"The Cove"

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started watching "The Cove", because it starts out with Richard O'Barry wearing a surgical mask talking really fast, talking about people following him, driving crazy!  I was thinking, this is the guy that trained "Flipper"?   The style of the film reminded me of "Mission Impossible." After watching the heart wrenching documentary, I was stunned as to how this needless slaughter of dolphins could be taking place in a small, isolated cove in Taiji, Japan.

The filmmakers took a one sided approach to try and expose what is happening and say that it is a cruel slaughter of an intelligent mammal.  They said that the dolphins meat has such a high concentration of mercury that it is unfit to eat, so they are labeling it whale meat to make a profit. 

Japan says that what they are doing is legal, so why the big cover-up if they feel that what they are doing is moral and ethical.  Louie Psihoyos had to use night vision cameras and sneak past the tight security.  If they are caught they said they could go to prison.

The style of the film was described by a reviewer at the New York Times as "Trojan horse."  I think that what they meant is all around you can see pictures of dolphins, sculptures, cute dolphin boat rides, dolphin shows, etc. portraying the cute smiling dolphin; and little do the Japanese know that in a hidden cove this beloved mammal is being slaughtered by the thousands, right under their noses.  Just like the Trojan's they only see the horse.

I thought it was ironic that Richard O'Barry spent part of his life capturing dolphins and training them, and now the other half trying to save them from that.  I feel that after the Japanese watch this film some will probably think why are these people trying to change what has been going on for years and others will have the same reaction that I did having had grew up with "Flipper."

I think that this film plays on a noble cause, and the question I keep asking myself is, should dolphins and other animals have rights?  I think so.