Do you love dolphins? Please help them. Enjoy them in the wild.

By supporting dolphin captivity programs, you may have inadvertently supported the slaughter of thousands of dolphins in Taiji, Japan. Bravo to conservationist and longtime activist Richard O’Barry. He’s responsible for the creation of a documentary film called “The Cove,” which exposes dolphin tragedy.

His efforts will flourish if each of us makes a conscious effort to support dolphin conservation. Over the years I’ve heard rave reviews from many Conejo Valley residents who have spent money to swim with captive dolphins in Hawaii or at another vacation spots in the United States and around the world.

Do you realize that lucrative profits from these commercial businesses have driven the demand for captive dolphins? These programs may be responsible for much of the horror at Tajii and perhaps at other dolphin capture sites. At Tajii, dolphins are driven into a cove and trapped.

Several, mostly young female bottle-nosed dolphins, are weeded out for international trade to dolphinariums. The remaining dolphins are slaughtered for meat.

Please watch the award winning documentary movie “The Cove,” but be forewarned, there’s very disturbing footage. It’s available at many of our local rental outlets.
Bonnie Clarfield-Bylin
Thousand Oaks