My good friend Kaleigh Henderson recommended that I watch a documentary called “The Cove.” This documentary has literally changed my life. This is the most powerful documentary that I have ever seen. It sends out such a strong and an important message. Everyone needs to know the truth.
This movie takes place in Taiji, Japan where approximately 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are slaughtered annually. This is the largest dolphin slaughter on the planet. Some selected dolphins end up shipped to several aquariums where they are held in captivity, while the rest are brutally killed and sold as food.
Most of the approximately 500 dolphins currently held in Japan's 50 dolphinariums were captured during a violent and deadly dolphin drive hunt. This hunt starts by taking boats with long poles that reach underwater into the middle of the sea and use hammers to create a loud wall of sound which creates stress on the dolphins. Due to their extremely sensitive sense of hearing, Dolphins are easily frightened by loud noises, therefore, when the dolphins hear the uncomfortable and extremely loud bang under the water, they are frightened and literally run for their lives in the direction opposite of the sound – the shore. After reaching shore, the dolphins are very stressed and overwhelmed. The babies and parent dolphins are split up some are taken to marine parks while the others are to be killed.
The fishermen snatch these beautiful creatures from their natural habitats, hoist them into nets, load them onto airplanes and drop them into a cement tanks all around the world. Taiji is the largest supplier of dolphins to marine parks and swim with dolphin programs around the world. The remaining dolphins are brutally stabbed until they are dead and then sold as seafood. It is important to know that Japanese dolphins contain 2000 ppm of Mercury. This means that the dolphin meat is poisonous and if consumed can cause many medical illnesses, deaths, and deformations. Many Japanese people have been eating dolphin meat and have been poisoning their body without being aware of it.
The reality is that not many people want to eat dolphins. Putting dolphin meat on a shelf at a grocery store, simply will not sell. As a result, the dolphin meat is carefully placed into cans of tuna, and/or sold in fish markets and relabeled under a different type of fish. The government of Japan is aware of this, but they continue to support and cover for the fisherman of Taiji.
The fishermen snatch these beautiful creatures from their natural habitats, hoist them into nets, load them onto airplanes and drop them into a cement tanks all around the world. Taiji is the largest supplier of dolphins to marine parks and swim with dolphin programs around the world. The remaining dolphins are brutally stabbed until they are dead and then sold as seafood. It is important to know that Japanese dolphins contain 2000 ppm of Mercury. This means that the dolphin meat is poisonous and if consumed can cause many medical illnesses, deaths, and deformations. Many Japanese people have been eating dolphin meat and have been poisoning their body without being aware of it.
The reality is that not many people want to eat dolphins. Putting dolphin meat on a shelf at a grocery store, simply will not sell. As a result, the dolphin meat is carefully placed into cans of tuna, and/or sold in fish markets and relabeled under a different type of fish. The government of Japan is aware of this, but they continue to support and cover for the fisherman of Taiji.
The fishermen continue to do this business regardless of the immortality of it. These fishermen are generously rewarded for this brutality. For each dead dolphin they are rewarded $600 for each alive dolphin they are paid a minimum of $150,000.
A lot of people don’t realize the problem with holding dolphins in captivity in places such as sea world. I, like many others assumed that dolphins and orcas enjoy living at Sea World and other marine parks. They always seemed to be smiling, jumping merrily around their tanks, eager to put on a show for human spectators. However, |Once the friendly joyful music starts playing and the dolphins start dancing and smiling, it’s difficult to see the problem. "The smiles you see on these animals are not true reflections of happiness” explains Rick O’Barry, a dolphin rights activist and the producer of the 'Cove'. “In actuality, they hate to be enclosed in their holding tanks and are often not fed until it is time to perform their daily routines” explains Rick. Dolphins create the greatest deception; they create the illusion that they are always happy. However, behind their smiles is a big despair. In every aquarium, there is a fish house where the dolphins are given Malox and Tagament to treat ulcers on dolphins who are stressed.
One aquarium in Baltimore, had a high death rate for dolphins. Workers and experts soon discovered that the filtration system in the aquarium was too loud for the dolphin to tolerate that it was causing a lot of noise that was overwhelming the dolphins, evidently this loud sound killed the dolphins.
Accoustics and sound are the primary senses of the dolphins. Due to sound and acoustics, dolphins are considered one of the smartest creatures on the planet. They can literally see right through you. They can see your bones, they can see your heart, and they can tell if you are pregnant, they get a lot of information by just hearing and making sounds.
Accoustics and sound are the primary senses of the dolphins. Due to sound and acoustics, dolphins are considered one of the smartest creatures on the planet. They can literally see right through you. They can see your bones, they can see your heart, and they can tell if you are pregnant, they get a lot of information by just hearing and making sounds.
Captivity simply doesn't work because in the wild, they are travelling at least 40 miles a day, they could be surfing one area in the morning and the next hour they can be 25 miles away. Confining dolphins in a limited amount of space in a tank surrounded by a stadium of screaming people, it simply isn’t right and it isn’t fair.
After “The Cove” was released, many people became aware of this disgusting slaughter and many actions were taken. Due to the awareness the movie has made, the dolphin slaughter has dramatically decreased. Unfortunately, dolphin slaughter still continues in Taiji, however not nearly as much as it did before. Dolphin slaughter still exists and it’s up to us to save these beautiful creatures. We need to defend and give a voice to those who cannot speak.
Louis Psihoyos, director of The Cove, says “The cove is proof that one passionate person can make a difference and that together a few like-minded people can change the world.”
Join me in taking a pledge to never buy a ticket to a dolphin show.
