The Cove, from director Louie Psihoyos, a highly regarded photographer, is a sometimes amusing, often poignant investigation of the dolphin slaughter that is ongoing in Taiji, Japan. Part undercover special operations, part investigative journalism and wholly dedicated to helping stopping dolphin slaughter, The Cove introduces us to the ugly tale of dolphin capture and the gruesome killing of over 23,000 dolphins every year in Taiji, and the ‘workings’ of the IWC (International Whaling Committee).
With underwater microphones and hidden cameras made to look like rocks provided by Hollywood special effects friends the team captures the slaughter en masse, turning the ocean a deep red.
“During the Greek Era it was punishable by death to harm a dolphin, we’ve lost that somewhere, that respect," explains Ric O'Barry, The Cove co-producer.*
The reality is that Japanese fishermen get US$600 (406Euro) for a dead dolphin but over US$150,000 (102,000Euro) for one that gets taken away to an aquarium for a lifetime of captivity.
"They're in this for money. Take it away, and they'll quit doing this," O’Barry says and adds: "Dolphins are free-ranging, intelligent, and complex wild animals, and they belong in the oceans, not playing the clown in our human schemes."
The film is shot mostly undercover because of the risk of being threatened and abused by the fishermen, harassed by the police and other government officials. The Cove team had to sneak in high-tech thermal cameras into Japan and do a lot of night diving to make the film. The movie is a great mix of investigative journalism, suspense, coupled with arresting and thought-provoking imagery. The message it brings is clear and unequivocal; the Taiji dolphin slaughter is wrong and must stop.
“It is so bizarre, if you didn’t know what was going on over here then you would think that this was a town that loved dolphins and whales," explains O'Barry about Taiji. “If the world finds out what goes on here, then we’ll be shut down.” At the local aquarium in Taiji you can watch dolphins perform while eating one as well.
The filmmakers also checked the mercury levels in the dolphin meat and found it to be over 2000ppm. This extremely toxic meat is often sold to schools, and then served as meals to the local children.
The Cove is a must see movie. No other film so clearly shows just how inhuman humans can be while also giving a crystal clear picture of how we are all contributing to the massive destruction of life in the oceans.
Order this film on Amazon.com - The Cove
Visit: www.thecovemovie.com
GreenMuze rating: 
*Ric O'Barry is a marine mammal specialist who was worked for ten years in the dolphin captivity industry and has spent more than thirty-eight years working against it. The most well known dolphin ever, Flipper, was actually five dolphins that Ric captured, trained and lived beside for many years. When one of them, Kathy, committed suicide in his arms by refusing to breathe and sinking to the bottom of the pool, he realized that capturing dolphins and training them to perform silly tricks is simply wrong.
Visit: www.SaveJapanDolphins.org
written by ayushi , November 18, 2009
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In the Japanese Edo era it was illegal to kill four legged animals.
written by Malcolm Green , November 04, 2009