Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Cove


Cove. n.
i) a small sheltered bay 
ii) a sheltered recess, esp. one in a mountain 
OR 
iii) a place to trap, maim and kill

I guess it takes a documentary as compelling as this one to resurrect my blog. The film is centered around the rather barbaric practice of mass dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. From my random facts memory, I already knew that Japan was always smack at the center of any international dispute that involves fishing, whaling or preservation of ocean. However, I had no idea of the untold story of the dolphins. 

Dolphins as entertainment in aquariums all around the world is a multi-billion, yes BILLION, dollar industry. An unfortunately perverse effect of the industry is the employment of reckless and unsustainable ways of obtaining the animals. Even more bizarre is the slow and prolonged killing process of the left-over animals, after the desired ones  are sold. Imaging killing a 10 foot, 500 pound animal with repeated stabs using a kitchen-knife size blade; now imagine killing hundreds of them. Sorry for the graphic imagery, but I'm not making this stuff up. And worst of all, dolphin meat is not that desirable, even in Japan; it has toxic levels of heavy metals, especially mercury. 

So why are these animals killed? First, nobody, well almost nobody, is aware of the practice. Also, the dolphin meat may be deceptively sold in place of less toxic and more desired whale meat. And, dolphin fishing is the life-blood of the Taiji economy. 

The Cove is trailblazing; the movie is nicely done and is sure to stir emotions. 

Please share your thoughts.