First Hit: A very powerful and disturbing film which highlights man’s insensitivity to fellow sentient beings.
Flipper was a TV program which aired in 1964 – 1967 and was about a bottle nose dolphin which was a companion of a family in Florida. Flipper had a theme song and a signature move which happened to be a tail walk, not unlike Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk.
The trainer for the dolphins which played Flipper was Richard O’Barry who, after witnessing the death of one of the trained dolphins, realized he had created an industry which was cruel for these intelligent creatures.
Since then O’Barry has been on a crusade to stop the training, capture and treatment of these amazing mammals. The focus of this film is one of these crusades.
There is a tiny town in Japan called Taijii which captures thousands of these bottlenose dolphins each year and sells them to marine animal parks around the world. Each dolphin is worth about $150,000.00 which is quite a take for just a few fishermen.
What happens to the dolphins which aren’t chosen? They are herded into a small hidden cove and slaughtered. Each year about 23,000 of these beautiful intelligent creatures are slaughtered and their meat is sold on the open market.
Unfortunately, dolphin meat is full of mercury and when the local town discovers that their kids are being fed this meat for lunch, the practice changes. O’Barry leads a film group and a team of individuals with specific skills to capture this slaughter on film. This endeavor is difficult because this hidden cove is well protected and the fishermen aren't anxious to have their handy work scrutinized.
With hidden high definition cameras in place they record the bloody gruesome slaughter. Hopefully with some additional public awareness and support this practice will soon stop.
Louie Psihoyos does a good job of creating some drama in this documentary film by creating a story and letting it climax with the filmed slaughter.
Overall: This film is more than about Flipper asking for help, it is how we treat our fellow earthly inhabitants. What goes on to dolphins in The Cove also goes on in the US with the harvesting of pigs, chickens, and cows (See Food Inc.). When are we going to look at alternative ways to feed ourselves?