Mountainfilm in Telluride: Oscar winner “The Cove” featured

We are on a first-name basis with these iconic creatures: Lassie, Bambi, Babe, and Flipper. We project all that is good and right with the world onto our animal friends – but are we doing them any favors.? Certainly not in the case of Flipper and his relatives. “Flipper” is the genesis of “The Cove,” its raison d’etre.

Ric O’Barry was once one of the world’s pre-eminent dolphin trainers. In the 1960s, he captured and trained the five wild dolphins who played “Flipper” in the hit TV series of the era. As a daily witness to the creatures’ stunning intelligence and social savvy, O’Barry could not help but question his work – although he did like his Porsches. That is, until one of his dolphins, a female named Kathy, committed a form of suicide by voluntarily closing her blowhole to drown. Kathy’s demise in O’Barry’s arms proved to be a life-changing wake-up call. O’Barry became a man on a mission: free dolphins around the world no matter what it takes.

Enter Psyihoyos, one of the world’s most sought-after photographers and co-founder of the Oceanic Preservation Society. Psihoyos (rhymes with Sequoias) is widely regarded as one of the top photographers in the world. Hired directly out of college to shoot for National Geographic, he created images for the magazine for 18 years. Psyihoyos’ ability to bring humanity and wit to complicated science stories carries over to his filmmaking. An ardent diver and dive photographer, he feels compelled to show the world the decline of our planet’s crucial resource, water, and Neptune’s creatures.

O’Barry was the scheduled keynote at a marine conference Psyihoyos was attending, but when the trainer was banned last minute by the event’s sponsor, Sea World, Psyihoyos wondered why. Turned out O’Barry was going to blow the lid off an undercover operation based on Taiji, Japan, ground zero for the dolphin trade. O’Barry told Psyihoyos:

“We need to get in there and film what happens…we need to know the truth.”

Famous last words leading to the golden statue.

“The Cove,” part documentary, part action-thriller, gets to the truth. And it isn’t pretty.

To learn more, click the “play” button and listen to Louie Psyihoyos tell it like it is. After you hear what the film’s director has to say, you may want to help. Here are the links to organizations that might make a difference.

Stopping the slaughter of dolphins:  www.opsociety.org and/or www.thecovemovie.com

Addressing mercury poisoning of sea life: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx

Conserving the ocean: www.opsociety.org/,  www.nrdc.org/oceans/, www.seashepherd.org, www.oceanconservancy.org, and www.oceanconserve.info