Each September to February, a nasty dolphin hunt takes place off the coast of Japan in a little village called Taiji (tai-jee), where most of the 20,000 dolphins and porpoises killed off Japan are done annually. The Cove, winner of multiple international film festival awards including Oscar for Best Documentary in 2009, exposes what goes on in Taiji and how Japan manipulates little bankrupt countries to support its whaling cause and empire through the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Courageous to film undercover, inspiring and shocking to watch, this film is having some effect on public awareness of the issues, from brutal senseless killings to mercury poisoning in the food and fraud by selling worthless dolphin meat as expensive whale meat. You might also learn a thing about being coy and manipulative in empire building, as well as dedication and heart in pursuit of a cause through Ric O’Barry and others’ efforts to expose this annual massacre.
Despite all the public praise and awareness this film has been getting, the issues raised could always use a little more attention because they’re still killing dolphins in Taiji as I write in October. Well, this little site of mine gets some decent attention, so here is the movie in case you haven’t seen it. Thanks to whoever uploaded the entire thing on Tudou in high quality, and even added English and Japanese subtitles, where it needs to be known!
Synopsis
Academy Award® Winner for Best Documentary of 2009, THE COVE follows an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers as they embark on a covert mission to penetrate a remote and hidden cove in Taiji, Japan, shining a light on a dark and deadly secret. Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, including hidden microphones and cameras in fake rocks, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery, adding up to an unforgettable story that has inspired audiences worldwide to action. THE COVE is directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by Paula DuPré Pesmen and Fisher Stevens. The film is written by Mark Monroe. The executive producer is Jim Clark and the co-producer is Olivia Ahnemann.
Please come back later if you’re not catching news of this at a time when you have 90 minutes to spare and watch. You can spend 90 minutes doing a lot of worse things in life.
The Cove’s website for more information on the film and cause.
Take part in helping save the dolphins as promoted by The Cove.
Digital Citizen 
I don’t get why this story is such a big deal. The problem is not that killing dolphins and whales is inherently immoral. The makers of The Cove seem to take this as fact and jump right into a Joseph Campbell-esque good vs. evil narrative. In the process, the filmmakers unfortunately repulse many thoughtful, potentially sympathetic viewers. The real problem with Japanese consumption of whale and dolphin meat is that the Japanese are taking more than their fair share of a resource that belongs to everybody despite unanimous censure as well as humanitarian, ecological, and public health concerns. Their reasons for doing so are poorly articulated and spurious. The consumption of cetaceans deserves treatment as a serious issue, not as the sensationalistic propaganda for which the environmental movement is sadly notorious.
For more sanity, please read my full review:
http://www.theinductive.com/culture/2010/1/21/the-cove-and-the-self-righteousness-of-activists.html
Dude, your brain is more messed up than your heart. Until you can prove you’ve got enough credibility to flaunt that much “logical” talk in an article that runs on longer than the Mississippi, or at least start in with enough credibility for someone to follow from the start, not many are going to be convinced to read it all the way through. I’m just glad your writing is metaphorical BS that doesn’t flow into any real body of water. If it’s sanity, it’s certainly not sensibility.
This story is a big deal because of what the Japanese do to cover up all kinds of things, from the excess killing, to the method, to the buying of “votes” to get their way in the IWC, to deceiving their own people not just for greed in selling the meat as something else, but knowingly poisoning them at the same time with all the mercury in the dolphin meat. You need to seek professional help for your “sanity” if you if you don’t consider that evil. What do they need to do for you to consider them evil? Sell children’s meat as veal?
If what you say is sanity, your sanity is coming from your wrong end, man. If I didn’t believe enough in allowing diverse points of views on my site, I’d just as soon delete the link to your sanity. But I’ll leave it for people who want to read it. Thanks for the comment and trying to balance out the argument.
Everything said in the previous comment could also be said of the beef, pork, poultry and dairy industry, especially in America, but the cries of alarm over those are few and far between (and usually the province of “hysterical animal lover activists”). I guess because it is easy for Westerners to cast a stone at the cetacean meat industry because we don’t typically eat that type of meat. But if that were a pork slaughterhouse, the only cry of alarm we’d hear is if the bacon production were to drop.
I don’t condone the killing dolphins and whales, but at least they lived a free life before being killed, whereas factory farmed animals never even had that.
I realize this is a separate topic and I am not trying to steer things in another direction, I’m simply commenting at the hypocrisy of people.
I bring up these points because it is easy to cast a stone at others, but we need to realize that we’re all guilty of supporting these things, and only working as equals will allow us to find a resolution and end to all of this.
Food Inc. is coming next in the queue for documentaries I will be putting on this blog, Eric, to passers by who get other things from here, to show a lot of what you said. However, I think what goes on in those industries has been more documented than with the dolphin hunt in Japan. The same goes with some of the fish industry, where lots of fish are sold as other fish for greed. But there’s not the mercury situation with it. Greed is one thing. Greed at the expense of what is ultimately murder is another. Just look at the jail terms for what society values.
How we get all of our food needs to be known more, right down to Monsanto and its soybean market domination tactics. A lot of it isn’t going to be pretty no matter how you cut it. But some is a lot less pretty, and some needs to be known more than others, so I don’t mind casting some stones. It’s hard to follow a hundred stones cast at once. Your point to work as equals to solve problems is excellent, though. Thanks for your comment.
Excellent points and I didn’t mention before, but I thought your blog entry itself was great.
Our entire spectrum of food production is quite bad and needs to be reformed in all aspects. Looking forward to your entry on Food Inc., I haven’t seen that yet but I’ve done a lot of reading on all of these topics, so I’m interested to see what they incorporate in that documentary.
Hi Eric, I have a personal film project I did to put up before Food Inc. It’s a timing thing. So instead of making you wait a couple of weeks from now, here’s the link to just the video without a blog entry.
http://vodpod.com/watch/4705060-food-inc-full-documentary
I add videos to my online collection and sometimes I feature them on my blog if I want to say something more about it. I will for this later. Thanks for the comp and comments.
the differnce between cows and dolphin slaughter,dolphins are creatures living in the wild.cows are bred as food,drink.they also dont have the same sense of self as a dolphin.there is no comparison in my opinion.its america we all have the freedom to make our opinions known.that my friends is mine.hope you all can enjoy the dolphin you eat today.
Thanks for your comment, Lisa. I don’t personally care about whether cows or dolphins have more sense of self or not. I just think there is a more responsible way to kill animals for consumption, any kind of animal because it’s all life, than what is being done in Taiji, never mind the deceit to fool and poison people for greed. It’s a moral responsibility that comes with being at the top of the food chain if one is to eat meat, and by evolution, we were. I support the personal choice of people to do either, but we can be far more responsible than we are in procuring our food these days.
s una plang hinding-hindi q ngustuhan ang ginagawa nila s mga dolphins grave ku mga japanese,napakasama nu hindi mkatarungan,masyado maltratuhin mga dolphins.napakasadista nu,kahit sino cguro mkakapanoud ni2 tlgng isusumpa ku.hala n kalikasan at dyos s inu mgparusa.
Sorry, I can’t respond because even Google translation doesn’t make much sense of this in English. If someone could translate, that’d be appreciated. Thank you.
s una plang hinding-hindi q ngustuhan ang ginagawa nila s mga dolphins grave ku mga japanese,napakasama nu hindi mkatarungan,masyado maltratuhin mga dolphins.napakasadista nu,kahit sino cguro mkakapanoud ni2 tlgng isusumpa ku.hala n kalikasan at dyos s inu mgparusa.
@@@First and foremost I didn’t liked what the Japanese (taiji) people doing with the dolphins. You’re evil… seeing the savage and sadist way how you treat and kill dolphins. Every one who see this film will surely cursed you. The Mother Nature and our Lord will surely punished you with this.
Thanks for the translation, Alex. Much appreciated. It’s not directed towards me so I will leave it.
Just so you know the subtitles are in chinese not japanese. If anyone finds a version on Tudou with Japanese subs I would be very interested.
Ooops! Thanks. I should have known that, even though I don’t read or write Cantonese or Japanese. I do know how to tell the difference between them. I just have to look hard and analyze because it’s an “ish” kind of thing for me to differentiate. Thanks for clarifying! 🙂
What’s needed is not more legislation (and the BS associated with as much?) but the ENFORCEMENT of what is more reasonable, (Of what already exists as far as what is right, as true, so true?) if not so reasonable (of as much) I Feel as Understand. Thanks for getting The message out in such respect, of Understandingmore, that that isn’t how *justice* is served (that anything else should matter) but I Feel It Is.. Understanding Activist.
What It Is and How To Do It? .. . As Much? .. . Hello
Thanks for presenting in such respect (I figure we all need to be activist in such respect, or we *fail,* as become implicated in *abuse* ourselves.. . Where, you can’t fail at Communication where you try, for as much, language aside? .. . (That what you do in such respect doesn’t define the language, and what is so reasonably so?) of whatever works in such respect defines a language so.. . Yeah, I Figure.. Shouldn’t we all.. . I figure *dolphins* do a particularly good job at as much.. .
Not corrected for the perfection of as much, that that isn’t how perfection works, evolves, (Knowing what It’s all about?) but, well, you should understand how that goes by now, where you are so smart, yourself? (We should be talking, if not doing, for the *Individual* here? What else do you feel would be associated with Justice, hopefully is a rhetorical question to you)
I figure everything is communicating in such respect, and I’m especially pleased where we’ve taken that position with respect to dolphins. Yes, there’s more to It, (Like, with all Individuals and actually serving justice?) but I figure dolphins make a wonderful start, especially some of them.. . I hope you would continue your work in such respect. I do as much for Justice. Best wishes to you in such respect (That there should be any other, respect? .. .
Keep up the good work
Michael Glavic