Day 53: The Cove

We went whale watching when we were in LA. That was one of the most wonderful experiences we had during this trip. On the way back to the harbor, those dolphins accompanied our boat. They were swimming along the aisle, and jumped out of the water from time to time. This was my closest experience with wild dolphins and they were really smart and friendly. Unfortunately this was the best shot I could get. Not that bad, if you consider it some sort of abstraction. Somehow you can sense the speed, and the intimacy.

I watched a documentary "the cove" a few days ago. It was about the killing of dolphins for meat in Japan. Whale hunting and consuming of their meat in Japan might be a notorious fact. But the wild killing of dolphins was a well kept secret until this documentary revealed some astonishing videos footages, obtained through some CIA style missions. I also saw a picture from one of last year's cover of national geography magazine. It was a picture of the gulf, where the killing was conducted and had been secretly guarded. The sea was rendered red by the blood of the killed dolphins. I was really shocked by then, by not as much as when I watched the documentary. In the film, they even caught the screaming of the desperate dolphins being slaughtered. They were like infants, crying, hysterically. The sound penetrated my heart!

The Japanese defended themselves that it was their culture, just like others eat cows, chicken, they eat dolphins. What we considered cruel and unacceptable might be a tradition for them. I don't know how to revoke their defense. But I think if they see the documentary, they might have a second thought.