‘The Cove’ dolphin hunters break silence over documentary
Eight years after the Oscar-winning film The Cove outraged animal lovers around the world for its graphic portrayal of the pursuit of dolphins for food and entertainment, the Japanese fishermen say they are ‘not ashamed’
Taiji is still in darkness when a dozen men gather at the quayside and warm themselves over a brazier. While the rest of the town sleeps, they sip from cans of hot coffee, smoke cigarettes and talk in hushed tones.
As soon as the sun edges above the peninsula, they take to their boats, steering out to sea in formation in search of their prey: the dolphin.
It has been eight years since the Oscar-winning film The Cove propelled this community in an isolated corner of Japan’s Pacific coast to the centre of a bitter debate over the pursuit of dolphins for human consumption and entertainment.
The film’s graphic footage of dolphins being slaughtered with knives, turning the surrounding sea a crimson red, shocked audiences around the world.
Unaccustomed to international attention and wrong-footed by their social media-savvy opponents, the town’s 3,200 residents simply went to ground. Requests for interviews with town officials went unanswered; the fishermen took a vow of silence.
But after years of keeping their counsel, Taiji’s fishermen have finally spoken out, agreeing to talk about their work, their whaling heritage, and their determination to continue hunting dolphins.
