New Documentary Exposes The Fishy Future Of Dolphins

I try my best to be an active, involved environmentalist and thoughtful global citizen, but I'm always reminded of just how much gets past my radar each time I hop on the internet and start digging. Now, one thing I should probably state up front -- whenever my eyeballs stumble upon a title that involves animals and injustices or worse, I generally choose to maintain my ignorance and refrain from "clicking" because in the infamous words of Jack Nicholson, I just can't handle the truth. Don't tell me what happened to Benji, Lassie, Flipper, Mr. Ed or any of their other wild kingdom cohorts -- it could be a tale spun out of Hollywood or the real deal, but either way, this adult will be reduced to a pile of weeping goo. Factory farming? Don't get me started. Circus and zoos? Been boycotting them for years. Baby seal harpooning? Absolutely can not go there.

Whether creatures are suffering from climate or human-driven plights, I can't stand learning more. It wrenches my gut and makes me feel powerless because I grapple with how can I truly make a difference (as I imagine so many people do in with the green movement). I can't even fathom how people are able to commit such atrocities against members of our wild kingdom, let alone where or how I might best channel my efforts to thwart such injustices. It's bad enough that have a general idea of what's going on with brown bears and street dogs and other assorted four legged alterni-meats in countries around the world -- I've literally got to shut it out or succumb to the internal self-flagellation of my mind. There are so many other awful things percolating under the surface and though choosing to wear blinders may be an act of self-preservation rather than blatant disregard, I know I'm not fooling anyone. It's a real cop-out.

Having said all of this, I accidentally on purpose learned about a new documentary called The Cove that exposes what is really happening to dolphins in Taiji, Japan. I realize that some may view documentaries as verging on extreme propaganda, but even if half of what they are filming and commenting on is accurate, there is generally something valuable to be learned. To say that I was clueless about the dark, seedy underbelly of the multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry would be an outlandish understatement. Just one year ago, I plunked down serious ka-ching to watch choreographed dolphins and killer whales with my family at Sea World, and not once did it occur to me to question how they ended up dancing for their fish snacks. I just thought to myself, "Wow...I love sea creatures. They're so talented and cool." What a schmuck-o.

In my clueless oblivion, I could have never imagined that dolphins captured live are worth up to $150,000 to marine parks like Sea World, nor that 50% of the seemingly well-fed, well-exercised entertainment slaves generally die 24 months after being captured. I recall learning in grade school that they're highly social creatures, so I figured that being in a park offers them insulation from the harsh realities of open waters -- no predators (man or creature), no threat of starvation, plenty of swimming opportunities, lots of interaction with people and other dolphins. That must be a good thing, right? The reality, however, is that they long to be free to do what Mother Nature intended -- swim an average distance of 40 miles each day, hang out with buds in their pod and enjoy the simple pleasure of freedom.

Dolphins are a cash crop to humans, however. When they're not captured to entertain us, their flesh is highly sought after even though it yields fishers an average of just $600 per cetacean. 23,000 are killed each year despite the fact that they contain lethal levels of mercury, sometimes 1000 times more than what health organizations deem acceptable. The fish is then intentionally mislabeled as more costly whale meat and commonly found in Asian grocery stores the way beef would be found in the U.S. Worse yet is the manner in which fishers hunt down their prey in the apparently infamous and intentionally camera shy Japanese cove. By throwing off the dolphins' sonar (by banging metal poles in ear-numbing unison), they corner panicked dolphins and stab them to death, regularly staining the surrounding waters red.

I believe that The Cove, the result of a collaboration between former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and the Ocean Preservation Society, forces people like myself to not just experience a lightbulb moment, but to also explore real options that may help the plight of these graceful and highly intelligent sea creatures. The film itself captures the huge dedication of a team of divers, camera people and other undercover operatives as they risk life and limb to document this hush-hush ritualistic dolphin hunt. Local officials do their best to shroud it in secrecy, and considering the contrasting smiling dolphin imagery dispersed throughout town, one would never guess what they do in their cove, far away from prying eyes. Finally, I've seen the light. Perhaps you'll want to check out savejapandolphins.org as I have just done.