Oh, South Park. So irreverent, yet poignant! Consider last night's Whale Wars parody, in which Stan takes Captain Paul Watson's place in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and steps up the conservationists' campaign in a way only possible through cartoon violence. (Yes, there were explosions.)

Amidst the world's rightful outcry at the injustice of whaling, Stan fights the good fight—protecting whales from senseless slaughter—and along the way finds out the real reason why the Japanese government thinks it's A-OK to attack beloved marine life.

More commentary—with spoilers—after the jump.

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After a brief glimmer of hope that the slaughter in Taiji, Japan, would not happen this year, it has belatedly begun. Of the 100 dolphins rounded up so far, half will be released and the other half will be sent to prison aquariums. Fifty pilot whales have been slaughtered.

But there is hope: Worldwide outrage prompted by the recent movie The Cove means that the future of the slaughter is uncertain, according to an anonymous official at the Taiji fisheries association.

There's still work to be done. Please contact your local Japanese embassy and express your disgust over the sale of dolphins to aquariums and the slaughter of pilot whales.

Posted by Shawna Flavell

From the folks at Ecorazzi comes the number-one reason for rushing out to see The Cove: It saves dolphins' lives.

The annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, was supposed to start yesterday, but all's quiet in the cove:

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Compare that with last year at this time:

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Ric O'Barry, the famous former (and reformed) trainer of TV's Flipper, has been battling Taiji's dolphin slaughter for years. He reports that instead of being filled with dolphin killers, the cove was filled with news reporters, including—for the first time ever—Japanese film crews.

Looks like Japan's dirty secret is no longer a secret.

Posted by Alisa Mullins

treehugger / CC

Our terrific colleagues at Japan Anti-Vivisection Association (JAVA), who often work with PETA Asia Pacific, recently alerted us to Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido's continued reliance on cruel animal tests for its products, which include wrinkle creams and its ironically named ZEN Eau de Parfum. Despite the fact that hundreds of companies worldwide have banned all animal tests forever, Shiseido is still forcing chemicals into animals' stomachs and dripping shampoo into their eyes.

No animal should have to die for lipstick, moisturizer, shampoo, or perfume, so we're helping JAVA step up its efforts to get Shiseido and other Japanese companies to give animal testing the heave-ho. Since Shiseido products are sold around the world, you can help convince the company to choose kindness—just go here to tell Shiseido why you won't be buying into its cruelty.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

After much anticipation, the new music video for Modest Mouse's "King Rat" was released this week—and it was worth the wait. The video, which was directed by Heath Ledger, is great not only for its artistry (I am always in favor of a touch of the Gilliam) but also for its message. It highlights cruel (and illegal) whale poaching by depicting a boatload of whales who capture and slaughter a pod of humans.

Our friends at ecorazzi have the whole story, but this wasn't Heath's only foray into whale protection. Heath was also a member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society advisory board and, according to ecorazzi, had expressed "extreme interest" in playing the role of Captain Paul Watson in a film about the captain's life and work.

Because so many people have already been touched by this video, we're presenting Heath—care of The Masses, who finished the project he directed—as well as Isaac Brock and the rest of Modest Mouse with Compassionate Artist Awards for opening so many eyes to the violent reality of whaling.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

When I was 12, I won a fishing contest—something I haven't been proud of for a long time now. Back in the day, I was conditioned to ignore any qualms I might have felt about hooking fish, but I eventually realized how much suffering I was causing and put down my rod and reel for good.

What I've only more recently come to understand is that angling doesn't just hurt fish. Case in point: PETA staffers Hannah and Philip Schein were at Lake Kussharo in Hokkaido, Japan, when they saw a whooper swan who had a multi-pronged fishing lure embedded in her foot. She tried to remove it the only way she could—with her mouth—but the sharp hooks only became embedded in her beak as well. With her face now attached to her foot, the swan struggled in a twisted circular position, panicked and in pain:

Several people helped the Scheins catch the bird. Then Hannah and another person restrained the terrified swan while they carefully removed the hooks:

Freed from the deadly lure, the swan—no doubt relieved, but with good reason to be wary of humans—flew away with a vigorous sweep of her mighty wings:

Tragedy was avoided in this case, but not all victims of fishing tackle are so lucky. Countless water birds and mammals suffer, and many die, from injuries caused by discarded or lost fishing hooks, monofilament line, lead weights, and floats. Animals who become entangled in fishing line can be trapped underwater and drown or die slowly of starvation. The UK has banned certain types of tackle because of this problem, and other countries need to follow its lead.

Even non-anglers can help by skipping seafood. Commercial fishing boats haul in sharks, sea turtles, birds, seals, and dolphins who get tangled in nets and hooked by long-lines only to be thrown overboard to die of shock, blood loss, or predation.

If you find yourself craving cod or salivating over salmon, just picture a plate full of snared, scared swans. Then enjoy these cruelty-free recipes instead.

Posted by Jeff Mackey

If you're as big a fan of Whale Wars as I am, you probably already have a pretty good idea of the evil that is whaling. For those of you who can't afford cable, suffice it to say that the Japanese continue to kill hundreds of whales every year under the guise of "research"—except that they also happen to have a thriving business in the sale of whale flesh and other whale products. Hmmm … sounds pretty fishy (or should I say "sea-kitteny"?) to me.

Do we have to paint a picture for you? No worries—our good friends over at Experience Project already have. Check out their short but extremely powerful video on whaling here:

If you can watch it without reaching for a hanky, you are a stronger person than I am. While there, you can also take a minute to put your John Hancock on a letter to President Obama urging him to stand by his campaign promise to strengthen the international ban on whaling (which the Japanese and Norwegians are pretty much thumbing their noses at).

Posted by Alisa Mullins

Hayden Panettiere (the star of NBC’s Heroes), was so outraged about the hideous dolphin cull taking place in Japan right now that she went out herself to try and put a stop to it. Along with five of her friends, Hayden paddled out on a surfboard in an attempt to stop a pod of dolphins from reaching a cove where the Japanese fishermen were waiting to slaughter them, but was violently deterred by the men on the fishing boats, who used hooks and the boats’ propellers to stop her from reaching the animals. Here’s what she said about the situation:

"Some of us were hit by the boathook. But in the end all we really worried about was the dolphins. It was so incredibly sad. We were so close to them and they were sky hopping, jumping out of the water to see us. One little baby dolphin stuck his head out and kinda looked at me and the thought that it's no longer with us is really hard to take."

PETA is sending her a Compassionate Citizen award for her incredible bravery and her dedication to helping animals in need. I hate to have to use the obvious pun here, but you’re a hero, Hayden. Keep up the great work.

There’s more on this story, as well as footage of the horrific dolphin slaughter, on Sky News.

Caught on tape: In 2005, PETA sent an undercover investigator into Covance’s primate labs

A little while back, we received shipping documents indicating that 22 5-month-old beagles had been shipped from New York to Tokyo in the cargo holds of Japan Airlines planes. More disturbing still, we learned that the company shipping the beagles was none other than animal-experimentation conglomerate and notorious animal torturer, Covance Inc. In case you're not aware of our history with Covance, this is the same company that was revealed to have been hideously abusing monkeys and other animals after an 11-month PETA undercover investigation in 2005.

The company—whose reaction to the 2005 investigation was to use its lawyers to try and strongarm PETA and PETA Europe into removing the footage from the Web—was eventually cited for numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act. In a separate case, five Covance facilities were cited by the USDA for instances of animal abuse, including deliberately starving a dog and depriving her of veterinary care. These guys are the world's largest breeders of dogs for experimentation, and you can bet that there were more horrors in store for the dogs made to suffer through the 28-hour-long trip in a Japan Airlines cargo hold. A Covance promotional pamphlet recently obtained by PETA shows dozens of beagles in rows of cages, with the tagline "Helping to bring miracles to market sooner."

Thanks to Covance, it's too late for these particular beagles, but we're asking Japan Airlines to follow the lead of Air Canada and other compassionate airlines by refusing to transport dogs and other animals to vivisection laboratories in future. No responsible business should associate with monsters like Covance, and we're working very hard to ensure that Japan Airlines gets that message. If you'd like to help out, you can write to the airline's CEO through this form.