The Cove Crew on the Wakamaya Coast near Taiji. O'Barry is third from right, in yellow.
Ric O’Barry, star of the forthcoming documentary The Cove, is trying to tear down the industry that he built up, one dolphin at a time.
In the 1960s, O’Barry became the world’s foremost authority on dolphins as head trainer on the iconic TV show “Flipper.” Today, O’Barry is an abolitionist and advocate for the release of captive dolphins the world over.
“If I had my own facility in the Bahamas–which I could do as soon as I walk out of this room–I could make three to four million [dollars] a year,” he says. “But I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.”
O’Barry was working the big tank at the Miami Seaquarium in the 1960s when he was called to capture and train dolphins for the iconic television show. Though it only ran for three years, “Flipper” single-handedly eked out a place for dolphins in the hearts of Americans that has only grown in the four decades since. Every year, millions of families travel to dolphin parks from Honolulu to Honduras to marvel at dolphin shows and swim alongside them. It’s a million-dollar industry, O’Barry says, which makes it all the more difficult to stop.
An inadvertent international star, O’Barry toured the globe in the ’60s, attempting to educate the general public about the marine mammals he was training in captivity. Then came a major turning point.
In 1970, one of his dolphins–distressed by years of life in a tank–committed suicide in his arms by suffocating itself. That moment, he says, convinced him that dolphins should not be held in captivity and that it was his role to free them. The very next day O’Barry was arrested in the Bahamas for attempting to release a dolphin from a park in Bimini. It was the first of many personal and professional risks that he would take in his lifelong mission to save dolphins from their Plexiglas prisons.
This same mission led O’Barry to the tiny Japanese fishing hamlet of Taiji. In 1976, O’Barry was given the key to the city by Taiji’s mayor for his efforts to eliminate international anti-Japanese sentiment associated with the Boycott Japan Save the Whales movement. He had heard about dolphin hunting operations in the village, but did not get involved because he believed other groups were working to stop the killing.
Seven years ago, he found out his assumptions were grossly wrong. “I couldn’t believe that [the dolphin hunt] still goes on, and the reason that goes on is because the people who are doing it have very little opposition,” he said.
So now O’Barry, through his position at Earth Island Institute, leads the Save Japan Dolphins campaign. He returns to Japan five to six times a year, making himself a target for local law enforcement. “My Japanese colleagues told me that if I went into Taiji, I would be arrested because there were a lot of undercover policemen, the coast guard was there and other government officials,” he said. “I will probably be arrested the next time I go back.”
Nevertheless, O’Barry feels a strong pull to get back to Taiji. While promoting “The Cove,” he admitted that he was considering leaving the press tour for another trip to Japan to return to work.
More recently, O’Barry has also been leading the charge to educate the Japanese public about the hazards of whale and dolphin meat, which he warns can have mercury concentrations up to 1,000 times the acceptable level. “I tell the fishermen about this and they say, ‘people don’t have the right to know,’ ” he said. “That is not true. We’re just trying to give them the information that they don’t have.”
With plans to distribute The Cove in Japan and worldwide, O’Barry hopes that universal demand for dolphin attractions and dolphin meat will be a thing of the past. “We’re just trying to give [the Japanese people] the information that we take for granted and let them make up their own mind,” he said. “It’s about that; it’s not about telling them what to do.”
CATEGORIES: Environment, Ethics, Global Health
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This article is really engaging and informative about all the great work Ric is doing to save dolphins.
I just heard about this barbaric and cruel industry on NPR’s Fresh Air and I am heartbroken and inspired all at once. I am impressed by the evolution of O’Barry’s life and that he accepted the knowledge he had learned training dolphins; they are self aware creatures, just like we are, who can not thrive in captivity. I wish we had more “zealot’s” like you in this world Mr. O’Barry. Please, please, please never stop your quest! I will do my small part in helping the dolphins in anyway I can.
Listening to NPR’s Fresh Air, I learned of this horrific ongoing scenario in Japan endorsed by aquariums throughout the world. Mr. O Barry’s dedication is commendable and fundamental to change such barbarism in the world.
My son surfed with the dolphins in Western australia.They appeared when they took his ashes out to sea.In honour of him I wish to see this slaughter stopped.
I am sorry I added this twice.Helen
my son surfed with the dolphins in Western Australia.When they took his ashes out to sea the dolphins appeared. In his memory of wish this slaughter to stop.
As a diver and sailor for 30 odd years, I have no compunction about chastising some of the leadership in Japan about the dolphin problems depicted in”The Cove”. However, I would ask Ric to pass on a question to the fisherman for me.
I would preface this by sayimg that I lived in a fishing village in North Carolina for 23 years,and found them to be in denial about dwindling fish populations. The N.C Fisheries leadership was adamant about raising or sustaining catch limits, despite evidence from “all those scientists” that fish populations were dwindling. The Carolina fishermen have since paid dearly for th eadvice of the Fisheries people.
But my point is this… Ric should have asked the Japanese fishermen the following question…..When you kill the Dolphins, because they are competition, then find the fish population is still in decline, what do you kill next? Each other?
Yes, that is what is next - killing eachother, crack open some history books. That is why we all need to look at population density maps and have the worst perpetrators use birth control.
It is heartbreaking to see, and continually see so many beautiful creatures succumb to human nature which we have come to find out is far more ravaging than mother nature. This is when you look up and ask if there is a God.
It is heartbreaking to see so many beautiful creatures succumb to human nature which we have come to find out is far more ravaging than mother nature. This is when you look up and ask if there is a God.
I recently watched 2,000 dolphins playing–yes, I said playing–off the coast of CA. Despite wide-spread ignorance about these marine mammals’ intelligence, they are magnificent creatures that live in complex social communities. We must do everything in our power to stop this senseless and cruel slaughter. Spread the word, write letters, send money–it’s the moral thing to do.
What Mr. O’Barry didn’t say on Fresh Air is that the marine mammal community around the world condemns the Japanese drive fisheries. I am a proud member of that community and have dedicated the last 22 years of my life working to educate the public about marine mammals. We work every day in rescue and rehabilitation, research, health assessments of wild animals and yes, public display. People don’t care about what they don’t know or experience. I’m willing to bet that everyone on this post can trace their care for dolphins back to first hand exposure. No doubt some of you have had the privilege to witness dolphins in the wild. That is not possible for the majority of the public, nor is it advisable. Imagine the over five million people a year that visit just Sea World in Florida going out on boats and crowding the waterways each year.
The Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (Alliance), the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the World Association for Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), and the European Association for Aquatic Mammals (EAAM) are international organizations that have policies criticizing the drives. To quote a recent statement by the Alliance, “Not one of the almost 600 bottlenose dolphins in Alliance parks worldwide is from the drive fisheries.” These organizations represent the majority of zoological institutions that care for dolphins in public display facilities throughout the world. They do not condone or support the Taiji drive in any way shape or form. In fact, any US citizen participating in the drive is subject to the US Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Animal Welfare Act. Mr. O’barry’s statements are bold lies.
The Taiji drive and resulting slaughter of dolphins is deeply disturbing. I witnessed gruesome footage of this practice many years ago and cannot bring myself to watch again. This movie is reportedly aimed at stopping this horrible slaughter, yet Fresh Air posed numbers of questions about zoos and aquariums with the implication that they are the culprits in this saga. Not once while on the program did O’Barry tell the public to express their outrage to the government of Japan or recommend any other action to stop the drives. His agenda, with the complicity of Fresh Air, was to demean zoos and aquariums.
No one with any decency can defend or support the slaughter in Taiji. But Mr. O’barry isn’t trying to stop the slaughter, he’s using the “shock and awe” of Taiji in an attempt to associate this brutal and vile practice with the public display community. Our society today cares because they’ve enjoyed this exposure in zoological facilities for generations…it is the very reason that the footage in “The Cove” is so immensely disturbing. It is nothing short of outrage and insult to the thousands of dedicated professionals that O’barry claims the Taiji drive has anything at all to do with zoological professionals. The public display community is approximately 58 years old. The Taiji drive dates back more than 400 years.
You really think that Mr. O’barry isn’t trying to stop the slaughter? How do you back up such a baseless accusation?
I think its presumptuous of you to assume that the general public would not have compassion for or the desire to protect Dolphins if it weren’t for “public display” ….or in other words, “SeaWorld”. I’ve never seen a shark in person, swam with a shark or touched a shark and I still cried when I saw video of fisherman cutting off their fins and throwing them back in the water to die. People dont need to see the “Shamu show” to understand that marine mammals are intelligent animals that need protection from unecessary and cruel butchering. I’ve never been to a “public display” for a various number of animals/species that I still feel compassion for. My point is that whether Dolphins are in captivity or not, people still know that slaughtering is wrong so Im failing to see how you feel that O’barry did something wrong by showing the video’s of mass killing of an animal that people as a whole, care for…reguardless of SeaWorld or not.
Furthermore, you say you’ve been involved with the marine community for over 22 years….If that is the case, how can you honestly say that the capture of Dolphins from the wild (like in Taiji and many other places in the worlds oceans) doesnt have anything to do with public display or Marine Mammal Parks? People are going to watch those shows, therefore, other countries are cashing in on Americas demand for entertainment….i.e, DOLPHINS!!!! They are being captured for one reason….Entertainment. Whether thats for the U.S, Europe, Asia or Timbuck Two, the point is that the animals are being taken from their natural habitat and put in a tank (jail) all so that we as humans can sit on our fat rear ends with a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show. Im sorry….but the “public display” has EVERYTHING TO DO with these animals being caught, and the slaughter going on in Taiji is just one more for of cruelty. Really, there are two seperate issues and “The Cove” just happened to touch base on both of them.
Mark, I think that documentary shows on Discovery and Natinoal geographic do more for education, than any zoo can do, and it is done by studying these animals in their own environment. Would you think it was OK for some alien culture to come to earth for their yearly quota of people to shove in their zoos, so that aliens could come to see us as something more than food. I think not. The effectiveness of zoos as educational environments has been far surpassed by documentaries for many many years now. If you need to see these beings in person, then go to where they live freely. Do not make it convenient for us, by removing their right to live freely.
I want to get involved. Thank you for making this film.
I admire Mr. O’Barry for his courageousness. Thank you for informing us on the issues being hidden from us and making us aware so we can go out and do something about it. Glad you made this important film.
I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m from Mexico originally, I watched the movie yesterday and as I expected, I got impacted profoundly, I can’t help but be part of this because I support animal and human rights all the time. So have in mind that all my life will be doing something about it even if it’s just letting the word out. I’m an internet marketer and I think I can help with my knowledge to get to even greater masses…..
I just saw “The Cove” and immediately decided to do whatever I can (sign petitions, write letters) to stop this horror. I commend everyone involved, and especially Mr. O’Barry, in making this incredible documentary. The world must be made aware! Please continue to fight!
I am absolutely horrified by what’s going on. These acts of cruelty make me ashamed to be a human! Please tell me how can I help to stop this slaughter. I couldn’t sleep all night after I watched The Cove!!!
Please tell me how can I help to stop this slaughter. I couldn’t sleep all night after I watched The Cove!!! I am absolutely horrified by what’s going on. These acts of cruelty make me ashamed to be a human!
I just saw The Cove. It is so alarming that the wild population of dolphins has such high levels of mercury. It truly points out the shocking need to curb pollution and stop global warming.
If Ric O’Barry reads these comments, I want him to know how much I admire him and that he needs to stop blaming himself for what has happened to dolphins since “Flipper”. You are a good man and even though it took you a long time to realize the plight of the dolphins, you shouldn’t feel guilty, because most of us weren’t aware at that time. We are now and we all need to take action to help. You are doing so much and I applaud you.
Ric, i want to thank you SO much for making this film…you educated and inspired me and i hope to do my part in whatever small or big way i can…i am here to help! i was planning to swim with dolphins at a place in hawaii when i go this october and after seeing this film i will never support any place that keeps dolphins, whales, or any marine life for that matter, in captivity…Thank you for leading the way and educating me and many others on this destruction of innocence happening in japan.
If dolphins breed naturally in captivity doesn’t it mean that they are happy?
I was on hoilidays in Broome Australia, went to see a movie i had not heard of nor new what it was about. I was horrified and fought the urge to walk out as i new i had to see what was really going on in Japan. Not only is it horendous to the dolphins but i cant believe that they are using the meat to feed their children, knowing that it has extreme amounts of mercury in it. This has to stop. I will tell as many people as i possibly can about the movie and encourage them to see it.
The movie changed my life, I have stepped back and revaluated what’s important in life. Can’t stop thinking about what we can do…I will definately do my part to educate and spread the word. Don’t ever give up Mr.O’Barry!!!!
I didn’t think I could watch the slaughter in “The Cove” for I had seen something several years ago that showed only the bloody waters. I had planned to close my eyes to the killings. But seeing that one pathetic dolphin who tried to escape its fate yet died a tortureous death, braced me to bear witness to the slaughter. As I dared to watch the bloody horror, I kept repeating under my breath, “God help us.” Now, I’m thinking it’s Ric & Louie, and their team of brave and caring souls, that will help all of us stop this madness. I am so grateful for this film.
I didn’t think I could watch the slaughter in “The Cove” for I had seen something several years ago that showed only the bloody waters. I had planned to close my eyes to the killings. But seeing that one pathetic dolphin who tried to escape its fate yet died a tortureous death, braced me to bear witness to the slaughter. As I dared to watch the bloody horror, I kept repeating under my breath, “God help us.” Now, I’m thinking it’s Ric & Louie, and their team of brave and caring souls, that will help all of us stop this madness. I am so grateful for this film.
This is a question of Ethics the difference between right and wrong. Any question of Ethics can’t be justly answered unless those who are answering the question are conscious. Thus, conscious human beings on this planet are responsible for making the decisions for the weak minded fools of society who continue degrade humanity through their actions on creatures of higher intelligence… Our masters, the masters of all of us… The dolphins…The whales…
Ric, The film was very well done and I am glad it was made so the world is now aware of this abomination. I feel it would be better for you to stay away from Japan as I fear for your life. I believe the work should be done in this country- by boycotting all Japanese products until this carnage ends. Jane DiCocco
The real problem is the lack of respect for any life forms other than human. These fishermen know what they do is wrong, because we see them hide the slaughter from view. However deep down, I do not believe they believe that wheat they are doing is wrong. They do not see and/or care, that they are making another life form suffer. Until this belief is changed, we will continue to see this type of atrocity somewhere in the world. I think that “The war of the wrolds” is a good comparison where humans are treated by aliens, the way these fishermen are treating the dolphins. I would not lose any sleep if an eco-terrorist group killed every last one of these fishermen. I know that this will not be a popular sentiment, but it is how I feel after seeing their complete disregard for the suffering they perpetrate on these defenseless mammals.
Well Broome is now meeting with their sister city Taiji to REPEAL the severance of ties with their sister city. It’s total B.S. they are bowing to japanese pressure, by the way the Dolphin Massacre is underway again despite criticism. Well we had a few days of hope anyway.
Rather than finding way to stop the japanese from killing the dolphin in taiji. Is is possible to lay a net near taiji sea zone, to prevent the dolphin from entering or maybe there are some are technology?
Really amzing work, keep it up.
I just cant understand how someone can harm an animal and still sleep at night??
just doesn’t seem right to me.
They are such beautiful animals & I will do my best to spread the word.
What can I do to help? I saw the documentary Sat. night with a friend, and I was appauled!! I cried and could not even watch the part where these beautiful mammals were being slaughtered..the water all red with their blood…not to mention the screams…SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE!!! I applaud the efforts of the wonderful Ric O’Barry…he is a saint.! please let me know what I can do to help…
Perhaps an additional leverage point to Japan is through Americans who drive Japanese cars. A disproportionate number of environmentally-concerned people drive Japanese cars (for good reason), and the auto industry must be a huge sector of the Japanese economy and powerful enough to influence policy. I love my Subaru, but I’d be willing to pledge not to buy a new car that was made in Japan or by a Japanese-owned company unless the dolphin slaughter is stopped and Japan’s presence in the IWC becomes more progressive. I realize that Subaru, Honda, Toyota, etc. may not actively support Japan’s ocean policies, but—given their size and power—if they are not actively speaking out against Japan’s barbaric practices towards dolphins and whales, they are enabling these practices to continue.
How about adding to the website a sixth “thing you can do”: a petition to major Japanese automakers asking them to pressure the Japanese government to change its ocean policies? The petition could also give people the opportunity to pledge not to buy a new Japanese car unless the situation improves. There could be a general petition, and then specific pledge pages for each company; people would go to the pledge page for the company that makes the car they currently own. I wonder how many millions of dollars of lost revenue the pledges would account for.
An interesting side note: “Subaru” is the Japanese name for the Pleiades constellation. The Pleiades are associated with high, loving consciousness and some even associate the Pleiades with dolphins and whales. I have no doubt that a progressive company with a name like Subaru could be a deciding force for shifting the tide in how Japan (and consequently humanity as a whole) treats these beautiful ocean beings who bring so much light and love to Earth.
Perhaps an additional leverage point to Japan is through Americans who drive Japanese cars. A disproportionate number of environmentally-concerned people drive Japanese cars (for good reason), and the auto industry must be a huge sector of the Japanese economy and powerful enough to influence policy. I love my Subaru, but I’d be willing to pledge not to buy a new car that was made in Japan or by a Japanese-owned company unless the dolphin slaughter is stopped and Japan’s presence in the IWC becomes more progressive. I realize that Subaru, Honda, Toyota, etc. may not actively support Japan’s ocean policies, but—given their size and power—if they are not actively speaking out against Japan’s barbaric practices towards dolphins and whales, they are enabling these practices to continue.
How about adding to the website a sixth “thing you can do”: a petition to major Japanese automakers asking them to pressure the Japanese government to change its ocean policies? The petition could also give people the opportunity to pledge not to buy a new Japanese car unless the situation improves. There could be a general petition, and then specific pledge pages for each company; people would go to the pledge page for the company that makes the car they currently own. I wonder how many millions of dollars of lost revenue the pledges would account for.
I was deeply moved by “The Cove” and we need to enlighten the world to make some positive changes and the time is now. We only have so many years left to possibly undo some
of the harm we are causing and I wept for the Dolphins
and the brutal way that the were killed. Why are we killing
the most intelligent creatures on our planet? I would like to sign any petitions to help save the dolphins.
I am so grateful that you were brave enough to uncover this
horrible slaughter so that we can do something to protect these beautiful creatures. I admire and thank you Mr.
O’Barry for your courage and risks that you took to make this documentary as well as repaying your karmic account.
Your arising awareness will enlighten others and bring about changes to help protect our “Angels of the Sea”.
We need to stop eating all living creatures, check out the
Rave Diet and you will stop eating fish, meat, & chicken.
Our karmic account for eating them is heart disease,
gout, obesity, and the list goes on. There’s no time like the present to raise your awareness level and be healthy.
I will join in on this fight to save the dolphins and sign
any petitions and do what it takes to protect them.
Please keep up the amazing fight Mr. O’Barry….
you are a true hero.
Ric O Barry is my hero, number one. I saw The Cove with my friend tonight and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I had to turn my head during some parts because it was so painful. What is even more sad is that no one knows this is happening. We need to raise awarness and encourage people to go see The Cove. I dont know what I can do to help, but something has to be done.
Ric O Barry is my hero and if there is anything I can do to stop what is happening to the dolphins let me know. The Cove was such an inspiration.
Gut das Ric der Flipper- Trainer war.. Ein anderer hätte sich warscheinlich weiter - jedes Jahr - ein neuen Porsche gekauft und nicht den Rest seines Lebens für die Freiheit der Delfine gekämpft.. Thank you Ric for fighting!!!
Incredible work, an example of human character above and beyond. Help me with a new deliema, I just recieved an e mail, a pictorial copy- cat version of Japans horror story. This time in Denmark, w/graphic pictures, what is being done if anything, is it true, where can I forward the email for best results? Thank you for all you do and have done.