The Cove
We just got back to San Francisco. We rented an apartment for a month, and I’m stealing wireless from a neighbor. And I just ordered Mexican food.
On the flight here I watched The Cove. This is a really well-made documentary about a town in Japan called Taiji where local fishermen secretly slaughter tens of thousands of dolphins every year.
The filmmakers smuggled in hidden cameras and hydrophones and managed to capture the killings on camera, despite being dogged by the local police.
Last summer when Stephanie and I were scuba diving in Rangiroa, a pod of wild dolphins swam into our group. They hung out with us for a couple of minutes, swimming around and under and above us in tight, playful loops. It was obvious they wanted to hang out and they came back several times during the dive. I could hear their clicking noises and knew they were imaging me with their sonar.
We saw a lot of life under the sea but when a wild dolphin swims up to you, you get this instant sense that you’re looking at something person-like. It’s like the feeling when someone smart and charismatic walks in the room. It’s nothing like looking at a fish.
So The Cove moved me. Check it out.
Sergrey Panov on 17 March 2010 at 7:53 am
While killing of even a single dolphin would make me sad, I doubt one can kill “tens of thousands of dolphins every year” just in the vicinity of one town.
And dolphins are not the only “person-like” see creatures. We all know that octopuses are smart, but I felt like I am being observed when a group of calamari appeared in front of me while I was snorkeling.
Nat Friedman on 17 March 2010 at 1:49 pm
The official figures from the Japanese government are something like 1,500-2,500 dolphins killed per year in Taiji, but the killing is done in secret and many people believe the actual number to be much higher. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090825a2.html
I haven’t been lucky enough to encounter an octopus while diving yet.
Matt Barringer on 17 March 2010 at 3:03 pm
Another 500-1000 are killed every year in the Soloman Islands. It’s surprising they don’t hold a species-wide grudge against us yet.
Janne on 17 March 2010 at 2:55 pm
The hunt is not secret; they even had tours. And it’s nothing new, as the local community apparently has had dolphin as part of their staple diet for many centuries.
Also, pigs are smarter and more sociable than dolphins, and eating them offends a substantial part of humanity. Once you advocate the banning of pork you may start to have a moral leg to stand on.
Nat Friedman on 17 March 2010 at 7:26 pm
“You may start to have a moral leg to stand on” ?
I think I’m going to add a little notice to the top like “Before writing a comment, imagine you are in my living room and we’re sitting face to face, drinking tea together.”
People can be really uncivil when they’re just looking at a screen.
Ben Maurer on 18 March 2010 at 5:57 am
Thought experiment: could you make a CAPTJHA — Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Jerks and Humans Apart.
An example of a CAPTJHA might be a form that would present the user with an Eliza style bot. The bot would be programmed to express opinions on various topics. The number “impolite words” in the users response would be measured.
Alberto on 17 March 2010 at 3:57 pm
@Janne: I think you missed the point. The problem is not what you can or cannot eat according to some moral belief or religious rule humans decided to follow. Following them is a respectable choice, but it has nothing rational in it.
On the other hand, the point here is not moral, it’s rational. Dolphins risk the same fate of whales if their hunt is not going to stop, and this alters a natural equilibrium. In other words, their hunt is not sustainable. We are not going to lose pigs or cows.
Steve on 17 March 2010 at 8:03 pm
Being a vegetarian is awesome, right?
Nat Friedman on 17 March 2010 at 8:38 pm
worksforme
a japanese reader on 18 March 2010 at 1:29 am
@alberto
I don’t know why are you calling the act continuing over the century ‘unsustatinable’. The dolphin hunt in Taiji is just a cull that fishermen protecting their fish farm with strong regulations. The film regarded them as something like animla abusing mafia… It is completely unfair.
Sorry for my poor english.
TheBlackCat on 18 March 2010 at 6:33 am
You do realize that most the world’s fisheries are on the verge of collapse, right? Just because people have been doing things for a long time does not mean they can continue doing them forever.
unjap on 18 March 2010 at 3:43 pm
Pigs are smart and social too.
In the huge pig farms in the US and elsewhere, they rear pigs in the most gruesome way. For example, a female pig (sow), as soon as she gets impregnated, she is locked in a cage that fits her body and does not allow her to move at all. The piglets are born and she is still stuck there. Imagine a creature during pregnancy, not being able to move around.
See the documentary Pig Business, http://www.pigbusiness.co.uk/
Andrew Clayton on 19 March 2010 at 9:30 pm
“It’s nothing like looking at a fish.”
Hmm, maybe that’s because it’s a mammal!
Kobekid on 20 March 2010 at 3:37 pm
although the figures you quote for Taiji in this thread are accurate, the figures for all small cetaceans killed off the coasts of Japan are closer to your quote in the story, about 20,000 a year. Whether or not it is sustainable has not yet been established. As far as this not being a secret, most Japanese are astonished to hear of it let alone that dolphin is eaten by other Japanese. I’ve been to Taiji several times and have never seen a tour that included a dolphin hunt. As for comparing dolphins with pigs or any other domesticated livestock, I always ask what the mercury content is for pigs? Dolphin meat is unsafe for human consumption, end of comparison/story.
Matt on 22 March 2010 at 6:57 am
I just saw this movie as well. It reminded me of the movie “Stealing A Nation”.
My comments on the movie can be found here: http://exitcavehere.com/2009/12/the-closing-of-an-island-and-nation/