I've been really amazed at some of the posts on this thread as well. I would have thought there were more people here who realized how special dolphins were, and that although they live in the ocean, they are not fish.
I also thought there would be more people here familiar with Japanese fishing practices, but I think there's just a kneejerk reaction with some people if anything remotely related to PETA is mentioned. No thought, just kneejerk.
A dolphin bashing thread is the last thing I expected. I know that it's mostly joking, but still.
I've been on the water off and on most of my life, professionally at times. I've yet to meet anyone that didn't love dolphins, until here. Very weird. I guess, as you say, it's a knee jerk reaction. Maybe they are city folks.