Released: 2009
Director: Louie Psihoyos
Starring: Ric O’Barry, Louie Psihoyos
Nature’s greatest deception – one of the most important films you’ll ever see
Apart from watching movies and reading books I spend a lot of time as part of a dive club. I spend some time diving and some time helping out on the surface. The diving community is a fantastic one to be part of – people care about the plight of the oceans and the welfare of the amazing creatures which live in them.
It was through my dive club that I first learned about The Cove
The movie follows director Louie Psihoyos, former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry and a group of activists as they attempt to film the horrific slaughter which takes place each year between 1st September and 28th February.
Ric O’Barry worked as a dolphin handler in the entertainment industry for many years. He caught and trained the dolphins who starred as Flipper in the massively successful 1960s TV series. O’Barry’s feelings changed when one of his dolphin stars, Kathy, died in his arms. Or as O’Barry puts it – she committed suicide. Unlike humans dolphins need to make a conscious decision to breathe and one day Kathy simply chose not to do so any more and died. From that day on he has campaigned against dolphin captivity and their use in “sealife” centres and other tourist attractions.
It’s easy to understand why dolphin shows and swim-with dolphin experiences are so popular. Dolphins are beautiful creatures – their intelligence and abilities make them attractive to humans. They enjoy interacting with humans, don’t they? After all they are always smiling. As O’Barry points out the dolphin’s smile is “nature’s greatest deception” – the “smile” is a quirk of genetics, not a sign of pleasure. Yet it is this which convinces the public that they are not party to unspeakable cruelty when they visit captive dolphins.
Some of the facts exposed in the film are mind-blowing. An individual dolphin can earn its captors up to $1 million per year. One million dollars every year per dolphin, with thousands in captivity around the world. This is big business and it isn’t surprising that people want to protect their stake in it.
We also learn that dolphins travel about 40 miles a day in the wild. That’s roughly the distance from London to Reading. In captivity dolphins are confined to tanks of only a few metres and can’t swim freely.
According to the film, Taiji is the world’s largest supplier of dolphins to marine parks and swim with dolphin attractions worldwide. This particular hunt is for dolphins to sell, the killing and meat production is the secondary activity of the hunters. The fishermen use noise to confuse and frighten migrating dolphins and round them up in a confined area. The most attractive are then chosen by trainers for dolphin parks and shows, the rest are herded into a secluded area (the titular Cove) and slaughtered in a barbaric manner.
One scene which caused me to break down in tears showed dozens of people lining up at the water’s edge waiting to select their preferred animal for transportation to captivity. This part of the process is open to public view. It is the next step that the Japanese go to great lengths to hide from sight and which the film-makers were so desperate to record.
A crack team of experts is assembled including marine biologists, special effects geniuses, cinematographers, a clandestine operations specialist and champion freedivers. There is a degree of enjoyable tension as we wait to discover if this team can plant their hidden HD cameras or if the unmanned drone can get vital aerial shots. I didn’t expect this Ocean’s 11-like adventure element of the story and enjoyed it. Meeting the team and seeing their work came as a welcome relief from the horror of the narrative.
The team did get the footage they were after and it was worse than they had imagined it would be. Freediver Mandy-Rae Cruikshank is shown looking distraught several times and I’m sure I went through all those emotions with her. Some of the scenes are simply appalling – a baby dolphin is separated from its family and desperately seeks comfort, a seriously injured dolphin is shown floundering and looking for escape until it sinks under the water and is never seen again, while an aerial shot sees the water running deep red with the blood of murdered dolphins (it is estimated twenty three thousand are killed in Japan each year).
There are also explorations of the role of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and how the Japanese government buys influence and support on this body. The film gives information on the dangerous levels of mercury in dolphin meat and how little the general Japanese population knows about what happens in Taiji. All of these are interesting and informative strands but my main concern was always on the plight of the dolphins trapped in The Cove.
The main aim of the film-makers is to spread the word about the dolphin hunt and urge viewers to assert political pressure on the Japanese government and the international community to stop this horrific trade. One of the lines in the film which has stuck with me is “All social change comes from the passion of individuals”. In other words – we all have to do something.
Contrary to my expectations I wasn’t in tears at the end of the film. I was sad, I was angry and I felt a little sick. I sat in stunned silence contemplating my next steps for a couple of minutes. I knew that I had to spread the word about Taiji to as many people as possible. Please watch The Cove, visit the campaign website and do whatever you can to help.
The Cove
you know what I like about your site? I love how personal it is. Every post relates to you and we get to learn a little more of you every time.
Thanks for sharing again.
I aven’t seen this film but I am intrigued seeing at you rate it so highly
Thank you – I thought I’d try to stay detached from the reviews, but then realised I preferred to make things personal if that’s how I felt.
I first saw this film when I had a film night at the dive centre, I felt that it was a film that everyone should watch no matter how hard it is. The more people that watch The Cove the more the message will get out that this wrong. These dolphin shows are business, they don’t care about the dolphins or any other creature in these shows, all they care about is profit, but that where we can stop them. If people don’t go to the shows then that will hit their profits, so no demand then no dolphins shows. we can make the difference and show these horrible business [men that enough is enough. End Dolphin shows now, so next time you are on your holidays or on a day out think before you pay your money to see Dolphins jump through hoops. It so nicer to see dolphins in the wild where they belong free to roam the oceans, not posing for photos with humans or jumping through hoops. This is a hard hitting film with a strong message I urge everyone to see it and in September give a thought to the dolphins being hunted.
I saw this a while ago and as a fan of dolphins it was heartbreaking to watch! I commend Psihoyos for making this, it is hard to watch but like you said, very important viewing as it broadens my horizon about what’s happening in other parts of the world.
I completely forgot I wanted to see The Cove. Thanks for the reminder, and a great review.
Perhaps THE most important film you’ll ever see
I agree and it starts again on the 1st September.
You should try some dolphin meat. It taste very good, actually.
I’m sure it does. The high levels of mercury in it would end up killing me, so I think I’ll pass….
Don’t worry about mercury, it concentrates in certain parts so you’d be safe by just avoiding them. There’s no health issues related to mercury in and around Taiji, so that explains something. It’s like Fugu, famous for lethal poison.
Have you read this article from The Japan Times? There are serious concerns. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f2.html
I think I have. A few Japanese magazines & newspapers reported their own findings similar to Professor Endo’s in 2008. People are concerned about it because “mercury in fish” has been a hot topic since 1990s in Japan. The National Institute for Minamata Disease set up a town-wide health check to verify the mercury levels and their effect on health since June 2009. Some did show high mercury in their hair, but none were suffering from mercury poisoning. Town residents are healthy, and the life expectancy in Taiji is higher than most of the developed countries.
High mercury doesn’t necessarily lead to health problems. Other factors also affect health both in positive and negative ways. US FDA recently published a report on pros and cons of fish consumption, in which they found out that fish consumption exceeds negative effects of mercury. In their study, more mercury associated with higher IQ in children.
http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/FoodbornePathogensContaminants/Methylmercury/ucm088758.htm
There must be a threshhold, but the fact remains that the mercury level found out in Taiji is not causing health problems. More research is necessary to find out the threshhold, so the government have already begun a nation-wide monitoring on the effects of heavy metals on children’s health (Japan Eco & Child Study), similar to DEMOCOPHES in Europe but exceeds in the size & length of research (100,000 children & 12 years).
I think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this. The rounding up and capture of dolphins for transportation to a life in captivity is immoral. The methods that the fishermen use to kill the dolphins for meat is barbaric. The Cove does an excellent job of highlighting this dreadful hunt.
I do agree that the method of killing shown in The Cove is not humane and lacks respect for lives taken. Thankfully the method was gradually abandoned since 2000, and it was used only for a certain specie up 2007. It was most difficult to adopt a new method for striped dolphins as they struggle very hard. But since 2008, a modified method has been fully applied for all species. That’s why the official from the Fishery Agency was surprised to see the footage and asked “when did you take this footage?”.
http://www.cypress.ne.jp/jf-taiji/geiruihosatu.pdf
As to captivity, I do not really know if banning dolphins from aquariums helps the conservation of dolphins. When there were less dolphins in aquariums, there were less compassion towards dolphins. US and European countries have culled them as sports, pest control, meat, bait for other commercial fish, bycatch, and so on. Whale/Dolphin watching can not substitute aquariums as a whole as it’s much more expensive to go for many.
The Cove attracted world attention to Taiji, and the dolphin hunt – no doubt about that. But the way it shed light was unfair, and viewers are misinformed on many aspects. Professor Endo, who was featured in The Cove, for instance, sued the producers because they distorted the scientific facts he talked about.
And you are correct that we’re going to have to agree to disagree. Some people care about dolphins as being special. Others like me don’t see it that way, care about animals in general but eat some of them at the same time according to their habits, tradition, culture, or whatever you like to call it. Different people, different values.
Such an important documentary. Besides tackling an important issue what I love about The Cove is that it just simply doesn’t preach. The makers go about really risking their lives and show us everything that goes on which is heartening but important at the same time. Informative and Shocking at the same time.
I agree – I didn’t expect there to be a real sense of danger for the filmmakers. It made for a genuinely suspenseful watch.