The COVE

The Cove
This past week in class we watched The Cove... If you are looking for a good, happy movie to watch this is not it. The Cove shows the awful things that are done to Dolphins in Taiji, Japan. The fishermen of Taiji do not want people to know what they are doing. In the film, we see that anytime a non-fisherman comes by the slaughter site they will do anything to either get them out of there or cause a fight so people will be arrested. The fishermen know what they are doing is wrong however, they are in it for their own selfish needs because the dolphins are very profitable. In this film, activist  Ric O’Barry (trainer of the dolphin, Cathy from T.V. show “Flipper”) along with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos expose the truth behind these brutal dolphin slaughters.

From what we have learned in the movie, dolphins (or any animal) are not meant to be seen as entertainment but unfortunately they are. Dolphins are very smart animals and they travel up to 100 miles a day whether they playing or looking for food. Dolphins travel so much throughout the day is it physically and mentally not healthy for them to be caged up in a small aquarium tank for people’s entertainment. Here, you can read up on disturbing dolphin facts that Seaworld does not want you to know about. The most important in my eyes being number 3, captivity kills. According to this article, 62 dolphins have died at Seaworld in the past 10 years.

More recently, back in January (2016), a 33 year old dolphin named Betsy died after being transferred from SeaWorld in San Diego to Seaworld’s aquatic park in Orlando. Once Betsy arrived, she had stopped eating. People are beginning to wonder if the move caused her death, and from what I have learned from The Cove I believe it did. One thing I learned from The Cove is that dolphins choose when they breathe, it does not come natural. Dolphins can get depressed very easily and they can kill themselves. Living in captivity causes dolphins to be depressed and for some of them they would rather be dead than be in captivity.

In roughly about 4 months (September), another dolphin slaughter will take place. As you can see from the photo, from last September to February of this year the Taiji Cove Report is 111 dolphins captured, 121 back out at sea, and 652 slaughtered. Out of 884 dolphins, 73% of them have been slaughtered. 652 slaughters is seen as “low” however the fishermen are making up for less slaughters but putting more dolphins into captivity. A trained dolphin can be sold for up to $150,000 so in order for the fishermen to make a profit, they are capturing as many as they can.

I for one have never been to Seaworld but I know a lot of people who have. I’ve always wanted to swim with a dolphin but after seeing the Cove, I don’t want to swim with a dolphin who is being forced to live this lifestyle. It’s like the expression ‘putting yourself in their shoes’ but instead I’m putting myself in their flukes... I wouldn’t want to be dragging annoying people around either.  
All in good new, Seaworld just agreed to end their Orca program so hopefully the dolphins are next! You can do something, sign this petition to end dolphin slaughters IT TAKES 5 SECONDS!!

Sincerely, 
(newly cautious about the environment) Tiffany.