The Cove

The Cove is a 2009 documentary featuring Ric O'Barry and his quest to end the industry of capturing dolphins for entertainment parks and other tourist industries, and the mass killing of dolphins for food.  What makes Ric such a noteworthy champion of this cause is the fact that he was the person who captured and trained the dolphins used in the television series Flipper.  He changed his mind about his profession after one of the dolphins that played Flipper became very depressed and made a conscious effort to stop breathing while in Ric's arms.

Ric concentrates his efforts on exposing and stopping the inhumane harvesting of dolphins in a Japanese fishing village called Taiji.  Taiji is one of the leading suppliers in the world of dolphins used by marine parks and tourism-related businesses.  He enlists the help filmmaker Louie Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society - to help get the word out to the world of the atrocities going on in this seemingly beautiful cove in Taiji.  They assemble a small team of experts to help with the mission, which gives the documentary a more dramatic, suspenseful feel.

Using a wide variety of high-tech cameras - like night vision, infrared, heat detection - and incorporating the shots into the final film definitely gets the audience more engaged in the story.

The scenery is beautiful and the underwater shots of dolphins swimming in the wild are simply amazing.

There isn't a lot of film time that actually displays the unbelievably horrible way that these dolphins are captured and slaughtered (thankfully).  Much of the film concentrates on building up the story, giving us information about how various worldwide bodies have positioned themselves on the issue of killing dolphins, what Ric has done to this point, and kind of a behind the scenes look at the preparation for the filming mission at the cove.

The authorities in Taiji are of course very concerned about any threat to the well-being of their community and their livelihood and come across very negatively in the film, harassing and intimidating anyone who seems to be against what they feel is their traditional way of life.

It is all woven together very well as a passionate call to action.  Watching the film is not enough.  If you want to change the world, you're going to have to act.

I found myself completely engrossed in the film, and I see the righteousness of the cause.  I wonder, though, what people would say about the U.S. meatpacking industry, or how poultry are harvested.  Couldn't just about anything - if you presented the story right - be deemed as evil and draw the ire of activists around the world?

That being said, I really do think there is difference between the way cows and chickens are raised for food (and the regulations that are in place that govern the process) and the way wild mammals are driven to a small cove by the thousands for execution.  Everyone acknowledges that dolphin meat isn't that tasty and contains high levels of mercury.

Why do they do it, then - and why do we (collectively) allow it to happen?  It's a good question, and it's a question that The Cove does a great job of asking.