さあ！諸君！捕鯨問題だ！

The killers have adopted pithing after film showed them randomly spearing the dolphins. Pithing is supposedly a more “humane” destruction method. However we have recently seen through cracks in the tarps what really happens. The pithing rod is jammed into the dolphins’ backs behind the blowhole, often more than once. Because it does not enter their brains and only their spinal column, death is very unlikely. Paralysis is the expected outcome. The dolphins remain conscious. They die by drowning on the way to the butcher house or when they are gutted there. Taiji is a despicable place. No wonder the children are crying.
http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/operation-infinite-patience-february-3-2 012.html