Japan.

 I have started to organize ways to raise some money and awareness about this decision I have made and you can donate and share on facebook,  , Paypal (timmons.animal.artist@gmail.com)

Speaking with Dolphins Through Meditation

The night of the 24th of January I was in my third Onsen at the Urashima Hotel here in Katsuura.

An Onsen is natural sulphur springs that the Japanese have capitalized all over. They are truly an amazing experience. I sat in three separate ones the night before just to relax since it was only the cheapest way to get some attention on the body and mind after all the horrific visuals, sounds, and stress that one endures daily here in the Taiji area of Japan.

After being at my 3rd Onsen in this gorgeous hotel that is built within a large rock, I started to open my mind and body up to thoughts and ideas. I was laying back in the hot springs and I could see the dark night with the stars glowing, I could feel the wind lightly enter the cave I was in, and I could hear the crashing of the ocean water against the rocks outside the cave. It was then the sound of the water was very similar to the sound of the rushing water I hear at the Cove when the dolphins are scared and are about to be killed. My mind instantly wanted to take this as a sad sound and to me this was not going to be the case. I was not going to allow such beauty of the ocean sound become the death sound of the dolphins. I took this sound as the dolphins sound as if they were spiritually connecting to me. Remember I was in these life altering springs for about 2 hours now. I started to listen and my mind was opening up more and more.

Then I thought to myself that I do not want to hear the death of the dolphins, I do not want to see them kill the dolphins, I do not want to watch the cruelty within the cove anymore - I want to be with the dolphins. I kept thinking and opened my mind up to the skills I have in the animal action I have done and being involved in extreme weather conditions to show that the animals go through more than what I am enduring at that very moment. I chose to speak through my mind to the dolphins because I couldn`t directly touch or get close to them without being arrested and never to return again to help them. I kept my plan evolving in my mind as I got in and out of the springs to stand naked at a railing that overlooked the Pacific Ocean to feel the elements even more while I thought.

The plan came to me as I accepted it was what I was going to do. If the 12 Deadly Sins of Taiji were going to  drive in any dolphins on my last 2 days here in Japan then I was going to get into the frigid water and meditate to speak to the dolphins about how to see through the sound - there is a hole in the sound - go through - dive deep - swim far - over and over. Then I started to give them energy from my thoughts that I am human but I am not like the ones taking your life.

The water was terribly freezing from my first step in while a Fisherman`s Union Leader was yelling at me not to go in the water, I entered. As I went mind over matter and focused and fell deep into meditation within the frigid water I started to speak to the dolphins and my body was perfectly still. About 25 minutes later my body started to tremble and I felt this was when the Cove infront of me was quite but the killing part was doing what they do - killing the bottlenose dolphins. It was a terrifying experience for them but I was grounded in the Cove and could feel this negativity while I kept pushing my energy to them.

It was about 30 minutes total I spent in the frigid water when I finally took some of the water in the Cove and splashed it on my face. I instantly came back to reality and lost feeling in my lower half as if I was apart of the Cove now. The sun warmed my upper part while I was numb waist down. I then removed myself from the Cove.

The police were all over me and took my information and said ``You No Make Trouble for the Fishermen, Right`` and I said ``Yes I No Make Trouble - I was speaking to the dolphins and to give them my energy even though I believe the fishermen need some positive energy too.``

____________________________________________________________________


I wanted to be with the dolphins today - not witness anymore blood, cruelty, sounds. I rooted into the rocks and stayed in meditation for 30 minutes sending off my energy and thoughts to the dolphins. At the end of 30 minutes it honestly felt like my lower half was now one with the bay. Believe me the water was frigid.

I was informed by Rupert that the police took a bit more time because they put their bullet proof vest on just for me :) haha In Japan tattoo`s are mostly on criminals in organized crime like a mafia.

Staying positive its the only energy that the darkness cannot extinguish!

Please contact your closest Japanese Embassy/Consulate and let them know you do not approve and want the dolphin slaughter to stop: Stop The Slaughter

Bob Timmons
Future Cove Guardian
http://www.bobtimmons.org/
http://thecoveguardian.blogspot.com/
_______________________________________________________________

It was a couple of years ago that I first learned about Taiji Bay aka "The Cove" when I did a painting that I called "The Rising Sun Exposes The Guilt". Now I have an opportunity to do more and this is becoming a "Cove Guardian" with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in Taiji Bay, Japan.

 I have started to organize ways to raise some money and awareness about this decision I have made and you can donate and share on facebook,  , Paypal (timmons.animal.artist@gmail.com)

Baby Blues - Fins - Juveniles

Today once again a quick stop into the fishing docks to see the latest catch and it is different everyday!

A friend of mine who was just here in Katsuura for the Taiji action did some research on the Katsuura Fishing Industry and this is what he sent me:

"Katsuura is a base port of coastal and offshore tuna longline fisheries and these fisheries sometimes target sharks. The major landed species are pelagic.

Blue shark is the  dominant species among pelagic fisheries and comprises more than 70% of sharks caught in the tuna longline fishery industry.

The major pelagic shark species caught by the tuna longline fishery are blue shark, bigeye thresher shark , oceanic whitetip shark , silky shark and shortfin mako shark.

There is no particular management objective on shark. However, the Fisheries Agency of Japan instructed the tuna longline fishermen to bring back both fins and carcass together when they land shark fins.

(Here's an interesting statement - I take "biological regulations" to mean the size of the sharks taken) :

Generally, there are no particular biological regulations in fisheries for sharks. However, the Japan Fisheries Agency instructs large distant tuna fishing boats to record shark bycatch and to bring back carcass as far as possible."


I seen a lot more sharks scattered in piles today and could not tell you how many exactly but I would say a lot more young ones then large ones.