Interested in swimming with dolphins?

I have been. And I did swim briefly with dolphins and had my picture made with one years ago went I went to the Bahamas. What was I thinking? What beautiful and intelligent creatures! I would love to be up close and personal with them! They are always happy and lively, and they seem to like the interaction with humans. Right? They're smiling, right?

No. There may be some happy dolphins in captivity, but the point of this documentary is to the contrary.

This new documentary coming out is called The Cove. I urge you to click on this link to NPR and read their summary of an episode of Fresh Air that I listened to yesterday. Please take the time to listen to the 20 minute show. It will turn how you feel about human interaction with dolphins upside down.

The former trainer of Flipper, Ric O'Barry, admits that dolphins do not belong in captivity. They become depressed and they die. They don't die because they refuse to eat, they die because they choose to stop breathing, and they asphyxiate themselves. Ric O'Barry talks about how many different "Flipper" dolphins he trained, and how they all died because of depression from being in captivity. It is a known fact amongst dolphin trainers.

In a remote village in Japan there is a huge industry for dolphin killing and dolphin selling. The dolphins are viewed as "pests" because they eat the fish that fisherman need to make a living from selling. The word for dolphin in Japanese literally means "monster fish." This is taking place in a Japanese national park in Taijijii that even Japanese people aren't permitted to go in. Mainstream Japanese people don't know this is going on. Most of the world is ignorant of what is going on.

In summary, dolphins are scared into this death cove by fisherman using sound that terrifies the dolphins. Once in the cove the dolphins are separated into groups, ones that will be sold to seaquariums world wide and the ones that will be slaughtered for consumption, which their meat shouldn't even be consumed considering the high levels of mercury found in dolphin meat. Consumption is really beyond the point, tho. The cruelty of the process, and the fact that these animals are being disposed of in such a manner, is preposterous.

Please find out more about this cruel trade. And consider watching the documentary when it is available in your area. Become aware of what's really going on. I feel it's the least we can do.