An estimated 23,000 wild dolphins are killed every year in
Japan. In massive dolphin roundups, bottle-nosed dolphins are weeded
out to be sold and trained as show animals, while the rest are
harpooned en masse and—despite dangerously high levels of mercury
in their flesh—sold in supermarkets, often mislabeled as other
kinds of meat. There are no words to describe this sort of slaughter
that don’t pale in comparison to The Cove‘s footage, mercifully
brief, of the ocean churning red.
But The Cove, which centers on the Japanese whaling industry
(and in particular, one hidden cove in Taiji, Japan, in which thousands
of dolphins are slaughtered annually), is much more than another
“behind the scenes at the slaughterhouse” documentary. More than
anything—and even more than as a dismaying exposé of
modern-day dolphin hunting practices—The Cove demonstrates
how a group of well-funded activists, mostly Americans, harnessed all
the influence and high-tech gadgetry at their disposal to directly
challenge the traditions of another country.
The film’s impetus is provided by Richard O’Barry, a dolphin-rights
activist who was once a lead trainer on the show Flipper, and
who blames himself for contributing to the public’s fascination with
dolphins—to the idea that they’re smiley, cheerful little sea
clowns, happy to jump through hoops for our entertainment. O’Barry’s
20-year campaign to free captive dolphins and to raise awareness about
whaling practices leads him to Taiji, where whalers and local officials
collude in keeping the true nature of the dolphin industry a
secret.
The film’s objective is to get footage from the cove where Taiji’s
dolphin slaughter occurs—so O’Barry and his friends enlist the
help of divers, Hollywood set makers, and more to stage a guerilla
filming operation. They get their footage. It’s horrifying. It’s also
exhilarating, nerve wracking, thought provoking, moving, and inspiring.
In short, it’s everything a documentary should be.