2010 Oscar winner The
Cove is a documentary that looks into and questions the morality of Japan ’s dolphin
hunting policy. The film shows viewers evidence of the 23,000 dolphins which
are killed in Taiji , Japan each year. It also touches
upon the trade of catching and selling dolphins for the entertainment industry.
The main interviewee is Ric O’Barry, the man responsible for
training dolphins for the 1960s TV show Flipper.
After his favourite dolphin is said to have committed suicide, O’Barry
turned away from dolphin training and vowed to free every captured dolphin he
could. After discovering the cruel practice of dolphin killing in Taiji, O’Barry
has spent many years fighting the local fisherman and government and trying to
bring the killing to the attention of the international community, with little success.
The Cove in question is a secluded bay in Taiji which is
protected from prying eyes by guards and razor wire. The film makers attempt to
show the world what happens behind the fences by sneaking down to the cove at
night and placing cameras hidden in fake rocks. The two scenes in which the
crew attempt this are extremely tense. Once we see the pictures from the hidden
cameras, the true nature of the cruelty is seen for the first time and it is
extremely difficult to watch. Dolphins
are herded into the cove using a wall of sound and trapped by nets overnight.
The next day, fishermen go into the bay in small boats and harpoon each dolphin
several times while they flail in pain. Once each animal is almost dead they
are hauled onto boats with spiked rods. The sea is turned a deep shade of red
and the whole scene is disgusting and gruesome.
Personally I have no problem with the fact that dolphins are
killed for food. If humans are willing to eat cows then why not horses, dogs
and dolphins too? It is a strange ideal that we have that only certain animals
are edible. What I do have a problem with though is the incredible cruelty and
indifference to the animals suffering. My main problem with the film is that as
a brilliant piece of propaganda it shows western people going to Japan to save
cute dolphins from the evil Japanese. If the Japanese had a particular affinity
for chickens then they could make exactly the same film in Europe or America set
around the practice of battery farming. While the cruelty is universal, the
practice is very much subjective depending upon where you are from. The film
makers try to further persecute the Japanese by stating that they can be
arrested and imprisoned without charge for 30 days. This just made me think of Guantanamo Bay where their countrymen keep people
without charge for much longer than 30 days.
Overall the film is a damming report of Japanese fishing
policy and shows extreme and unnecessary cruelty. It is also one of the most
one sided and biased documentaries I’ve seen and is very much shown from a
Western ecological perspective. That being said, I think it is important that
cruelty and injustice is shown, whether it be animal or human and this film has
bought to light a disgraceful practice which would have otherwise gone
unreported.
7/10
Today scientists have declared that dolphins and whales should be given non person human status. There brains are as large as mans. These higher beings live in complex societies and have culture. I really think it is time that humans give up the idea that they are the only "sentient" "intelligent" beings on the planet. Dolphins are apex predators like man at the top of the food chain. Dolphins cannot be compared to chickens,cows or pigs. The are highly evolved beings who really deserve better. The practice of slaughter used in Taiji is called pithing a terribly slow and painful death. I encourage the author to read "The Dolphin in The Mirror" by Dr. Diane Reese to learn about cetaceans intelligence.
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