The Cove exposes the practice of drive hunting by filming what they weren't supposed to: a drive hunt into a cove at Taiji, Japan. This is one of many such sites of similar hunts worldwide, but none so large as this, the exposition of which has led to controversy and outcries worldwide against the practice.
I see this practice, based on what I've read, as a money-making scheme under the guise of cultural tradition or food supply needs. After all, dolphin meat has been deemed by some researchers to be unsafe for consumption by children and pregnant women and unsafe for frequent consumption by anyone due to high levels of mercury, cadmium, DDT, and PCBs in their meat and blubber. So needing them as a food source doesn't make much sense. Why capture and kill them then? They're captured for sale to aquariums or "dolphinariums" around the world. AZA-accredited institutions are required, as far as I know from working with them, to collect animals only by humane means and from reputable sources (though some marine mammal specialists believe dolphins should never be kept in captivity), but most of the places these dolphins are going to likely put them in terribly sub-par living conditions, where they're likely to die prematurely in captivity while making a buck for their caretakers. They're also killed for various reasons, including meat for Japanese school children, despite the health warnings.
Still, with clear reasons to decry the brutal and inhumane round-ups and massacres, I have the lingering question: why save the dolphins? I think enough of us have seen dolphin shows and cute dolphin movies to have a sort of cute-and-cuddly love for them. We've also read the reports of dolphins surrounding and rescuing surfers from shark attacks, making them our literal heroes of the ocean. And many of us just "feel" an inexplicable kinship or connection with dolphins. They're special, and to kill a dolphin feels somewhat like killing a unicorn: it removes some purity and virtue from the world.
Yet I can't shake such questions as the following:
- If dolphins were spiny and ugly and weren't named Flipper, would we care? If we didn't care, would the need to protect them be any less?
- If we watched an expose portraying the humane slaughtering process of cows, how many of us would clap our hands in delight and run out to eagerly eat a nice, juicy steak?
- If dolphin populations weren't controlled by such hunts, would their increased numbers lead to overconsumption of fish populations, resulting in severely negative economic and/or environmental impact?
- Since none of the species being hunted in Taiji, except one, is considered endangered, is there really an environmental or ecological reason to oppose the hunting, or is this feel-good activism because we just "love" dolphins more than, say, sharks (which, by the way, are severely impacted by hunting practices [particularly finning], especially in Asia, but have far fewer affectionate friends to join their cause)?
- If their methods were more humane, would we be satisfied and say, "OK, continue killing hundreds of dolphins humanely every year." In other words, is it the killing or the method of killing we're supposed to oppose, here? Sometimes that doesn't seem clear.
My conclusion so far is that dolphins should be protected from extinction or overhunting, and hunting practices should be humane, and The Cove seems to expose some significantly problematic and inhumane practices that need to change. I believe most trafficking of live dolphins is outrageous and terrible and should not be supported. Please, before you go pay to swim with dolphins, investigate the establishment to make sure the animals are either resident wild dolphins or very well cared-for and ethically caught and purchased. Many or most are none of the above.
And I guess it's not dolphins' fault if they're cute and lovable and therefore get more attention from us to "save" them, but please consider offering equal support for threatened shark populations, a phenomenon which truly does have undeniable environmental impact, especially considering how extremely slowly shark populations regrow.
Watch these videos as an intro to the truth about sharks and their rapidly dwindling numbers:
For more information on the need to support shark conservation efforts, see the following web sites:
National Aquarium in Baltimore blog - S.O.S. - Save Our Sharks
Washington Post - Shark attack survivors join fight to save sharks
Facebook Cause to Save the Sharks
Shark Research Institute
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
3 comments:
Definitely see the film in theaters if you can, it is incredible and not just 'warm fuzzy activism'.
Also, regarding overfishing and saving other creatures in our oceans, there is a film called The End of the Line which I think once released will be incredibly important, just as The Cove is.
Yeah, other than that I think the film answers most of your questions better than I could in summary, so seriously, go see it.
I'd love to see it with you. Although dolphins are all you say they are (more endearing than many other animals), there isn't an animal on earth that deserves to be mistreated in any way. Although I understand and accept the principle of the food chain, I think I accept the claim that hunting is a necessary management tool to prevent animal populations from growing to the point where animals begin to die of starvation, and I eat meat (although less every year), I've grown increasingly conflicted over the years.
Thank you Jay for enlightening me.
I had erroneously thought I was educated enough about all of this, but watching that clip of the still living, blinking, helpless and finless sharks being kicked and shoved back into the ocean literally wracked my body with sobs. Even now typing about it I am crying all over again. WHAT WASTE! We people disgust me over and over again. I haven't been this upset by a story since I first heard of people cutting open a pregnant woman and stealing her child, while leaving her to die in agony. I cried then, too, naively thinking,"new low".
I have never been one for loving sharks, though I do profess to be an animal lover. I have now changed. I will now work harder to do more on their behalf and also other animals as well, instead of placating myself by merely "loving" all animals by word and rarely by deed.
Thank you for waking me up. It was painful, but it was worth it.
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