In 2009 Participant Media released a documentary called The Cove which followed former dolphin trainer Ric O' Barry in his journey to defend the dolphins of Taijii, Japan. In the documentary it touches upon the inhumane slaughtering of dolphins that take place every year at the cove. The documentary includes graphic footage that makes it impossible to describe the killing of the dolphins as anything else but inhumane. This hunt at the cove is a tradition that has been taking place in Taijii, Japan for over four hundred years. The documentary touches upon several social issues which include but are not limited to: the inhumane way that the dolphins are killed, the financial incentive that is used for dolphins brought alive to aquariums, and the distribution of dolphin meat in public schools that contain mercury. In the documentary, the fishermen are portrayed as antagonists and it has overall led to bad press for the people of Taijii, Japan. However, in 2015 director Keiko Yagi released his own documentary in response to The Cove called Behind the Cove. The documentary defends the slaughtering of dolphins and whales but does not touch upon the argument as to whether or not dolphins should be kept locked up for people's amusement. It touches on other issues as well such as cultural racism, rude treatment towards the people of Taijii from animal rights activists, and issues brought up through interviews with hunters as well as experts. Behind the Cove was not the only documentary that was made in response to The Cove, Megumi Sasaki took a crack at unveiling the truth behind the cove in her very own documentary titled A Whale of a Tale. Her documentary is made in a more neutral perspective where it helps to give dolphin and whale hunters more of a voice. The documentary has experts defending the argument that the hunters lack of presence in social media has led to huge support of the stance taken by the creators of The Cove. Sasaki's film helps to defend the hunters in showing that they only hunt what they need and use every bit of the animal. It also goes on to point out that whaling will soon end completely due to it not having any benefit economically. One of the points in which the documentary tries to point out is that the hunting only continues in an effort for Japanese government to assert their dominance globally in that they will not stand for outside pressure. The documentary does mention a debate that took place where hunters agreed to change their ways in which they would kill the animals as they agreed modern technology has developed more humane options. It did go on to mention that Ric O'Barry did not attend and each party agreed in that they each felt nothing got done along with no progress being achieved towards resolving their issues. It was also shown that may organizations are refusing to buy live dolphins from hunters due to the backlash. Each documentary has their stances and facts, but it is simply up to the viewer as to whether or not to take one of the documentary's stances or create one all their own.
Source : http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/22/national/media-national/taijis-dolphin-hunters-new-voice/#.WMnUeEbyvcs
