Lettre delphinarium ministre_agriculture_ong russes

To Mr. Aziz Akhannouch
The Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests
Dear Minister,
We are writing to you this letter of concern regarding the first dolphinarium project in
Morocco. As russian scientists and non-profit organizations we want to urge you to prohibit this
project and import of four bottlenose dolphins, one beluga whale and a seal from Russia for the
following reasons:
1.Agadir Dolphin World project is created by four Russian businessmen at least two of which
have links to people that are operating traveling dolphin shows in Russia and were charged
and presumed guilty with illegal possession of Endangered Black Sea bottlenose dolphins on
several occasions
Traveling dolphin shows in Russia brought a lot of attention due to illegal possession of Black
Sea bottlenose dolphins, horrible conditions where animals are being kept in the small crates
for 5-8 days during transportation without even being able to swim. (Read more about traveling
dolphin shows in Russia in attached file №1). Russian non-profit organizations were able to
prove that the traveling dolphinariums violate lots of regulations such as failure to display
necessary permits and documentation for legal possession of Black Sea bottlenose
dolphins(Endangered species), absence of microchips used for individual identification of
animals, sanitary rules and regulations, etc. At least two people on the board of Agadir Dolphin
World project have direct links to the people who operate traveling dolphin shows in Russia.
One of the people on the board of Agadir Dolphin World project was involved in the case of
illegal possession of Endangered Black Sea bottlenose dolphins. (We can provide documentation
in Russian language on your further request)
Due to constant pressure from the public and frequent detection of violations Russian
government is considering banning traveling dolphin shows.
2. According to the news release by Huffpost (Attached file №2) Agadir Dolphin World
representative said that all animals that they intend to bring to Morocco were born in
captivity, which can’t be true
There has not been a single case of successful beluga whales breeding in captivity in Russia. All
belugas in Russia are captured from the wild, therefore the claim that all animals were born in
captivity isn’t true and in fact misleading.
Taking in consideration the link of the people who fund project in Agadir to the people involved
in the illegal possession of Endangered Black Sea bottlenose dolphins, it is hard to believe that
all 4 bottlenose dolphins destined for Agadir Dolphin World were born in captivity.

3. Inhumane capture of marine mammals in Russia
The beluga whales captures are highly inhumane, cruel and have been a subject of new russian
documentary “Born to be Free” that exposes the cruel trade of marine mammals, investigates
animal dealer chains in various countries, and tells the stories of the unfortunate animal
victims.
The captures result in the painful death of many animals and can be easily compared to the
cruel practice of dolphin captures in the small infamous village Taiji in Japan, which was
highlighted in the Oscar - winning documentary “The Cove” that sparked international outcry.
Read more in attached file №3
4. Population fear
While neither orcas or belugas are listed as globally endangered animals, Russian scientists say
that the lack of oversight in the trade and recent research means they are left in the dark over
the numbers remaining in their waters.
"For many marine mammal species, it's not even clear how many animals there are, there have
been no studies since the Soviet times," said Dmitry M. Glazov, Deputy head of Russian White
Whale Program, Deputy chairman of RPO Marine Mammal Council.
A rough headcount in 2010 suggested there are two separate populations of beluga whales in
the Russian Far East, and it would be sustainable to only catch 15 annually from each group, he
said.
In reality, hunters focus on one group in the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan, grabbing as many
as 80 animals in a single season and especially going after the juvenile females most important
for the population's reproduction.
Along with Russian scientists, American scientists urged the US government on the situation
with uncontrollable and cruel trade of beluga whales which resulted in denial of import permit
for 18 beluga whales from Russia to Georgia Aquarium and strong regulations to protect the
species. Under the proposal from NOAA Fisheries, the U.S. would use the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA) to designate belugas living in the Sea of Okhotsk on Russia’s Pacific
coast as “depleted,” or below their optimum sustainable population. Such a designation would
make it illegal to import any of these belugas into the U.S. for the purpose of public display.

It’s against the law to capture Black Sea bottlenose dolphins since they are listed as Endangered
species, but illegal captures are still taking place every year. Since the people who fund Agadir
Dolphin World project have strong links with the people involved in illegal captures of Black Sea
bottlenose dolphins there is a possibility that they could try to smuggle illegally captured
endangered bottlenose dolphins to Morocco.
5. Inhumane treatment of animals in captivity in Russian dolphinariums
There are more than 40 stationary dolphinariums and about 14 traveling dolphin shows in
Russia. There are no regulations regarding marine mammals care in captivity which results in
uncontrollable illegal trade of endangered Black Sea bottlenose dolphins, and high mortality
rate of marine mammals in captivity from infectious diseases that could also be dangerous to
people.
We ask you to consider all the reasons listed above and do the right thing - stop the
construction of Agadir Dolphin World, withhold all permits and forbid the import of
bottlenose dolphins, beluga whale and a seal to Morocco. This would secure Morocco
maintains its international reputation as of a country not associated with illegal marine
mammal trafficking or cruel capture and handling.
Sincerely,
Oxana Fedorova (founder of Russian based marine mammal welfare group “Save Dolphins”-
savedolphins.net; e-mail: saverussiandolphins@gmail.com)
Tatiana Beley (author of “Born to be Free” documentary about the plight of marine mammals
in Russia; e-mail: taniabelei@mail.ru)
Tatiana Denisenko (marine mammal expert, Associate Professor of the Department of
Microbiology at Moscow Veterinary Academy of K.I. Skryabin, Ph.D., in a field of research of the
microflora of marine mammals, their infectious diseases and methods of prevention and
treatment of these diseases, ecological microbiology, sanitary microbiology and immunology;
e-mail: denisenkote@yandex.ru)
Grigory Tsidulko (marine mammal expert, member of IUCN Cetacean Specialists Group, expert
to IUCN Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel; e-mail: gtsidulko@gmail.com )
Dinara Ageeva (Russian public organization in the field of animal protection "Voices for
animals" - animal-voice.ru; e-mail: info@animal-voice.ru)

Attached file №1 – Traveling dolphins shows in Russia
Source: http://savedolphins.net/russian-dolphin-shows-eng/
THE HORRIBLE TRUTH ABOUT DOLPHIN SHOWS IN RUSSIA
Over the past two years, there has been a growing wave of concern globally regarding cruelty
shown to marine mammals in captivity.
Whilst worldwide, growing opposition to marine mammals in captivity increasingly threatens this
unacceptable commercial practice (and thankfully so!), in Russia it is just the opposite: this tragic
“entertainment industry” is growing rapidly.
What Is Happening To Dolphins and Orcas Right Now in Russia
There are now 43 stationary dolphinariums in Russia, holding approximately 160 bottlenose
dolphins and 60 beluga whales. In the near future, three more new facilities are scheduled to open:
two dolphinariums in Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod, and the new Moscow Oceanarium at
VDNKh.
Three orcas – Narnia, Nord and Juliet — were actually captured just for this new Moscow
Oceanarium, which also announced that it had ordered dolphins from Japan. Even more
oceanariums like the one in Moscow are being planned for Saint-Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod,
along with 3 more dolphinariums in Rostov, Grozny and Ulyanovsk.
Worse still, the number of traveling dolphinariums are growing along with stationary ones. There are
already twelve traveling dolphinariums in Russia. One of them is currently in Kazakhstan and
another one in Belarus, with the consequence that 23 bottlenose dolphins and 12 beluga whales are
living in the eternal never-ending stress of always being moved around the country in these
traveling, tiny enclosures.
What These Commercial Enterprises Are Doing is Horrific

For example, a Ukrainian company, “Nemo”, just recently opened a traveling dolphinarium in Almaty,
Kazakhstan. Ukraine law strictly forbids such practices, but there are no laws regarding marine
mammal welfare in captivity either in Kazakhstan or Russia. In fact, traveling dolphinariums are
banned in most countries, the exceptions being Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Indonesia.
Criticism abounds throughout the civilized world that the conditions are detestable in these marine
mammals struggle day-in and day-out to endure in stationary dolphinariums: the lack of sufficient
space for the dolphins to swim, hopelessly low water quality, and the stress created by these
circumstances lead over and over again to the premature death of these beautiful, intelligent marine
mammals.
The Special Tragedy of “Traveling Dolphinariums”
And that’s just in stationary dolphinariums; without question the conditions are much worse in
traveling dolphinariums. In these transportable “shows”, marine mammals moved from city to city by
trailer truck, spending long days in tiny tanks without any ability to move around. The animals do not
receive proper care during transportation, suffering even more extreme stress during the time it
takes to set up and dismantle the mobile pools and inflatable arenas.
On average, these mammals spend a week in these “traveling” tanks (set – 3 days, dismantling – 3
days, transportation – 1-2 days). And how long do these cycles repeat themselves? Well, a traveling
dolphinarium tour usually lasts approx. six weeks , sheer torture for these animals in their tiny tanks,
during their days of transportation and their 24/7 never-ending stress.
How bad can it get? One beluga whale named Dale died whilst touring, which occurred on
September 4th
, 2010, when the Moscow traveling dolphinarium performed in Kokshetau, Kazakhstan.
The cause of death was heart problems, no doubt aggravated by the constant transportation.
Afterwards, Dale’s partner, a beluga named Lentochka, literally refused to perform after his death.
Her fate? She disappeared later in 2010, and nobody knows whether she simply died or was moved
elsewhere.
A big marine mammal just disappearing? In Russia dolphins can and do “disappear” as dolphinarium
owners simply replace the dead dolphins with illegally purchased dolphins and the replacement
mammals are just given the same name as the previous dead animal. So, no one knows because
the replacements are kept secret. Who wins? Well there are always those who are willing to profit
and deliver dolphins and beluga whales as replacements. Very much like the owners of these
dolphinariums, they know full well that the authorities turn a blind eye and don’t make any effort at all
to keep track or monitor these activities. That’s how things work in Russia. How many dolphins have
died is simply not known.
How Bad Can It Get?
For that matter, no one truly knows the extent of the awful things occurring in Russian
dolphinariums. But some terrible incidents have indeed come to light.
December 25, 2004,
Saint-Petersburg.
Truck transporting a traveling dolphinarium was involved in a major traffic accident.
“The accident happened on Saturday afternoon on the Moscow-Petersburg highway. Fifty kilometers
from Novgorod, one tractor trailer got into an accident with a heavy dump truck. Two people died.
Animals injured. One of the dolphins washed up on the roadway from the hit. Rescuers have been
waiting for almost 3 hours in the cold for the new tank. All this time the animals were watered from
fire hydrants. Belugas were loaded onto a passing truck with a crane and sent home. Veterinarians
and management staff of dolphinarium refused to comment on this incident. They reassured

everyone that dolphins are alive and well, and immediately swimming as soon as they are unloaded.
However, witnesses say that belugas were covered in blood when they got out of the tank».
Source: http://www.gorodovoy.spb.ru/rus/news/civil/396330.shtml
February 2, 2007,
Saratov.
Inflatable pool with dolphins burst during a performance in front of visitors. Gushing water carried
and threw animals into hallways and foyers. Dolphins were dragged away behind the arena. Later
dolphinarium staff announced that animals are alive.
Video footage with the accident (accident happened at
1:25): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR2oc66UIw4
March 23, 2013,
Vologda.
A strong gust of wind swept away the inflatable roof of the Moscow Traveling dolphinarium during
the show. People were evacuated immediately. No one was hurt.
Source: http://www.krivoe-zerkalo.ru/node/14437
Night of August 12,2014, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
A huricane damaged the top of inflatable arena of the Moscow traveling dolphinarium. The wind
swept away one of the walls. The whole rena lost electricity. The Marine Mammals were stressed yet
the dolphinarium resumed the show on the same day, without waiting to repair the wall.
Source: http://www. sakhalinmedia.ru/news/island/12.08.2014/378263/uragan-pomyal-kupol-i-
napugal-zhivotnih-moskovskogo-delfinariya-v-yuzhno-sahalinske.html
August 13, 2014,
Tula Oblast.
The water in the tank began to evoporate and deteriorate during the transportation of two beluga
whales from Arkhangelsk to Novorossiysk. Firemen traveled to the scene and changed the water,
but one of the beluga whales developed burns on its skin. The transportation was resumed after the
water was changed.
December 1, 2014,
Tyumen.
The stairs at the Arena of the Moscow Traveling Dolphinarium collapsed. Two people were injured.
Source: http://infotob.ru/news/news-7294.html
How One Person Made a Difference

These are only a few examples of the types of major accidents that can occur, and they represent
the few incidents that have become publicly known. In contrast, very little is known about what
happens daily to the animals in these mobile shows.
Yet, sometimes, people witness terrible things.
Just recently, at the end of April 2015, the Russian traveling dolphinarium came to Perm. The
installation of the arena starts. From the Ferris wheel, Elena Borovskaya by chance sees beluga
whales in the tiny tank. The next day, the belugas still were in the same tank. Whales in tiny tanks!
These poor whales spent three whole days in those tanks. On the third day, when Elena went closer
to the tank with the whales, she witnessed a terrible odour. In the pictures below that were taken
over the three day interval, one can clearly see the difference of the water color where the belugas
had been kept.
This dolphinarium came to Perm after the tour in Veliky Novgorod. Transportation from Veliky
Novgorod to Perm takes more than a day. When one takes into account the 3 days for dismantling
the inflatable arena in Veliky Novgorod, it turns out that these TWO POOR BELUGA WHALES
SPENT AT LEAST EIGHT LONG DAYS IN THAT TINY TANK FILLED WITH FETID WATER. Only
then they were moved to the so-called main pool.

KEEP IN MIND: WHILE FREE BELUGA WHALES LIVE IN THE VAST OCEAN AND SWIM MANY
KILOMETERS EVERY SINGLE DAY, THESE TWO WHALES’ SO-CALLED “MAIN POOL” IS ONLY
46 FEET IN DIAMETER AND ONLY 6-7 FEET DEEP! AND THIS IS THE BEST OF WHAT THESE
HORRIBLY MISTREATED WHALES EXPERIENCE IN THEIR WHOLE LIFE. Yet the Moscow
Traveling Dolphinarium claims this tiny pool is suitable for living?! How can it be?
Photo: courtesy of properm.ru
http://s.properm.ru/localStorage/news/df/d6/71/f2/dfd671f2_resizedScaled_659to439.jpg

This seal had been kept in this tiny cage for at least 8 days!!!
Photo: courtesy of properm.ru

http://s.properm.ru/localStorage/collection/8b/c2/a2/b2/8bc2a2b2_resizedScaled_659to439.jpg
The dolphinarium was closed for inspection for on April 30th
because of increased public attention.
Yet, despite all the criticism, the dolphinarium commenced on May 1st
. When they did their
inspection, local authorities concluded that no mistreatment of animals had been identified. Isn’t it
amazing what kinds of terrible animal treatment is considered “acceptable” in Russia??!!
And normal! «Everything is normal,» according to the director of the Russian traveling dolphinarium.
Even worse, people are willing to pay money to watch these woefully exhausted and mistreated
marine animals. Tickets sold out for several days ahead and the sufferings of these poor belugas
went unnoticed by Perm residents.
How These Tragedies Become Never-Ending
Last year, a similar situation arose with these same belugas.The Russian traveling dolphinarium
came from Tambov to Belgorod on the morning of February 28, 2014. The inflatable arena
installation began only in the evening and was completed on March 2nd
. The pool was installed on
March 3rd
. The result? The belugas spent at least 6 and a half days in those same tiny tanks, taking
into account the time for arena dismantling 3 days, plus around 6-7 hours of traveling time from
Tambov to Belgorod and 3 days for installing Arena in Belgorod.
Photo credit: http://cs624427.vk.me/v624427611/24e11/-8XkWlRD-7E.jpg

Such is the fate in Russia for these beautiful, intelligent marine mammals. The fact is that in Russia,
anyone can buy a dolphin or even rent a dolphin and put it anywhere they want. EVEN IN THEIR
BATHTUB! Such is considered normal and perfectly acceptable in Russia, while most countries in
the world consider this kind of display or use of dolphins for entertainment as cruel.
What Other Countries Do
Here is just a partial list of countries where the display of dolphins and other cetaceans in captivity is
either banned outright or has strict legislation in place:
Costa Rica (since 2005)
Great Britain,
Australia
Belgium,
Germany
Greece (Athens, 2011)
Israel (display or use of dolphins for entertainment is prohibited)
South Carolina, USA
Colombia
Brazil (display or use of dolphins for entertainment is prohibited)
Switzerland (since March 14, 2012 import of live cetaceans banned)
Argentina,
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Canada (capture and exploitation of beluga whales banned; orca breeding banned)
Hawaiian Islands,
Netherlands Antilles,
Haiti,
France
Mexico,
Maldives,
Puerto Rico
Croatia (ban on keeping cetaceans in captivity — since June 19, 2009)
Chile
India (ban on keeping dolphins in captivity since May 17, 2013; declares dolphins and whales as
“non-human person”)
Mexico (traveling dolphin shows banned in 2015).
What Does All This Tell Us That We Have To Do…That We Actually CAN DO?

The whole world is moving towards a new era, where enslavement of animals simply is not
acceptable anymore – all while Russia is thousands of steps behind. Why? It is not the country and
rather the lack of awareness within the Russian society as to what is really going on with these
mammals. Owners of these horrible commercial displays take advantage of this lack of awareness
and create demand through clever marketing … and then meet that “demand” with their supply of
this incredibly cruel and sadistic form of “entertainment”. So it is that people’s desire to see the
dolphins, and their lack of understanding of the cruelty inherent to every dolphinarium fills the
pockets of millionaires and exposes these beautiful creatures to eternal never-ending torment.
Every single person who buys a ticket end up involved in this cruel entertainment. And we’re only
talking about the fate of those dolphins who survive being captured.
The truth is that 50% of dolphins die during the capture process. And this Russian marine mammal
“Captivity Industry” fuels the horrific Japan Dolphin Hunt in Taiji, whose inhumane cruelty was
exposed in the Oscar winning documentary “The Cove” to be the evil that it is. “The Cove” exposes
the slaughter of dolphins and porpoises off the coast of Japan every year. Dolphin meat, containing
toxic levels of mercury, is sold as food in Japan and other parts of Asia, often labeled as whale meat.
And, alas, the remaining dolphins are sold to dolphinariums and marine parks around the world,
including Russia and Ukraine.
Three Things that the Russian Government Can Do Right Now
Here are three things that Russian Government can do right now to take a leadership position on
this issue:
 First and the most important, provide strict enforcement of ban on illegal capture of dolphins
in Russia. It’s absolutely ridiculous that when poachers can capture and sell dolphins,
nobody does anything about it. What kind of civil law is that?! Now is a perfect time to fix it!
It’s time to pass a national law for the whole of Russia that prohibits capture of marine
mammals. What a magnificent way Russia can join with other countries to protect dolphins,
beluga whales and orcas!
 Second, ban the most inhumane type of “entertainment” for good. Traveling dolphinariums
are considered as a thing of the past in most countries in the world. Russia is a civilized
country, so it can and should do exactly what other civilized countries do. Not only is this the
right thing to do, but It’s the only thing to do.
 Third, ban the import of dolphins from other countries and especially from Japan. Today, in
Russia, there are no laws even slightly regulating the importation of dolphins. Thus, Russia is
effectively supporting the massive dolphin slaughter in Japan where over 20 000 dolphins
are massacred every year with many others kidnapped and sold to dolphinariums all over the
world (including Russia). Just recently World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA)
suspended the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) since they acquire
dolphins from the horrendous Taiji (Japan) dolphin hunt. WAZA also requires all members to
adhere to policies that prohibit participating in cruel and non-selective methods of taking
animals from the wild. All members of WAZA must confirm that they will not acquire dolphins
from Taiji, Japan – Russia included.
What YOU CAN DO Right Now
There are five simple, easy steps that YOU, TOO can take right now to help put an end to this
cruelty once and for all.
 One simple and very powerful step that everyone can take is to stop buying tickets to captive
dolphin shows. Every ticket to dolphins’ shows that people buy only prolongs and ensures
that dolphins will stay in their sordid little compartments with fetid water, perhaps forever.

 Go to DolphinProject.net and Take The Pledge To NOT Buy A Ticket To A Dolphin Show.
 Tell your children the truth about what is really happening to dolphins and orcas in captivity.
Show your kids where to look on the internet for the truth about what the world knows, and
what we as people can do to put a stop to this terrible practice.
 Every person with access to the Internet can also play a direct role to help stop this atrocity.
It’s very simple: Spread the Word! Share the Information set forth here with your family,
friends, and acquaintances. Most people don’t even know what they are paying for when
they buy a ticket to dolphin show. People think those dolphins are happy because they seem
to be smiling and splashing about. That “happy” look is just an illusion, and a tragic illusion,
because that dolphin smile is a great deception. Became a voice for dolphins. We need you.
The dolphins need you!
 Go to https://www.causes.com/campaigns/92695-defend-dolphins-orcas-and-beluga-whales-
in-russia and sign the worldwide petition calling on Russia to join with the civilized world to
put a stop, once and for all, to the awful practices that today result inside Russia in the worst
treatment that captive dolphins and orcas face anywhere in the world.
For more information go to http://savedolphins.net/dolphin-shows/. Find out right now about what
YOU can do to end this mistreatment of these dolphins and orcas in Russia once and for all.
To learn more about dolphins in captivity go to DolphinProject.net

HuffPost Maroc | Par Anaïs Lefébure
Publication: 28/09/2017 14h45 CEST Mis à jour: 28/09/2017 14h45 CEST
Projet polémique: On en sait plus sur le futur parc à
dauphins d'Agadir
DELPHINARIUM - C'est un projet qui ne plaît pas aux défenseurs de la cause animale. Quatre entrepreneurs russes s'apprêtent à construire
le premier delphinarium du Maroc, dans la commune d'Anza, au nord d'Agadir. Selon nos informations, le parc à dauphins devrait ouvrir en
mars 2018.
Quatre dauphins, un phoque de mer et un beluga (cétacé blanc originaire de mer du Nord) seront envoyés depuis la Russie par avion jusqu'à
Agadir pour peupler le delphinarium créé par la société Agadir Dolfin World et dessiné par le cabinet marocain K.M Architecture. Les
différents mammifères marins proviennent tous d'un delphinarium en Russie et sont nés en captivité, nous assure une source proche de la
société russe.
Un projet qui va "à l’encontre même de la notion de développement durable", selon la branche marocaine de la Surfrider Foundation, qui a
adressé une pétition aux ministres de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche, et de l'Energie et du Développement durable pour empêcher la création de
ce delphinarium qui "cache la bien triste réalité (des) misérables conditions de vie en captivité" des dauphins.
MAROC
Appli iPhone/iPad Appli Android Plus

La pétition publiée sur Avaaz, qui a récolté, à l'heure où nous écrivons ces lignes, plus de 4.600 signatures sur les 10.000 attendues,
condamne les conditions de captivité des dauphins, "enfermés dans des bassins peu profonds qu’ils parcourent en quelques coups de
nageoires, alors que les dauphins sauvages parcourent près de 100 km par jour et passent 80% de leur temps immergés dans les profondeurs
de l’océan, pour se sociabiliser, s’amuser et chasser".
Selon la Surfrider Foundation, ONG qui a pour but la défense des océans, du littoral et des animaux marins, les dauphins captifs vivent deux
fois moins longtemps que les dauphins sauvages à cause du stress généré par la vie en captivité, et développent un grand nombre de
maladies liées à leurs conditions de détention.
"Voir des dauphins enfermés, asservis, malades et stressés effectuer des acrobaties ne peut en aucun cas contribuer à éduquer le public sur
les dauphins, à l’environnement et au développement durable", écrit l'association. "Contraindre des dauphins à la captivité s’apparente à une
forme d’esclavagisme, de maltraitance et à un traitement cruel non‐éthique."
Du côté de la société porteuse du projet, on nous affirme que toutes les autorisations ont été obtenues des autorités marocaines avant la
construction de ce delphinarium, qui comportera aussi un aquarium, des espaces verts et des aires de jeux. Des vétérinaires et spécialistes
viendront de Russie pour s'occuper des animaux, mais le personnel pour l'entretien du site et l'accueil des visiteurs sera embauché
localement.

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Discussions
PLUS:
"Les habitants d'Agadir et les touristes se plaignent du fait que la ville manque d'attractions touristiques. Ce sera un lieu de distraction,
notamment pour les enfants", nous explique-t-on. "Nous ne comprenons pas la polémique autour de ce projet. Personne ne s'était soulevé
lors de la construction du Crocoparc à Agadir, pourtant les crocodiles sont aussi élevés en captivité", poursuit la même source.
Selon les statuts de la société Agadir Dolfin World, créée en mars dernier et gérée par l'un des associés, Aleksei Derii, les quatre actionnaires
russes ont apporté 100.000 dirhams de capital pour la création de leur entreprise.
Plusieurs pays ont interdit ou poussé à la fermeture des delphinariums. C'est le cas, notamment, du Royaume-Uni où il n'en existe plus
aucun depuis 1993. Toujours en Europe, la Croatie, Chypre ou la Finlande ont également interdit ou fermé les derniers delphinariums
existants. D'autres pays comme le Costa Rica, le Chili ou l'Inde ont interdit les parcs à dauphins. La France, quant à elle, vient d'interdire la
reproduction des dauphins et des orques détenus en captivité.
LIRE AUSSI:
Agadir se dote d'un parc à crocodiles, une première au Maroc
Le jardin zoologique national de Rabat reçoit le "certificat d'excellence" Tripadvisor
Pour la première fois et au Maroc, des chercheurs sont parvenus à filmer des chatons du désert (VIDÉO)
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Attached file #3
Source: http://www.ifaw.org/united-states/news/born-be-free-premieres-moscow
Born to Be Free premieres in Moscow
The documentary film Born to Be Free produced with support by the International Fund
for Animal Welfare (IFAW) will open the programme of the ECO CUP International
Green Film Festival in Moscow today. The screening will be held at the 1,500-seat N1
hall at Octyabr Cinema (operated by Karo film company).
This film exposes the cruel trade of marine mammals, investigates animal dealer chains
in various countries, and tells the stories of the unfortunate animal victims.
The investigation is focused on the story of 18 beluga whales (or white whales) that
were captured in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East. Initially, they were
supposed to be sold to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. When relevant
information was reported in the news and it attracted wide public attention, animal
advocates managed to achieve a ban on the importation of these whales into the US.
While this matter was being settled in court, the animals were kept in small concrete
reservoirs at the biological research station located on the Black Sea Coast.
The producers of the film discovered them there, and based the film on their
plight.

I met two of them, Gayane Petrosyan and Tatiana Beley, about three years ago. I was
captivated by these young women’s enthusiasm and their intention to make a
documentary film about these animals, and was willing to help them.
We arranged filming in the wild around the Solovetsky Islands, where IFAW-supported
researchers of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology group have been studying the
behaviour and communication of wild beluga whales since 1995.
Since this project has been in existence, beluga whales there have been exploited for
commercial purposes on various occasions.
Recently, one of the creeks along the coast of the Solovetsky Islands was fenced for
holding beluga whales brought from the city of St. Petersburg for “summer holidays,”
and tourists were offered tickets to “performances.”
An enclosure was built in the dive station located at the mouth of the Nilma River and
several beluga whales were moved to the enclosure so that the divers could swim along
these marine mammals.
The producers featured both situations in the film.
Perhaps the most tragic beluga situation I have ever encountered is the case of
commercial hunting of beluga whales, aimed at the trade of their meat to the Japanese
market. Back in 1999, we were suddenly informed that hunting beluga whales had
started in the Sea of Okhotsk. We urgently sent a film crew there, and my Japanese
colleagues found out about the customers. Allegedly, it was an elderly couple who
owned a small fish restaurant in a provincial Japanese town. I remember being very
surprised when thinking about the money they needed to pay for 200 tons of beluga
whale meat.
In that case, the support of the Russian State Committee for Environment Protection
and intense public pressure helped to stop the slaughter of these whales. Hunting has
since ceased, though there were still capture quotas in place, and licenses were
granted for capturing these animals for educational and research purposes.
There is a heart-breaking scene in the film in which everyone celebrates the capture of
calves, saying, “At this rate, we will all become millionaires quite soon!”
Sadly, it is money that rules the bloody business of the trade in beluga whales with
China and using them for entertainment in oceanariums.
“Science is underfunded, so we have decided to earn money showing belugas to
public”, says Lev Mukhamedov in the documentary. But we must be aware of pain and
suffering that are behind the scenes. I believe that the faithful account of events given in
the Born to be Free documentary will help change the situation.
In December, an IFAW delegation including Pamela Anderson presented the issue of
beluga whale captures and captive management to Sergei Ivanov, the Special
Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport of

Russia, who was very interested in what he could do to address this problem. Since
then, Sergei Donskoi, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, has
addressed the topic in an interview with journalists.
The good news is that the work on the development of the state of animal cruelty law
has resumed. It is time to stand together for animal welfare, and the Born to be
Freedocumentary is one of the strongest arguments in favour of this advocacy in
Russia.
--MV
Subscribe to Dr. Maria (Masha) N. Vorontsova
About Dr. Maria (Masha) N. Vorontsova
Work
Masha established IFAW’s office in the Russian Federation in 1994, then initiated a
campaign which led to a ban on the winter den hunt of hibernating bears. She helped
expand the Orphan Bear Cub Rehabilitation Center, which has rescued, rehabilitated
and released more than 170 orphan bear cubs back to wild.
Masha has also led campaigns resulting in the ban on the White Sea white coat harp
seal hunt and the Sea of Okhotsk beluga hunt, as well as contributing to an increase in
penalties for poaching of tigers and several other Red Book of Russia species.
As part of IFAW’s efforts to save the critically endangered western gray whale, Masha’s
team helped ensure that off shore oil and gas pipelines were constructed around, rather
than through, crucial feeding grounds near Sakhalin Island. They continue to work to
prevent the construction of a third oil platform.
Masha has acted as advisor to Russian MPs, working to promote animal welfare on a
political level. In Moscow she helped establish an animal clinic and shelter in
cooperation with the organization Tess and local authorities, which provides spay/neuter
surgery and works to address the homeless dog and cat situation in the city.
A recognized expert, Masha has been a member of the Russian Federation and IFAW
delegations to international conferences including CITES, CMS and IWC. She is
regularly interviewed by newspapers and magazines, and is filmed or consults on
documentaries for major outlets such as Discovery and National Geographic.

11/2/2017 Film on belugas criticizes Georgia Aquarium
http://www.myajc.com/lifestyles/environment/film-belugas-criticizes-georgia-aquarium/rUU86Pr6Ouro64K4PycLeI/ 1/5
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Film on belugas criticizes Georgia Aquarium
LIVING By Bo Emerson - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
Posted: 11:29 a.m. Tuesday, August 23, 2016
A documentary on the treatment of beluga whales in a Russian capture operation — purportedly the same type of operation used to
capture whales for the Georgia Aquarium — presents the viewer with disturbing images and raises difficult questions.
We see the graceful, one-ton white whales being yanked out of the surf with ropes tied around their tails. We see the creatures being
confined to small tanker trucks filled with brackish-looking water as they travel across Russia for days at a time.
None of those images involves the actual animals that the Georgia Aquarium contracted to buy six years ago. But the movie, “Born
to Be Free,” by Russian filmmaker Gayane Petrosyan, includes a visit to the marine facility on the Black Sea where Georgia’s
belugas have been held in limbo for six years.
And it suggests that Georgia’s whales were subjected to the same treatment.
The circular tanks of the seaside facility, built through the support of the Georgia Aquarium, seem like a rather circumscribed holding
cell for animals that can travel hundreds of miles at sea.
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The film “Born to Be Free” includes disturbing images of the capture of beluga whales. (Contributed)

“It is a very small place, very small tanks,” said producer-director-writer Petrosyan. “Seven or eight whales live in every tank. For
years, they lived like this.”
Petrosyan’s movie premiered earlier this year in England at the Sheffield Doc/Fest, but hasn’t been shown in the U.S. The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution was given the opportunity to view the film online.
Petrosyan and her colleagues, Tatiana Beley and Yulia Petrik, hope their film will be another “Blackfish.” That documentary about
Tillikum, an orca that killed three people, premiered in 2013 and led to intense debate. This year, SeaWorld announced it would end
its killer whale program.
Prompted by concerns about the impact of the new film, the Georgia Aquarium announced earlier this summer that it was ending its
practice of displaying any whales or dolphins caught in the wild.
The film urges the Georgia Aquarium to release the captured belugas into the open sea, though Petrosyan said that the costly
operation will make that unlikely. “They spent so much money for this, they want their money back,” she said.
Untrue, said Mike Leven, chairman and CEO of the Georgia Aquarium. “There is no financial incentive for us at all; we’re not the
owner.”
The Georgia Aquarium has paid $6.5 million in development costs to research beluga populations, to construct the holding tanks
where the belugas are being kept, and to support the upkeep of the facility in Utrish.
“Those are unrecoverable costs,” Leven said. Four of the whales have died since they were captured and one was replaced. In the
past few weeks, seven of the 15 whales at the Utrish facility have been transferred to a marine park in Japan, Leven said.
Five belugas have died at the Georgia Aquarium, including two infants and three adults.
The Russian belugas were collected about six years ago from the Sea of Okhotsk by Russian fishermen, working with the assurance
that their customer, the Georgia Aquarium, would receive a permit from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to
import the animals. After the permit application was turned down, the aquarium filed suit, but was denied in U.S. District Court.
Ocean Park Hong Kong had agreed to keep the whales during the permitting process but backed out, according to Georgia
Aquarium officials.
Leven said he still hasn’t seen “Born to Be Free,” despite multiple requests for a screening copy, though some associates in England
attended the premiere.
He said he couldn’t comment on the capture operations showed in the film, except to say “sometimes things look traumatic but
aren’t. The question is, how healthy are the animals?”
Earlier this summer, Greg Bossart, senior vice president and chief veterinary officer at the Georgia Aquarium, said reintroducing
captive belugas to the wild is difficult after they’ve been in human care longer than a year, because of concerns about disease
transmission and learned behaviors.
Petrosyan disagreed. Speaking by telephone from overseas, the 41-year-old Muscovite said, “We asked good independent experts,
in Russia and the U.S.A, they all said the belugas will survive without a problem.”
She has worked on the film for three years, raising $30,000 through crowd-funding site Indiegogo and traveling widely across
Russia, from Moscow to Vladivostok, and to the U.S. and China.
Petrosyan also rejected the suggestion that keeping belugas in captivity helps research. “Can we catch people for research? I think,
no. It sounds horrible, sounds like a Nazi state, like Dr. Mengele.”

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11/2/2017 The Cove (film) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cove_(film) 1/12
The Cove
Canadian free-diving world
champion Mandy-Rae Cruickshank
swimming with dolphins in a
photograph used for the film's
movie poster[1]
Directed by Louie Psihoyos
Produced by Fisher Stevens
Paula DuPre
Pesmen
Written by Mark Monroe
Starring Ric O'Barry
Hayden
Panettiere
Scott Baker
Isabel Lucas
Hardy Jones
Music by J. Ralph
Cinematography Brook Aitken
Edited by Geoffrey
Richman
Production
company
Participant
Media
Distributed by Lionsgate
Roadside
Attractions
The Cove (film)
The Cove is a 2009 documentary film directed by Louie Psihoyos which
analyzes and questions dolphin hunting practices in Japan. It was awarded the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. The film is a call to
action to halt mass dolphin kills, change Japanese fishing practices, and to
inform and educate the public about the risks, and increasing hazard, of
mercury poisoning from dolphin meat. The film is told from an ocean
conservationist's point of view.[2][3] The film highlights the fact that the number
of dolphins killed in the Taiji dolphin drive hunting is several times greater
than the number of whales killed in the Antarctic, and asserts that 23,000
dolphins and porpoises are killed in Japan every year by the country's whaling
industry. The migrating dolphins are herded into a cove where they are netted
and killed by means of spears and knives over the side of small fishing boats.
The film argues that dolphin hunting as practiced in Japan is unnecessary and
cruel.
Since the film's release, The Cove has drawn controversy over neutrality, secret
filming, and its portrayal of the Japanese people.
The film was directed by former National Geographic photographer Louie
Psihoyos.[4] Portions were filmed secretly in 2007 using underwater
microphones and high-definition cameras disguised as rocks.[2][5]
The documentary won the U.S. Audience Award at the 25th annual Sundance
Film Festival in January 2009. It was selected out of the 879 submissions in
the category.[2][6]
1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Reception
4.1 Film critics
4.2 Reactions in Taiji, Japan
4.3 Reactions in Seaworld
4.4 Reactions in Western Australia
5 Release in Japan
6 Controversy
6.1 Portrayal
6.2 Filming technique issues
6.3 Alleged inaccuracies
6.4 Opposing documentary
Contents
Coordinates: 33°35′55.92″N 135°56′46.86″E

Release date July 31, 2009
Running time 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Japanese
Box office $1,140,043
7 Awards and nominations
8 See also
9 Explanatory notes
10 References
11 External links
The film follows former dolphin trainer and activist Ric O'Barry's quest to document the dolphin hunting operations in
Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. In the 1960s, O'Barry helped capture and train the five wild dolphins who shared the role of
"Flipper" in the hit television series of the same name. The show, very popular, fueled widespread public adoration of
dolphins, influencing the development of marine parks that included dolphins in their attractions. After one of the
dolphins, in O'Barry's opinion, committed a form of suicide in his arms by closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to
suffocate, O'Barry came to see the dolphin's captivity and the dolphin capture industry as a curse, not a blessing. Days
later, he was arrested off the island of Bimini, attempting to cut a hole in the sea pen in order to set free a captured
dolphin.[7] Since then, according to the film, O'Barry has dedicated himself full-time as an advocate on behalf of dolphins
around the world.
After meeting with O'Barry, Psihoyos and his crew travel to Taiji, Japan, a town that appears to be devoted to dolphins and
whales. In a nearby, isolated cove, however, surrounded by wire fences and "Keep Out" signs, an activity takes place that
the townspeople attempt to hide from the public. In the cove, a group of Taiji fishermen engage in dolphin drive hunting.
The film states that the dolphin hunt is, in large part, motivated by the tremendous revenue generated for the town by
selling some of the captured dolphins, female bottlenose dolphins, to aquariums and marine parks and killing the majority
of the rest. The dolphins that are not sold into captivity are then slaughtered in the cove and the meat is sold in
supermarkets. According to the evidence presented in the film, the local Japanese government officials are involved in the
hiding of the hunting, and the Japanese public is not fully aware of the hunt and the marketing of dolphin meat. The film
states that the dolphin meat contains dangerously high levels of mercury and interviews two local politicians, Taiji city
councilors who have, for that reason, advocated the removal of dolphin meat from local school lunches.
Attempts to view or film the dolphin killing in the cove are physically blocked by local police and the Japanese local
government who treat the visitors with open intimidation, derision, and anger. Foreigners who come to Taiji, including
The Cove's film crew, are shadowed and questioned by local police. In response, together with the Oceanic Preservation
Society, Psihoyos, O'Barry, and the crew utilize special tactics and technology to covertly film what is taking place in the
cove.[8] The film also reports on Japan's alleged "buying" of votes of poor nations in the International Whaling
Commission. The film indicates that while Dominica has withdrawn from the IWC, Japan has recruited the following
nations to its whaling agenda: Cambodia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, Laos, and the Republic of the
Marshall Islands.[a][10] At the end of the film, O'Barry shows footage of the Taiji dolphin slaughter to a Japanese official,
after the official repeatedly denies the incident; he is unmoved by the footage, and asks O'Barry where he obtained it. The
film then cuts to a scene showing an annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission. O'Barry marches into a
meeting of the Commission strapping a TV showing the footage on his chest (while the Japanese delegates are talking
about how they have improved whaling tactics). O'Barry walks around the crowded meeting room displaying the images
until he is escorted from the room.
Ric O'Barry Hayden Panettiere
Synopsis
Cast

―Ric O'Barry, In the
first five minutes of
the film.
The film used specialized camouflaged high-definition cameras that were
designed to look like rocks. These hidden cameras helped capture footage and
were so well camouflaged that, according to director Louie Psihoyos, the crew
had a hard time finding them again.[12]
The film received predominately positive reviews from critics. Roger Ebert gave the film
four stars (out of four), calling the film "a certain Oscar nominee".[13] Jeannette Catsoulis
of The New York Times called the film "an exceptionally well-made documentary that
unfolds like a spy thriller", going on to describe it as "one of the most audacious and
perilous operations in the history of the conservation movement".[14] Other reviewers also
played up the espionage angle of the film, including Time magazine's Mary Pols who said
that The Cove "puts Hollywood capers like Mission Impossible to shame", and Peter
Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor, who called it "a rousing piece of real-world
thriller filmmaking".[15][16] Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 94% of
critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon 125 total reviews, summarizing the
consensus as "Though decidedly one-sided, The Cove is an impeccably crafted, suspenseful
exposé of the covert slaughter of dolphins in Japan."[17] At Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 82, based on 26
reviews.[18]
Some reviews recognized the film's entertainment value but did not view it as an "objective documentary".[19] Wall Street
Journal critic Joe Morgenstern labeled the film as a "quasidocumentary framed as a high-tech thriller" with an "agitprop
style" that had "an excess of artifice and a dearth of facts".[20] David Cox of The Guardian Film Blog called it a "piece of
evangelism", and asked rhetorically: "Westerners... kill and eat cows. Easterners eat dolphins. What's the difference?".[21]
According to Michelle Orange of Movie Line "How much of this (The Cove) should we believe? As a piece of propaganda,
The Cove is brilliant; as a story of ingenuity and triumph over what seems like senseless brutality, it is exceptionally well-
told; but as a conscientious overview of a complex and deeply fraught, layered issue, it invokes the same phrase as even the
most well-intentioned, impassioned activist docs: Buyer beware."[22]
Scott Baker[11]
Joe Chisholm
Mandy-Rae Cruickshank
Hannah Fraser (aka Hannah
Mermaid)
Charles Hambleton
Simon Hutchins
Hardy Jones
Kirk Krack
Isabel Lucas
Roger Payne
John Potter
Louie Psihoyos
Dave Rastovich
Paul Watson
Ric O'Barry at the Cove in Taiji,
Japan 2014
Today they
would kill me,
if they could.
And I'm not
exaggerating,
if these
fisherman
could catch
me and kill
me, they
would.
“
”
Production
Reception
Film critics
Reactions in Taiji, Japan

The whale and dolphin hunting season in Japan usually begins on September 1 each year; in 2009, the hunting began on
September 9. Although activists tend to believe that it was because of the publicity generated by the film,[23] it has been
reported that the delay was due to the weather and rough seas.[24] According to campaigners, out of the 100 dolphins
captured on September 9, some were taken to be sold to marine museums and the rest were released, while 50 pilot
whales were killed and sold for meat on the same day. While campaigners claim that it has become apparent that The Cove
is having an impact on the way in which Japanese fisherman normally conduct the dolphin hunt,[25] on March 23, 2010
the Japanese government stated "The dolphin hunting is a part of traditional fishery of this country and it has been
lawfully carried out."[26]
Upon the film winning the Oscar, the town mayor of Taiji and the chief of Taiji Fishery Union said "The hunt is performed
legally and properly with the permission of Wakayama Prefecture [local government]."[27] Taiji assemblyman Hisato
Ryono, one of the two local legislators who broke ranks and publicly called for removal of dolphin (pilot whale) meat from
school lunches, said he was lied to by the documentary's producers about what the film would contain.[28][29][30]
Since the release of the film, a much larger number of activists, mainly non-Japanese, have visited Taiji to protest or film
the dolphin hunts. The Taiji fishermen responded by constructing an elaborate structure of tarps to better conceal the
drive-hunting activities in and around the cove.[31]
SeaWorld spokesperson Fred Jacobs has responded by saying that, "We think we're being unfairly criticized for something
we're opposed to."[32] He adds that, "SeaWorld opposes the dolphin hunts documented in The Cove. We do not purchase
any animals from these hunts. More than 80 percent of the marine mammals in our care were born in our parks. We
haven't collected a dolphin from the wild in decades."[33] However, Jacobs does not condemn those who purchase from the
Taiji dolphin hunt.[34] O'Barry has thus been criticized for emphasizing that dolphinariums are a large contributing factor
to the economic success of the dolphin slaughter in Taiji and for encouraging boycotts of dolphin shows to protest the
dolphin slaughter. The scene in The Cove that displays a map consisting of arrows emanating from Taiji and pointing to
countries with dolphinariums has been said to be misleading since the majority of those countries do not currently have
dolphins of Japanese origin. In the United States it is currently illegal to import dolphins obtained from a drive, including
the drive hunt at Taiji, as it is considered an inhumane method.[32] Since 1993 there have been no permits issued to
facilities in the United States to import dolphins acquired through drive hunt methods.[35] Marilee Menard, the executive
director of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, has also stated that she believes that the filmmakers are
"misrepresenting that the majority of zoos and aquariums with dolphins around the world are taking these animals."[32]
In August 2009, after the screening of the film in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane film festivals, the councillors of the
Shire of Broome, Western Australia, voted unanimously to suspend its sister city relationship with the Japanese whaling
port town of Taiji, as long as the latter continues its dolphin slaughter.[36][37][38] The decision was reversed in October
2009.[39]
The film was initially screened only at two small venues in Japan: at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo in
September 2009, and at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2009 where it received mixed reviews.[40][41] A
Japanese film distributor, Medallion Media/Unplugged, subsequently acquired the rights to screen the film in Japan. The
company hoped to begin a run of the movie in Japanese cinemas in June 2010.[42] Medallion prepared the documentary
Reactions in Seaworld
Reactions in Western Australia
Release in Japan

for presentation in Japan by pixelating the faces of Taiji residents and fishermen depicted in the film.[27] Nationalist
protesters vowed to block the release of the film in Japan and dozens equipped with loudspeakers have demonstrated
outside of the distributor's office in central Tokyo.[41][43]
As of June 2010, the controversy over the film and the film's subject had received little press attention in Japanese-
language media in Japan. Boyd Harnell of the Japan Times stated on May 23, 2010, that Japanese news editors had told
him that the topic was "too sensitive" for them to cover.[44]
In April 2010, Colonel Frank Eppich, the United States Air Force commander of Yokota Air Base, located near Tokyo,
banned screenings of the film at the base theater. A base spokesman said that The Cove was banned because using a base
venue to display the film could be seen as an endorsement of the film. The spokesman added, "We have a lot of issues with
Japan ... and anything done on an American base would be seen as an approval of that event."[45] In response, Louie
Psihoyos said that he would give away 100 DVD copies of the film free to Yokota base personnel.[43]
A screening scheduled for June 26, 2010 at Theater N in Shibuya was canceled after staff were harassed by right-wing
protesters. Unplugged stated that it was in negotiations with other theaters to screen the film.[46] Another theater in Tokyo
and one in Osaka subsequently declined to screen the film. In response, a group of 61 media figures, including journalist
Akihiro Ōtani and filmmaker Yoichi Sai, released a statement expressing concern over the threat to freedom of speech by
the intimidation of right-wing groups.[47] The Directors Guild of Japan also asked theaters not to stop showing the film,
arguing that "such moves would limit opportunities to express thoughts and beliefs, which are the core of democracy."[48]
On June 9, 2010, Tsukuru Publishing Co. sponsored a screening of the film and panel discussion at Nakano Zero theater in
Nakano, Tokyo. The panelists included five who had signed the statement above. Afterwards, panel member Kunio Suzuki,
former head of Issuikai, an Uyoku dantai (rightist) group, condemned the right-winger's threats against theaters and
urged that the film be shown. "Not letting people watch the movie is anti-Japanese", said Suzuki.[49]
In response to the cancellation of screenings of the film in Japan, Japanese video sharing site Nico Nico Douga screened
the film free on June 18, 2010. The same week, Ric O'Barry was invited to speak at several universities in Japan about the
film. O'Barry stated that he was planning on bringing several Hollywood stars to Taiji in September 2010 in an attempt to
halt that year's hunt.[50]
On July 3, 2010, six theaters in Sendai, Tokyo, Yokohama, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hachinohe began screening the film. Right-
wing nationalists protested outside four of the theaters, but close police supervision prevented any disruption to the
viewing schedules and ensured free access for viewers to the theaters. The two in Tokyo and Yokohama were successful in
obtaining prior court injunctions prohibiting protests outside their venues.[51]
A local Taiji activist group, called People Concerned for the Ocean, announced that they would distribute DVDs of the film,
dubbed in Japanese, to all 3,500 residents of Taiji. The DVDs were to be distributed to the residents on March 5–6,
2011.[52]
There has been some controversy over the depiction of the Japanese people in the
film. Hirotaka Akamatsu, Japanese Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, said "it is
regrettable that this movie is made as a message that brutal Japanese are killing cute
dolphins".[54] However, upon questioning, director Louie Psihoyos said of his
Controversy
Portrayal
It's a case of
(mostly) 'white
men saving cute
dolphins from
yellow men'.
“
”

―Ilan Kapoor, academic,
echoing the famous phrase
by Gayatri Spivak.[53]
sympathy for the Japanese people, many of whom are unaware of the situation at the
cove, "To me, it's a love letter. I'm giving you the information your government won't
give you."[55] This did not sway critics who saw the movie and stated that "Not since
Mr Osato accidentally killed a beautiful woman with poison that was intended for
James Bond in You Only Live Twice have Japanese people been depicted so one-dimensionally on celluloid."[56]
Close-up Gendai, an investigative journalism program on NHK, reported questions raised regarding the objectivity of the
filming. One scene in the film was presented as having been manufactured for the camera. The segment then entered into
a discussion with a commentator on whether the movie should properly be called a documentary.[57]
Chiefly the points were raised by the Taiji fishermen themselves. The local fishermen complained that the film one-sidedly
depicted their angry reactions at being chased by cameras, and did not adequately explain the backdrop that they had been
harassed by activists such as the Sea Shepherd and individuals attracted by the bounty offered by this organization for
capturing damaging footages. The NHK (on a different program) concluded that the activists did so in order to capture
angry and wild expressions by the local fishermen in the film and in photos.[b][58]
Louie Psihoyos, the documentary's director was interviewed by Close-up Gendai, but no response was broadcast regarding
the allegedly scripted and acted scene. Elsewhere, Psihoyos has stated categorically that none of the scenes in the film
were staged.[59]
Tetsuya Endō, an associate professor of the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido has complained that the film has
approached him under false pretenses. In one scene, he is actually holding a sample of dolphin liver (containing an
anomalously high 2000 ppm level of mercury), but the film represented it as dolphin meat bought in Taiji.[c][d] In reality,
the town's fishermen's union banned sales of the liver in 2003 at the professor's prompting.[63] Endo sought to have his
scenes removed, but initial screenings went ahead without, and he sued the Japanese rights-holder, Medallion Media, and
the distributor, Unplugged, for ¥11 million for damages to his reputation. The litigation opened in Tokyo District Court on
December 1, 2010.[30][64]
Towards the end of the film, the assistant chief of the whaling division at Japan's Fisheries Agency Hideki Moronuki is
erroneously captioned as having been subsequently been "fired". The error was reported by the investigative news
program Close-up Gendai, and Psihoyos when confronted conceded he might have misunderstood.[e][57][65]
In 2015, filmmaker Keiko Yagi released a documentary titled Behind 'The Cove' which presented the side of the Taiji
fishermen. The film was screened at the Montreal World Film Festival.[66][67]
The Cove has won over 25 film awards. Some notable awards include "Best Documentary" from the Environmental Media
Awards,[68] Three Cinema Eye Honors[69] for "Outstanding Achievement", and the Academy Award for Best Documentary
Feature on the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.[70]
A list of nominations and awards the film has received is as follows:
Filming technique issues
Alleged inaccuracies
Opposing documentary
Awards and nominations

82nd Academy Awards (2010) – Best Documentary Feature (won)[71] During the presentation ceremony, ABC
cameras abruptly cut away to the crowd when O'Barry raised a banner urging the audience to "Text DOLPHIN to
44144".[72] TV Guide labeled the moment as "Fastest Cutaway",[72] and film critic Sean Means wrote it showed that
the Oscar ceremony was "studiously devoid of genuine excitement".[73]
Genesis Awards (2010) – Best Documentary Feature (won)
62nd Writers Guild Awards (2009) – Best Documentary Feature Screenplay (February 20, 2010)
Directors Guild Awards (2009) – Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary, Directors Guild of America
(January 31, 2010)[74]
National Board of Review – Best Documentary, (December 3, 2009)[75]
15th BFCA Critics' Choice Awards (2009) – Best Documentary Feature, Critics' Choice Awards in Los Angeles
(January 15, 2010)[76]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association – Best Documentary[77]
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (2009) – Allan King Documentary Award (December 16, 2009)[78]
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (2009) – Best Documentary Feature (December 16, 2009)[78]
Newport Beach Film Festival (2009) – Audience Award for Best Documentary[79]
New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) – Best Documentary (December 13, 2009)[80]
Sheffield Doc/Fest (2009) – The Sheffield Green Award (November 8, 2009)[81]
Cinema Eye Honors (2009) – (Nominated) Outstanding Achievement In Original Music Score – J. Ralph (November
5, 2009)[82]
Traveling through film festivals and social events all around the United States, The Cove has also received the best
documentary nod from many critics organizations, including The Boston Society of Film Critics,[83] San Diego Film Critics
Society,[84] Dallas/Ft. Worth Film Critics Association,[85] Utah Film Critics Association,[86] Florida Film Critics
Association,[87] Houston Film Critics Association,[88] and the Denver Film Critics Society.[89] As the film has received more
and more recognition, the Oceanic Preservation Society translated their website into multiple languages to cater to interest
from around the world.[90]
Blackfish (film)
The Whale (2011 film)
a. This is not entirely accurate, however, as Ecuador has been a strong opponent of whaling.[9]
b. A different program broadcast 1 year after than the Close-up Gendai segment. It captures footages of the activists as
they irritate local people by saying nasty words both in Japanese and English, and shove cameras at their faces.
c. The subtitle in the film read: "This is dolphin meat. This is containing 2000ppm".[60]
d. Endo's findings on the 2000 ppm liver can be confirmed in a report for fiscal purpose, which also cites publication in a
peer-reviewed journal.[61][62]
e. Psihoyos, in video-conference interview to Close-up Gendai attributed the information to Akira Nakamae, the Deputy
Minister of Fisheries, whom he met on an airplane bound for Santiago, where the 2008 IWC meeting was being held
Psihoyos conceded he may have misapprehended and what was actually said might have been that he was "moved"
(at around 20:00 minutes into the program). Nakamae when contacted by NHK stated he "never gave the reply that
[Moronuki] was fired" (at around 22:00 minutes).
1. The Cove (2009). "The Cove Poster" (http://www.impawards.com/2009/cove.html). Impawards.com. Retrieved
April 23, 2010.
See also
Explanatory notes
References

2. "Dolphin slaughter film a hit at Sundance" (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090127a3.html) The Japan
Times. (January 27, 2009). Retrieved on January 27, 2009.
3. OPSociety.org (http://opsociety.org/facts.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090611214354/http://opsociet
y.org/facts.htm) June 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine., Oceanic Preservation Society – Facts
4. Catsoulis, Jeannette. The Cove (2008) From Flipper's Trainer to Dolphin Defender The New York Times. July 31,
2009.
5. Jurgensen, John. A Dolphin Horror Film The Wall Street Journal. July 31, 2009.
6. The Cove (http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/cove) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/200908140
74534/http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/cove) August 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Sundance
Festival 2009
7. "SaveJapanDolphins.org" (http://www.savejapandolphins.org/educate.php). SaveJapanDolphins.org. Retrieved
April 23, 2010.
8. "TheCoveMovie.com" (http://www.thecovemovie.com/the_team/the-team.htm). TheCoveMovie.com. Retrieved
April 23, 2010.
9. "Ecuador ECUADOR PROPONE PONER FIN A LA "CAZA CIENTÍFICA" QUE JAPÓN REALIZARÁ EN SANTUARIO
AUSTRAL" (http://www.mmrree.gob.ec/2011/bol147.asp). Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Ecuador. February
17, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
10. "Ecuador has not joined the pro-whaling block in the IWC" (http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-100
811-1.html). Sea Shepherd. August 11, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
11. "Scott Baker | Marine Mammal Institute" (http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/c-scott-baker). Mmi.oregonstate.edu. Retrieved
April 23, 2010.
12. Wired.com (https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/covetech/), How Filmmakers Used Spy Tech to Catch
Dolphin Slaughter, August 20, 2009
13. The Cove (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090805/REVIEWS/908059989)
RogerEbert.com
14. Catsoulis, Jeannette (July 31, 2009). "Movie Review - The Cove - From Flipper's Trainer to Dolphin Defender" (http
s://movies.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/movies/31cove.html). Movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
15. Pols, Mary (August 10, 2009). "Documentary Review: The Cove" (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1
913757,00.html). TIME. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
16. Rainer, Peter (August 7, 2009). "Review: 'The Cove'" (http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0807/p17s13-almo.html).
csmonitor.com. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
17. "The Cove Movie Reviews, Pictures" (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1208882-cove/). Rotten Tomatoes. IGN
Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
18. "Cove, The reviews at Metacritic.com" (http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/cove). Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc.
Retrieved November 24, 2009.
19. Kennicott, Philip (August 7, 2009). "Mini Movie Review: 'The Cove'" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conten
t/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080601038.html). Washington Post.
20. Morgenstern, Joe (July 31, 2009), ‘Funny People’: Sick Comic, Bleak Prognosis: ‘The Cove’ is riveting account of
dolphin killing, but factuality evades its nets (https://web.archive.org/web/20150325230203/http://www.wsj.com/article
s/SB10001424052970204619004574320194134539128), archived from the original (https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB
10001424052970204619004574320194134539128) on March 25, 2015
21. Cox, David (October 26, 2009). "The Cove's message is gruesome but facile" (https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmbl
og/2009/oct/26/the-cove-documentary). The Guardian. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
22. From Lowbrow (July 30, 2009). "MovieLine.com" (http://www.movieline.com/2009/07/in-theaters-the-cove.php).
MovieLine.com. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
23. "Hunters Pass On Opening Day Of Dolphin Season" (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11258877
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24. イルカとクジラ捕獲太地の追い込み漁 (https://web.archive.org/web/20090912002355/http://www.agara.co.jp/module
s/dailynews/article.php?storyid=174984) (in Japanese). Kii Mimpō (紀伊民報). September 9, 2009. Archived from the
original (http://www.agara.co.jp/modules/dailynews/article.php?storyid=174984) on September 12, 2009. Retrieved
April 23, 2010.
25. Conservationists say 70 dolphins in Japan released. (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/09/conservation
ists-say-70-dolphins-in-japan-released.html) Associated Press. September 15, 2009.
26. イルカ漁は「法令に基づく伝統的漁業」「ザ・コーブ」踏まえ政府が答弁書決定 (http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsart
icle/politics/politicsit/371790/) [Dolphin whaling is 'legally compliant traditional fishing': government decides on
response in writing, in consideration 'The Cove'] (in Japanese). Sankei.jp.msn.com. March 23, 2010. Retrieved
April 23, 2010.
27. Matsutani, Minoru (March 9, 2010). "Cove Oscar is Taiji's Chagrin]" (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn2010030
9a2.html). Japan Times. (In Japanese: アカデミー賞：「ザ・コーヴ」受賞に和歌山反発 (http://mainichi.jp/select/tod
ay/news/20100308k0000e040066000c.html).)
28. Professor Endo is also named (in the Jay Alabaster article) as an individual who complained that the film's makers
approached him under false pretenses. But he teaches at a university in Hokkaido, not Taiji.
29. Harnell, Boyd (August 1, 2007). "Taiji officials: Dolphin meat 'toxic waste' Assembly pair break taboo, warn of acute
mercury risk in school lunches" (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20070801a1.html). The Japan Times.
30. Alabaster, Jay, (Associated Press), "Cove Oscar Won't End Taiji Dolphin Kill (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn
20100310a4.html)", Japan Times, March 20, 2010, p. 2.
31. Alabaster, Jay (March 3, 2011). "Activists may shift tactics in Taiji; Sigh of relief". Japan Times. Associated Press and
Kyodo News.
32. Mieszkowski, Katharine (August 7, 2009), "Dolphins Are Dying to Amuse Us" (http://www.salon.com/news/environme
nt/feature/2009/08/07/the_cove_dolphins), Salon, retrieved June 7, 2011
33. "The Cove's Shocking Discovery" (http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Filmmakers-Reveal-Dolphin-Slaughter-in-The-C
ove/5), The Oprah Winfrey Show, April 22, 2010, retrieved June 7, 2011
34. Alexander, Brian (August 6, 2009), Dolphin hunt film sparks dilemma for tourists (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3227
4599/ns/travel-news/t/dolphin-hunt-film-sparks-dilemma-tourists/), msnbc.msn.com, retrieved January 9, 2012
35. Rose, Naomi A. (2009). "The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity" (http://www.wspa-international.org/Images/
159_the_case_against_marine_mammals_in_captivity_english_2009_tcm25-8409.pdf) (PDF). E.C.M. Parsons, and
Richard Farinato. The Humane Society of the United States and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
Retrieved June 7, 2011.
36. "Dolphin Kill Film to Shock Taiji Sister City Broome" (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25623722-1
6947,00.html). Theaustralian.news.com.au. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
37. Debbie Guest (2009-08-23). "Broome Suspends Sister City Relationship with Taiji Over Dolphin Slaughter" (http://ww
w.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25969585-2702,00.html). Theaustralian.news.com.au. Retrieved
2010-04-23.
38. 太地のイルカ漁描く映画「The Cove」⽇本公開を期待 (http://www.news.janjan.jp/culture/0908/0908259279/1.php)
[Film 'The Cove' depicting dolphin hunt in Taiji: theater release in Japan anticipated] (in Japanese). News.janjan.jp.
August 27, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
39. "Australian Town Embraces Taiji Again" (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2009/10/15/national/australian-town-embra
ces-taiji-again/#.WTjhrBOGNYg). The Japan Times. October 15, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
40. Tabuchi, Hiroko (October 22, 2009). "Film on the Dolphin Hunt Stirs Outrage in Japan" (https://www.nytimes.com/200
9/10/23/world/asia/23dolphin.html). The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
41. "Right-wingers vow to block release of 'The Cove' in Japan" (http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/
right-wingers-vow-to-block-release-of-the-cove-in-japan). Associated Press. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
42. Matsutani, Minoru (February 13, 2009). "Distributor Hopes to Screen The Cove Soon". Japan Times.
43. "'Cove' director reacts to base ban" (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100423b1.html). Japan Times.
Associated Press. April 23, 2010.
44. Harnell, Boyd (May 23, 2010). "Experts fear Taiji mercury tests are fatally flawed". Japan Times. p. 12.

45. Harnell, Boyd (April 13, 2010). "Yokota base bans 'Cove' to be neutral" (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/04/13/
national/yokota-base-bans-cove-to-be-neutral). Japan Times.
46. "Japan screens controversial film". The Straits Times. Agence France-Presse. June 4, 2010.
47. "'Cove' censure threatens free speech: writers, filmmakers". Japan Times. Kyodo News. June 9, 2010. p. 3.
48. Bassett, Deborah (July 6, 2010). "The Cove Opens in Tokyo With Clash From Protesters" (http://www.huffingtonpost.c
om/deborah-bassett/the-cove-opens-in-tokyo-w_b_635955.html). Huffington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
49. Matsutani, Minoru (June 11, 2010). "Rightist also tells theaters to run 'Cove'". Japan Times. p. 2.
50. "Nico Nico Doga plans to stream 'Cove' for free". Japan Times. Associated Press. June 17, 2010. p. 2.
51. "Public screenings of 'The Cove' begin". Japan Times. Kyodo News. July 4, 2010.
52. Matsutani, Minoru (March 1, 2011). "Activists to give Taiji residents free 'Cove' DVD". Japan Times. p. 2.
53. Ilan Kapoor (2010-03-31). "Bright Lights Film Journal :: Troubled Waters: Crashing into The Cove" (http://www.brightli
ghtsfilm.com/68/68thecove.php). Brightlightsfilm.com. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
54. "農林水産省/赤松農林水産大臣記者会見概要" (http://www.maff.go.jp/j/press-conf/min/100309.html) [MAFF/Agriculture
Minister Akamatsu's press conference (summary)]. Maff.go.jp. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
55. "Japan defends dolphin hunt in Oscar-winning 'Cove'" (http://www.ctvnews.ca/japan-defends-dolphin-hunt-in-oscar-wi
nning-cove-1.489894). CTV News. Associated Press. March 8, 2010.
56. http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/7669#.WOQ732_yvIU
57. Kuniya, Hiroko (2010-07-06). 問われる表現イルカ漁映画 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=144BuVw8N2I)
[Dolphin hunt film: its approach to expression being questioned]. Close-up Gendai (television production) (in
Japanese). NHK.
58. クジラと⽣きる (http://www.nhk.or.jp/special/onair/110522.html) [Living with Whales] (in Japanese). May 22, 2011.
59. "Unfazed by 'The Cove,' Taiji's Fishermen Prepare to Resume Dolphin Hunt" (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-
08-27/taiji-s-fishermen-prepare-to-resume-dolphin-hunt-shrugging-off-the-cove-.html). Bloomberg Businessweek.
August 27, 2010.; reprinted (http://www.twincities.com/2010/08/28/unfazed-by-the-cove-taiji-fishermen-ready-for-dolp
hin-hunt/) in Pioneer Press, August 28, 2010
60. ewolfhughes (December 14, 2013). "The Cove-A Real Life Heist Movie" (https://foodandfoodiesinjapan.wordpress.co
m/category/the-cove-2). UCLA. (for undergrauate course)
61. Endo, Tetsuya (遠藤哲也) (2004), 市販鯨⾁の⽔銀汚染と安全性 (https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/report/KAKENHI-PROJECT
-14572112/145721122004kenkyu_seika_hokoku_gaiyo/) [Market-sol whale meat mercury contamination and safety]
62. Endo et al. (2002), Science of the Total Environment, 300 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0048969
7/300), pp. 15-22
63. Powell, Bill (March 27, 2014). "A Social Media Storm Descends on Taiji, the Japanese Town at the Center of a
Dolphin Slaughter" (https://archive.is/20140328110003/mag.newsweek.com/2014/04/04/social-media-storm-descends
-taiji-japanese-town.html). Archived from the original (http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/04/04/social-media-storm-desc
ends-taiji-japanese-town.html) on March 28, 2014.
64. Kyodo News, "Professor in 'Cove' sues film firms over arbitrary editing", Japan Times, December 2, 2010.
65. Sea Change Radio (http://www.cchange.net/?powerpress_pinw=3137-podcast) (Interview with Psihoyos)
66. Kyodo News, "Film supportive of dolphin drive hunts draws mixed reaction in Montreal (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/c
ulture/2015/09/08/films/film-supportive-dolphin-drive-hunts-draws-mixed-reaction-montreal/)", Japan Times, 8
September 2015
67. Gilhooly, Rob, "Taiji drops anchor on dolphin hunts despite increasing pressure (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2015/
09/19/lifestyle/taiji-drops-anchor-dolphin-hunts-despite-increasing-pressure/#.Vf_1cM7os5t)", Japan Times, 20
September 2015
68. "EMA – 20th Anniversary Awards" (http://www.ema-online.org/EMA-20thAnniversaryAwards.php#winners). Ema-
online.org. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
69. "'The Cove' Tops Cinema Eye Honors" (http://www.indiewire.com/article/the_cove_tops_cinema_eye_honors/).
indieWIRE. Retrieved 2010-04-23.

Ric O'Barry's official website (http://dolphinproject.net/)
Official US website (http://thecovemovie.com/)
70. "Oscar.com – Oscar Night – Winners" (http://oscar.go.com/oscar-night/winners?cid=10_oscars_slideshow_winners).
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71. "Nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards" (http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html)
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tml) 2010-04-19 at WebCite. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
72. TV Guide, "11 Top Oscar Moments" (http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/416343_tvgif7.html) March 7, 2010 Archived (ht
tps://web.archive.org/web/20101205054520/http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/416343_tvgif7.html) December 5, 2010,
at the Wayback Machine.
73. The Salt Lake Tribune, "Hurt Locker Wins Top Oscar Prize" (http://www.sltrib.com/features/ci_14632219) March 8,
2010
74. DGA Website:"Kathryn Bigelow wins DGA Feature Film Award for The Hurt Locker. Other winners of 2009 DGA
Awards announced." (January 31, 2010) (http://www.dga.org/news/pr_expand.php3?641&section=news&oldsection=
&oldpage=#docs) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20100203013824/http://www.dga.org/news/pr_expand.php3?
641&section=news&oldsection=&oldpage=#docs) February 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved January 31,
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75. The National Board of Review Official Website (http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/), December 2009
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00119b4.html). Retrieved January 19, 2010.
77. King, Susan (December 13, 2009). "L.A. Film Critics announce 2009 winners [Updated]" (http://latimesblogs.latimes.c
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78. "Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2009" (http://torontofilmcritics.com/blog/2009/12/16/toronto-film-critics-associ
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80. IndieWire.com (http://www.indiewire.com/article/avatar_wins_with_ny_online_film_critics/), December 2009
81. [1] (https://web.archive.org/web/20110713050810/http://www.internationalfilmguide.com/p.aspx?t=news&fn=10&mid=
53)
82. IndieWire.com (http://www.indiewire.com/article/the_cove_leads_cinema_eye_honors_nominees/), November 2009
83. "BSFC Award Winners – Recent" (http://www.thebsfc.org/CurrWin.html). Thebsfc.org. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
84. "San Diego Film Critics Society – Movie Reviews by San Diego's Top Film Critics" (http://sdfcs.org/). Sdfcs.org.
85. Robinson, Anna (2009-12-17). "Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Awards 2009" (http://www.altfg.com/blog/awards/dallas-ft
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86. Montgomery, Steve (2009-12-18). "Utah Film Critics Awards 2009" (http://www.altfg.com/blog/awards/utah-film-critics-
awards-2009-774764/). Altfg.com. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
87. "Florida Film Critics Circle – Home" (http://floridafilmcriticscircle.webs.com/). Floridafilmcriticscircle.webs.com.
88. "The Hurt Locker wins top award from Houston film critics – 2009-Dec-19 – CultureMap Houston" (http://culturemap.c
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89. "Denver Film Critics Society 2009–2010 Award Nominations | Denver Film Critics Society" (http://denverfilmcritics.org/
616/featured/denver-film-critics-society-2009-2010-award-nominations/). Denverfilmcritics.org. 2010-01-13. Retrieved
2010-04-23.
90. "Welcome" (http://thecovemovie.com/chinese.htm). The Cove Movie. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
External links

Official UK site (http://www.thecovemovieuk.com/)
The Cove (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1313104/) on IMDb
The Cove (http://tcmdb.com/title/title.jsp?stid=774665) at the TCM Movie Database
The Cove (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cove09.htm) at Box Office Mojo
The Cove (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1208882-cove/) at Rotten Tomatoes
The Cove (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-cove) at Metacritic
Oscar-Winning Doc The Cove – video report by Democracy Now!
The making of The Cove Director Louie Psihoyos technical interview on Momentum about the making of The Cove
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cove_(film)&oldid=800822000"
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11/2/2017 Activists sound alarm over Russia's whale trade
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-activists-alarm-russia-whale.html#jCp 1/3
Home Biology Ecology August 3, 2017
Activists sound alarm over Russia's whale trade
August 3, 2017 by Maria Antonova
more »
Whale and dolphin species like belugas and orcas are highly intelligent mammals who travel large
distances and have complex societies
A young beluga whale looks down as it is winched in a net onto the deck of a rusty
Russian ship moored at a far-eastern port.
"Don't forget us, bitch!" shouts one of its
captors onboard the ship as the animal is
deposited next to three more belugas and
rows of other sea mammals such as seals.
The grim footage—aired in a recent Russian
documentary—shines a spotlight on a murky
and poorly regulated trade in marine
mammals that has made the country the
biggest supplier of some species to
aquariums across the globe.
Activists documented squalid conditions and
dead beluga whales being hastily buried as
traders exploited loopholes in legislation to turn a lucrative profit.
"We started making a film about aquariums, but I couldn't imagine such a huge
business behind them, a huge corrupt system," said Gayane Petrosyan, who directed
the film "Born Free" that premiered earlier this year.
While many countries around the world are phasing out the use dolphins for
entertainment, China's industry is expanding and Russian animals are its star
performers.
"The animals are treated as a commodity," Petrosyan said.
Loopholes
Officially Russia has exported 91 live marine mammals—including seals, whales and
dolphins—since the beginning of 2016, 84 of which went to China, according to
available customs figures.
Each year, the government permits traders to catch about 10 orcas and 150 beluga
whales for zoos and oceanariums, said Dmitry Glazov, deputy chairman of Russia's
Marine Mammal Council of scientists.
Permits for orcas, which fetch at least a million dollars each, are especially in demand.
While these numbers may sound low, activists believe the true figure is higher as
fishermen abuse quotas meant to cover animals captured for educational or scientific
purposes to export them commercially.
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11/2/2017 Activists sound alarm over Russia's whale trade
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"If you catch an orca for education and cultural purposes in Russia and then sell it to
China for those purposes, that's against the law," said lawyer Maxim Krupsky, who
helps scientists opposing the trade.
Population fears
While neither orcas or belugas are listed as globally endangered animals, Russian
scientists say that the lack of oversight in the trade and recent research means they
are left in the dark over the numbers remaining in their waters.
"For many marine mammal species, it's not even clear how many animals there are,
there have been no studies since the Soviet times," academic Glazov said.
A rough headcount in 2010 suggested there are two separate populations of beluga
whales in the Russian Far East, and it would be sustainable to only catch 15 annually
from each group, he said.
In reality, hunters focus on one group in the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan, grabbing
as many as 80 animals in a single season and especially going after the juvenile
females most important for the population's reproduction.
And as the animals are caught for "education" rather than commercial purposes, the
government is not even getting any money in taxes from their sales, Glazov added.
Glazov said that the controversy resulted in an unofficial halt on live catch in 2016, but
this year the government has allowed it again.
Orca shows
Whale and dolphin species like belugas and orcas are highly intelligent mammals who
travel large distances and have complex societies. Unlike other animals, they are
believed to live shorter lives in captivity.
International controversies surrounding their wellbeing in captivity as well as several
killings of trainers by orcas, also known as killer whales, have put public pressure on
parks like SeaWorld in the US, which announced it would stop keeping them last year.
In China however, new parks are opening up. Nine Russian orcas were unveiled this
year in Chimelong Ocean Kingdom park, and at least two more entertainment facilities
are opening over the next few years that promise shows featuring orcas.
All orcas caught in Russia come from the less numerous mammal-eating killer whale
variety, rather than the fish-eating one, said Erich Hoyt, a research fellow with the
Whale and Dolphin Conservation and co-director of the Far East Russia Orca Project.
Hoyt estimated the number of mammal-eating orcas as "probably in the low hundreds"
in the Russian Far East.
"There is a risk that live catch will significantly erode the Russian orca populations," he
said.
Glazov agreed that the practice should be stopped for all marine mammals in Russia.
"Until we know their numbers, there should be a moratorium on catching them," he
said.
Explore further: Biologist: Orca attacks on gray whales up in California bay
© 2017 AFP
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11/2/2017 THE WHITE WHALE PROGRAMME
http://programmes.putin.kremlin.ru/en/beluha/news/24732 1/9
THE WHITE WHALE PROGRAMME
RU
ANIMAL PROTECTION: SPECIAL
PROJECTS
Dmitry Glazov on the results of the expedition to the Sea of Okhotsk
28 January 2014
Dmitry Glazov, Chief Engineer of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Severtsov Institute of Ecology and
Evolution, deputy head of the RAS permanent expedition’s White Whale Programme and board member of the
Marine Mammal Council, speaks about the results of an expedition to the Sea of Okhotsk.
The interview is given in the context of the following projects: the White Whale Programme (distribution and
migration patterns of the beluga whale), which is carried out with financial support from the Russian
Geographical Society; the Current Status of the Beluga Amur Aggregation project (Sea of Okhotsk, Russia);
estimates of sustainability made by the Utrish Dolphinarium with financial aid from the Ocean Park
Corporation (Hong Kong); Georgia Aquarium Inc., SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Mystic Aquarium and
Institute for Exploration (United States); and Kamogawa Sea World (Japan); and a project on assessing
Russia’s beluga populations in 2013-2014, conducted by the Marine Mammal Council with financial support
from the Ocean Park Corporation.
Question: How much time did you spend on the expedition?

Dmitry Glazov: The Amur River was in flood and we became stuck in the Sea of Okhotsk from the middle of
July to the beginning of October. We studied beluga aggregations in the Gulf of Sakhalin and the gulfs of the
Shantar Sea (Ulbansky, Nikolai, Tugursky and Udskaya bays). Among other things we observed how beluga
whales are caught for dolphinariums and took flesh samples of captured belugas and dead mammals washed up
on the shore for different tests. Before 2013 there was only one capture team, which had been operating since the
late 1980s (belugas were moved to dolphinariums), whereas last year their number increased to three because of
a large quota for live-capture removals. These teams had different experience and technical equipment and did
their job with varying degrees of success.
Live belugas are actively sold abroad (for dolphinariums and aquariums) and the only place where they may be
caught in large numbers is the Gulf of Sakhalin in the Sea of Okhotsk (by the small Chkalov Island). We tried to
find the required funds to enable researchers to monitor live-capture removals of beluga whales. Last year a
record number of live belugas were caught (44 individuals) and this year the Federal Fisheries Agency has
granted a quota for the live-capture removal of 260 belugas. We were stunned by this figure and decided see how
they will be caught.
Question: Will all 260 belugas be transported to aquariums and dolphinariums?
Dmitry Glazov: Not all of them were caught – just some 80 belugas – but the quota was large. Belugas are
caught and brought to fixed sites on the White Sea, the Utrish sea station, as well as in Lazarevskoye, Sochi and
Nakhodka. They are kept under quarantine for about a month and then sold abroad or moved to domestic
dolphinariums. China, Thailand, Vietnam and Arab countries are the biggest customers.
Question: Do Russian aquariums buy belugas?
Dmitry Glazov: Yes, they do. Europe’s biggest aquarium is now under construction on the territory of the All-
Russia Exhibition Center.
Question: When will it open?
Dmitry Glazov: I think in 2015, but killer whales were brought there in late November 2013. They were caught
where we spent the summer: in the north-western part of the Gulf of Sakhalin.
Question: You said cetaceans are kept under quarantine for a long time. Do some of them die during this
period?
Dmitry Glazov: Some don’t survive transportation. Many cetaceans die.

Question: How well do beluga whales survive in aquariums? Are there any figures on this?
Dmitry Glazov: No, this is a very complex issue, first because their life in captivity can be divided into several
stages.
Live-capture removal is the most stressful stage. Belugas can die by drowning after being entangled in fishing
nets.
The next stage includes transportation by sea to permanent enclosures, where they remain until they are sent to
their final destination. This is a stressful period, which includes improper feeding and health risk factors. We
capture young beluga whales who are only two or three years old, because it is believed that they adapt to life in
captivity better at this young age. But more importantly, it is easier to transport them when they are small. An
adult beluga whale weighs over 700 kilograms, or up to a tonne, while teens weigh only 200-300 kg and so are
easier to transport. This is the most critical stage of their life in captivity in terms of adaptation and the risk of
death.
Those who survive are later transported again, which involves more stress, including physiological stress, food
deprivation and dehydration, which is the worst element.
The belugas who survive transportation will proceed to the next stage, which includes adaptation, full feeding
and training. Belugas don’t eat frozen fish; they only eat the fish they catch in the sea.
In the aquarium they are inspected by veterinarians and adapted to feeding with cup-up defrozen fish. This
means that they don’t receive the necessary amount of vitamins, and so a veterinarian adds vitamins to their
rations. In aquariums and dolphinariums the beluga whales live in an enclosed basin with specially salted
chlorinated water, not sea water. Adaptation to these conditions is another critical period. Those who survive this
period live for a long time if they receive the necessary veterinary assistance and normal conditions in terms of
water quality and a sufficiently deep and large basin, unless they are subjected to another stressful phases such
as re-transportation.
The second reason why it is difficult to assess belugas’ survival rate in captivity is the inadequate monitoring of
the capture and post-capture period, transportation and subsequent life in captivity. The only agency monitoring
the capture period is the State Marine Inspection of the Federal Security Service (FSB), which has long taken
over the controlling functions of fish and nature inspections. However, in addition to monitoring the capture of
belugas, its inspectors also need to control fishing in their area of responsibility, fill out heaps of paperwork and
also catch poachers. They are physically unable to spend enough time with the capture teams and monitor their
operation. Hence, no one can control the capture teams to check whether the belugas that die in the deep parts of
the sea do so accidentally or are killed on purpose. Such facts only come to light if reported by rivals or if the
capture team is caught red-handed by an inspector, but these are one-off events.

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