Killer Whale-3, Humans-0

[Denis]

I'd say we mourn her loss as we mourn the loss of any, and allow it to put an end to the commercial exploitation of orcas as performing animals.

Okay, agreed. Those animals which can't be released should simply get a good home.

[Chaser001]

I didn't watch the Oscars--never do--but it appears that a movie called "The Cove" has won an Oscar.  It's a about a village in Japan that tricks thousands of dolphins to go into a cove so they can be slaughtered.  The mayor of the village where this occurs assures everyone this is okay, though, because it's a tradition.  Plus, he said other countries kill cows to eat and stuff like that.  So everything is cool. 


http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/416356_tvgif8.html

[Denis]

I heard an interview with the filmaker and Ric O'Berry last year and a lot of it was pretty shocking. Personally, I don't agree at all with the mayor's statement equating the slaughter of cows bred for the purpose of consumption and the slaughter of thousands of wild animals because of "tradition".

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111340010

'Cove' Director Surfaces Deep (And Dark) Secrets
Filmmaker Louie Psihoyos discusses his new documentary The Cove, a shocking and moving account of dolphin abuse off the coast of Taijii, Japan.

Psihoyos and his team painstakingly documented a thriving operation that captures dolphins, the healthiest and handsomest of which are sold to aquariums worldwide.

The rest are slaughtered, often ending up as food for human consumption, despite high mercury levels.

Going into the village of Taijii, Psihoyos tells Fresh Air, is "like walking into a Stephen King novel." There's lots of visible marketing — statues, murals— proclaiming the town's love of dolphins. "The whole town was built around loving dolphins and whales."

"And then in the middle of town," Psihoyos says, "is this national park that even Japanese people can't go in. Big tall fences, steel spikes on the gates, razor ribbon, barbed wire, a series of tunnels to get through on one side to get there — it was like a fortress. And Ric said, 'That's where this all happens' — in this national park.' "

"Ric" is Ric O'Barry — a former dolphin trainer responsible for teaching the dolphins of TV's Flipper their tricks. He has devoted years to rescuing the intelligent mammals he once helped capture.

"I get more upset with the dolphin trainers I see there than the fishermen," O'Barry tells Terry Gross. Japanese fishermen, he explains, think of dolphins as being in the same category as fish — not least, O'Barry says, because the Japanese character for "whale" translates literally into "monster fish."

"But the dolphin trainers, who are there working side by side with them, look [the dolphins] in the eye every day," O'Barry says. "They give them names. They spend time with them. They know they're self-aware."

To capture the horrors of the cove on film, Psihoyos recruited an Ocean's Eleven-style team: divers, special-effects artists and sound specialists. They used state-of-the-art equipment to infiltrate the remote cove and film the dolphin slaughter.

An experienced dive photographer, Psihoyos spent nearly two decades on the staff of National Geographic magazine.

[Chaser001]

That's some really interesting info you have there.  Let's just hope that the movie might help some, although I doubt it.  For that to happen, they'd have to be under continuous pressure. 

[Denis]

The statement which really caught my ears was this one: "And then in the middle of town," Psihoyos says, "is this national park that even Japanese people can't go in. Big tall fences, steel spikes on the gates, razor ribbon, barbed wire, a series of tunnels to get through on one side to get there — it was like a fortress. And Ric said, 'That's where this all happens' — in this national park.' "

If the mayor and town are so up front about the annual dolphin slaughter being so legal, legitimate and traditional, why do they hide it behind barbed wire?

[uwe]

It does give a whole new meaning to the term National Park, doesn't it? Kind of 1984ish ... mass slaughtering dolphins is protecting them.

[Chaser001]

It does give a whole new meaning to the term National Park, doesn't it? Kind of 1984ish ... mass slaughtering dolphins is protecting them.

It does seem like Orwellian doublespeak, accepting two contradictory beliefs--killing dolphins protects them. 

[Chaser001]

Update to an old topic.  I just saw some more about this on TV.  It looks like Sea World's legal troubles are just beginning. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20014463-504083.html

[uwe]

It's never a wise thing to hug a predator 10 times your size. It's like keeping a German Shepherd and a guinea pig together and believing that nothing will EVER happen. What guinea pig?!

[gweimer]

It's never a wise thing to hug a predator 10 times your size. It's like keeping a German Shepherd and a guinea pig together and believing that nothing will EVER happen. What guinea pig?!

See also, what wine goes with rodents...