Shepherding “The Cove” to an Oscar

Home

News

Activism

Overfishing: Oceans Are Dying

This is the Hall of Fame for all around the world Sea Shepherd Conservation Society advocates. This is our tribute for supporting our cause and for defending the Oceans and

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society laid the foundation for the making of “The Cove” and helped to shepherd the film all the way to the 82nd Annual Academy of Arts and Science Ceremony where Director Louie Psihoyos won the Oscar for Best Documentary film.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society heartedly congratulates Louie Psihoyos, Associate Editor Charles Hambleton, and of course Ric O’Barry, whose life work has been honorably validated with this incredible film that exposes the horrific slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Previous to the Oscar award, “The Cove” released July 31, 2009, won awards for best film at the Sundance Film Festival and the Seattle Film Festival.

The path to the Oscar began in October 2003 when I sent a Sea Shepherd team to Taiji, Japan to document the slaughter of the dolphins. Our crew positioned themselves on the hill overlooking the “Cove” and the images they captured appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world thanks to a release by Associated Press. The video images were released by CNN.

Copyright ©2010 Sea Shepherd Conservation Society In November 2003, two Sea Shepherd crewmembers Allison Lance of the USA and Alex Cornelissen of the Netherlands arrested after they dove into the “Cove” and cut the nets to release 15 captured dolphins and pilot whales.

In response to saving the lives of the animals, Allison and Alex spent the next three weeks in prison before being allowed to communicate with an attorney. They were released after four weeks, and both said that four weeks in a Japanese jail was a small price to pay for the lives of 15 dolphins and pilot whales.

The controversy started when the Drudge Report accused Sea Shepherd and Associated Press of doctoring the photos commenting that the blood red coloration of the water could not possibly be real.

“Don’t take our word for it,” I said. “If people don’t believe what we documented than go there yourself and see for yourself.”

But that was no longer possible. The fishermen of Taiji reacted to the Sea Shepherd 2003 expose with an aggressive response to close all access to the area where the dolphins were being slaughtered, despite the area being a national park.....

Source: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Comments (1)

Show/hide comments

...

Es triste ver como la brutalidad del ser humano no tiene limites y como muchos paises "civilizados" cometen semejantes crimenes escudandose en antiguas tradiciones, definitivamente el rol que juega este film es vital ya que el cine podria ser una herramienta eficaz para concientizar y difundir el mensaje de conservacion; de verdad mil gracias a entidades como Sea Shepherd y a los realizadores del film que hacen sacrificios inmensos por conservar y llevar el mensaje de conservacion de un recurso que es de todos y vital conservarlo y preservarlo.

Dario Cruz Ordierez , March 12, 2010