Just watched "The Cove" on streaming Netflix. I'd heard good things about it, but hadn't gotten around to watching it yet. For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's a documentary based on the killing of dolphins in a small town in Japan. After watching it, I have to say that I am quite impressed. I'm not usually the sentimental environmentalist type, but this movie touched a nerve. I'm seriously considering donating to their cause (NPO). It's one of the best documentaries I've seen in years. I'd recommend that those whom are sensitive to the abuse of animals, watch it anyways... it's worth it. Buy it, rent it, watch it.
I've read about that movie. My wife would need to be out with her friends for me to ever watch it. May have to check that out. Bet their was a lot of red in that water. :P
Hmm..I thought I had a thread in this? Must've deleted it.
Anyway, yes..great movie. Disturbing however. [thumbsdown]
I saw it a few months ago. It was about a week before the season..err..slaughter..started.
Check out The Cove on Facebook.
What's Facebook? :P
Quote from: kopfjäger on December 19, 2010, 09:58:24 PM
What's Facebook? :P
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Fyzl6tL60bM/TO1jKLX0rpI/AAAAAAAADX8/EV1lVwYx_cQ/s1600/facebook.gif)
[laugh]
years ago in Florida I stayed next to the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key. Its a great pace. At night we would swim with the " neighbors" Very friendly creatures . Most dolphins will do no harm to humans. When I was at sea we would have dolphins playing around the bulbous bow of the tankers, they just loved jumping over it when we were empty and the bow was way out of the water. It was always fun to see, and it also made me want to be a kid again.........they were free, it seemed at play without a care in the world.
Killing Dolphins and whales in my opinion is wrong. This practice should stop. [thumbsup]
and somewhere else in the world people think the USA is barbaric for killing and eating cows as they're held sacred to them.
and somewhere else in the world people think the USA is barbaric for killing and eating pigs as they're considered unclean.
and somewhere else in the world people think the USA is barbaric for eating canned vegetables as there is no life left in such a thing.
. . . .
waste is one thing, but different cultures are another and who the make the beast with two backs are you to presume upon their way of life?
If I remember right,
The difference is they round up and kill the dolphins, then don't eat them.
Do they mount them on walls? If it's an endangered species, then we should definitely protect them. If not, then we have to be less hypocritical.
Quote from: Le Pirate on December 21, 2010, 07:58:39 AM
If I remember right,
The difference is they round up and kill the dolphins, then don't eat them.
From Wikipedia, because I'm like a researcher and stuff: "The film states that the dolphin hunt is, in a large part, motivated by the tremendous revenue generated for the town by selling some of the captured dolphins to aquariums and marine parks.
The dolphins that are not sold into captivity are then slaughtered in the cove by the fishermen and the meat is sold in supermarkets."
And yet we love to watch these magestic creatures swimming around in a convenient pool where we can take our kids and sit them where an orca will get them wet.
Quote from: duccarlos on December 21, 2010, 08:27:41 AM
And yet we love to watch these magestic creatures swimming around in a convenient pool where we can take our kids and sit them where an orca will get them wet.
Some people do. I'd rather take my kid out on a boat to see them in the wild (of course that is easy where I live), and not support the practice of healthy animals being snatched from the wild for our entertainment.
I agree with Drjones though...I don't have a problem with dolphins being killed as long as they aren't endangered and the meat is used (even though I couldn't take part in it). That's not to say I agree with everything Japan does though...their practice of killing sharks just for the fins, and killing whales for "research" is appaling.
Quote from: Drjones on December 21, 2010, 05:47:51 AM
and somewhere else in the world people think the USA is barbaric for killing and eating cows as they're held sacred to them.
and somewhere else in the world people think the USA is barbaric for killing and eating pigs as they're considered unclean.
and somewhere else in the world people think the USA is barbaric for eating canned vegetables as there is no life left in such a thing.
. . . .
waste is one thing, but different cultures are another and who the make the beast with two backs are you to presume upon their way of life?
and some mid-eastern 'cultures' practice horrific female mutilation.
and the Azteks used to cut the living hearts out of thousands of people as part of their
culture.
are these ok too?
some practices are objectively bad.
If it is OK or not is subject to who is wearing the pious moral crown for their own personal set of beliefs. In the end it doesn't matter whether I believe it is OK or not.
What does matter is what I believe, not you guys. Now, I think it's time to roast up my neighbor's new kitten.
Kitty murderer. Booooooooooo
It's not murder when I'm consuming what I hunt.
Ya got a point there. I like spotted owl nuggets myself
To consume spotted owl, you need to make sure people understand that you're doing it for "research".
Sorry..... im doing it for the tasty. That and owl is gluten free
Owl goes straight to my hips.
I hear baby wombat is quite tasty.
sac
Fyi...... carl, you should have named the bike Jill...... after my exwife
I'm going to jump in here with my wildlife biologist hat on. An objective and science based way to decide what we should harvest and consume should be based on: 1. Is the population stable and increasing. If it is declining or endangered consider not harvesting until it has recovered and reached some target level. 2. Does the species have the reproductive potential to sustain a harvest. Animals that produce few or infrequent young can not sustain harvest. In such cases we can model how long it will take to go extinct at a given harvest rate. There are also non-science based considerations that you-all have been discussing. Is the harvest culturally acceptable and, as it has been pointed out, that varies a great deal.
To dolphins and whales specifically. These are animals with very low reproductive rates. Whaling was able to drive several species to the brink of extinction in spite of the large populations these animals once had. So, dolphins are not good candidates for either a commercial or recreational harvest. Whether people eat the meat or not has nothing to do with the population impacts.
Although the opponents to dolphin and whale harvest may be perceived granola munching neo-hippies and PITA freaks, there are solid science based reasons to be concerned about the harvest of these animals. In addition, the countries that permit the harvest have a poor track record in harvest regulation and wildlife conservation.
This is a no hat zone. Only made up facts and photoshopped pics are allowed.
Plus, you forgot to mention the yummy factor.
The countries that allow cetacean harvesting don't exactly have a lot of land availble for wheat fields and cattle grazing either as they're predominantly island nations or a climate not conducive for crop growing. The oceans were and continue to be their bread baskets.
or I guess they can just buy wheat and hamburger patties from those know it all Americans.
in regards to eating the meat they "harvest". I believe the movie mentioned something about dolphins having a high amount of mercury in them. They used to give the meat to kids in their school lunches but after they found that out, dolphin was taken off the menu.
My only advice was to watch the movie... There are quite a few valid points in it that I have researched since watching the movie.
1. They kill roughly 23,000 dolphins a year
2. The levels of mercury in dolphin meat make consuming it toxic for humans
3. Most Japanese don't eat dolphin, whale meat yes, dolphin no.
The point of dolphin intelligence is up to debate. Some say they are self-aware creatures with thoughts/feelings etc...
I just enjoyed the movie and thought it was thought provoking.