Moral equivalence is a slippery slope. And those are unsettling images. I personally quite disagree with the Japanese slight of hand on "research" to get around the whaling treaty obligations and this type slaughter as well. But you have to wonder what a devout Hindu's response might be to us when viewing a scene from a Kansas City beef slaughterhouse?
It's hard to draw that line, Don..that's for sure. And we all tend to draw those lines in different places to suit our needs/wants. The Dolphins, whales, etc....but particularly the Dolphins, actually have a larger frontal cortex than we humans, have sex for fun/pleasure, obviously have sophisticated communication ability. About the only difference I see between us and them is at some point they stayed in the water...
What these humans are doing is despicable, and in my eyes at least, is murder of another sentient being. It's like killing children...