Saving Dolphins from the Japanese
The European and Japanese media have gathered in Taiji, Japan in anticipation of the annual dolphin slaughter that usually takes place there the first week of September. The people of Japan have never learned about the dolphin slaughter, because none of the media in Japan (with the exception of the excellent Japan Times) have ever sent reporters to the killing Cove and have kept mum.
Richard O’Barry of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition arrived this September at the slaughter Cove with media representatives from all over the world - Associated Press, Der Spiegel and the London Independent AND Japanese camera crews. The notorious Cove was empty of dophins and dolphin killers this time. The Japanese TV stations have REFUSED until now to cover the story in Taiji, for years and years. NOW, for the first time, they have shown up, with cameras rolling - a good day for dolphins.
The film, The Cove, chronicles the quest of American dolphin trainers and filmmakers to expose dolphin capture in the Japanese hamlet of Taiji.This documentary movie is on a winning streak - winning at the Nantucket Flm Festival and theSydney Film festival as well as the SilverDocs and top honors at Sundance and HotDocs. It also has growing international audience support for ocean conservation.
The Cove movie also led to the strong action by the city of Broome, Australia, in suspending their sister-city relationship with Taiji. So now, the Japanese media are sitting up and listening and the secrets of Taiji are finally being told to the Japanese people by television..
Soon, the whole world will know about the Taiji dolphin slaughter. And all Japanese will soon know about the cover-up that has occurred by the government in refusing to stop mercury-contaminated dolphin meat from being sold to unsuspecting Japanese consumers and children. As O'Barry explains "Taiji can change this image of shame, if they want to. I will be telling them that the town of Nantucket used to be the capitol of the whale killing industry in the US. Now, it uses its history of whaling combined with whale-watching to market tourism very successfully. Whales and dolphins are worth more alive than dead. Taiji can do this, too. But the killing has to stop."
And because of The Cove movie, the dolphin killers must now fear hidden cameras and microphones, even when they THINK we are not here. The Cove is shining a very bright light on Taiji.
The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.
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