Vegetarian Star

Sting recently gave his support to Ric O’Barry, former dolphin trainer who was featured in “The Cove,” during a meeting backstage at one of his concerts.

Before the concert, Sting told the Associated Press he was blown away by the movie and that humans “should not be eating dolphins.”

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Lincoln O’Barry is the son of ex dolphin trainer turned activist Ric O’Barry, who was a major player in the movie The Cove. On Animal Planet’s Blood Dolphins, Ric returns to where The Cove was filmed in Japan and brings along his son Lincoln as the work side by side to expose dolphin slaughter.

Lincoln spoke to The Futon Critic on his like father like son passion for educating the world on marine conservation. It’s not a lie to say the dolphin industry isn’t linked with strong tradition in Japan. Perhaps that’s why there was so much opposition to The Cove finally getting it’s premiere in the country. Lincoln explains that the first three episodes of Blood Dolphins cover some of those traditions.

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“They are blood dolphins as in blood diamonds. It’s about the traffic in captive dolphins.”

–Activist Ric O’Barry and star of the new Animal Planet television series Blood Dolphins during a Nightline interview, comparing the violence that occurs in the dolphin trade in Japan to that of the diamond industry which sometimes funds violence and produces human rights issues, depending on where the diamond is mined.

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Blood Dolphins premieres Friday, August 27th at 11 PM E/T on Animal Planet.

The television series features activist Ric O’Barry, who first helped to expose the practice of killing dolphins in Taiji, Japan for meat through the award winning film, The Cove.

In Blood Dolphins, O’Barry brings along his son Lincoln O’Barry, though he first had second thoughts about doing so.

“Lincoln can go undercover and do things I can’t do,” Ric says. “I really didn’t want him to do this. It’s sort of a double edged sword. I have a lot of different emotions exposing Lincoln to that danger.”

Discovery has added a section under the show’s website which is basically a dolphin encyclopedia filled with facts about the types of dolphins most  hunted, a dolphin intelligence quiz, and much more. Dolphins have been found to be loaded with antibacterial soap, for example, even though they’re probably not germaphobes.

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Leilani Munter. Credit: Alan Moore

Vegetarian race car driver and environmental activist Leilani Munter is headed to Japan to join Ric O’Barry in the fight against the dolphin slaughter in Taiji.

Despite The Cove‘s success in educating the public about the slaughter and the film eventually making its way into Japanese theatres after protests and cancellations, Taiji mayor Kazutaka Sangen has made it quite clear he’s not going to let a few people concerned for animals and the humans who will eventually eat the mercury filled meat get in the way of a bloody tradition.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Sangen said, “We will pass down the history of our ancestors to the next generation, preserve it. We have a strong sense of pride about this. So we are not going to change our plans for the town based on the criticism of foreigners.”

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The cancellation of a screening in Tokyo of The Cove,  a documentary about killing whales in the island of Taiji, has resulted in a domino effect across cinemas in Japan.

Variety reports several cities have decided to opt out of showing the Oscar winning film in the country. Theatres in Sendai, Yamagata and Aomori have changed their minds on showing the documentary that was scheduled for screening later this month. And Tokyo’s Meiji University has also canceled the campus showing, saying it would interfere with classes.

Dolphin activist Ric O’Barry, who went along for the filming in Japan, has called the cancellations an “assault on democracy.”

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The Cove director Louis Psihoyos and former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry were on Oprah recently to discuss the Oscar winning documentary and distributing the movie in Japan, where it is scheduled to be released in July.

“What does dolphins being slaughtered in Taiji have to do with our lives?” Oprah asked to give her audience a better understanding of the consequences of killing the species.

Watch to hear Psihoyos’ answer.

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The Cove director Louie Psihoyos and Ric O’Barry were caught on the red carpet, where Louie spoke about the Sea World tragedy and the idea of mammals being held in captivity.

“One animal killing three people in one lifetime shows these animals are stressed, they don’t belong in captivity,” he said. “And when we capture them out of the wild and force them to do stupid tricks for our amusement, it says more about our intelligence than it does theirs.”

The Cove won Best Documentary at last night’s Oscars.

O’Barry mentioned how the film’s nomination helped bring attention to the “largest dolphin slaughter in the world,” and hints he’ll be back to work fighting for animals after the post Oscar party ends.

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