Dolphin Hunting in Taiji, Japan, Years After The Cove

Several years ago I saw the movie The Cove, a film that depicted a horrific event that takes place every year in Taiji, Japan, where thousands of dolphins are slaughtered for meat. Since the public outcry of this event after the film was release, nothing much has changed. The dolphins are still hunted and killed, even though Ric O'Barry, the Oscar winning film maker who made The Cove began Dolphin Project, hopes to report to the world via blogs and social media what is happening in Taiji, make local contacts with people in Japan to spread the word about the hunt and the dangers of mercury-contaminated dolphin meat, and to let the Japanese government and the dolphin hunters know that the world is watching.

Cave Monitors undertake the above mentioned goals, and additionally engage in special projects such as obtaining dolphin meat to test for mercury and other pollutants. Dolphin hunts are killing fewer and fewer dolphins because the dolphin population is so depleted. Another goal of the Cove Monitors is to convince fishermen or town council members about possible alternatives to dolphin hunts, such as promoting eco-tourism, sustainable fishing, etc.

Cove Monitors are keeping the pressure on the dolphin hunters. Fewer dolphins are dying, but educating the Japanese and the rest of the world to this disgrace is an arduous task. Ric O"Barry vows to continue to document and video the slaughter until dolphin hunts end. It's sad that mankind is so slow to change, so unwilling to see how harmful dolphin hunting is both to these magnificent animals that are defenseless, and the humans who buy and eat mercury tainted dolphin meat to their people.

These people will do anything to continue dolphin hunting. The town of Taiji closed off a trail to the top of the overlook over the Cove with a locked gate, put up overnight, to keep out the Cove Monitors. The overlook is an emergency retreat to higher ground for the people of Taiji in case of a tsunami. Now the citizens of this town will have nowhere safe to go in case of emergency. All this to keep the world from knowing what is going on in their little corner of the world. Keep it up, Dolphin Project. The world needs to know what's going on.