UPDATE: Louis Psihoyos, director of The Cove, says “The Cove is proof that one passionate person can make a difference and that together a few like-minded people can change the world. If the news is indeed true then this is a big victory for dolphins and the Japanese people.”

The 100 dolphins that were captured during dolphin hunting season this week in Taiji, Japan, will not meet the usual fate, according to the Associated Press.  Instead of being slaughtered for meat, 50 of the dolphins will be “hand picked” for aquariums, and the remainder will be released back into the water.

An official (who has chosen to remain anonymous) has said that the community of Taiji  is responding in part to the outcry brought about by the documentary The Cove. He also states that the residents of the fishing village would like to cooperate, but they are still defending their tradition of hunting, equating their hunt to cow slaughter in the Western world.

Ric O’Barry, who has been sending TakePart updates from Japan, is elated by the news, telling the AP that he did a backflip off his bed in joy. He is now crossing his fingers that the town will implement a no-slaughter policy. It is not clear yet whether Taiji will agree to cease the slaughter completely.

According to a press release by the Oceanic Preservation Society, Psihoyos said, “I’m thrilled that these dolphins won’t be killed, resulting [in] less mercury-tainted meat on the market in Japan, but the ideal scenario would be one where wild dolphins are not captured at all. When wild intelligent and sentient animals are captured and forced to tricks for our casual amusement–it says more about our intelligence than theirs.”