In the 1960's, Ric O'Barry made a fortune as the dolphin trainer for the "Flipper" films and television series. "I could buy a new Porsche every year," he says now, in the new documentary, "The Cove." But if he could do it over again, he would set free the five dolphins who played "Flipper." Thanks to "Flipper," people fell in love with dolphins. They loved these beautiful, sensitive, highly intelligent sea mammals literally to death. People wanted to get closer to dolphins, leading to a proliferation of marine zoos and "swim with the dolphin" enterprises where, day in and day out, the animals were exposed to screaming humans and forced to dwell in tiny tanks. In the wild, dolphins may swim some 5,000 miles a day, and their hearing is almost preternaturally sensitive. Dolphins navigate by sonar, and communicate with one another by sound. When they are exposed to loud noises for a long period of time, they die from the stress. At the National Aquarium in Baltimore, several dolphins died because the constant din of the water filtration system killed them.
But even worse than the lives these captive dolphins lead is what happens to the dolphins who aren't chosen by the trainers and aquatic zookeepers, the dolphins who have the misfortune of being too old, or too young, or male -- and are hacked to death in the secret Cove of the movie's title.
O'Barry blames himself for the deaths, all of them, and for the dolphins' continuing plight in the 40-year wake of "Flipper." However, "The Cove" is more than a chronicle of O'Barry's efforts to make amends. The film, which deserves every one of the many accolades it has already garnered, and many more, is an amalgam of caper flick, nature documentary, and investigative journalism at its finest: Imagine a combination of Jacques Cousteau, "Mission: Impossible," "CSI," and "60 Minutes" -- and one of those films like "Old Yeller" where a beloved animal dies at the end, because, to be sure, the last 20 minutes of "The Cove" are very, very hard to take if you have any heart at all.
This is a Holocaust, and with my ethnic background I don't toss around that term lightly. But we can stop it. Getting the word out will help shame the Japanese authorities into curtailing the slaughter, which will start again in September unless we help stop it. Once again, it is within our power to say, "Never again!"
But even worse than the lives these captive dolphins lead is what happens to the dolphins who aren't chosen by the trainers and aquatic zookeepers, the dolphins who have the misfortune of being too old, or too young, or male -- and are hacked to death in the secret Cove of the movie's title.
O'Barry blames himself for the deaths, all of them, and for the dolphins' continuing plight in the 40-year wake of "Flipper." However, "The Cove" is more than a chronicle of O'Barry's efforts to make amends. The film, which deserves every one of the many accolades it has already garnered, and many more, is an amalgam of caper flick, nature documentary, and investigative journalism at its finest: Imagine a combination of Jacques Cousteau, "Mission: Impossible," "CSI," and "60 Minutes" -- and one of those films like "Old Yeller" where a beloved animal dies at the end, because, to be sure, the last 20 minutes of "The Cove" are very, very hard to take if you have any heart at all.
This is a Holocaust, and with my ethnic background I don't toss around that term lightly. But we can stop it. Getting the word out will help shame the Japanese authorities into curtailing the slaughter, which will start again in September unless we help stop it. Once again, it is within our power to say, "Never again!"