Sneaking Out

By Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins
Earth Island Institute

We were able to slip out last week and screen The Cove film for an adult audience at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center. Our close friends and colleagues at Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan set it up. Nationalist protestors found out and showed up at the center, but the building we were in was far from the street, and police blocked them from passing the main gate.



I love getting out and talking to people one on one, and this audience had many excellent questions. At the end of the day it’s really up to the Japanese people what happens in Taiji, so I’m always ready to do what’s necessary to reach them. A lot of the people asked what they could do. I asked them to call theaters and ask that The Cove be shown, and to go to our website in Japan, and send a letter to the Prime Minister and the Health Minister. It’s really up to Japanese people to stand up for their rights. I hope they will!

And once the Japanese people see The Cove, they will understand what is happening and start to question their government. We can help them by setting up online petitions and other opportunities to contact their government and ask the politicians to shun the extremists and stop the Japan Fisheries Agency from issuing around 20,000 permits annually to kill dolphins and small whales.