Electronic Music Industry Unites to Campaign for Whales & Dolphins of Japan
The urgent cause against the atrocious annual Dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, explained by the 2009 Academy Award winning documentary The Cove, is now picking up momentum at break-neck pace. Thanks to the concerted, passionate and prolonged efforts of Ric O’Barry and the Dolphin Project, plus a growing number of activists throughout the world, the tragic issue is finally becoming a part of mainstream public consciousness. With celebrity support of the cause exploding over social networks and organised protests growing in size and frequency, now is the time for the media to give this the greatest push yet. Continued pressure is crucial.
The little cove’s dirty great secret was uncovered in 2003, when marine conservation society Sea Shepherd released images of the now infamous ‘bloody cove’ – revealing Taiji as the epicentre of the murder of 20 000 dolphins, porpoises and small whales which occurs in Japan every year between September and March.
A witness describes the scene…
“A pod of 250 bottlenose dolphins spent days netted in the cove while their family unit was torturously torn apart. Dolphins deemed worthy for a life of captivity were stolen away. The remainder waited – disoriented, frightened and hungry until the eventual slaughter. On an almost daily basis I continued to witness intelligent, wild and free dolphin pods systematically driven into the cove only to depart as a commodity, either as a petrified prisoner or lifeless meat for human consumption. Every day, six months of the year, this is the reality of Taiji.”
The Japanese government maintain that Taiji is part of a cultural tradition, and yet the evidence is clear that this is a commercially driven endeavour, with the animals ending up in captivity, on the food market, or simply left injured in the oceans to die. To make matters all the more serious, scientists are increasingly discovering dolphins to be highly intelligent, emotional and social beings – in other words, non-human persons.
The Cove documentary features Ric O’Barry, a former dolphin capturer and trainer for the TV series Flipper, who has since dedicated his life to preventing the very same practice. Ric and his international organisation ‘The Dolphin Project’ have led the campaign for years, but now it’s time to share the task.
The Press
Recently the issue has gone viral over social media channels, with shocking footage of the slaughter reaching a global audience and supporters of dolphin protection able to easily connect right across the world.
One of the most beneficial developments in this effort has been celebrity involvement, with advertising campaigns, social media posts and active participation from the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Hayden Panettiere, Ben Stiller, Paul Rudd and the late Robin Williams in a short film, social media activity from DJs such as Nastia and Rebekah and more recently, direct involvement from One Direction’s Harry Styles and music industry mogul Simon Cowell.
The Event
The evening before what is going to be the largest anti-Taiji protest in history, we invite the press to a private screening of the pivotal documentary The Cove, which Ric O’Barry is flying from the US to attend, along with four Cove monitors. The event will be held at Bar 90, winner of the Hackney new business award and an excellent new venue for London’s cultural scene.
The screening will run from 19:30 – 21:00, followed by a press conference with Ric O’Barry and photo opportunity. There will be live visual art pieces, up-and-coming DJs T Boy and more.
