Shallow water, Deep Secret

I am going to deviate off of my usual path for a minute here. A couple days ago I watched a documentary called 'The Cove' and I have been thinking about it since. Despite leaving you with one of those existential "what the hell am I doing with my life; I could be saving the world right now" type thoughts, it is a great film. It follows the efforts of Ric O'Barry (former dolphin trainer and producer of Flipper) to set things right in the whaling industry. Ric and his team focus their efforts on the small town of Taiji, Japan, where thousands of dolphinsare killed each year. Fisherman are using sounds to scare migrating dolphin pods into a cove that is off limits to public. This cove is out of sight, fenced in with barbed wire and gaurded by other local fisherman and the Japenese government. And why? Because in this shallow water they slaughter hundreds of dolphins each day and sell them to the local fish markets and even the Japanese government. They are sold at the market, claimed to be other whale products because the mercury ratio in dolphin meat is hundreds of thousands times the legal amount. Not only that, but the meat is given to the local schools and fed to the students. The Japanese public has no idea. What is just as bad, is that dolphin trainers from all over the world (yes, including Sea World) come to Taiji before the slaughter and pick out young females to train for shows. They sell for over $100,000.
Dolphins are one of few creatures in this world that are self aware. Their intelligence level rivals (if not exceeds in many cases) that of the human mind. They are animals known to experience a wide range of emotions and are the only other creatures that used an advanced form of communication.
Many members of the OPS (Ocean Preservation Society) and the International Whaling Commission have been trying to ban whaling on dolphins in Japan, however Japan keeps bribing small and poverous countries to speak on their behalf during meetings.
The team attempted to get legal permission from the Japanese government to film this documentary, but in the end were turned down. Every part of this movie was filmed against Japanese law. The filmmakers were targets of the Japanese government, the Japanese Mafia and the fisherman throughout the entire process. Special night technology and spy cameras were used, the crew was risking their life to make this film.
The reality is, these creatures are just not meant to be in captivity. No matter how happy they may seem at the dolphin show at Sea World because they always look like they are smiling, its not the right place for them.
Its very sad, but definately worth your time to check it out.