All Ric O Barry wants is to stop the dolphin-killing, so he is headed to this seaside Japanese town, Taiji. The American activist, who is the star of a new award-winning documentary that portrays the dolphin-killing here, got an unwelcome reception when he showed up here this week for the start of the annual hunt.
His movie, The Cove (海豚湾), directed by National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, was released in the United States a month ago but has not yet to come out in Japan.
Scenes in the film, some of which were shot secretly, show fishermen banging on metal poles stuck in the water to create a wall of sound that scares the dolphins — which have supersensitive sonar (声呐系统) — and sends them fleeing into a cove.
There, the fishermen sometimes pick a few to be sold for aquarium shows, for as much as $150, 000. They kill the others, spearing the animals repeatedly until the water turns red. The meat from one dolphin is worth about 50, 000 yen, and is sold at supermarkets across Japan.
Greenpeace and other groups have tried to stop the hunt for years. Activists hope The Cove will bring the issue to more people internationally—and eventually in Japan.
Already, the Australian town of Broome dropped its 28-year sister-city relationship with Taiji last month, partly because of the movie.
"Some regions have a tradition of eating dolphin meat," said fisheries official Toshinori Uoya. "Dolphin-killing may be negative for our international image, but it is not something orders can stop."
The town government in Taiji — which has made whales and dolphins its trademark — refused to comment about The Cove, or the growing international criticism against dolphin-killing.
Many in Taiji take the dolphin hunt for granted as part of everyday life. They are defensive about The Cove, seeing themselves as powerless victims of overseas pressure to end a simple and honest way of making a living.
