We couldn’t buy better exposure for our campaign to stop the slaughter, consumption, and live capture of dolphins in Japan. A billion people, including media outlets around the world, are slated to tune into the event that will undoubtedly create a surge of pressure directed at the Japan Fisheries Agency to stop allowing dolphins to be slaughtered, and their mercury-laden meat to be eaten by Japanese citizens.

We are so thrilled that The Cove will be released this year in Japan, because combined with the exposure through the Oscars, the Japanese government will no longer be able hide the issues behind media blackouts.

Whether The Cove wins Best Documentary or not, this is a critical victory for getting the information to the Japanese public!

IDA is delighted to report The Cove is now an official runner for an Oscar award for Best Documentary!  As a result, we can expect the next month leading up to, and including, the March 7th Oscar presentations to expose billions of people around the world to the Save Japan Dolphin Coalition’s passionate work to stopping the cruel capture, slaughter, and consumption of dolphins in Japan. The global spotlight on The Cove will also bring necessary pressure on the Japan Fisheries Agency to make public the calamitous health risks, including mercury poisoning, associated with eating dolphin meat. This is especially true for residents in Taiji, the small fishing village where the documentary is based, and the focus of our greatest efforts to ending the slaughter.  University of Hokkaido Professor Tetsuya Endo just revealed the alarming results of a study that conclude residents in Taiji have 10 times higher mercury levels than average Japanese citizens.

The government in Japan will not be able to shield the fact that it has been allowing the poisoning of Japanese people who readily eat contaminated dolphin meat to occur. Moreover, it will no longer be able to cover up the barbaric dolphin slaughter with routine media blackouts on the issue. We hope to use the momentum of the Oscar Award nomination and potential victory to enlighten the public in Japan, so the hunting and consumption of mercury-contaminated dolphins will end, once and for all.

Special thanks to The Cove filmmaking crew, including Director Louis Psihoyos, Executive Producer Jim Clark, Producer Fisher Stevens, and the Oceanic Preservation Society for creating a winning documentary!