Dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan

I have just watched the hugely compelling American documentary, The Cove, about the slaughtering of mainly bottle-nosed dolphins, in a secluded cove, Taiji, Japan. There, a small group of local fishermen use their motor boats and metal poles to herd dolphins and make noise to scare them in to the cove where they then trap them in between two nets which stretch across the breadth of the inlet. Once they are trapped, the fisherman harpoon the dolphins and/ or slash their throats, killing them and leaving the water a dark red. Hundreds upon thousands of dolphins are slaughtered each year.

However, not all of the dolphins were killed. Some, usually the more friendly-looking  female dolphins were sold in to captivity to other places in Japan and, also, aquariums all over the world.

The documentary was directed by Louie Psihoyos and championed by Richard O'Barry. O'Barry was the man who captured suitable dolphins for the role of 'Flipper' and he worked to develop the practice of putting dolphins in to captivity for ten years of his life. However, when, as he described, one dolphin who played Flipper, 'committed suicide' in his arms, he was distraught and guilty and realised that these dolphins were not supposed to be stuck in these man-made aquariums, that they were not happy there. Thus, for the last 38 years, O'Barry has campaigned and acted against it, which was brought to light most luminously in this amazing documentary.

I watched a copy of the film on www.stagevu.com but it will be shown tonight (20/7/2010) on british television, on More 4, at 22:00, if you can catch it. 

Appeal Video with Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Anniston, etc
http://www.thecovemovie.com/
Facebook petition

It is such a sad but important piece of film. It also documents the dangers of eating dolphin due to its high mercury content, which can cause blindness, deafness and brain damage. The mercury content in dolphin meat is recorded at twenty times the recommended maximum amount.

Since the film was released, publicly pressure caused the Taiji authorities to ban this culling temporarily but fishermen are now killing these dolphins again. Richard O'Barry is running a campaign against what goes on in Taiji and you can donate to the cause or simply 'sign' a petition on Facebook to say that you are against the killing and capturing of these wonderful, intelligent creatures. Please sign the petition, which I have left a link to, if you agree with this campaign. I am sorry if my standard of writing has not been to the usual quality but I am very tired, it's 02:30 now. I will be putting up three music reviews this week, including a review of 'Round Ron Virgin's' debut album, 'Cowabungler'.