Taiji Whaling, Behind closed doors

The Cove Reflection

The documentary, The Cove showcases what is taking place behind the scenes of Taiji, Japan's whaling company. The film follows Richard O' Barry and his fellow environmental activists as they attempt to stop and raise awareness on the genocide that is happening to dolphins off the coast of Japan. Once Richard and his team of activists arrive in Taiji, the Taiji police already are on to Richards's motives to being in their country and beings to interrogate him immediately. The police urge Richard to not go to certain parts of Taiji, but he heads there anyways and lies about his whereabouts. In his eyes, the spying, smuggling, lying, and the disrespect of the Japanese government are extremely ethical due to the fact that he is doing so for the greater good the dolphins' well-beings. Meanwhile, in the perspective of the Taiji whaling members, they are costing them a large amount of money for every dolphin they free and from what the fishermen are made to believe, they are also hindering the ecosystem as dolphins are responsible for the decrease in fish.

Traditional Whaling in Taiji, depicted in a maki-e...

- Tursiops truncatus A dolphin surfs the wake of a...

Taiji fu

That is pretty ironic considering they the fishermen themselves are the ones behind why there is a decrease in fish population and they are also running the dolphins into extinction which could really cause a collapse in the eco system. According to the book of genesis, God wanted mankind to have a dominion over the fish of the sea, dominion over the birds in the sky and over all the animals on earth. This means that as humans we are to be responsible for these animals by being stewards and maintain right order. This is why I believe Richards and the other activists' actions are ethical and not just because it is written in the...