Japanese dolphin hunting and whaling practices

Mercury contamination in seafood have been a long topic of discussion the
recommended dosage of mercury from seafood in japan is 0.4 ppm (part per million) however, a steak sized dolphin meat contains up to about 2000 ppm of mercury. HOLY SHIT! It's a very toxic piece of meat that could probably kill you or make the child in your uterus born retarded. So it begs the question, why are dolphins being killed for their meat if you're not even supposed to eat it? and if there are any idiots out there that are still eating it, why the fuck are you? these questions were asked in the award winning documentary film The Cove (2009).

The documentary showed the tiny little cove in Taiji, Japan where fishermen slaughter 100s of dolphins all together creating a bloody seashore.
 

Dolphins are a very special animal, John C. Lilly who specialized in inter-species communication and also developed the revolutionary sensory deprivation tank has done multiple studies and published multiple books regarding these extraordinary creatures' human-like abilities. Dolphins are very similar to humans in a way because they are self aware.
What that means is when they look into a mirror, they know who and what they're looking at. They also form social hierarchies and complex thought patterns, similar to humans. In May 2005, a discovery in Australia found Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins teaching their young to use tools. They cover their snouts with sponges to protect them while finding food.
In the 1980s John C. Lilly directed a project which attempted to teach dolphins a computer-synthesized language.
Lilly designed a future "communications laboratory" that would be a floating living room where humans and dolphins could chat as equals and where they would develop a common language. He envisioned a time when all killing of whales and dolphins would cease, "not from a law being passed, but from each human understanding innately that these are ancient, sentient earth residents, with tremendous intelligence and enormous life force. Not someone to kill, but someone to learn from."

So to my mind, there is no doubt dolphin hunting should be stopped as they are smart, intelligent creatures that you're not supposed to eat!