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Has anyone seen...
The documentary "The Cove?"
I have heard about it on NPR, and my brother is getting his MFA in screenwriting--he has seen pretty much every movie out--and he told me about it...he said it is insane..and intense.
It is about these two coves in Japan. Basically, this one cove is where--if you go to aquariums, sea world's ect--they go to this place and capture dolphins for their shows. Thousands of dolphins from the wild...and it's public--the town totally lets you see it--the town loves it's dolphins. But there is another cove--right next door..and NO ONE is allowed to go there. No photos, no cameras..they have guards and heavy police. But this camera crew got in... Why? Because they herd the dolphins that DON'T get chosen into this cove and harpoon them...until the water turns RED and the dolphins are screaming. Why? Because they are selling the dolphin meat to the Japanese public. And not just any Japanese public--school children..turns out the meat--is totally contaminated--with like 10% mercury! The kids got sick! (of course)
My brother said it was really sad..and that he will never--NEVER take his kids to a sea world or a place like that again. I'm probably not going to watch it....it's probably too much for me...
My guess would be that it's probably going to win the Oscar--and some of the guys who made it are from my town (woot) so I'm totally rooting for it.
here's a link about it:
Re: Has anyone seen...
I've heard about it, but probably won't see it. I've been a little overwhelmed lately with all the environmental/animal/human problems I've been researching, and I don't think I could add the killing of hundreds of innocent dolphins to that. I have never been, nor will I ever go, to SeaWorld because of their treatment of the animals, they're forced to work 10 hours a day, 7 days a week until they're replaced. I'm not a big fan of zoos either, but at least those animals live in peace, and people can understand the plight of say, the orangutan if they can look into its eyes and see intelligence.
I of course abhore the Japanese's actions, but out of curiosity, why is killing dolphins so much worse than say, killing fish? Dolphins aren't endangered, and there's a demand for their meat same as fish. Is it because they're cuter? Smarter? Why feel more empathy for them than for all the other animals we kill for meat like chickens or cows? Pigs are smarter than dolphins, but not nearly as cute. Any meat processing facility is going to be covered in blood, but there's no movie about that.
This is why I became a vegetarian. I don't see the difference between killing fish and killing dolphins, so I chose to participate in neither. Same goes for the Chinese eating dogs while we eat pigs. It's all the same thing. No animal deserves to suffer and then be eaten, regardless of how photogenic it is.
Ugh, that's terrible, and sounds like a very heartwrenching movie.
I understand what SuperGreen is saying, but I admit I do have a hierarchy. I went vegetarian as a kid, and lately have been having a really hard time with eating larger animals I feel are more capable of feeling, pigs, cows, etc. Having grown up in a farming family, I have a hard time feeling bad for chickens or turkeys, but I haven't eaten any "red" or 4-footed meat for almost 2 months, and I think I may stick with generally being a pescatarian. I don't feel bad about eating fish or shellfish. To me that is a lot different than killing dolphins.
As for places like SeaWorld or places where you can swim with the dolphins, they've been on my 'no' list forever. I wish there was a place you could ethically swim with dolphins, but I don't know that there is. They seem like such amazing creatures.
I don't feel bad for chickens or turkeys either, they're pretty stupid animals from what I understand. To be fair I haven't spent a bunch of time with them though. I do have issue with how they're confined to edge of their physical limits, treated inhumanely, slaughtered, rinsed in bleach, and shipped across the country. At least the dolphins lived their lives out in the ocean before being caught and killed. As for fish, I don't think suffocating is a humane way to die.
Even before I stopped eating meat, my list of edible fish got smaller and smaller because of the way they're farmed or caught. I think people who eat Orange Roughy (for example) should feel bad. They're eating a 100-150 year old fish that was caught by dragging a net across the seafloor grabbing everything, and then throwing back everything dead that wasn't an Orange Roughy or whatever other bottom dwelling fish the fishermen were going for. Alisha's lucky enough to have access to local shrimp, but the majority of the shrimp served in restaurants is farmed in Indonesia, the same goes for crabs. I used to work at Clyde's, a swanky regional restaurant group here in VA/DC, and I was instructed to lie and say our crab cakes come from the Chesapeake Bay when they're really from Indonesia.
What I was trying to get across is most people are ignorant of where there food comes from, include the Japanese people eating dolphin meat. The Japanese also conduct commercial whaling under the loophole of "scientific research" and no one stops them, and the fish market wants that whale meat.
I totally agree that most people don't know, or think, about where their food and other products come from, or even want to know, and how it impacts animals, even cute ones. Its really easy not to think about. Lately though, I just can't handle eating 4-footed meat, even if it was humanely raised. I was reading up on a ranch around here I really like, and the tour was showing how they have their own drive-up abbatoir (slaughterhouse). So the cows are all happily grazing and then they drive up and kill it. That makes me so sad. I just don't want to be a part of that anymore. On the other hand, those cattle wouldn't even exist otherwise, and if organic/humane ranching isn't supported... *sigh* Still, I just haven't had the stomach for it in a long time.
Even though I don't care for chickens - alive or as food - much, I like that I get humane certified eggs. The chickens look pretty darn happy and set up nicely at Steibr!
Mostly I eat salmon, shrimp and crab, which are all readily available from sustainable sources at good prices here, so I am very lucky. I don't know what I'd do living other places! Regardless of where you live though, it IS possible to eat more humanely and ethically, but people care more about what they want and want to eat how their bodies are accustomed - even if its not good for them - even if it means that animals, even cute ones, suffer.
To me, a major issue I see is that the people of this town surrounding this coves are incredibly hypocritical. The town promotes their love of dolphins--through the sale and capture of dolphins (which ew to me--but..) they are very open about what is going on here and welcoming to visitors...but--lift the veil..and a hidden horror show is going on--and it is happening based off of the dolphins coming to one cove--and then being herded into this other cove. These people don't love dolphins. They don't love nature. They love money--and they are murderers...and they are doing everything they can to hide it...and not only that--they are selling an openly dangerous food to their people.
And---I'm not entirely convinced that pigs are smarter than dolphins--I guess that might be a judgement call....but I know what you meant SuperGreenie