Ever since the hugely succesful Flipper tv series, people have come to like dolphins. They appear to be always smiling and playful, and are said to be even more intelligent than us, humans. In reality, show dolphins like the ones you see in Sea World, have very little reason to smile. Dolphins love travelling long distances but are forced to live in captivity, and to make matters worse the noise of the crowd in dolphinariums is literally deafening. A show dolphin costs about 150.000 dollars, and Taiji is one of the places where they are caught and sold. The hundreds and thousands who weren't selected are butchered in a cove by local fishermen, who believe it's a form of pest control. They sell the meat, which contains toxic levels of mercury and often gets labeled as whale meat, for 600 dollars per dolphin. The images of wounded dolphins, struggling and dying in a sea of blood, will haunt you for days.
One of the reasons this movie actually mobilises people to take action is the way it has been shot and edited. Very impressive work of the kind you usually only see in Bond films or spy movies. The other reason is that it showcases the passion and dedication of a number of brave (or crazy) individuals, like Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere, freediver Mandy-Rae Cruikshank and of course dolphin activist Richard O'Barry. O'Barry ironically was the one who caught and trained the first 5 "Flipper" dolphins back in the sixties. He's clearly at the center of "The Cove", but eventually doesn't take part in the most spectacular part of the action. But then, in the final scenes, he does find a way to get his message heard and I must say: this man has balls of steel. Respect!
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