A documentary film made in 2009, it follows Richard O’Barry as he attempts to document the dolphin hunting operations in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. It is a moving and eye-opening documentary about the brutal dolphin drive hunting practices in Taji which have been hidden for so long. There were extremely strong objections from the local authorities and fishermen, who were particularly anxious that no footage of the slaughter they were carrying out would be recorded. Signs and barbed wire surrounded areas, prohibiting entry, and the fishermen would even try to physically prevent the crew from taking videos and photographs. What they were desperately trying to hide was their brutal slaughter of dolphins. After being caught, the dolphins are stabbed with long sharp spears and then left to thrash in their own blood, staining the waters of the cove a bloody red.

© 2009 Campaign Whale, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

This Academy Award winning documentary is one which is best watched yourself, in order to experience the full emotional impact of that senseless slaughter of dolphins which for so long has gone unnoticed and unacknowledged. It has helped expose these brutal practices not just to the world, but also to the majority of ordinary Japanese who were likewise unaware. Subsequently, there has been much pressure on the Japanese government to stop the hunts, which are still being carried out.