What They Don't Want Us To Know

I recently watched the movie The Cove, and I won't soon forget it. I don't know if you'll find it in the theatre or not. It's a docu drama about an important subject, something the Japanese govenment has kept secret from it's people and the world, until now.

It took the bravery, and probably the guilt, of Ric O'Barry to expose the situation. In the city of Taiji, Japan, a city that would have you believe they love and adore dolphins, a dirty little secret has been exposed. There is a beautiful cove in Taiji, one that attracts hundreds of thousands of dolphins a year. They come to the cove because they think it is safe. In reality, most of them never return to the sea. They are either killed by the night fisherman, or captured and sent to entertainment facilities like Sea World.

Many years ago when Ric O'aerry was a young animal trainer, he began capturing and training dolphins for the TV show Flipper. Dolphins had never before been captured and used for entertainment. At the time O'Barry had no idea of the depth of a dolphins intelligence, or the human bond that could develop between dolphin and man. His exposure of what's happening in Taiji is partially redemption for what he did to this intelligent creatures many years ago.

Undeterred, O'Berry joins forsces with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and Oceanic Preservation Society, to get the truth of what's really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone. He recruits an "Oceans 11" style team of underwater sound and camera experts, special effects artists, marine explorers, and world class free divers who carry out an undercover operation to photograph the off limits cove. What he finds is local fisherman going at night to hunt, kill and capture dolphins, by the thousands. Many are sold to amusement parks, but most of the meat is sold to the Japanese public for human consumption. The problem is, the mercury level in the meat is 2000% higher than what the law allows, and the government does nothing to stop it.

The movie is a provacative mix of investigative journalism, eco adventure and arresting imagery that adds up to an urgent plea for hope. If you get a chance to see this movie, please do. It's got so much to say, and makes clear the greed of our culture, even at the risk of killing ourselves. You won't want to miss this powerful film.