The Cove

Photograph courtesy Brooke McDonald, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society via AP

First of all: the picture above has not been altered in any way, what yyou see is blood, dolphin's blood
Probably you've already had listened something about the documentary "The Cove" especially now that it has won the Academy Award, if it's not the case you really should inquire about it.
The Cove is a 2009 American documentary film that describes the annual killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama, in Japan from an anti-dolphin hunting campaigner's point of view. The film highlights that the number of dolphins killed is several times greater than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic, and claims that 23,000 dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year. The migrating dolphins are herded into a hidden cove where they are netted and killed by means of spears and knives over the side of small fishing boats, a particularly horrible (at least from my point of view) way of fishing called "Dolphin drive hunting". I had already spoken about this kind of fishing in the post entitled "The sea became bloody red.. the horrible bloodshed of the pilot whales in the Fær Øer islands." about the pilot whales slauthering that occurs each year in the Fær Øer islands.
The film was directed by former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos. Among the challenges faced by the production team were the tight security and inaccessibility of the cove therefore portions were filmed secretly during 2007 using underwater microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks.

The documentary won, amongst many other prizes the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. On March 7, 2010 The Cove won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.

The movie follows former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry's quest to document the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. In the 1960s, O'Barry captured and trained the five wild dolphins who would play the role of "Flipper" in the hit television series of the same name. This pop-culture phenomenon fueled widespread public adoration of dolphins. It was when one of the dolphins committed a form of suicide in his arms, closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate, that O'Barry came to see it as a curse not a blessing. Days later, he found himself off the island of Bimini, attempting to cut a hole in the sea pen in order to set free a captured dolphin. Since then O'Barry has worked tirelessly as an advocate on behalf of dolphins around the world.

After meeting with O'Barry, Psihoyos and his crew travel to the small town of Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonder of the dolphins and whales that swim off their coast. But in an isolated cove, surrounded by wire and "Keep Out" signs, some of the townspeople hide a stark reality. It is here that the fisherman of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and a dubious and artificial market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in the unseen killing. Local volunteers physically block attempts by outsiders to view the dolphin killing taking place in the cove. Together with the Oceanic Preservation Society, Psihoyos, O'Barry, and the crew utilizes special tactics and embark on a mission to get the truth on what is really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone else in the world.



For further info you can:

• Visit the official website of the movie: THECOVEMOVIE.COM
• Read an interesting article from National Geographic about the consequencies of The Cove movie winning the 2010 Oscar.
• View the official HD Trailer of the movie:
• View a new video about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji: