Save Japan Dolphins

The Cove Exposed - Issue 6

2009-11-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Dolphin Savers:

I need your help immediately to broaden and strengthen our campaign to save dolphins and stop the mercury poisoning in Japan.

-- Your support has kept the dolphin-killers in check so far. Two months into the dolphin-killing season, the "non-slaughter" policy on the primary dolphin species remains in place.

-- Shocking new evidence has just been reported by a credible Japanese journalist on the dangerously high mercury levels in residents of Taiji as a direct result of their consumption of poison dolphin and whale meat.

-- The first public showing of The Cove in Japan was a huge success, stunning Japanese citizens who have had no idea the dolphin slaughter was taking place. Take a look at some of the quotes from viewers, as reported in the New York Times:

"I was outraged. The footage of the sea turning bloody red was especially shocking," said Yukiko Ishizawa, 18, a college student in Tokyo.

"I'm never going to eat dolphin again now that I know about the pollution," said Mutsuko Otake, 55, a Tokyo homemaker. "But I was most shocked to find out that Japan has been getting a bad name, without us knowing about it," she added.

I need to get back to Japan as quickly as possible, and we need to mobilize the entire Save Japan Dolphins Team to help. We need to spread the word about the Japanese-language version of The Cove. We need to keep the pressure on to end the killing, and press the new Japanese Minister of Consumer Affairs and Food Safety to immediately prohibit sale of poisonous dolphin meat.

This is not going to be cheap or easy, but we must do it. I hope you will give as generously as possible to keep this remarkable progress moving forward.

Click here to make a tax-deductible donation:

We have to act quickly. While the Taiji fishermen have not slaughtered any small dolphins for meat this season, they have continued to kill pilot whales and occasionally other species. These species have even more mercury than the smaller dolphins. And of course, as I have been telling the media, pilot whales ARE dolphins.

We must also get copies of the Japanese version of The Cove to government contacts, leaders of grassroots environmental and food safety groups, and the Japanese media. When enough people in Japan see this movie, the pressure to end the killing will be overwhelming.

For every donation of $100 or more, your name will be printed on a beautiful new nobori banner, which says "Save Japan's Dolphins" in Japanese. I plan on flying this banner wherever I go in Japan on this trip so the Japanese can see that your worldwide support travels with me.

I promise to keep you posted on key developments as I return to Japan, and thank you in advance for your continued commitment and contributions.

We need to keep the pressure on and get the truth out to stop the killing!

Thank you,

Ric O'Barry

Special Offers:

One of our friends made me a beautiful nobori (a traditional Japanese banner) that says in Japanese "Save Japan's Dolphins." I'm bringing it with me to Japan to display all over the country. Now, you can help me by donating $100 to the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition effort in Japan. And I will have your name attached to the nobori as a sponsor of my trip. Please help us with a generous donation.

The upcoming issue of Earth Island Journal features exclusive interviews and in-depth stories about the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign. For a donation of $35 (or $100 for nobori sponsors), we will send you a copy of the Journal, and a full year's subscription: Click here to donate.

Take Action:

While the Taiji fishermen are not slaughtering any dolphins right now, thanks to our efforts, they are still catching pilot whales for meat and catching bottlenose dolphins for the international dolphin trafficking industry. We need to get them to stop all killing of dolphins and whales, and we need the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to take action to stop their members from subsidizing the slaughter of dolphins by buying choice specimens at outrageous prices for captivity and "swim-with-dolphins" programs. Go to our website and take action: http://www.savejapandolphins.org.

Want to do more? Get your friends and family to go to the website, and host a fundraising party for the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

More Publicity for Our Campaign:

A great CNN story tells of suppression efforts in Japan during the screening of The Cove at the Tokyo International Film Festival:

And go here to read the full New York Times story giving the reaction of ordinary Japanese who saw The Cove.

You can also hear my recent interview on BBC Radio.

The truth about toxic Dolphin meat is finally being reported by mainstream Japanese media. Go here to read an English translation of this shocking article.

“The Cove” Screened in Tokyo

2009-10-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

by Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

The Tokyo International Film Festival tried very hard to bury “The Cove” Movie, but I think their efforts backfired on them. By trying to keep the media away from the film and the audience, they made the story much bigger than it might have been.

“The Cove”, as you know, was originally passed over by the Festival board in favor of much safer, non-controversial movies, such as Disney’s “Oceans” movie, which opened the Festival. However, thanks to pressure from the US, including our friend actor Ben Stiller and the Festival’s Jury President Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Festival relented and agreed to screen “The Cove.” This was the first screening of “The Cove” in Japan where the general public could buy tickets.

The Festival then scheduled the screening in the morning on a workday, but “The Cove” sold out within an hour of tickets being made available! The Festival refused to schedule a second screening to accommodate the many who could not get tickets (including, incidentally, the town Council of Taiji). The audience actually applauded at the end of the film – one critic said it was the ONLY film where the audience applauded during the Festival.

The many reporters and camera operators who showed up were told by the Festival not to ask questions and not to interview filmgoers. They were allowed only briefly into the auditorium during a short question & answer session with Director Louie Psihoyos. Then they were apparently kicked off the property!

A great CNN story tells this sad tale of suppression:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2009/10/21/lah.japan.dolphin.cove.cnn?iref=videosearch

And here is a New York Times story giving the reaction of ordinary Japanese who saw “The Cove”. So often, we only hear from government officials or the fishermen who kill the dolphins. Clearly, we are on the right track in getting “The Cove” out to the public in Japan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/world/asia/23dolphin.html

Louie was the real hero of the day. He and his crew worked long and hard on putting together an excellent dub in Japanese of “The Cove.”

He also decided he would go to Tokyo personally to screen “The Cove” and answer questions. He was risking arrest, but felt he had to go to present his film and to talk with the Japanese. Fortunately, there was no arrest, and the screening went very well indeed. While several of the protagonists (including the Taiji mayor and the gentleman known in the film as “Private Space”) were in the room, none spoke, and Louie fielded questions like a pro. Generally, the questions were all pretty supportive, and even questions that could have been very hostile were asked in a polite manner.

Special thanks are owed to our Coalition team in Japan, including David Kubiak, Michael Bailey, Kyoko Tanaka, and to the amazing work done by Louie Psihoyos of OPS and Carl Clifton of The Works.

What happens now? This is the big question.

There is some interest after the screening from some Japanese distributors, so a wider audience may see “The Cove” in theaters.

I’m convinced we need, when appropriate, to get it out to the Japanese people in many ways – online, as DVDs, and in special screenings that our campaign pays for around cities in Japan. “The Cove” is a powerful statement and getting it out will go a long way towards ending the killing of dolphins and whales. But it will take a lot of money to get it out and seen in Japan.

Louie, acting on a suggestion by my son Lincoln, offered to screen “The Cove” in Taiji for the town Council and the people, but has not received any reply. Lincoln and I are working on following up for a screening in Taiji. Louie further generously offered to give the profits from “The Cove” screenings in Japan to the town of Taiji if they agreed to stop killing dolphins. “The Cove” also opens this coming Friday, October 23rd, in Europe.

There are many other things we need to do for the campaign beyond the movie, too. We need to continue to get the word out about mercury contamination, and help conduct more research on the dolphin fishery and the health threat it represents to the people of Japan. We need to push the Japanese media especially to look into the mercury issue.

I plan to go back to Japan soon, to continue to keep the pressure on and bring reporters and TV cameras with me. We have been willing to work from the beginning with the people of Taiji to encourage tourism and dolphin-watching as a replacement for killing and capturing dolphins, but they need to know we will not go away until this issue gets solved.

Your support has helped us enormously during these hectic days! Please consider giving a donation to help me and the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition crew go back to Japan and Taiji:

Click Here to Donate

Thanks again for all your support!

Broom, Australia Reverses Suspension of Sister-City Tie w/ Taiji, Japan

2009-10-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

Help Needed.

The Broome Shire Council has voted to reverse its suspension of its sister-city relationship with the town of Taiji due to the slaughter of dolphins. While their new resolution includes some language recommending “alternative economic opportunities similar to those that have seen Broome flourish through tourism and promotion of its natural marine resources and landscape beauty", it is unlikely the fishermen of Taiji will accept such support in exchange for stopping the slaughter of dolphins (including pilot whales).

This is a dangerous and misguided step, and we must fight against it. If the Broome Council sincerely desires to support the people of Taiji, how can it condone the distribution and sale of mercury-laden dolphin meat to the people of Japan, including many schoolchildren?

We urge you to continue sending letters to the Broome Shire Council to end support for the Taiji dolphin slaughter. You can take action here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/609044984?z00m=19796850

9,000 letters have flooded into Broome in the past 2 days urging the Council to hold on to its brave position. They should not give in to the intense pressure from the Japanese government and the city of Taiji. Too much is at stake.

Keep up the pressure by sending letters at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/609044984?z00m=19796850

Read the article at:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20091015a4.html

Check our blog for latest updates at:

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/blog.html

Thanks for your help. We need to keep the pressure on and not give in to the counter pressure coming from Japan.

Ric O’Barry & David Phillips
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

The Cove Exposed - Issue 5

2009-10-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends of Dolphins:

The fishermen in Taiji released 70 bottlenose dolphins in September, and our team from Save Japan Dolphins was there to film it – you will likely see this footage soon. The fishermen are still killing pilot whales (apparently reasoning that they can get away with killing “whales,” but not “dolphins”). I have been telling the international media over and over again: “Pilot whales ARE dolphins, and they have the highest levels of mercury of any species tested.”

We have accomplished much, but we still have a long way to go.

Photo © Mark J. Palmer

Join Me in TAIJI

Next week, on October 21st, one of the most important milestones will take place in our campaign: The Cove movie will be screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Director Louie Psihoyos and some of our friends from Hollywood are planning to attend.

As you know, the film festival originally did not want to screen The Cove, despite the theme of the festival being the environment. (They even are boasting of a green carpet, instead of a red carpet!) But international pressure, including the efforts of comedian Ben Stiller and others, changed their collective minds. The Cove was added at the last moment, but for a screening at 10:30 AM on a Tuesday – hardly an auspicious time, especially in Japan where virtually everyone has a very rigid work schedule.

But, thanks to your help and the help of our grassroots friends in Japan, I’m pleased to say that the screening is now sold out!

(However, we have just learned that the Taiji fishermen are calling the theater and the Film Festival demanding that the screening be canceled. They may mount a protest outside the theater or even try to block the entrance.)

Working together, we can indeed make monumental changes. I believed that when I first started this campaign with the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition in 2003, and I believe it now.

Here’s one gesture I really appreciated: The students of Darien School in Connecticut held a bake sale to help the dolphins, donating $309 (that’s a lot of brownies!) to our Save Japan Dolphins campaign. They want to help educate and mobilize high school students across the country for the dolphins. This is the kind of grassroots dedication that is dearest to my heart.

I’ve received e-mails from around the world: Singapore, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Poland, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, and more.

We believe the Tokyo screening of The Cove, which is being dubbed into Japanese by Louie and the Oceanic Preservation Society crew, will be a major step in getting the word out in Japan about mercury poisoning and the slaughter of dolphins and whales.

Your support has been key to our efforts, and I hope you take pride in our small but important accomplishments we have made so far to stop the slaughter. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are great! I really appreciate all the e-mails and the donations.

Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

P.S. our progress would be entirely impossible without the actions and donations that you are making.

Click to Donate

ACT NOW!

Tell Broome Shire not to Back Down! Until recently, Broome, Australia was the sister-city of Taiji, Japan. Broome cut ties with the remote fishing village after seeing the feature documentary The Cove, which exposed Taiji’s role in the yearly slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the shores of Japan. Broome took a courageous stand.

Now, under intense pressure from the Japanese government, the Shire Council of Broome is considering reversing its position. Don't let them do it!

Our sources indicate that the suspension is a key reason why the dolphin kills have been halted. If the Shire Council reverses, the killing is likely to resume. We need your help today!

Sign the Petition: Our Facebook petition is now up to 350,000 sign-ons. We are pushing for 1 million signatures by December 1st. Please sign it, and get your family, friends and neighbors to sign it too!

If you are in Europe, The Cove movie opens in many theaters on October 23rd. The DVD is scheduled to be released in the US in December.

VISIT OUR SUPPORTERS ONLINE!

Help the Dolphins: Ecojoia, run by the dynamic sister/brother team of Julia and Ry Hawley, is producing our official Save Japan Dolphins campaign t-shirts, hats and jewelry. They are generously sharing their profits with our campaign. Please visit their website: ecojoia.com.

Wear Fine Art for Dolphins: A lovely lady, diver and jewelry designer, Temple St. Clair is offering beautiful gold dolphin pendants and rings, with 40% of the sales going to support Save Japan Dolphins. Visit her website at: templestclair.com.

LEARN MORE

Australia 60 Minutes recently joined Ric in Taiji.

Ric’s Facebook Chat: At the end of his recent trip to Taiji, Ric conducted a Facebook chat. You can hear his answers to many of your questions.

Campaign in the UK: The UK Telegraph ran a feature story in their magazine about The Cove movie and our campaign. Author Mick Brown traveled with Ric and the Save Japan Dolphins team to Taiji.

Back Issues:

The Cove Exposed, issue #4 - 9/22/09
The Cove Exposed, issue #3 - 9/1/09
The Cove Exposed, issue #2 - 8/31/09
The Cove Exposed, issue #1 - 8/25/09

An Urgent Alert for Dolphins

2009-10-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Dear Friends of Dolphins:

I’m in London now, promoting the opening of The Cove movie here.

But I need your help to stop the Broome Shire Council from backing down from their courageous action in suspending their sister-city relationship with the town of Taiji.

Broome’s Shire Council voted to cut ties with the remote fishing village after seeing the feature documentary “The Cove,” which exposed Taiji’s role in the yearly slaughter of more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises off the shores of Japan. I personally thanked Broome for this action.

Now, under intense pressure from the Japanese government, the Shire Council of Broome is considering reversing its position. Don't let them do it! http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFQGz/zJVq/bSq13

Our sources indicate that the suspension is a key reason why the dolphin kills have been halted. If the Shire Council reverses, the killing is likely to resume. We need your help today as the hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Australia! http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFQGz/zJVq/bSq13

We were able to stop the dolphin slaughter at least temporarily -- but we must keep the pressure on!

Tell Broome: Stand strong against dolphin slaughter! http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AFQGz/zJVq/bSq13

Goodbye (for now) to Taiji

2009-09-29T01:27:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

This morning I went “on patrol”, driving around Taiji to make sure the local fishermen know that we are still around and still watching.

I was very pleased with what I saw – which was nothing. Not only was the Cove empty of any dolphins, there were also no signs of any activity to set up the dolphin hunt – for example, nets used to close off the Cove once the dolphins are driven in were not set in place ready to be deployed. All the dolphin drive boats depicted in “The Cove” Movie were tied up at the docks. There was no activity at the Fishermen’s Union.

Yesterday afternoon, it rained very hard, along with a strong wind – we are just at the end of the typhoon season here in Japan. But today dawned very calm – perfect dolphin hunting weather!

But because we are here, a whole team of activists from the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, the fishermen are laying low and the dolphins are free in the wild ocean offshore.

As I mentioned before, I have to leave today to attend another film festival in Hamburg, Germany, and help promote “The Cove” Movie, which opens in Europe on October 23rd. But a German film crew is heading here for ten days. By the time they leave, the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition Team and I hope to be back here again.

We just learned that “The Cove” Movie will be screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday morning at 10:30AM, October 21st. Not a very auspicious time for a film screening! But we are working with our Japan contacts to see that we get lots of tickets sold. And the Japanese media will be there – likely making the screening into a very big story.

As you know, the Film Festival, despite having a focus on environmental issues this year (they will be using a green carpet instead of a red carpet!), at first was going to reject showing “The Cove.” Actor Ben Stiller and other friends from Hollywood stepped into the breach, demanding that the Tokyo Film Festival not give in to government pressure from the Japan Fisheries Agency.

I need your support to come back to Japan and go “on patrol” in Taiji again in a month. It is an exhausting schedule, and Japan is very expensive to travel to and stay in. Your donations make my work and the work of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition possible.

Click Here to Donate

Thanks for all your help! I’ll be back online soon with further installments of this Blog. Please keep checking this website for updates and actions you can take to save Japan’s dolphins.

This morning, yesterday’s storm started clearing away around the hills of Taiji, but the dolphin drive hunts are still on hold as the fishermen stay in port despite the good weather.
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

Ric O’Barry kicks back as the train leaves the Taiji station. His next port of call: The Hamburg Film Festival.
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

Final Rounds on a Rainy Day

2009-09-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry Campaign Director Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Our friends from the media left yesterday and today, preparing stories that will soon be around the world via the Internet.

We spent the morning going “on patrol,” as I call it. Basically I drive around Taiji, making sure the fishermen know we are there, watching.

I don’t want to cause an incident – it is enough for me to show my face and my camera, and the local fishermen think twice about going out and killing dolphins.

We drove past the Fishermen’s Union office, where yesterday the meat from a Minke whale was sold to the public, but today, a Monday, all was silent. However, I’m sure they knew we were there.

Our Italian friend Pio from Sky TV managed last week to track down the main warehouse in town where the dolphin meat is kept. We drove slowly past that place, as well. (Pio sent in a Japanese friend to buy some pilot whale meat – he plans to test it to determine the species and the mercury content for his Sky TV story.) We then drove past the harbor where the 13 boats are kept that participate in the dolphin drives.

We did not even get out of the car (except at the Cove itself, where we took some photos). It is enough that the fishermen know we are there, and we are watching.

It’s like the old Woody Allen joke: 90% of success in life consists of showing up. I always make a point of showing up in places around the world where dolphin friends are needed. I don’t always know what I am going to do, but the situation there usually suggests what I should be doing. Show up, and the rest is easy.

Our friends from Australia 60 Minutes managed to get the mayor of Taiji to sit down this morning for their cameras (something my son Lincoln and I were unable to do). But the mayor, once on camera, simply said “no comment” to any questions. I think it will make an interesting program!

Tomorrow, we will be leaving Taiji, but a German TV crew is coming to Taiji the next day for ten days. And the fishermen will know that we are still watching.

Your donation will help us reach more people in Japan and bring them the truth their government has hidden from them. Your support keeps us going. We really appreciate it.

Click Here to Donate

Ric O’Barry on the shore of the Cove, with no dolphin drive fishery for several days.
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

One of the beautiful temples in the hills above Taiji.
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

The hills surrounding Taiji during a tropical storm.
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

Interviews and Minke Whales

2009-09-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Every time I come here, the beauty of Taiji and the surrounding coastline always impresses me. It really is a wonderful place.

As I told the TV cameras today during our tour of Taiji, this place is like Norman Rockwell meets Norman Bates. The coastline, the rugged mountains dotted with shrines, and the small towns surround you (along with places like the notorious Taiji Whale Museum that supposedly celebrates whales). But just around the corner, the sea runs red with blood.

But not today, thankfully. Again, no dolphins were herded into the Cove. Every day we are here saves the lives of a few more dolphins.

The TV crews had a confrontation today with the Taiji fishermen – I stayed out of it. We heard that the Fishermen’s Union were promoting a special sale today of the meat of Minke whales from Japan’s so-called scientific research permits. So, Sky TV and Australia 60 Minutes went over to buy whale meat. But the reporters were kicked out, and the fishermen refused to talk to the media.

If you have seen “The Cove”, you will remember the character I dubbed Private Space. He was there today yelling at the cameras and reporters to leave the property. The police came and, professional as always, they asked for passports and politely instructed that the Fishermen’s Union property was off limits to the media.

It was the fishermen who called the police this time, but in the past, when I have suffered from harassment by the fishermen, the police have helped me and instructed the fishermen to stop. As I said, the police of Wakayama Prefecture are always polite and professional to us, and I repeatedly have thanked them for that.

In my interview today with the Australia 60 Minutes crew, I told them of the importance of Broome, the town in Australia, which suspended its sister-city relationship with Taiji. Before that event, the Japanese media had ignored the story of “The Cove.” Now, the Japanese media is all over the story.

But we hear that the Broome Shire Council may reconsider their decision, so we need to tell the people of Broome to support the original decision – Broome can renew its sister-city link with Taiji when the killing stops.

We continue to work to build pressure on Japan and within Japan to finally end the killing of whales and dolphins. Japan has just had a historic change in government, where the ruling political party was kicked out of office after 50+ years of control of the government. The new party in charge does not have the ties to the rural whaling towns that the former party had.

This might not mean dramatic changes in the governing of Japan, but some observers feel the Japanese public may be ready for real change here. It remains to be seen if the new government (which will take months to get organized) moves to end the subsidized killing of whales and dolphins that have generated so much international opposition. Whaling, and now the slaughter of dolphins, really is an international stain on Japan.

Please help us, at this critical time, work to stop the slaughter. Your donation will help us reach more people in Japan and bring them the truth their recent government has hidden from them.

Click Here to Donate

Thank you for your support. We are making good progress in ending the slaughter of dolphins and whales once and for all. Your support is very much appreciated by me personally and by all our team in the Save Japan Dolphin Coalition.

Ric O’Barry is interviewed by Australia 60 Minutes, the biggest news show in Australia, overlooking the Cove.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer.

Ric O’Barry is interviewed for a story for Sky TV.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer.

The police talk to media folks and our translator Kiki across the street from the Taiji Fishermen’s Union, where Minke whale meat is on sale.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer.

Police talk to representatives of the Taiji Fishermen’s Union. Underneath the roof, meat from Minke whales is being sold to local people by the Union. The gentleman in the black t-shirt is known to us as Private Space from the movie, “The Cove.”
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer.

In Taiji and the Cove is Empty

2009-09-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Today, we had a long train ride from Tokyo to Katsura, a small resort and tuna fishing town just ten minutes from Taiji.

I rented a car and drove over to our hotel in Taiji, but first stopped at sunset to see the Cove.

And, I’m happy to say, the Cove, made infamous by “The Cove” movie, was empty. I did not have to go back to my hotel in town thinking about any dolphins that would die at dawn tomorrow.

We have what we call a “stand-off”. As long as we are here (and we are pretty sure that fishermen spotted us at the Cove this evening and phoned the news to others), the fishermen won’t go out and kill any dolphins, including pilot whales. The drive hunt is suspended for the time being.

We will be here for a few days more. During that time, we will prevent the deaths of hundreds of dolphins. The day after we leave, a German TV news crew will arrive to spend 10 days here at Taiji. We hope the fishermen will stay in the harbor and drop any plans for catching dolphins for the next two weeks, because we are present.

It isn’t practical for us to be down here all the time during the 6-month dolphin slaughter season. But we will try to be here when we hear of dolphins being herded into shore. And we will continue to ask the media to come with us.

I’m here now with several members of our Save Japan Dolphins Coalition team, as well as Australia 60 Minutes, Sky TV, and a Brazilian TV news team. Tomorrow, I will take them around to see Taiji – the Cove, of course, the Taiji Whale Museum, the harbor with the dolphin drive fishing boats, and the Fishermen’s Union building. We will be looking for dolphin meat in stores.

Let us hope that we find none.

Please consider a donation to our cause. It costs us thousands of dollars to put people in the field here in Japan, one of the most expensive countries in the world. We don’t waste your dollars on fancy publications, esoteric research, or a highly paid bureaucracy. We spend money to get results, and so far it has been money well spent!

Click Here to Donate

Thank you for your support. We are making progress in ending the slaughter of dolphins and whales once and for all.

The Cove in Taiji is empty of dolphins when we arrive at sunset on Sept. 26th — we hope it stays that way.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer

First Time: Media in Japan See “The Cove”

2009-09-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

There was standing room only tonight at the screening of “The Cove” movie, the first public showing in Japan!

Our team of folks working in Japan on this issue did a tremendous job pulling together an excellent program. We had more than 250 journalists from Japan and around the world, plus many Japanese non-governmental organization representatives there as well. The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in downtown Tokyo had to open up a second room in their library to accommodate the overflow crowd.

I stood and watched as the crowd was rapt during the screening. There were chuckles at the jokes, and the Japanese subtitles, supplied by the efforts of Louie Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society, were first rate.

And of course, many were stunned by the footage of the actual dolphin killing. Afterwards, I received a very warm round of applause.

I then officiated at a ceremony giving a plaque to Mr. Junichiro Yamashita, who was the real hero of “The Cove” movie. He stopped the serving of poisoned dolphin meat in Taiji, and for that the community has shunned him. But one day, Japan will recognize his brave efforts in speaking out against the serving of contaminated dolphin meat. People from around the world at screenings of “The Cove” have told me how much they admire his efforts, and so his award came from the people of the world.

I answered many questions there this evening about the dolphin hunts and mercury contamination, and I feel very very good about the event.

Only a couple of years ago, I went around to major news media in Tokyo with my Japanese friends, pleading with reporters to cover the story of the Taiji dolphin slaughter. Many reporters told us that they thought it was a very interesting story, but they knew their editors would not run the story. They did not want to upset the Japanese government, and so the media colluded with the government to hide the dolphin slaughter and the dangers of mercury-contaminated dolphin meat.

Only the Japan Times has written stories about mercury in dolphin meat, and I publicly thanked them, while urging other media representatives there to test dolphin and whale meat themselves (as the Japan Times has done).

Someone asked me whether I thought the people of Taiji would continue releasing dolphins. I answered that dolphins are still be slaughtered in Taiji. Many pilot whales were slaughtered just in this past week – as many as 40. The fishermen are trying to dodge the issue by calling the pilot whales “whales” instead of “dolphins.” But, I noted, pilot whale meat has even higher levels of mercury than the other dolphins. Of course, pilot whales are dolphins – the Taiji hunt kills no real whales.

But I think the days of this story being buried are numbered. Because of the work of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, “The Cove” movie was made. Because of “The Cove” movie, millions are learning about the tragedy in Taiji. And now the Japanese people are going to learn the truth.

Tomorrow, we head to Taiji with several team members of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition. We will be traveling with representatives of 60 Minutes Australia and Sky TV.

You can support my efforts and the efforts of the Save Japan Dolphins Team here in Japan by going to:

Click Here to Donate

Your support helps drive this campaign. We could not get where we are without your support! We are, I think, closing in on stopping the dolphin hunt. But we have a ways to go yet.

Ric O’Barry returns to Japan.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer

Ric O’Barry answers questions about the dolphin slaughter at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer

Ric O’Barry holds up frozen pilot whale meat from Taiji while answering questions about “The Cove” movie at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer

Ric O’Barry addresses the crowd in Tokyo.
Photo copyright Mark J. Palmer

Back in Tokyo Again

2009-09-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

By Richard OBarry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Im back in Japan again, this time to screen the incredible Cove Movie in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondents Club tomorrow night as well as checking in on what is happening in Taiji.

It has been a grueling month. After leaving Japan last month, I traveled to France, where Director Luc Besson, who is distributing The Cove in France, joined me for several days of promotion for the film.

As soon as I got home to Miami, I had to go through two days of depositions with hostile attorneys for a lawsuit filed against me and Earth Island Institute by Ocean World of the Dominican Republic, an aquarium that tried to import 12 dolphins from Taiji. The Dominican Republic government turned them down, but we are now being sued for $350 million for interfering with their business. Of course, the lawyers don't expect to win they only want to harass me and Earth Island..

Tomorrow should be an extraordinary scene, as we will have both foreign and Japanese media representatives plus many folks from non-governmental organizations working on food health issues, contamination and pollution, and similar environmental problems here in Japan. The fact that dolphin and whale meat is laden with mercury should resonate..

Please help us win this fight. The fishermen in Taiji released 70 dolphins a week ago an unprecedented event. But they are still killing pilot whales, somehow thinking they can get away with killing whales even though pilot whales are not really whales at all; they are just big dolphins. Your support for our efforts is truly appreciated.

You can donate by going to: http://www.savejapandolphins.org/donate.php

Many thanks to all of you who have donated so far! We are here in Japan with several team members from the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition and organizations in Japan, working together to Save Japans Dolphins Now!

The Cove Exposed

2009-09-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends of Dolphins:

Your donations and letters to the Japanese Ambassador are saving dolphins every day.

Ric back on the shore of the Cove in Japan, with attendant international media.

Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer.

Join Me in Taiji.

We were in Taiji on the first day of the scheduled resumption of the killing season, and the media glare we brought helped ensure that no dolphins were killed. Days later after we had left they captured about 100 dolphins and 50 pilot whales. While the pilot whales were regrettably killed, something unprecedented happened: the fishermen chose about 30 dolphins for captivity, but then released 70 back to freedom, instead of killing them. The fishermen admitted that they did so because of worldwide public outcry, from you and me and many thousands like us.

As I write this, a new “non-slaughter” policy is in effect, which is a truly amazing development. But it is fragile, temporary, and unless we intensify the pressure, we will not be able to hold it. Our presence in Taiji increases the odds that the killing won’t start again.

So I wanted to alert you that our team and I are now on our way back to Japan for the first ever screening of The Cove to Japanese media, and then for further investigations in Taiji.

The schedule is grueling, but it is worth it because we are having a huge positive effect. You are keeping a dedicated team of activists on the ground to confront the largest killing of dolphins in the world, and every donation goes right to support campaign work at this crucial time. Thanks for your help – large or small.

Click Here to Donate

Meanwhile, The Tokyo Int’l Film Festival had rejected showing The Cove movie earlier this year, but, due to our generating international attention, they have now reversed themselves and added The Cove to their line-up in October.

Tokyo Film Festival jury chief Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu stated: "I hope this film is exposed and as many others, and that it will generate some emotions and reflections that trigger discussions and conscience in order to put an end to the horrifying dolphin slaughter, which is now going on." I am amazed and heartened by Mr. Inarritu’s support.

This is all tremendous news, but we can’t let up.

We are fighting against a government policy that has never wavered in its support for killing dolphins and whales. And they are allowing mercury-laden dolphin meat to be given to their children in school lunches. This will not be easily changed.

Follow my Blog as I return to Tokyo to screen The Cove, expose the still secret slaughter, and hold the line in Taiji. Help give what you can to make the cove safe for dolphins – a goal that is becoming more reachable by the day.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION

Please sign the petition; we now have more than a quarter million signatures!

PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN!

Your continued support is very important to our continuing work. It is very expensive to work in Japan and get the word out to the Japanese media about Taiji. We have had some major breakthroughs, but we still have a long way to go.

Follow my Blog in Japan, where I will screen The Cove for the first time for the Japanese media on Sept. 25^th.

Associated Press and Mainichi Daily News broke the good news about the release, for the first time, of dolphins in Taiji.

The Japan Times covered the decision to screen The Cove at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival in October.

Link to the Take-Part Site for further steps you can take:

takepart.com/thecove.

Act Now!

A key part of our action plan is to use international pressure and diplomacy. Please visit our website to find out how you can help.

Thank you,

Ric O'Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

P.S. our progress would be entirely impossible without the actions and donations that you are making.

Taiji Dolphin Slaughter Suspension Still in Effect

2009-09-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

UPDATED!

Taiji Dolphin Slaughter Suspension Still in Effect
-- 70 Captured Dolphins Released

The town of Taiji, Japan, focus of the largest dolphin slaughter in the world as documented in the movie The Cove, has released about 70 captured dolphins without slaughtering any.

Reports indicate initiation of a new “non-slaughter” policy in response to intense international pressure to end the practice of killing dolphins and selling contaminated dolphin meat to Japanese consumers.

Normally, the hunting season begins on Sept. 1st, lasting through March. This year no captures or slaughter took place while a team led by Richard O’Barry for Save Japan Dolphins Coalition and media from around the world converged on Taiji.

Once the team left Taiji for Tokyo, reports surfaced that boats proceeded to capture “about 100” bottlenose dolphins (the same kind of dolphin featured in the 1960’s television show Flipper) and 50 pilot whales on Sept. 9th.

A representative of the Taiji Town Council indicated that some of the bottlenose dolphins would be retained to sell on the world market to aquariums.

However, in a new twist, instead of butchering the remaining dolphins for sale of meat, the town released 70 dolphins not selected for captivity over the weekend. Save Japan Dolphin Coalition representatives were on hand to confirm and film the release.

Richard O’Barry, Campaign Director of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, stated: “The world is watching. We call on the Japanese Fisheries Minister and the Taiji Town Council to make the non-slaughter policy permanent, and revoke all permits allowing capture and slaughter.”

He continued: “Stopping the slaughter and sale of dolphins would be a major victory for the people of Japan who risk eating mercury-laced dolphin meat, and of course the millions of people who have seen The Cove.”

David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute stated: “Our Coalition staff has been in Japan since day one of this year’s planned dolphin kill, and we’re staying. We will expand vigilance in Taiji, and bring greater world attention to ensure that the dolphins are released and that the slaughter does not resume. Ric O’Barry and his team will be back in Japan next week, joining our people who witnessed the release this weekend in Taiji.”

Added Dr. Elliot Katz, President of In Defense of Animals (IDA): “On behalf of the members of IDA, I congratulate Ric O’Barry, the members of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, and Cove Director Louie Psihoyos for taking us one step closer to ending the slaughter of these sensitive and intelligent animals.”

Stated Andy Ottaway, Director of Campaign Whale of the UK: “We are delighted that the fishermen of Taiji have suspended the dolphin slaughters for now. However, the slaughter of other whales is equally cruel and unacceptable and also carries the same toxic health threat to the people that eat them. We urge the fishermen of Taiji to show compassion and respect for international concern by releasing pilot whales and other cetaceans unharmed in the future.”

For further information, go to:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Ocean Care, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

Taiji Dolphin Slaughter Suspended

2009-09-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

-- Captured Dolphins to be Released
-- Japanese Gov’t and Taiji City Council Considering Next Steps

By Ric O’Barry and the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

The town of Taiji, Japan, focus of the largest dolphin slaughter in the world as documented in the movie The Cove, has announced it will release captured dolphins without slaughtering any.

Reports indicate initiation of a new “non-slaughter” policy in response to intense international pressure to end the practice of killing dolphins and selling contaminated dolphin meat to Japanese consumers.

Normally, the hunting season begins on Sept. 1st, lasting through March. This year no captures or slaughter took place while a team led by Richard O’Barry for Save Japan Dolphins Coalition and media from around the world converged on Taiji.

Once the team left Taiji for Tokyo, reports surfaced that boats proceeded to capture “about 100” bottlenose dolphins (the same kind of dolphin featured in the 1960’s television show Flipper) and 50 pilot whales.

A representative of the Taiji Town Council indicated that some of the bottlenose dolphins would be retained to sell on the world market to aquariums.

However, in a new twist, instead of butchering the remaining dolphins for sale of meat, the town announced its intention to release any dolphins not selected for captivity.

Richard O’Barry, Campaign Director of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, stated: “The world is watching. We call on the Japanese Fisheries Minister and the Taiji Town Council to make the non-slaughter policy permanent, and revoke all permits allowing capture and slaughter.”

He continued: “Stopping the slaughter and sale of dolphins would be a major victory for the people of Japan who risk eating mercury-laced dolphin meat, and of course the millions of people who have seen The Cove.”

David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute stated: “Our Coalition staff has been in Japan since day one of this year’s planned dolphin kill, and we’re staying. We will expand vigilance in Taiji, and bring greater world attention to ensure that the dolphins are released and that the slaughter does not resume”.

Added Dr. Elliot Katz, President of In Defense of Animals (IDA): “On behalf of the members of IDA, I congratulate Ric O’Barry, the members of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, and Cove Director Louie Psihoyos for taking us one step closer to ending the slaughter of these sensitive and intelligent animals.”

Stated Andy Ottaway, Director of Campaign Whale of the UK: “We are delighted that the fishermen of Taiji have suspended the dolphin slaughters for now. However, the slaughter of other whales is equally cruel and unacceptable and also carries the same toxic health threat to the people that eat them. We urge the fishermen of Taiji to show compassion and respect for international concern by releasing pilot whales and other cetaceans unharmed in the future.”

For further information, go to:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Ocean Care, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

Captivity in Japan and Goodbye for Now

2009-09-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry, Director Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

We spent the day today doing a most depressing, but necessary thing: Lincoln and I and our film crew went around to dolphinariums in Japan to expose the conditions under which beautiful, self-aware dolphins are kept in prison conditions.

Lincoln’s TV program is more than just about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji. He and I want to expose the abuse of dolphins in ways the public can understand. As I said in the film, The Cove, the dolphin’s smile is the most deceptive thing in nature. A dolphin can be lying dead, and it would still be “smiling.”

Japan has 50 dolphinariums, ranging from small pens to larger aquariums, but all of them are inadequate. You cannot take an intelligent animal that depends on sound and ranges for hundreds of sea miles and put it into a small concrete box.

We visited small sea pens in the harbors of Itou and Kamakura. These pens house a few dolphins, and people are charged up to $100 each for a “dolphin encounter.” The pens are open to the pollution that fills any harbor – diesel fuel in particular burns dolphins’ eyes and skin. They also receive the full force of motor noise as ships and yachts steam past them all day long. The mortality rate in these small pens is very very high. The Itou pen is called “Dolphin Fantasy.”

While I donned my sunglasses, a mask, and took off identifying clothing, I was still spotted by security guards who came to escort us while at the Riviera Blue Dolphin pen. Our cameras drew too much attention, I guess, although the security guards were very polite. But they kept a close eye on us until we filed onto our bus and left the area.

We also visited the Enoshima Aquarium in Kamakura, a new dolphinarium with many different tanks, but still too small. In one tank, we could see two Pacific white-sided dolphins had their dorsal fins bent over from swimming in circles in the same direction day after day. These and the other dolphins were separated from the ocean by a concrete wall – they could hear the waves of their home waters, but could not see out. These animals were collected in Taiji from the drive fishery there. Can you imagine what they felt being man-handled from the water while their families’ were butchered?

The public needs to know that behind the dolphin’s smile is an animal under high stress separated from its family, its home, and its physical needs. Lincoln and I hope our TV program will bring the truth out about these dolphin prisons.

I’m leaving Japan tomorrow, heading to France, where the great French Director Luc Besson has bought The Cove film and will promote it there. He told me he did not need the money, but he believes in The Cove and the message it brings to the world about the dirty secret of Taiji. Like many, having seen the movie, he wants to help in any way he can to get the secret out.

I’ll return soon to Japan – we have plans to screen The Cove for the first time publicly in Japan.

What did we accomplish on this trip?

We had a major breakthrough in the Japan media, as TV news covered the Taiji story for the first time. Not all the stories were accurate – too many tried to make us out as the villains beating up on the poor fishermen, when in fact we did nothing of the sort.

The mercury contamination of dolphin meat is the genie that has been let out of the bottle. For the first time, TV news in Japan announced the results of our testing of dolphin meat and the high levels of mercury found. There is no going back on that story; the people of Japan are even more conscious of food safety issues than people in the US are. Mercury is the Achilles heel of the dolphin hunt in Japan.

And we delayed the dolphin hunt, at least by 4 days, maybe longer. And we will be showing up again in Taiji with more media. And soon, I believe, media representatives will bring themselves to Taiji, too. The days when the people of Taiji could go and slaughter dolphins with impunity in the secret Cove are ending.

We documented the positive story of Mr. Ishii, and we documented the poor conditions of several Japanese dolphinariums.

I’m thrilled. Soon I will be on an airplane to Paris. This memorable trip will be over, but new trips are being planned as I write this.

The end of the dolphin slaughter is going to happen.

This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I sincerely thank you for joining us in spirit for this return to Taiji and Futo. We will keep you informed, of course, of our progress on this important issue. Please take action on our website and help us end the killing of dolphins and whales in Japan once and for all.

Please help us by donating:

Click Here to Donate

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

Dolphin Fantasy pen in the harbor of Itou, Japan.
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Ric O’Barry and the TV camera crew in Itou harbor. Ric wears sunglasses and a mask to hide his identity."
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Japanese tourists in the dolphin pen of Riviera Dolphin Blue in Kamakura harbor, while Ric and camera crew watch from above. We were shortly escorted by security police."
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Ric and Lincoln O’Barry examine a tank at the Enoshima Aquarium in Kamakura."
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Ric and Lincoln O’Barry check out the large performing dolphin tank in the amphitheater of Enoshima Aquarium in Kamakura."
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"A small dolphin tank is separated from the sea by a concrete wall in the Enoshima Aquarium in Kamakura."

Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Dolphins are trained by withholding food from them — they perform because they go hungry if they don’t."
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

Ric O’Barry, wearing our Save Japan Dolphins Coalition hat, is going next to France to promote The Cove movie.
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

For the Spirits of the Dolphins

2009-09-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry, Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

We spent the morning with my friend Mr. Ishii, going out on his boat off Futo to see the beautiful coastline. It is still too early for any dolphins to be in these waters, so we saw none, but I always enjoy going out on the water, especially in such beautiful weather. And Mr. Ishii takes great pride in his boat and keeps it immaculate.

The wind kicked up today. Our film crew had been planning to head offshore to some small islands off Japan where a group of Japanese women run a swim-with-wild-dolphins program, very successfully combining the public’s fascination with dolphins while still respecting the dolphins’ freedom and spirit. But another typhoon is moving towards the coast, and we simply don’t have the time to get caught offshore on the islands and lose time for filming when the water is churned up. Sadly, we will have to come back another time to tell that story.

Speaking of the dolphin spirits, the Japanese do worship their ancestors, and as a part of that have a small wooden post in honor of the dead dolphins they have killed. The fishermen will pray there, apologizing to the dolphin spirits and thanking them. It is a Buddhist memorial to those dolphins that have died. I am hopeful that the days of killing dolphins are at end here, and that thanking the wild dolphins for their presence can continue without the killing. Mr. Ishii is showing the way. He gave me some horrendous photographs he took back in the 1960’s of the Futo dolphin hunts. Many of them are simply too graphic for us to use. I can well understand why he quit the brutal hunt.

Tomorrow, we head back to Tokyo, stopping along the way for more shooting for Lincoln’s TV program.

Media interest in our trip has trailed off now, but I am still getting calls from people wanting interviews. Our journalists from the UK Telegraph and Le Monde of France left us to work on their stories.

I did a follow up interview with National Public Radio about my trip to Taiji, which you can find here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112588779

We have no word from Taiji about what is happening there, although our friend from Le Monde is heading down there tomorrow. We hope he will find the Cove still empty of any dolphins.

Please help us by donating:

Click Here to Donate

I’m still convinced that the hunt in Taiji for dolphins is on its last legs. First, The Cove movie caused a sensation in the US and Australia, and will shortly do so in Europe. Then the Broome Shire Council “divorced” Taiji, which we understand is the first time a sister-city relationship has been suspended. We plan to return and screen The Cove in Japan shortly, and that will likely be the death knell of dolphin hunting. Once the Japanese people learn the truth about mercury poisoning and the government cover-up for the dolphin hunters, the people will never allow their government to continue.

I believe that, and you are a big help in making that belief come true!

This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I sincerely thank you and ask you to join us in spirit for this return to Taiji and Futo.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

Ric O’Barry and Mr. Ishii are out on the ocean off Futo, Japan, where Ishii-san conducts whale- and dolphin-watching cruises from the same boat he used to hunt dolphins from.
Photograph by Mark J. Palmer

The dolphin kill in Futo, photographed by Mr. Ishii in the 1960’s.
Photograph by Mr. Izumi Ishii

The Buddhist memorial to the spirits of the dead dolphins at Futo.
Photograph by Mark J. Palmer

The Tears of a Dolphin

2009-09-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry, Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to Taiji. Our group had to move along to our next stop. We don’t have the money to stay in Japan for very long, and my son Lincoln’s TV production has a very specific purpose – to show what is good in Japan. It is important that this story get out, not only to the world, but to the Japanese people, as well.

So, on the morning of Sept. 4th, we had to leave the Cove behind, hoping that somehow, the publicity and international attention we’ve brought to this town in Japan will result in an end to the killing of dolphins. I don’t know whether we will be successful or not this time, but if we aren’t successful, I promise I will be back.

But I left knowing that as of the morning of the fourth day of the dolphin slaughter season, no dolphins died in Taiji. As I said, I’m hoping the killing ends. But we will keep an ear to the ground for rumors of new dolphin drives after we have left. And we have plans to return to Japan shortly.

You can see the worldwide Associated Press video of our trip to Taiji on the National Geographic website:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090903-dolphin-obarry-video-ap.html

After leaving Taiji, we drove all day for hours along the beautiful Japanese coastline, heading for another small town on the coast, which is also infamous among dolphin lovers – the town of Futo.

Futo too had a horrific dolphin drive fishery, and you have probably seen some of the footage of that dolphin slaughter on YouTube.

We came to meet a friend of ours, a man by the name of Ishii. Mr. Ishii was a sixth generation dolphin hunter in Futo. His family had been involved in the hunt for years. Mr. Ishii did his duty and killed many dolphins.

But, as he told Lincoln and I, he had a change of heart a few years ago. He said it was because of the cries and tears of the dolphins he killed. He could not stand it anymore. So he quit.

His story and my story are so similar. He thought of dolphins as fish to be caught, killed and eaten; I thought of dolphins as things to catch, train and hold in prison to do dumb tricks for the public. We both exploited dolphins without thinking very much about it.

But something happened to both of us. We both decided what we were doing to dolphins wasn’t right. And we both walked away from dolphin exploitation.

Today, I fight for dolphins to be left alone, free and wild, in the ocean where they belong. Ishii-san is fighting the same fight in Futo – he now runs a whale- and dolphin-watching operation for tourists on the same boat he used to hunt these same dolphins with on the ocean.

At first, his neighbors treated him very poorly. In Japan, you can be shunned if you do not conform, and Mr. Ishii felt that unexpressed anger and chilling silence all around him. It was very uncomfortable for several years.

But today, I’m happy to say, Mr. Ishii told us his neighbors were very happy now. Many of them who hunted dolphins -- and there were thousands of dolphins killed over the years in Futo, just as in Taiji – are now starting to realize that hunting dolphins is far harder than running a eco-tourism program. Many of the dolphin hunters are getting older.

In fact, dolphins have not been hunted out of Futo in 5 years. In 2004, only 15 dolphins were herded into Futo that whole year, all of which were caught alive for captive dolphin shows. (Mr. Ishii told me two died from the stress of the capture, a serious problem that the aquarium industry does not discuss with the public.) Since 2004, the dolphins passing offshore of Futo have been left alone.

So now it looks like Futo is finished as a dolphin-killing port in Japan. The conservative Japan Fisheries Agency, which is the real villain in Japan for whales and dolphins, still issues permits to Futo to slaughter dolphins, but the fishermen don’t use them. The Japanese people need to know this.

The story of Futo and Mr. Ishii has to be told all over the world. We do not want Futo to go back to killing dolphins again, and we do want whale- and dolphin-watching programs, that don’t disturb the marine mammals, to thrive.

There are good stories about Japan and dolphins. Futo is now “dolphin safe”, to borrow a phrase pioneered by my colleagues at Earth Island Institute.

Someday, Taiji will be dolphin safe, too!

As Mr. Ishii asked me today, “Ric, please try to spread the message throughout the world that the dolphin is the symbol of the ocean.”

Please help us by donating:

Click Here to Donate

We can turn around the Taiji situation and protect the dolphins. It will happen, with your continued support.

Expenses are very high in Japan. We estimate our week and a half trip will run about $3,000 per person or more.

But if we had not come here, we would not have gotten worldwide publicity on the plight of the dolphins of Taiji. If we had not come here, we would not have had a chance to see the infamous Cove free of dead dolphins, despite the start of the dolphin slaughter season 5 days ago. The Cove would have been red with blood, but we showed up. It’s almost like the old Woody Allen joke: Half the secret of success is just showing up!

Well, for years, I’ve been showing up. And now, the world is beginning to show up! That is why we will win this for the dolphins and for the people of Japan threatened by mercury poisoning.

This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I sincerely thank you and ask you to join us in spirit for this return to Taiji and Futo.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

"As we leave the Cove, it is still empty of any dolphins on Sept. 4, 2009."
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Ric gives one last interview before leaving the Cove on Sept. 4, 2009."
Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

Once the Cove at Futo ran red with the blood of dolphins, but no dolphins have been herded in here since 2005.

Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Lincoln O’Barry and Ric interview Mr. Ishii, a sixth generation dolphin hunter who gave up the chase and now runs dolphin-watching trips for tourists."

Photography copyright Mark J. Palmer

A Japanese Media Breakthrough

2009-09-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry, Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

I must admit I was a bit taken aback when we heard about the first story on television in Tokyo concerning my return to Taiji. It has been so hard to get any attention in Japan to this issue, because of the media blackout at the behest of the Japan Fisheries Agency.

Imagine my disappointment when I heard that this one TV station news two nights ago completely ignored the issue of mercury poisoning, and instead presented our story as a confrontation by Western activists, “who shut down the town of Taiji”, against the poor fishermen. None of the things I said that were good about Taiji were covered.

But last night I must say how delighted I was, because, for the FIRST TIME, the major TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting Service) prime time news program told the story about mercury contamination of dolphin meat from the dolphin slaughter at Taiji.

At last, the dirty secrets of the Cove are getting out to the public in Japan. And there are several other Japanese TV station news teams following me around Taiji, along with our international cast of journalists. This morning I spent hours doing TV interviews, an exhausting yet exhilarating process involving complicated translations.

This is a major break-through for Japan’s media and a major headache for the Japan Fisheries Agency and the dolphin killers.

Yesterday afternoon, we contacted the office of the Mayor of Taiji. He has, for too long, been a strong proponent of the dolphin slaughter. We offered to meet with him to talk about the issues in a strictly non-confrontational way. We even offered to present him with our questions ahead of time, so he could formulate his answers and have them ready for us. But the Mayor refused to meet with us; his office refused to give us their fax number so we could send our questions to him.

What does he have to hide?

But of course, there are many good stories on this trip, too. Today I met a young Japanese man at the Cove. He had seen the TV news the night before, where the leader of the Taiji Fisherman’s Union had yelled at me on camera and refused to allow me into a store to buy some bottled water and drinks. Now this young man drove 5 hours to Taiji and spent the night at the Cove sleeping in his car. He was looking for me. He made it plain that he did not agree with me on the dolphin killing, claiming it was Japanese culture, but that he did not want me to think that Japanese people were like the head of the Fisherman’s Union. He even offered to buy me water!

My colleague Mark Palmer from Earth Island Institute walked over to the Cove this morning in the rain and wind to shoot another in his series of photos of the Cove still empty of any dolphins. He was astonished to see a man in a blue slicker cleaning the beach! He was picking up trash, pieces of wood, and plastics littering the beach. Mark walked down and began picking up plastic trash himself around the beach to help. It was a simple gesture of respect: respect for the beautiful Taiji beach, respect for the whales and dolphins and other sea animals that could be harmed by the plastics and pollution, and respect for the Japanese man, diligently cleaning this beach in the rain and wind.

I vowed to come back to Taiji, as I have for many years, to be here when the dolphin slaughter season began on Sept. 1st. And I am going to keep coming back. I can’t stay here for all six months of the killing season – Japan is too expensive, and we have very limited funds for the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition. But I will be here for as much time as I can and I will be back, bringing with me more journalists, camera crews, and celebrities to show the world what is happening in Taiji.

I want the world to focus on Taiji. I want the world to see what is right about Taiji and what is good about the people of Japan. But the people of Japan have to make their government end the slaughter of dolphins and whales.

So far, on Sept. 3rd, another day has gone by without any dolphin drive hunt taking place. I am hoping the Japan Fisheries Agency shuts down this dolphin slaughter permanently.

Please help us by donating:

Click Here to Donate

By very simple acts of kindness and dedication, we can stop the slaughter of dolphins and whales in Japan and other places around the world. Our success will be incremental, and requires our patience and our passion.

Your support for our work is an inspiration to me and my friends here in Japan and all over the world.

This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I sincerely thank you and ask you to join us in spirit for this return to Taiji.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

"Ric O’Barry interviewed by Japanese TV in the back of our bus in Taiji."
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Kiki, our excellent and indespensible translator and coordinator in Japan, talks with Ric."
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

The Cove, still without any dolphins, for the third day in a row, Sept. 3, 2009.
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

A Confrontation and A Hopeful Sign

2009-09-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry, Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Today so far, we’ve visited the notorious Taiji Whaling Museum (in English, they call it the Taiji Whale Museum, but the Japanese is more descriptive: The Taiji Whaling Museum is the Japanese name. It is all about whaling and exploiting whales). We’ve also had a rather comical confrontation with the Japanese dolphin killing union. And I saw a sight that gives me great hope.

I was sickened by some of the tanks at the Taiji Whaling Museum – dolphins in very small sterile concrete and glass tanks with no environmental stimulation and nothing to do. Some of the whales and dolphins hung listlessly in the water, clearly in extremely stressful conditions. It is easy to feel sympathy for the thousands of dolphins that have been butchered under the most barbaric conditions imaginable, but I wonder if they are not the lucky ones who died quickly, rather than be brutally ripped away from their families to die a lingering death in a small tank. All to perform a few senseless “tricks” for the public’s amusement? I really can’t fathom that. I explained all this to the Japanese and international media who are with me for this tour of Taiji.

This is an aquarium that is represented by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA)! How can such a run-down, poorly constructed facility be tolerated? How can WAZA continue to allow such a place as the Taiji Whaling Museum, which supports the slaughter of dolphins by paying huge amounts of money to the dolphin killers for a handful of show dolphins while their families are slaughtered for meat?

You can go to our main page and take action against WAZA and the international dolphin trafficking industry that is supporting and financing the largest slaughter of dolphins on Earth. WAZA needs to police its own members, or it must remove them from its membership umbrella:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

We also had quite a confrontation. I had brought the international and Japanese media down to the harbor, showing them the drive fishery boats and the nets used by the dolphin killers to close off the Cove to keep the dolphins in. Lincoln, Mark Palmer and I decided to walk over to the local store in Taiji to get some water and other drinks for our journalists and film crew. The store is right across the street from the Fishermen’s Union office, and the head of the union ran out and blocked us from entering the store. He does not own the store, but he stood there in the doorway waving us off and shouting at us not to enter. Shortly, the cameras and reporters joined us, but he remained adamant, and the store even closed up, drawing its blinds, while we were outside trying to talk to him. He refused the interview requests from the TV stations there.

We backed off and left the area. There is no point in provoking the union and the angry dolphin killers. The Japanese and international media had a good look at how ugly the dolphin killers can get, and we hope they will tell this story to the world, and especially to the Japanese people.

The vast majority of Japanese people are absolutely wonderful. In Taiji, we have been repeatedly treated with kindness and hospitality. It is only 26 fishermen on 13 boats that engage in the slaughter of dolphins. We need to reach out and educate the Japanese people about the truth of the dolphin slaughter and the contamination of dolphin meat with mercury and other pollutants. Mercury poisoning is hurting the Japanese people, and they don’t even know it. We must save the dolphins AND save the Japanese children.

But there was one very important thing I also saw today that gives me great hope. It is a small thing, but it is still, I think, very important. I saw a small fishing boat come up to the dock and start unloading fish. Just a small thing, as I said, but the boat was tied up in front of the processing center used by the dolphin killers. And in all my years of coming to Taiji, day after day, this processing center, right next to the Fishermen’s Union office, has ONLY been used to process dead dolphins. Never fish.

Until today, Sept. 2nd, 2009, the second official day of the dolphin killing season. The Cove is still empty of any dolphins, and the processing center is now being used for fish, not dead dolphins.

Please help us by donating:

Click Here to Donate

Your donations and efforts are a key part of our success so far on this tour of Taiji. I am so grateful for your support.

We are here, on the ground in Taiji, and the dolphin killers know it. They are angry, but they are, nonetheless, using their facilities for fishing, not for dolphin killing.

This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I sincerely thank you and ask you to join us in spirit for this return to Taiji.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

"Ric O’Barry explains about the dolphin drive fishery and slaughter for the Japanese and international media in Taiji."
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"A store in Taiji closed and pulls down the blinds, rather than allow Ric O’Barry to enter to buy some drinks. The head of the Fisherman’s Union stood in the doorway and shouted at Ric, barring his entry."
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Ric and his son Lincoln O’Barry tell the Japanese and international media about the inadequacy of the dolphin tanks in the Taiji Whal(ing) Museum."
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Lincoln O’Barry and Ric examine a dolphin tank at the Taiji Whal(ing) Museum."
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"The COVE, depicted in the movie The Cove, is empty of dolphins on Sept. 2nd, the second day of the dolphin slaughter season."
Photograph Copyright Mark J. Palmer

September 1, 2009: A Good Day for Dolphins

2009-09-01T11:18:00.001-07:00

By Richard O’Barry, Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Today is September 1st, the first day of the dolphin slaughter season in Japan. But when I arrived today by bus from Kansai Airport with media representatives from all over the world, the notorious Cove from the movie was empty. There were no dolphin killers in sight.

So today is a very good day for dolphins!

I vowed to be back in Taiji when the dolphin killing began. I’ve often been here alone, or accompanied by a few environmentalists. Sometimes, I was able to talk a major media organization into sending someone.

But the people of Japan never learned about the dolphin slaughter, because none of the media in Japan (with the exception of the excellent Japan Times) have ever sent reporters to the killing Cove. Until today!

When I got off the bus at the Cove this afternoon, I was accompanied by my son Lincoln O’Barry’s film crew, a crew from Associated Press, Der Spiegel (the largest magazine in Germany), and the London Independent.

No dolphins and no dolphin killers. We would not have had a story at all, except for the police who were there, waiting all day for us to appear. Nine policemen came to talk to us.

Now, I have said this repeatedly: Unlike the Cove fishermen, the police from this Prefecture have always acted professionally, courteously, and fairly. I have never been mistreated or threatened by the police here. I think they are a microcosm of the people of Japan – the very people I am trying to reach about the dolphins!

And as I was talking with the police, as the international journalists stood around listening, suddenly a camera crew arrived from Japan! And then another! And then still another!

You have to understand that this is SO IMPORTANT. These TV stations have REFUSED to cover the story in Taiji for years and years. NOW, for the first time, they have shown up, with cameras rolling. The head policeman talking with me even said, for the cameras, that the police are not there to support the dolphin killing fishermen. We shook hands, and they left.

As I said, it is a good day for the dolphins. And for me personally, as the police only wanted to talk with me, not arrest me!

“The Cove” movie led to the strong action by the city of Broome, Australia, in suspending the sister-city relationship with Taiji. So now, the Japanese media are sitting up and listening, for the first time.

And I’m telling them: “This tour is to show journalists the GOOD things about Taiji.” You see, with “The Cove” movie out now, we don’t have to show the BAD things about Taiji. Soon, the whole world will know about the Taiji dolphin slaughter. And all Japanese will soon know about the cover-up that has occurred by the government in refusing to stop mercury-contaminated dolphin meat from being sold to unsuspecting Japanese consumers and children.

But Taiji can change this image of shame, if they want to. I will be telling them that the town of Nantucket used to be the capitol of the whale killing industry in the US. Now, it uses its history of whaling combined with whale-watching to market tourism very successfully. Whales and dolphins are worth more alive than dead. Taiji can do this, too. But the killing has to stop.

Yes, today was a good day for dolphins. Tomorrow, I will take journalists with me around town to show them Taiji. Tomorrow, too, I predict will be a good day for dolphins. Every day that we are here and the fishermen KNOW we are here, will likely mean no boats going out to round up dolphins for the killing Cove.

And because of “The Cove” movie, the dolphin killers must now fear hidden cameras and microphones, even when they THINK we are not here.

And soon the world spotlight from “The Cove” will shine a very bright light on Taiji.

Please help us by donating:

Click Here to Donate

Your donations and efforts are a key part of our success so far on this tour of Taiji. For the first time, thanks to your support, the secrets of Taiji are being told to the Japanese people by television. And thanks to your help and interest, I can go to Taiji with journalists around me and not fear arrest. This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I sincerely thank you and ask you to join us in spirit for this return to Taiji.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

"Ric back on the shore of the Cove in Japan, with attendant international media."

Photograph copyright by Mark J. Palmer

"Ric returns to the Cove on the first day of the dolphins killing season, to meet nine policemen and many Japanese TV cameras. "
Photograph copyright Mark J. Palmer

"A Good Day for Dolphins: The killing Cove is empty of dolphins on the first day of the slaughter, Sept. 1, 2009."
Photograph copyright by Mark J. Palmer

"Whale meat for sale in our hotel in Taiji."
Photograph copyright by Mark J. Palmer

September 1, 2009: Return to Japan

2009-08-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

By Richard O’Barry, Director
Save Japan Dolphins Coalition

Return to Taiji – On September 1st, the dolphin killing in Japan is scheduled to begin again in this town.

I’ve arrived in Kansai Airport on August 31st, one of the official entry ports for Japan, near the venerable city of Osaka. It was a long flight from Miami.

When we first decided to return to Japan and drive to Taiji, the “little town with the big secret” depicted in The Cove, I wasn’t sure if I could get into the country at all. Would the Japanese officials hassle me? Would they refuse me entry and put me on an airplane back to the US? Would they arrest me?

It was a big risk, but I vowed to be here for the opening of the dolphin slaughter season, come what may. Thousands of dolphins are destined to die, unless we continue our efforts to stop the killing NOW.

Fortunately, none of our fears happened. We of course had some back-up plans and phone numbers for Japanese lawyers, if the worst happened. And we had to contend with a small typhoon moving through Japan that delayed our flight an hour. But fortunately, I am here on the first leg of our return to Taiji.

With me are my son Lincoln O’Barry and a film crew. We are working on a TV series following up on the success of The Cove.

We also are hosting some additional media representatives, such as Associated Press. Since the release of The Cove in August in the US, the story of the dolphin slaughter is now big news throughout the world. The Cove, still being shown in a few theaters in the US, opens over the next two months in Europe.

Also with me is Mark Palmer of Earth Island Institute, one of the international member organizations of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition. Mark and I will be doing a regular blog while here in Japan.

We are not sure what we will find in Taiji over the next few days. The town on the coast is a four-hour drive from here. Again, will the local authorities try to arrest us when we arrive tomorrow? We really don’t know. It is likely that the tension in the town will be really high this time.

Just two weeks ago, the town of Broome, Australia, decided to suspend its sister-city ties with Taiji, until the dolphin killing stopped. This was tremendous news in Japan, and many national newspapers in that country, that have refused in the past to cover the dolphin slaughter, suddenly featured this brave action by the Broome Shire Council on their front pages! We feel very pleased that we have broken the conspiracy of silence that the Japanese media have held over dolphin and whale stories. We hope these kinds of actions and The Cove movie will bring the truth to the Japanese people. See our press release:

http://earthisland.org/marinemammal/index.php/immpreports/city-of-broome-australia-suspends-sister-city-tie-with-taiji-japan-over-dol/

But we are more than a little apprehensive about how the town will treat us.

What sustains us is the amazing support we are getting from people like you! Did you know that the Broome Shire Council got 5,000 e-mail messages in ONE DAY urging them to suspend their sister-city ties with Taiji until the dolphin killing stops? Our online petition to the Japanese Ambassador and President Barack Obama has already garnered 30,000 names and continues to rise.

We have had dozens of volunteers passing out our postcards (directing people to our Save Japan Dolphins website) at screenings of The Cove in 32 cities in the US over the past month. We have one activist who is donating her own fees this month from her yoga teaching classes to the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition. Our friends at Ecojoia, the outfit in Colorado that is printing our t-shirts and hats, is donating much of their profits to Save Japan Dolphins, too. The outpouring of support is almost overwhelming, showing how much the people of the world care about the dolphins in Japan.

I’m convinced, with your continued support, that we can stop the killing of dolphins and whales in Japan. There is no reason why it should continue.

For this trip to Taiji over the next week, we will be there – usually, the fishermen refuse to go out and catch dolphins on days when we are in town, so that in itself, if it still holds, may be one small victory.

Later this month, I plan to return to Japan to screen the Japanese version of The Cove.

Please help us by donating:

Click Here to Donate

Your donations and efforts on our behalf are what will sustain our momentum. This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I thank you and ask you to join us in spirit for this return to Taiji.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

"Arrival sign at the Kansai Airport, near Osaka, in Japan."
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Arrival signs at the Kansai Airport, near Osaka, in Japan."
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Ric O’Barry and his son, Lincoln O’Barry, arrive at Kansai Airport in Japan, near Osaka, on Ric’s first trip back to Japan since the premier of the film, The Cove."
Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

"Ric O’Barry relaxes after a long flight from Miami, Florida, to Osaka, Japan, on the first leg of his journey. "

Photo Copyright Mark J. Palmer

City of Broome, Australia, Suspends Sister-City Tie with Taiji, Japan, Over Dolphin Kill

2009-08-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

By Mark J. Palmer, Associate Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute

Ric O’Barry and Save Japan Dolphins Coalition Work to Save Dolphins, Thank Broome Shire Council

Ric O’Barry, Director of Save Japan Dolphins Coalition and star of the hit documentary “The Cove”, successfully convinced the Shire Council of Broome, Australia, to suspend its 1981 sister-city relationship with Taiji, Japan, the town where thousands of dolphins have been slaughtered in secret. Furthermore, the story has broken the silence of Japanese media about the dolphin slaughter, with stories about Broome action in NHK, Asahi Shimbun, and other Japanese outlets.

O’Barry later praised Shire President Graeme Campbell and the Council: “The action of the Shire of Broome have moved us a step closer to abolishing the world's largest dolphin slaughter.. Broome is on the right side of history. Thank you.”

The Coalition and O’Barry were quick to also praise the work of local environmental leaders in Australia, including Gary Adshead and the Western Australian newspaper for exposing the story of Taiji dolphin slaughter in Australia. More than fifty citizens in the Council chambers’ public gallery gave the Shire Council a standing ovation after the decision on Saturday, August 22nd. Thanks also to Louie Psihoyos, Director of “The Cove”, who also pushed the city of Broome to suspend their sister-city relationship.

Ric O’Barry recently toured Australia to promote the movie “The Cove”, about the efforts of O’Barry and Save Japan Dolphins Coalition to expose the largest dolphin slaughter in the world. “The Cove” is now opening in Australia, after receiving numerous awards at film festivals, including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and critical praise. While in Australia, O’Barry screened “The Cove” for the citizens of Broome and appealed directly to Shire President Campbell.

“We believe and hope the Japanese people, when they learn the dirty secrets of ‘The Cove’, will help stop the slaughter of dolphins and whales once and for all,” stated David Phillips, Executive Director of Earth Island Institute, a member of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

Added Dr. Elliot Katz, President of In Defense of Animals: “The action by the Broome Shire Council underscores their deep feelings from seeing the slaughter of these intelligent animals..”

“We thank the Broome Shire Council and all the thousands of people, from Australians to the world, who contacted them to protect the dolphins and whales of Japan,” said Susan Millward, Executive Director of the Animal Welfare Institute.

A team from Save Japan Dolphins Coalition will return to Taiji, Japan, shortly, in time for the annual dolphin slaughter, which is scheduled to begin September 1st.

Please help us fund our efforts to stop the dolphin slaughter NOW!

Click here to donate.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, OceanCare, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

“The Cove” Opening in US Theaters Now!

2009-08-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

By Mary Jo Rice
Associate Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute

“The Cove” movie, documenting the efforts of Ric O’Barry and the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition to stop the slaughter of dolphins and whales in Japan, is opening now throughout the US.

You can hear Ric O’Barry and “The Cove” Director Louie Psihoyos speaking on National Public Radio here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111366014

Please go see “The Cove,” and get your friends and family to see it too! You can find out where and when it is playing and buy advance tickets by visiting:

http://www.thecovemovie.com/festivals/upcoming_screenings.htm

Then, please urge people to take action:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org

The Cove opened in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles on Friday, July 31st. It opens in additional theaters in the US on August 7th (and some theaters will show it later in August).

“The Cove” is an intense and inspiring experience. It received standing ovations in various film festival circuit theaters. It received the Audience Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and has so far garnered further Audience Awards at the Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto, the Newport Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Sydney International Film Festival, Nantucket Film Festival, and Best of Festival Blue Ocean Film Festival, and best documentary at the Galway, Ireland, Film Festival. Film critics across the nation are giving “thumbs up” to “The Cove” movie and the dolphins.

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition wants to bring everybody who sees “The Cove” into our campaign to stop the slaughter. We believe this will be an historic opportunity for whales and dolphins. Your help is needed to make sure we can take advantage of the worldwide publicity and public support for dolphins and whales.

While planning continues for our efforts in Japan, we need to make sure that people who see “The Cove” go to our website and take action.

We encourage everyone who see “The Cove” to visit our website to take action for dolphins and whales.

If you would like to volunteer in your city to get the word out about “The Cove” and our campaign, please contact me at mjrice@earthisland.org .

Your help is greatly appreciated!

And, we need continuing funding to make sure “The Cove” is properly publicized and seen in Japan, and to help grassroots Japanese groups fight the slaughter of dolphins and whales. Please contribute if you can:

http://www.SaveJapanDolphins.org/donate.php

The Save Japan Dolphins Coalition consists of Earth Island Institute, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Ocean Care, In Defense of Animals, Campaign Whale, and the Animal Welfare Institute.

Notes from the International Whaling Commission Meeting in Madeira, June 22-26, 2009

2009-07-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

By Mark J. Palmer

Associate Director

International Marine Mammal Project

Earth Island Institute

In the end, the IWC did nothing, and that was good.

The major issues before the International Whaling Commission at the recent meeting in Madeira, Portugal, were basically put off for more discussion.

One major issue was a pending deal between Japan and the United States’ representative, William Hogarth (also Chairman of the IWC). For two long years, Chairman Hogarth and the Japanese and a few other countries had been in secret negotiations to “break the impasse” at the IWC between the whaling and anti-whaling nations.

However, these negotiations really boiled down to getting Japan off the hook for its illegal whaling activity – issuing itself “scientific permits” to kill thousands of whales annually in the Antarctic and North Pacific Oceans. The crux of the deal was that Japan would reduce the number of whales killed under scientific permit if they were granted commercial whaling in their own waters of minke whales (currently killed under scientific permit), effectively ending the 25-year-old moratorium in commercial whaling.

But, as several of us predicted, Japan in fact had no intention of reducing the number of whales they are currently killing and made it clear just before the IWC meeting that they would go on killing whales any way they could.

So, Chairman Hogarth did not get his deal, which was supposed to be finalized at this meeting. Instead, he got to bow out, making way for the Obama Administration to take over the US IWC delegation. While the Obama Administration continues to state it is opposed to commercial whaling and scientific permits, it also states it supports continued negotiations with Japan. It remains to be seen if President Obama changes his mind to confront the Japan Fisheries Agency, which continues to kill dolphins and whales more than any other country.

Environmentalists are deeply concerned about the continuation of these negotiations with Japan, which threaten to bring back commercial whaling. We will be watching further negotiations and urging the public to contact the Obama Administration to resist a compromise that harms whales and dolphins.

In addition to putting out a daily newsletter ECO at the IWC meeting, I also helped Charles Hambleton of the Oceanic Preservation Society to screen “The Cove” movie six times during the IWC meeting to representatives of environmental and animal welfare organizations from around the world. The response was excellent, and many groups pledged to help promote “The Cove” in theaters around the world this summer and fall.

To read the daily ECO for the IWC and past meetings, go to:

http://www.earthisland.org/immp/

It is our hope that President Obama and his staff understand that the public strongly supports efforts to end Japan’s rapacious killing of dolphins and whales. You can help by going to our Save Japan Dolphins Action Page:

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/takeaction.php

You can also help by supporting our Campaign. In addition to promoting “The Cove” around the world, we need funds to go back to Japan, to ensure that the people of Japan learn the truth about the cove and the dolphin slaughter. Please go to:

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/donate.php

PHOTOS

The island of Madeira, where the International Whaling Commission met in June 2009.

Opening ceremonies for the IWC. The sour looking gentleman sitting second from the left is IWC Chairman and Bush-appointee William Hogarth.

Whale specialist Dr. Roger Payne makes a point about the harm of whaling during a press conference at the IWC.

The Japanese Delegation at the IWC meeting. "The Cove" movie includes a blistering indictment of the delegation’s machinations at IWC meetings.

Environmental and animal welfare leaders meet at the IWC to discuss strategy, led by the Animal Welfare Institute’s DJ Schubert.

Charles Hambleton of Oceanic Preservation Society screens “The Cove” for environmental and animal welfare organization leaders during the IWC meeting.

A bottlenose dolphin breaks the surface during a whale-watching cruise off Madeira. The company is owned and run by the grandson of a former whaler.

Humane Society: Driving Dolphins to Despair

2009-05-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

In his blog, Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, slams the sickening slaughter of dolphins in Taiji.

He also states about "The Cove", "it deserves the widest possible audience here and in Japan."

Learn more.