The Cove By: Ashley Matanga

The Cove

By: Ashley Matanga

The CoveBy: Ashley Matanga

Introduction:The cove a documentary based on the captures and killings of dolphins at Quasi-National Park in Taiji, Japan. The fishermen who slaughter these dolphins use signs and barbwire to keep the cove hidden and confined. Most of the people in surrounding residents don’t even have the slightest idea about the dolphins .There is an estimate of about 23000 dolphins that are killed a year in the cove.

Dolphins Dolphins are consider to be marine mammals and not

whales because of their small size. There are forty different species of dolphins in seventeen genera. The average size of a dolphins is from 4ft to 30ft and 40kg. They can be found mainly in shallow seas and are spaced world widely . The eat squid and smaller fish. The family Delphinidae is the largest in the world.

Dolphin slaughter When Capturing the dolphins in Taiji the fisher men would use

boats with nets attached to them to create a wall between the open ocean and the shore. Dolphins are also very sensitive to sound so the fishermen also bang on poles as they ship back to shore making the dolphins swim into that direction. Once they get the dolphins to shore/beach they are closed in with the nets to keep them from swimming back into the ocean. When killing of the dolphins take place they use spear like knifes and stab them in they’re back spines.

Richard O’Barry Richard O’Barry the main conspirator

and the discoverer of the cove and in “the cove” documentary has worked both sides of the dolphin scene, as a capturer and an activist. O'Barry was the creator of the television show flipper in the 1960’s were he captured five female dolphins to play the role of flipper. It took him about 10 years of training and living with these dolphins when he noticed the amount of stress the dolphins actually felt be held captive, which is why he has decided to spend the rest of his life devoted to freeing dolphins around the world.

Kathy

Kathy was the main actor in the show flipper. Richard O’Berry and Kathy had a very close relationship. She loved performing but because of all the stress of the show and training she one day committed suicide the arms of O’Berry her friend and trainer. Her Death was the inspiration of the whole “save the dolphins” movement.

Louie Psihoyos

The creator and director of “The cove” documentary. He had directed other movies before but when learning about the Cove through Ric O’Berry he wanted to help expose this matter to the whole world. He helped gather video footage of the dolphin slaughtering with a group of activist leader Ric O'Berry to create the film.

Mercury Poisoning

While filming “The cove” Ric O’Barry also found out that in places like markets and schools in Japan dolphin meat is being passed of as whale meat. Dolphins carry a high amount of mercury in there system which has cause people in Japan to get mercury poisoning. It mainly has effected woman's fetuses and has cause babies to be born with deformities and retardation as retardation has been show in some student how have been poisoned by the dolphin meat.

Bibliography

• http://www.thecovemovie.com/richardobarry.htm

• http://www.savejapandolphins.org/