The Cove is a new documentary that exposes the horrific flipside of Flipper. Shot in the historic town of Taiji, Japan -- which is the birthplace of modern day whaling methods -- the film follows activist Ric O'Barry in his crusade to save the 2,000+ dolphins that are captured and/or slaughtered in a remote cove there each year.
Before O'Barry became an activist he was an unwitting beneficiary of the dolphin trade. A one-time dolphin trainer (the mammals are closely related to whales), O'Barry first made a name for himself in the 1960s working on the Flipper TV series. "I feel somewhat responsible because it was the Flipper TV series that created this multi-billion dollar industry," says O'Barry, who older and wiser is appalled at the idea of dolphins in captivity in zoos and amusement parks around the globe. He now works for the Earth Island Institute, trying to save these wondrous creatures from this fate -- and worse.
His undercover work at the cove, exposing the atrocious practices of the Japanese fishing industry, caught the attention of former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, who directed the movie about O'Barry's work at the cove. Using high-tech hidden surveillance equipment, the duo were able to capture the covert activities at the well-guarded cove, that had up until now been hidden from world view. Even the Japanese dolphin industry it seems is aware that it must remain concealed if it is to continue.
At the end of the film, O'Barry storms the International Whaling Commission with footage from the cove that convinces many to disengage from the corrupt organization which sets whaling quotas which are intertwined with the issue of tolerance for Japans dolphin trade. For O'Barry, giving interviews in support of the film is the next step towards exposing the practices of those in the dolphin trade who are happy to perpetrate unmentionable cruelty and ply mercury laden dolphin flesh that in truth is too toxic for human consumption.
Fred Toepl: What were you feelings as you saw the results of your efforts in the film?
Ric O'Barry: I recognized at that point that The Cove is indeed the light at the end of the tunnel. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train. It's the sunshine. When this film gets out in Japan, before the Japanese people, you're going to see a lot more of that. I was thrown out of the room literally into the street but I was trying to bring attention to it. Everybody in that room is talking about 1000 whales in the southern ocean.
FT: While you were in the IWC room itself, a lot of people saw the video and you got some people to start changing.
ROB: Well, people in that room are not talking about the 23,000 whales that are being slaughtered in Japan. They're only talking about the 1000 in the southern ocean. That's what I was trying to do is bring attention to those 23,000. It's not even on the agenda. It's not discussed. So at that point, in fact today and tomorrow are the last two days of the International Whaling Commission meeting this year in Portugal and they're now talking about it as a result of that action. So that activism paid off big time and people are seeing The Cove movie at the IWC this year. So I think a lot of these countries in the Caribbean are going to drop their support for the Japanese government once they've seen this movie, once they've been exposed. The IWC's never been exposed before as the ship of fools that they really are. They're totally ineffective. It's a waste of money and a waste of time and nothing happens. That's been exposed for the first time.
FT: According to the film, Dominica was the first country to leave the IWC. That couldn't have been the only one as a result of your harrowing presentation at the IWC. Was it?
ROB: There will be others when this film is in theaters in those countries, in St. Lucia, in St. Vincent and all of these countries. I think they're going to be embarrassed and they're going to be exposed for basically prostituting themselves. You don't read about that. You don't see that. Nobody knows about that. Well, this film is going to break through all that and you're going to see all of these countries dropping their support for the Japanese government.
The movie is the activism. It is the activism and the more popular the movie becomes, the less popular harming dolphins and other whales is going to become. I must have done 25 interviews today and so many people have mentioned that they expect this to be nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary. If that happens, the Japanese government cannot deal with that kind of massive international PR nightmare, and it will shut down the cove finally, and may take whaling down with it.
FT: It also shows how activism can be effective. You might have some abstract idea of saving the dolphins, but this is a way to dramatically show results.
ROB: Well, when we were at Sundance, Sting came out of the audience and he became an activist. He said, "What can I do to help?" He'll be going back to Japan with me and he can get the media attention that I can't there. Also, a few days ago, I was at the film festival in Nantucket. By the way, I won the two top awards there as well. But Ben Stiller jumped out of the audience and said, "What can I do to help?" I said, "Come with me to Japan because you can get the media attention that I can't get." He's coming to Japan. So these people have become activists and I think we're going to see a lot more of that.
FT: Were you working full time in this cove area?
ROB: Well, I spend most of September through March there and I bring CNN, the BBC, anyone who will come. The film company was just one of many people I bring there. They came and they may never come back again. They'll move on to another film but I will go back there soon and that's where I spend my time and try to figure out what to do next. I don't really know what I'm doing or what I'm going to do next but I know that showing up is the most important. That's the first step. Show up and sometimes what you have to do is made known to you a few minutes before you do it. That's how I met these people, Louie Psihoyos who's made this film. He called and said, "Can I follow you around with my camera?" I said sure. He was there a few days later. So yeah, what I have to do is just go there and be there. Now it's gotten so dangerous I have to wear costumes.
FT: Like your medical masks?
ROB: Yeah, well, I've got wigs and I've got dresses and helmets to look like fisherman. I've got a lot of different disguises.
FT: How do you afford to commit yourself to this work?
ROB: Well, I work for Earth Island Institute in Berkeley, California, although I don't have to go to the office. I spend my time out -- "on the dolphin trail" they call it. So they pay me a salary. It's a full time job. People can get this information and take action by going to our website which is SaveJapanDolphins.org. People can actually do something at that website.
FT: Where else are problem areas besides this cove?
ROB: Well, Okinawa, Iki Island, but we want to stay focused on this one cove because when it does shut down, it will shut down, it will shut down for a reason. What is the reason? The reason is the product is contaminated. It's poison. Once that's established, you could take that into Okinawa and to Iki Island and to the Solomon Islands where there is a dolphin slaughter and to the Faroe Islands where there's a dolphin slaughter. I've been going there, and I'll be going back there again, so that work goes on, even though the film company will move on to another subject.
FT: What would you like to do after The Cove comes out?
ROB: Go back to Japan and finish the job. That's what I will do.
FT: When this inevitably happens, do you retire?
ROB: No. I mean, I'm going to be 70 my next birthday so I jumped off the cliff a long time ago. There's no turning back now. I might as well keep going until the trip is over. There's a lot of work to do. There's a lifetime of work there.
FT: Is there any reasonable argument for keeping captive dolphins for educational purposes for children?
ROB: No. No. No. It's very black and white for me. Captivity for dolphins is wrong. It's a question of ethics, not of science. The educational line is bogus. The proof of that is Japan. Japan has 50 dolphinariums, 50 places you can swim with them and see them. If you talk to them or talk to Sea World or Marineland or Seaquarium and say, "Why are you displaying dolphins?" They will tell you education and research. We only protect what we know. It sounds logical that we need to display dolphins so people can become sensitized and then they'll protect them. But you only have to look at Japan to see that that's a fallacy. 50 dolphin areas in Japan translates into hundreds and millions of people [that] have been educated. Yet when I'm in Taiji, I can't find one person who has been to these dolphinariums themselves. In fact, it is the captures that are going on in Taiji that are the economic underpinning of the dolphin slaughter. They get up to $148,000 for each [live] dolphin. At least that's what the ones that were sold to the Dominican Republic Ocean World, were sold for. So they're rewarding the fisherman for their bad behavior.
FT: You need only see the footage to see it's wrong.
ROB: Yeah, well that industry, that's a $2 billion a year profit industry in the U.S. alone. They don't spend one penny of that. $2 billion is a lot of money. They get that every 12 months. You'd think they would spend a few dollars to try and shut down the largest slaughter of dolphins in the world but they don't. They don't show up except to capture them and to collect dolphins for their swim programs.
FT: Does this go for all species though? Should we not keep any animal in captivity?
ROB: Well, look, I don't sit at the right hand side of God and have the answers to all these questions. I only know the dolphins. If you go to the L.A. Zoo and take a look at the snake exhibit, even a cold-blooded snake with a small brain is given more consideration than any dolphin in captivity. If you look at the dolphin, they're sound organic. That's their primary sense. Our primary sense is light. We're visually oriented, their primary sense is sonar, sound. They're in a concrete boxso captivity is more stressful for dolphins than it is for any other animal in the zoo. That's why the mortality rate is so high. So I don't think it has any value. It's not a form of positive education. It's a form of negative education, bad education.
FT: In the press you've done, have you had any antagonists trying to refute your claims?
ROB: Not yet but I think the captive industry will, when the movie comes out. Every action has a reaction and they're going to react to this because this movie's so powerful that when people see it, they're going to think twice before they buy a ticket. I'm telling people at that website I just gave you, we're asking the public to not buy a ticket. That's the solution to the problem. It's based on supply and demand like any other industry. If I'm wearing ivory, I'm the reason the elephant is becoming extinct, not the guy in the jungle with the shotgun. It's me, the consumer. So it is true with this multi-billion dollar dolphin captivity industry. The solution is don't buy a ticket.
I had a guy here a few minutes ago ask me, "Well, how about the kids in the inner city? They would never see a dolphin if we didn't have it in these places." That's true but these very same children are never going to see a snow leopard. So what do we do, go to the Himalayas and drag a snow leopard into the room for them?
FT: The film is so harrowing, is there a less graphic way to educate?
ROB: Well, I don't know. The real challenge was to make this entertaining and apparently the filmmakers were successful because it has received a standing ovation in every screening I've been to, including Sundance. People are laughing, they're crying, they're cheering and there's a standing ovation at the end and they say, "What can I do to help?" So apparently it is entertaining or they would have walked out. It's winning all the audience awards so apparently it is entertaining.
Before O'Barry became an activist he was an unwitting beneficiary of the dolphin trade. A one-time dolphin trainer (the mammals are closely related to whales), O'Barry first made a name for himself in the 1960s working on the Flipper TV series. "I feel somewhat responsible because it was the Flipper TV series that created this multi-billion dollar industry," says O'Barry, who older and wiser is appalled at the idea of dolphins in captivity in zoos and amusement parks around the globe. He now works for the Earth Island Institute, trying to save these wondrous creatures from this fate -- and worse.
His undercover work at the cove, exposing the atrocious practices of the Japanese fishing industry, caught the attention of former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, who directed the movie about O'Barry's work at the cove. Using high-tech hidden surveillance equipment, the duo were able to capture the covert activities at the well-guarded cove, that had up until now been hidden from world view. Even the Japanese dolphin industry it seems is aware that it must remain concealed if it is to continue.
At the end of the film, O'Barry storms the International Whaling Commission with footage from the cove that convinces many to disengage from the corrupt organization which sets whaling quotas which are intertwined with the issue of tolerance for Japans dolphin trade. For O'Barry, giving interviews in support of the film is the next step towards exposing the practices of those in the dolphin trade who are happy to perpetrate unmentionable cruelty and ply mercury laden dolphin flesh that in truth is too toxic for human consumption.
Fred Toepl: What were you feelings as you saw the results of your efforts in the film?
Ric O'Barry: I recognized at that point that The Cove is indeed the light at the end of the tunnel. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train. It's the sunshine. When this film gets out in Japan, before the Japanese people, you're going to see a lot more of that. I was thrown out of the room literally into the street but I was trying to bring attention to it. Everybody in that room is talking about 1000 whales in the southern ocean.
FT: While you were in the IWC room itself, a lot of people saw the video and you got some people to start changing.
ROB: Well, people in that room are not talking about the 23,000 whales that are being slaughtered in Japan. They're only talking about the 1000 in the southern ocean. That's what I was trying to do is bring attention to those 23,000. It's not even on the agenda. It's not discussed. So at that point, in fact today and tomorrow are the last two days of the International Whaling Commission meeting this year in Portugal and they're now talking about it as a result of that action. So that activism paid off big time and people are seeing The Cove movie at the IWC this year. So I think a lot of these countries in the Caribbean are going to drop their support for the Japanese government once they've seen this movie, once they've been exposed. The IWC's never been exposed before as the ship of fools that they really are. They're totally ineffective. It's a waste of money and a waste of time and nothing happens. That's been exposed for the first time.
FT: According to the film, Dominica was the first country to leave the IWC. That couldn't have been the only one as a result of your harrowing presentation at the IWC. Was it?
ROB: There will be others when this film is in theaters in those countries, in St. Lucia, in St. Vincent and all of these countries. I think they're going to be embarrassed and they're going to be exposed for basically prostituting themselves. You don't read about that. You don't see that. Nobody knows about that. Well, this film is going to break through all that and you're going to see all of these countries dropping their support for the Japanese government.
The movie is the activism. It is the activism and the more popular the movie becomes, the less popular harming dolphins and other whales is going to become. I must have done 25 interviews today and so many people have mentioned that they expect this to be nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary. If that happens, the Japanese government cannot deal with that kind of massive international PR nightmare, and it will shut down the cove finally, and may take whaling down with it.
FT: It also shows how activism can be effective. You might have some abstract idea of saving the dolphins, but this is a way to dramatically show results.
ROB: Well, when we were at Sundance, Sting came out of the audience and he became an activist. He said, "What can I do to help?" He'll be going back to Japan with me and he can get the media attention that I can't there. Also, a few days ago, I was at the film festival in Nantucket. By the way, I won the two top awards there as well. But Ben Stiller jumped out of the audience and said, "What can I do to help?" I said, "Come with me to Japan because you can get the media attention that I can't get." He's coming to Japan. So these people have become activists and I think we're going to see a lot more of that.
FT: Were you working full time in this cove area?
ROB: Well, I spend most of September through March there and I bring CNN, the BBC, anyone who will come. The film company was just one of many people I bring there. They came and they may never come back again. They'll move on to another film but I will go back there soon and that's where I spend my time and try to figure out what to do next. I don't really know what I'm doing or what I'm going to do next but I know that showing up is the most important. That's the first step. Show up and sometimes what you have to do is made known to you a few minutes before you do it. That's how I met these people, Louie Psihoyos who's made this film. He called and said, "Can I follow you around with my camera?" I said sure. He was there a few days later. So yeah, what I have to do is just go there and be there. Now it's gotten so dangerous I have to wear costumes.
FT: Like your medical masks?
ROB: Yeah, well, I've got wigs and I've got dresses and helmets to look like fisherman. I've got a lot of different disguises.
FT: How do you afford to commit yourself to this work?
ROB: Well, I work for Earth Island Institute in Berkeley, California, although I don't have to go to the office. I spend my time out -- "on the dolphin trail" they call it. So they pay me a salary. It's a full time job. People can get this information and take action by going to our website which is SaveJapanDolphins.org. People can actually do something at that website.
FT: Where else are problem areas besides this cove?
ROB: Well, Okinawa, Iki Island, but we want to stay focused on this one cove because when it does shut down, it will shut down, it will shut down for a reason. What is the reason? The reason is the product is contaminated. It's poison. Once that's established, you could take that into Okinawa and to Iki Island and to the Solomon Islands where there is a dolphin slaughter and to the Faroe Islands where there's a dolphin slaughter. I've been going there, and I'll be going back there again, so that work goes on, even though the film company will move on to another subject.
FT: What would you like to do after The Cove comes out?
ROB: Go back to Japan and finish the job. That's what I will do.
FT: When this inevitably happens, do you retire?
ROB: No. I mean, I'm going to be 70 my next birthday so I jumped off the cliff a long time ago. There's no turning back now. I might as well keep going until the trip is over. There's a lot of work to do. There's a lifetime of work there.
FT: Is there any reasonable argument for keeping captive dolphins for educational purposes for children?
ROB: No. No. No. It's very black and white for me. Captivity for dolphins is wrong. It's a question of ethics, not of science. The educational line is bogus. The proof of that is Japan. Japan has 50 dolphinariums, 50 places you can swim with them and see them. If you talk to them or talk to Sea World or Marineland or Seaquarium and say, "Why are you displaying dolphins?" They will tell you education and research. We only protect what we know. It sounds logical that we need to display dolphins so people can become sensitized and then they'll protect them. But you only have to look at Japan to see that that's a fallacy. 50 dolphin areas in Japan translates into hundreds and millions of people [that] have been educated. Yet when I'm in Taiji, I can't find one person who has been to these dolphinariums themselves. In fact, it is the captures that are going on in Taiji that are the economic underpinning of the dolphin slaughter. They get up to $148,000 for each [live] dolphin. At least that's what the ones that were sold to the Dominican Republic Ocean World, were sold for. So they're rewarding the fisherman for their bad behavior.
FT: You need only see the footage to see it's wrong.
ROB: Yeah, well that industry, that's a $2 billion a year profit industry in the U.S. alone. They don't spend one penny of that. $2 billion is a lot of money. They get that every 12 months. You'd think they would spend a few dollars to try and shut down the largest slaughter of dolphins in the world but they don't. They don't show up except to capture them and to collect dolphins for their swim programs.
FT: Does this go for all species though? Should we not keep any animal in captivity?
ROB: Well, look, I don't sit at the right hand side of God and have the answers to all these questions. I only know the dolphins. If you go to the L.A. Zoo and take a look at the snake exhibit, even a cold-blooded snake with a small brain is given more consideration than any dolphin in captivity. If you look at the dolphin, they're sound organic. That's their primary sense. Our primary sense is light. We're visually oriented, their primary sense is sonar, sound. They're in a concrete boxso captivity is more stressful for dolphins than it is for any other animal in the zoo. That's why the mortality rate is so high. So I don't think it has any value. It's not a form of positive education. It's a form of negative education, bad education.
FT: In the press you've done, have you had any antagonists trying to refute your claims?
ROB: Not yet but I think the captive industry will, when the movie comes out. Every action has a reaction and they're going to react to this because this movie's so powerful that when people see it, they're going to think twice before they buy a ticket. I'm telling people at that website I just gave you, we're asking the public to not buy a ticket. That's the solution to the problem. It's based on supply and demand like any other industry. If I'm wearing ivory, I'm the reason the elephant is becoming extinct, not the guy in the jungle with the shotgun. It's me, the consumer. So it is true with this multi-billion dollar dolphin captivity industry. The solution is don't buy a ticket.
I had a guy here a few minutes ago ask me, "Well, how about the kids in the inner city? They would never see a dolphin if we didn't have it in these places." That's true but these very same children are never going to see a snow leopard. So what do we do, go to the Himalayas and drag a snow leopard into the room for them?
FT: The film is so harrowing, is there a less graphic way to educate?
ROB: Well, I don't know. The real challenge was to make this entertaining and apparently the filmmakers were successful because it has received a standing ovation in every screening I've been to, including Sundance. People are laughing, they're crying, they're cheering and there's a standing ovation at the end and they say, "What can I do to help?" So apparently it is entertaining or they would have walked out. It's winning all the audience awards so apparently it is entertaining.
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
Anyway, Mr. O'Barry reports:
http://ecoworldly.com/2009/09/01/dolphin-slaughter-in-taijis-cove-suspended/
That the slaughter was 'suspended' this year due, it seems, to the extensive press coverage. Hopefully the suspension becomes permanent and we can get on to other issues
Shark Finning
Reef destruction
Whaling in general
Overfishing
Invasive Species
Plastic pollutants
etc
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-090901-1.html