Thanks to ‘wrong way’ for your comment. I agree that the antagonism that has developed between foreign pro-dolphin activists and Japanese people generally is very regrettable for all kinds of reasons, not least of all the dolphins. I hope we can find a way to work together on behalf of dolphins.

I never thought about that as being torture, but according to Ric O’Barry, the thing that inspired him to start activism in the first place was his beloved dolphin committing suicide in his presence. Of course, he tried freeing a few dolphins here and there, but Americans treated him much like the Japanese are treating him, with hostility because it’s culturally okay in America to go to Sea World and watch dolphins doing flips. So, instead of handling the American dolphin torture problem, he goes and harasses a bunch of fisherman, which is admits is a very small group of people, instead of actually helping the dolphins domestically.

In the end, this film is a direct attack on Japanese values, the ones that the Americans hate, to get a rise out of people. This movie is actually detracting from the real issue of dolphins dying and being tortured by humans. Even after they shut down the Cove, it won’t shut down the industry that wants to torture dolphins, the industry that O’Barry helped start.

In its aggressive efforts at getting people mad about the Japanese dolphins and the Japanese, this movie has failed to address the real problems, which will just be strengthened because all the attention is placed on a little cove in Japan.

There will always be a supply, when there is a demand, and the supply come from the Cove and a number of different places in the world, including Denmark and America. Ask O’Barry where they originally got the Flipper dolphins to torture. It surely wasn’t from Japan.

I’m beginning to think these animal rights activists really have no interest in saving the dolphins, as they seem more interested in looking like heroes and getting their 15 minutes of fame rather than addressing the real issue. Along the way, they’ve recruited the racist public to zealously go after the Japanese for being dolphin killers. Racists make strange bedfellows, and judging by the comments all over the internet, they have already taken over this heartbreaking issue of dolphin slaughter and torture, and now it’s a we hate the Japanese issue.

Sad…

Thanks for the comment ‘Abetterplace’
Yes – cruelty is definitely the biggest issue here. As much as I might criticize The Cove for lack of cultural sensitivity, the slaughter of dolphins IS cruel and horrible. The dolphins are self aware creatures with strong family bonds. To kill them en masse is not much different from killing humans in a similar way. It really needs to stop – and that is precisely the reason that it was such a shame that The Cove missed the opportunity to reach out and connect with and inspire Japanese people to act.

As for your question about the few who eat dolphins. No – there is no necessity to kill dolphins. The income for the fishermen comes primarily from the live sales, and in this modern age, Taiji residents have access to plenty of food despite not being able to grow produce locally. In previous attempts to stop dolphin slaughters in the ’80s and ’90s in other villages, fishermen and the government claimed that these were ‘culls’ – a way to keep down the number of dolphins, who supposedly competed with the fishermen for fish. Fishermen may actually believe this – but there is little scientific evidence to support that claim. I have also read that due to lack of market value for the dolphin meat, the hunts nearly died out…except that in the early 2000s the live trade became very lucrative.

It is hard to imagine for us – but we have to remember that the fishermen do not ‘like’ dolphins like we do. I suspect they see them as fish, even though they know that dolphins breathe air. I believe that education would go a long way in helping to resolve the situation.

Thanks so much for your comments.

Another issue that begs understanding is that if most people and Japanese people alike, do not normally consume dolphin meat, is there a necessity to kill all the remaining dolphins which are not suitable for shows? Or, are the fishermen preventing dolphins which have gone through the experience from escaping and communicating to their kind about danger in the waters near the cove?

Thanks for the comment, Jono. It’s an important issue and The Cove did a great job of raising awareness. If I can help make it be a bit more palatable, that would make me feel like I’m making a difference.

Thanks Alexis!