How would you react if you came to realize that your life's work had done the world harm? That's how Richard O'Barry feels about his career training dolphins for the TV series FLIPPER. It was that series that started the boom in trained dolphin performances and "swimming with the dolphins" attractions. He believes that his actions have led to the current slaughter of dolphins in Japan.
Because of his guilt, O'Barry has become an activist and he has focused his attention of the Japanese fishing village of Taiji, where dolphin hunters bang on metal pipes in the water to disrupt the dolphins' sonar and enabling them to lure the water mammals into a secluded cove where they are slaughtered. One of the fishermen once said that if the world ever found out what we were doing, they'd make us stop. So that's what O'Barry and director Louie Psihoyos set out to do.
Put together like a crime caper (I was reminded of last year's amazing doc MAN ON WIRE), the film puts together a team of activists, adventurers and professional divers to sneak into the cove under the cover of night to place hidden cameras. During the day, the area is heavily guarded by men who taunt anyone who gets too close; they want be to assaulted so the activists can never come back. O'Barry often wears a mask when out in public and is dogged by police every time he arrives in town. He acts as the diversion for the others, who are risking a year in jail if they get caught.
So why are they slaughtering the dolphins when they can get $150,000 or more for capturing one for the entertainment market? When the International Whaling Commission was formed, Japan was severally restricted on hunting large whales, but dolphins were not protected and they discovered they were in abundance. The killing is two fold. The cheap dolphin meat is sold as whale meat, often fed to schoolchildren as part of the government lunch program. Secondly, the slaughter of dolphins keeps fish populations high, which is one of Japan's largest exports. So it boils down to greed. But wait, why can't the Japanese hunt dolphins for food? The fishermen claim it's their culture. Well, first, there is no history of eating dolphin, and second, dolphin meat has huge amounts of mercury. Whole towns have been poisoned because of their consumption of mercury-filled dolphin meat.
As for the entertainment side of the issue, O'Barry argues that dolphins are just not meant for captivity. They are highly evolved mammals with hearing far more advanced than humans. When they were first put in aquariums, they were dying in droves because the sound of the filter pumps was driving them mad. People are fooled into thinking dolphins are happy because their mouths look like they are always smiling. They do tricks because they want food. O'Barry believes that captive dolphins will commit suicide by coming out of the water and refusing to breathe. It was this such action from one of the Flipper dolphins that led O'Barry to try and free captive dolphins the very next day. Kind of makes you rethink the "fun" of Sea World doesn't it?
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
