The Japanese are known for high-tech toilet engineering. Now, the toilet that talks to you:

The Cove is an nominee for best documentary in the upcoming Academy Awards. I received this message from Ric Barry who heads up the campaign to save the dolphins. Donate to the cause. Watch the awards ceremony.

From Ric Barry:

This is a heads-up that our work, as featured in the blockbuster documentary The Cove, will be coming up at the Academy Awards telecast this weekend!

You can watch us vie for the Best Documentary Award on Sunday night March 7th at 8pm Eastern Time (US). The event will also be streaming live online at: www.livestream.com/academyawards

We are beyond excited about what this means to the Save Japan Dolphins Campaign! More than ONE BILLION people are expected to view the Oscars. And the Oscars are the most-watched television show in Japan!

We need to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to:

* ramp up efforts around the world to press Japan to end the slaughter and stop all sales of poisoned dolphin meat;
* get hundreds of thousands of people in Japan to go see the subtitled version of The Cove. (An Oscar win could ensure that The Cove opens in more theaters, with greater media coverage and pubic impact);
* increase our monitoring of the cove in Taiji, and bring over journalists, celebrities, and members of the public to stand firm against the dolphin killing.

Please give us as generous a contribution as you are able.

I hope you can help me translate the powerful message of The Cove into an end of the dolphin killing in Japan.

Your donations make it possible for me to get back to Japan, and for us to reach out to the hundreds of media outlets that will be focused on the Oscars next Sunday.

You probably won’t see me on the red carpet next Sunday, and I’ve never owned a tuxedo. But I will be there in the auditorium, waiting for that white envelope to be opened for Best Documentary, and knowing what it could mean for the dolphins and people of Japan.

Even if we don’t win, the publicity from being nominated has been huge.

But we do need funds to get our message out to the media, and we need follow-up to get the Japanese version of The Cove movie out in Japan, where it will do the most good.

Please donate and support our efforts to save the dolphins.

I’ve witnessed people in Japan watch this film and learn of our efforts for the first time, and many are as shocked as we are. Most have no idea that the killing is even happening and don’t support it continuing. These people hold the hope for building internal pressure in Japan to stop the slaughter.

Thanks for being part of our historic campaign, for watching and keeping fingers crossed on March 7th, and mostly for your constant help for the dolphins!

Ric O’Barry
Campaign Director
Save Japan Dolphins

P.S. Give what you can today! All of our travel and organizing costs money.

P.P.S. Learn more by going to our blog at savejapandolphins.org/blog.html.

If you are a member of the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, or know a member, vote for The Cove to win best documentary film. The exposure will help stop Japan from killing the dolphins. In turn you’ll also help stop the Japanese people and countless pets from being exposed to mercury by the deceptive labeling of dolphin meat, which has toxic levels of mercury.

If you are not a member of the Academy, buy the DVD and host a screening at your house prior to Oscar night. Get your friends to discuss the issues in the movie and to take action.

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The Cove movie site has a study guide that you can use to engage your students with the issues shown in the movie.

The movie provides a great opportunity to discuss these issues and more:

• Is it okay to capture dolphins? Is it okay to swim with dolphins?
• How dos a person change from one viewpoint to the opposite, as Rick O’Barry did. Ric captured and trained dolphins for the Flipper TV series many years ago.
• Is the tradition of a people more important than the needs of an animal?
• Environmental activism—do the ends justify the means?

“It is a bloodbath, cruel and barbaric. Each year, the idyllic and peaceful setting of the village of Taiji in southern Japan is shattered by almost unspeakable cruelty as indreible pain and ultimate death is inflicted on defenseless dolphins.” Paul Watson, president and founder, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

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What can you do?

Follow these suggestions from Sea Shepherd and then visit their website for more suggestions and information:

In order to spread the news about what is happening in Japan, we need to get media coverage from your local media (TV, NEWSPAPERS AND RADIO):
• Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers
• Call TV and radio stations to ask them to cover this important news
• Refer your local broadcast and cable TV stations to Sea Shepherd to get a free copy of our Susan Sarandon “Save the Dolphins” Public Service Announcement (PSA)
• You can offer the Sea Shepherd telephone number 360-370-5650, so the media can contact us for interviews with Sea Shepherd president and founder, Captain Paul Watson.

One of the incentives for the Japanese slaughter of dolphins is that some of the dolphins they catch can be sold for as much as $100,000 to “Swim With Dolphins” attractions.

Read the World Society for the Protection of Animals excellent article “What’s Wrong With Swimming WIth Dolphins?”

Here’s one excerpt from that article:

Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the SWTD industry is the misconception it perpetuates among the general public. SWTD programs present themselves as “educational” and “eco-friendly”. They market themselves to people who love dolphins, care about conservation and are looking for a tangible way to express this interest. What SWTD participants don’t realize is that by patronizing these programs, they are not only contributing to this expanding, profit-driven industry, but they are ensuring that dolphins will continue to be captured from the wild and suffer in captivity.

Make no mistake . . . swim with dolphin programs are about making money. A single dolphin can bring in millions a year; it’s an industry worth over a billion dollars. You might be thinking that not every dolphin comes from Japan and is part of the slaughter machine.

What about dolphins born in captivity?

The Cove website provides a great answer to this question:

“It is the same question slave owners asked about children born into slavery.”

The Cove documentary (see Stop Japan From Killing: Motivation) has one interview in it where an official claims that dolphins are slaughtered humanely, meaning quickly by severing the spine. The footage in the documentary seems to indicate otherwise. My question: Can there be humane killing? So it’s okay to kill if you are quick, but not if you are slow?

A brutal massacre that goes on from October through April is simply not humane. They slit the throats and harpoon bottlenose dolphins, striped dolphins, pilot whales, false killer whales, spotted dolphins, and Risso’s dolphins. Why? Tradition. A tradition the Japanese claim to be proud of. Doesn’t seem like anything to be proud of.

What can you do? Follow these suggestions from Save the Dolphins:

1. Write the Japanese Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, and tell him you will not purchase any Japanese products or visit Japan until they stop killing and capturing dolphins and whales or “Click Here to compose and send your message” directly to the Japanese Prime minister Yasuo Fukuda.

2. Do not participate in any captive swim-with dolphin programs.

3. Do not support or visit any marine park, zoo, or amusement park that has captive dolphins and whales.

Dolphin meat is incredibly high in mercury—toxic levels high. Knowing this, the fishermen shown in The Cove (see yesterday’s post) convinced the local school to serve dolphin for the school lunches. The kids have to eat the lunch; they can’t bring their own. These fishermen not only don’t care about the dolphins but they also don’t care about the kids getting dosed with Mercury. They do care about making money.

You’d think the fishermen would have learned about the dangers of mercury, given Japan’s history with Minamata disease (the result of mercury poisoning). That disaster took the Japanese government 12 years to recognize. In the meantime thousands of people were affected.

Note: Two courageous members of the school board protested serving the dolphin meat out of concern for the children. Since the release of the film, the school stopped serving dolphin.

See The Japanese Government is Poisoning its Own Citizens.

What can you do?

Follow these suggestions from Take Part:

1. Send a letter to our leaders, urging them to address this issue
2. Share the petition with your friends, especially those living in Japan
3. Expose the secret in Taiji by posting the “Secret is Out” widget on your own blog, MySpace or Facebook page
4. Text DOLPHIN to 44144, and sign the letter straight from your phone
5. Join the Facebook Cause and share the petition with your friends online

I just watched The Cove. It’s a documentary that tells a true story of how Japanese fishermen corral dolphins and kill them. They kill around 23,000 dolphins and porpoises each year. The film motivated me to declare this week as Stop Japan From Killing Week. Read my posts each day this week and take an action to get Japan to stop killing dolphins.

Here is how Japanese fishermen kill dolphins:

1. Dolphins are sensitive to sound. Many fishing boats get together and bang on pipes that are partially submerged. This causes the dolphins to herd together. When the dolphins are corralled between the boats and the land, the fisherman drop nets that trap the dolphins. They get the dolphins closer and closer to shore.

2. Some of the captured dolphins are selected to sell to dolphinariums. These animals bring the fishermen a LOT of money—often more then $100,000 per animal. These are the dolphins that are imprisoned for the purpose of letting humans touch and swim with them. Dolphins don’t smile, so if you think they are happy being trapped, you’re wrong. (Many countries are banning this practice.)

3. The dolphins that are not sold—which are most of them—are slaughtered. The movie makers had to go undercover to get this footage because the slaughtering cove is hidden from public view. Basically the water turns from blue to red with all the blood spilled. The dolphins thrash wildly trying to escape and as they go through the last throes of death.

4. The meat is often labeled and sold as whale meat . That’s because the Japanese will pay more for whale meat than for dolphin meat. (Yup, the Japanese eat whale meat and refuse to give it up. That’s another story.) It’s also sold as pet food, but likely not labeled as such.

See How They Kill.

What can you do?

Help get the word out:

Send the Official Cove Postcard to your friends and family.

Sign this letter.

This article is reposted from the Sea Shepherd website:

In an unprovoked attack captured on film, the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2 deliberately rammed and caused catastrophic damage to the Sea Shepherd trimaran Ady Gil.

Six crew crewmembers, four from New Zealand, one from Australia, and one from the Netherlands were immediately rescued by the crew of the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker. None of the crew Ady Gil crew were injured.

The Ady Gil is believed to be sinking and chances of salvage are very grim.

According to eyewitness Captain Chuck Swift on the Bob Barker, the attack happened while the vessels were dead in the water. The Shonan Maru No. 2 suddenly started up and deliberately rammed the Ady Gil ripping eight feet of the bow of the vessel completely off. According to Captain Swift, the vessel does not look like it will be saved.

“The Japanese whalers have now escalated this conflict very violently,” said Captain Paul Watson. “If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken. We now have a real whale war on our hands now and we have no intention of retreating.”

Captain Paul Watson onboard the Steve Irwin is racing towards the area at 16 knots but still remains some five hundred miles to the north. The Bob Barker has temporarily stopped the pursuit of the Nisshin Maru to rescue the crew of the Ady Gil. The Japanese ships initially refused to acknowledge the May Day distress of the Ady Gil, but ultimately did acknowledge the call. Despite acknowledging the call, they did not offer to assist the Ady Gil or the Bob Barker in any way.

The incident took place at 64 Degrees and 03 Minutes South and 143 Degrees and 09 Minutes East

Until this morning the Japanese were completely unaware of the existence of the Bob Barker. This newest addition to the Sea Shepherd fleet left Mauritius off the coast of Africa on December 18th and was able to advance along the ice edge from the West as the Japanese were busy worrying about the advance of the Steve Irwin from the North.

“This is a substantial loss for our organization,” said Captain Watson. “The Ady Gil, the former Earthrace, represents a loss of almost two million dollars. However the loss of a single whale is of more importance to us and we will not lose the Ady Gil in vain. This blow simply strengthens our resolve, it does not weaken our spirit.”

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is requesting that the Australian government send a naval vessel to restore the peace in the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory. We have 77 crew from 16 nations on three vessels, six of them were on the Ady Gil. Of these, 21 are Australian citizens: 16 Australians on the Steve Irwin and five on the Bob Barker. Sea Shepherd believes that the Australian government has a responsibility to protect the lives of Australian citizens working to defend whales from illegal Japanese whaling activities.

“Australia needs to send a naval vessel down here as soon as possible to protect both the whales and the Australian citizens working to defend these whales,” said Steve Irwin Chief Cook Laura Dakin of Canberra. “This is Australian Antarctic Territorial waters and I see the Japanese whalers doing whatever they want with impunity down here without a single Australian government vessel anywhere to be found. Peter Garrett, I have one question for you: Where the bloody hell are you?

Visit the Sea Shepherd website to see a complete set of photos that document this sinking. Then donate money to help them with their cause.