The Cove Exposed - Issue 6

Dear Dolphin Savers:

I need your help immediately to broaden and strengthen our campaign to save dolphins and stop the mercury poisoning in Japan.

-- Your support has kept the dolphin-killers in check so far. Two months into the dolphin-killing season, the "non-slaughter" policy on the primary dolphin species remains in place.

-- Shocking new evidence has just been reported by a credible Japanese journalist on the dangerously high mercury levels in residents of Taiji as a direct result of their consumption of poison dolphin and whale meat.

-- The first public showing of The Cove in Japan was a huge success, stunning Japanese citizens who have had no idea the dolphin slaughter was taking place. Take a look at some of the quotes from viewers, as reported in the New York Times:

"I was outraged. The footage of the sea turning bloody red was especially shocking," said Yukiko Ishizawa, 18, a college student in Tokyo.

"I'm never going to eat dolphin again now that I know about the pollution," said Mutsuko Otake, 55, a Tokyo homemaker. "But I was most shocked to find out that Japan has been getting a bad name, without us knowing about it," she added.

I need to get back to Japan as quickly as possible, and we need to mobilize the entire Save Japan Dolphins Team to help. We need to spread the word about the Japanese-language version of The Cove. We need to keep the pressure on to end the killing, and press the new Japanese Minister of Consumer Affairs and Food Safety to immediately prohibit sale of poisonous dolphin meat.

This is not going to be cheap or easy, but we must do it. I hope you will give as generously as possible to keep this remarkable progress moving forward.

Click here to make a tax-deductible donation:

We have to act quickly. While the Taiji fishermen have not slaughtered any small dolphins for meat this season, they have continued to kill pilot whales and occasionally other species. These species have even more mercury than the smaller dolphins. And of course, as I have been telling the media, pilot whales ARE dolphins.

We must also get copies of the Japanese version of The Cove to government contacts, leaders of grassroots environmental and food safety groups, and the Japanese media. When enough people in Japan see this movie, the pressure to end the killing will be overwhelming.

For every donation of $100 or more, your name will be printed on a beautiful new nobori banner, which says "Save Japan's Dolphins" in Japanese. I plan on flying this banner wherever I go in Japan on this trip so the Japanese can see that your worldwide support travels with me.

I promise to keep you posted on key developments as I return to Japan, and thank you in advance for your continued commitment and contributions.

We need to keep the pressure on and get the truth out to stop the killing!

Thank you,

Ric O'Barry

Special Offers:


One of our friends made me a beautiful nobori (a traditional Japanese banner) that says in Japanese "Save Japan's Dolphins." I'm bringing it with me to Japan to display all over the country. Now, you can help me by donating $100 to the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition effort in Japan. And I will have your name attached to the nobori as a sponsor of my trip. Please help us with a generous donation.

The upcoming issue of Earth Island Journal features exclusive interviews and in-depth stories about the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign. For a donation of $35 (or $100 for nobori sponsors), we will send you a copy of the Journal, and a full year's subscription: Click here to donate.

Take Action:

While the Taiji fishermen are not slaughtering any dolphins right now, thanks to our efforts, they are still catching pilot whales for meat and catching bottlenose dolphins for the international dolphin trafficking industry. We need to get them to stop all killing of dolphins and whales, and we need the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to take action to stop their members from subsidizing the slaughter of dolphins by buying choice specimens at outrageous prices for captivity and "swim-with-dolphins" programs. Go to our website and take action: http://www.savejapandolphins.org.

Want to do more? Get your friends and family to go to the website, and host a fundraising party for the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition.

More Publicity for Our Campaign:

A great CNN story tells of suppression efforts in Japan during the screening of The Cove at the Tokyo International Film Festival:

And go here to read the full New York Times story giving the reaction of ordinary Japanese who saw The Cove.

You can also hear my recent interview on BBC Radio.

The truth about toxic Dolphin meat is finally being reported by mainstream Japanese media. Go here to read an English translation of this shocking article.