Dolphins

My first post is going to be about a sad issue! I watched "The Cove" last night. It's a documentary about the capture and slaughter of dolphins in Japan--Best documentary I've ever seen! I don't think I'll be going to Sea World or to swim with dolphins any time soon. The dolphins are herded into a cove/lagoon by the sound of clanking which scares them. Dolphin traders choose the ones they want which are sold to Sea Worlds and Swim With Dolphins programs throughout the world. The rest of the dolphins in the cove are killed brutally. I definitely cried. They're killed to be sold as meat, but not very many people eat dolphin meat! So it's often disguised as more expensive whale meat. And the ones in captivity seem to live sad lives as well. I think it'd be much cooler to swim with dolphins in the wild.

It's important to realize that the treatment of these dolphins is not much worse than what we do here in the U.S. with our cows, chickens, and pigs. CAFO's (Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations) raise them in horrible conditions on diets they are not meant to consume for the purpose of fattening them up as fast as possible to supply our greed for meat. I prefer to buy meat that is not crowded together for its short, miserable life.

"The Cove" made we wonder how zoo animals are captured and treated. My favorite part of the entire documentary was when one of the main activists walked into the IWC (International Whaling Commission), which he is banned from, with a TV strapped to himself showing the slaughter of the dolphins that his group secretly videoed. It was during talks about how humanely the dolphins are killed too. It was inspiring! Anyway, one more fact about fishing in general: the world's fish stocks are estimated to collapse in 40 years at the current rate of consumption and killing. Scary!

Now for a quote from the movie: "Governments are really great at getting together and holding meetings and conferences and glad-handing each other, but they never ever seem to accomplish anything. Margaret Mead said to never, ever depend upon governments or institutions to solve any major problem. All social change comes from the passion of individuals."

If you are interested in finding out more, visit www.takepart.com/thecove.