The Cove (film)

Synopsis

The film follows former-dolphin-trainer-turned-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 fueled widespread public adoration of dolphins and influenced the development of marine parks that included dolphins among their attractions.

According to O'Barry, one of the dolphins committed a form of suicide in his arms by closing her blowhole voluntarily in order to suffocate, after which he came to see the dolphin capture industry as cruel and inhumane. One day later, he was arrested off the island of Bimini for attempting to set free a captured dolphin. Since then, 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. A group of local fishermen engage in dolphin drive hunting and generate tremendous revenues for the town by selling trapped dolphins to aquariums and marine parks around the world, with a premium paid for female bottlenose dolphins.

In an isolated cove surrounded by wire fences and "Keep Out" signs, an activity takes place that the townspeople attempt to hide from the public. The dolphins that are not sold are driven into the cove and killed, with only modest income derived from the sale of the meat to supermarkets throughout Japan.

All activists who attempt to view or film the dolphin killing in the cove are physically prevented from doing so by the fishermen, with the support of the local police and government, and the filmmakers are questioned by the authorities. Faced with this, Psihoyos, O'Barry, decide to covertly film what is taking place in the cove.

Inspired by a Japanese rock temple, the crew works with Industrial Light & Magic artists in order to create disguised rocks which can hide high-definition video cameras and military-grade thermal cameras. Under the cover of night, the film crew installs the cameras and audio-recording equipment throughout the cove. They also build a blimp drone with a gyroscoped camera that is used to take aerial footage of the cove after the massacre.

The local government officials are involved in helping to hide the slaughter, and the Japanese public is largely unaware of the hunt and the marketing of dolphin meat, which contains dangerously high levels of mercury. Two Taiji city councilors are interviewed who have advocated for the removal of dolphin meat from local school lunches due concerns about mercury.

The film shows several minutes of unedited footage of local fishermen trapping herds of dolphins and stabbing them one by one, causing all of the dolphins to die of blood loss. The entire cove turns deep red.

Near the end, Psihoyos shows some of the grisly footage he was able to film during a dolphin slaughter to a Japanese official, who had repeatedly tried to minimize the incident during his interview. The official's friendly demeanor hardens, and he asks Psihoyos when and where the footage was filmed.

The film also reports on Japan's alleged "buying" of the votes of poor nations in the International Whaling Commission, stating that Japan has rewarded nations with infrastructure projects in exchange for supporting it.

After Psihoyos shows the footage to the Japanese official, the film cuts to O'Barry interrupting the annual meeting of the IWC. As the Japanese delegate is saying how Japanese fishermen have made their whaling tactics more humane, O'Barry enters the crowded meeting room with a TV playing the footage from the cove strapped to his chest and walks around until he is escorted from the building. He then stands with the TV in a crowded intersection in Japan, where passersby stop to watch.

In a post-credits scene, the film crew is shown gifting the drone blimp to the local authorities.

Cast

• Ric O'Barry – Co-Founder, Oceanic Preservation Society
• Louie Psihoyos – Earth Island Institute
• Hardy Jones – Founder, BlueVoice.org
• Michael Illiff – Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies, University of Tasmania
• Joji Morishita – IWC Delegate for Japan (archival footage)
• Ian Campbell – Former Australian Cabinet Minister
• Captain Paul Watson – President, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society; Co-Founder, Greenpeace
• Doug DeMaster, Ph.D. – U.S. Deputy Commissioner for the IWC
• Frederic Briand, Ph.D. - IWC Commissioner for Monaco
• Dave Rastovich – Co-Founder, Surfers for Cetaceans
• Hayden Panettiere – Whaleman Foundation/Save the Whales Again! (archival footage)
• Isabel Lucas – Whaleman Foundation/Save the Whales Again! (archival footage)
• Hannah Fraser (archival footage)
• Charles Hambleton – a member of Louie's "secret OPS" team ("a guy that has a heart of gold and nerves of steel")
• Simon Hutchins – a member of Louie's "secret OPS" team ("the only guy that had military experience")
• Joe Chisholm – a member of Louie's "secret OPS" team ("organized rock concerts")
• Mandy-Rae Cruickshank – a member of Louie's "secret OPS" team (a freediver)
• Kirk Krack – a member of Louie's "secret OPS" team (a freediver)
• Roger Payne, Ph.D. – Ocean Alliance
• Hideki Moronuki – Deputy Director, Fisheries Agency of Japan; Manager of Cetacean Quotas
• Dan Goodman – Legal Advisor to Japan's IWC Delegation
• Tetsuya Endo, Ph.D. – Health Sciences University of Hokkaido
• C. Scott Baker, Ph.D. – Specialist in DNA Species Identification; Oregon State University
• Brook Aitken – OPS Cameraman
• Dr. John Potter – Underwater Acoustics Cousultant
• John Fuller – Former IWC Delegate for Antigua and Barbuda
• Atherton Martin – Former IWC Representative for Dominica

Production

To film in the cove, the filmmakers used specialized high-definition cameras that were camouflaged to look like rocks. These cameras were so well hidden that, according to director Louie Psihoyos, the crew had a hard time finding them again. A high-grade military thermal camera and different night vision cameras were also used in the production of the film.

Reception

Film critics

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has 95% approval rating based on reviews from 133 critics, with an average rating of 8.00/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Though decidedly one-sided, The Cove is an impeccably crafted, suspenseful exposé of the covert slaughter of dolphins in Japan." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has an average score of 84 based on 26 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Roger Ebert gave the film four stars (out of four), calling it "a certain Oscar nominee". 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". Other reviewers also played up the espionage angle of the film, including Time magazine's Mary Pols, who said 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".

Some reviews recognized the film's entertainment value, but did not view it as an "objective documentary". Wall Street Journal critic Joe Morgenstern labeled the film a "quasidocumentary framed as a high-tech thriller" with an "agitprop style" that has "an excess of artifice and a dearth of facts". David Cox of The Guardian Film Blog called it a "piece of evangelism", and mused rhetorically: "Westerners ... kill and eat cows. Easterners eat dolphins. What's the difference?". Michelle Orange of Movieline ended her review: "How much of this 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."

Reactions in Taiji, Japan

The whale and dolphin hunting season in Japan usually begins on September 1 each year, but in 2009 it began on September 9. Although activists tended to believe this was because of the publicity generated by the film, it was reported that the delay was due to the weather and rough seas. 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. Some campaigners began to claim it had become apparent that The Cove was having an impact on the way in which Japanese fisherman normally conducted the dolphin hunt, though 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."

After the film won the Oscar for Best Documentary, the mayor of Taiji and the chief of the Taiji Fishery Union released a statement that said: "The hunt is performed legally and properly with the permission of Wakayama Prefecture [in which Taiji resides]." Taiji assemblyman Hisato Ryono, one of the two local legislators who broke ranks and publicly called for removal of dolphin meat from school lunches, said he was lied to by the producers of the film about what the film would contain.

Since the release of the film, a much larger number of activists, mainly non-Japanese, began to visit 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. Filmmaker Megumi Sasaki has argued that the film and subsequent activism and campaigning by foreigners and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have been poorly received by the population of Taiji, and that backlash has resulted in the practice continuing.

Reaction from Seaworld

SeaWorld spokesperson Fred Jacobs responded to the film by saying, "We think we're being unfairly criticized for something we're opposed to," and 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", though he did not condemn those who purchase from the Taiji dolphin hunt. In light of this, some criticized O'Barry for emphasizing that dolphinariums are a large contributing factor to the economic success of the dolphin hunt in Taiji and for encouraging boycotts of dolphin shows to protest the slaughter.

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 by which to capture the animals, and, since 1993, there have been no permits issued to facilities in the United States to import dolphins acquired through drive hunts. Marilee Menard, the executive director of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums, has also stated that she believes the filmmakers are "misrepresenting that the majority of zoos and aquariums with dolphins around the world are taking these animals."

Reaction in Western Australia

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. This decision was reversed that October, less than two months later.

Release in Japan

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. A Japanese film distributor, Medallion Media/Unplugged, subsequently acquired the rights to screen the film in Japan and hoped to release it in Japanese cinemas in June 2010. The company prepared the film for presentation in Japan by pixelating the faces of Taiji residents and fishermen depicted in the film. Nationalist protesters vowed to block the release of the film in Japan, and dozens equipped with loudspeakers demonstrated outside the distributor's office in central Tokyo.

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, saying: "We have a lot of issues with Japan ... and anything done on an American base would be seen as an approval of that event." In response, Louie Psihoyos said he would give 100 DVD copies of the film to Yokota base personnel.

Until June 2010, the controversy over the film and the film's subject 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 the topic was "too sensitive" for them to cover.

A screening scheduled for June 26, 2010, at Theater N in Shibuya was canceled after staff were harassed by protesters. Unplugged stated that it was in negotiations with other theaters to screen the film. 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 by right-wing groups. The Directors Guild of Japan also asked theaters not to refuse to show the film, arguing that "such moves would limit opportunities to express thoughts and beliefs, which are the core of democracy."

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 mentioned 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, saying that "Not letting people watch the movie is anti-Japanese".

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.

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 (the theaters in Tokyo and Yokohama had obtained court injunctions prohibiting protests outside their venues), but close police supervision prevented any disruption to the viewing schedules and ensured free access for viewers to the theaters.

A local Taiji activist group called People Concerned for the Ocean announced that, on March 5 and 6, 2011, they would distribute DVDs of the film, dubbed in Japanese, to all 3,500 residents of Taiji.

Controversy

Portrayal of Japanese people

There has been some controversy over the depiction of some 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". However, director Louie Psihoyos spoke of his sympathy for the Japanese people, many of whom are unaware of the situation at the cove, saying: "To me, it's a love letter. I'm giving you the information your government won't give you."

Issues with filming techniques

Close-up Gendai, an investigative journalism program on NHK, ran a segment that raised questions about the objectivity of the film. One scene in the film was presented as having been manufactured for the camera, and the segment then entered into a discussion with a commentator on whether the film should properly be called a documentary. Louie Psihoyos was interviewed by Close-up Gendai, but no response was broadcast regarding the allegedly scripted and acted scene. Elsewhere, he stated categorically that none of the scenes in the film were staged.

Fishermen in Taiji 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 from organizations such as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and individuals attracted by the bounty offered by that organization for capturing damaging footage. The NHK (not on Close-up Gendai) concluded that the activists did so in order to capture the local fishermen making angry and wild expressions on film and in photos.

Inaccuracies

Tetsuya Endō, an associate professor at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido who is interviewed in the film, complained that the filmmakers approached him under false pretenses. He also said the sample of meat in the film that contained an anomalously high level of mercury (2000 ppm) was dolphin liver, which Taiji's fishermen's union banned from being sold in 2003 at his prompting. Endo sought to have his scenes removed from the film and, when they were not, 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.

At the end of the film, the assistant chief of the whaling division at Japan's Fisheries Agency, Hideki Moronuki, is erroneously said to have been "fired" in 2008. The error was reported by the investigative news program Close-up Gendai, and Psihoyos, when confronted, conceded he might have misunderstood.

Response documentaries

In 2015, filmmaker 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.

In 2018, filmmaker Megumi Sasaki released a follow-up film examining the legacy of The Cove, titled A Whale of a Tale. The film examines the cultural divide between Western activists, who have continued to travel to Japan to protest the Taiji dolphin drive hunt for many years after the film's release, and the local population. It argues that dolphin meat consumption in Japan was already in decline, and The Cove and subsequent Western activism has been poorly received by the local population and used by Japanese nationalists to garner support to continue the practice.

Awards and nominations

The Cove won over 25 film awards. Some notable awards include Best Documentary from the Environmental Media Awards, three awards from the Cinema Eye Honors, and the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 82nd Academy Awards.

A list of nominations and awards received by the film is as follows:

• 82nd Academy Awards (2010) – Best Documentary Feature (won) During the presentation ceremony, on March 7, 2010, ABC cameras abruptly cut away to the crowd when O'Barry raised a banner urging the audience to "Text DOLPHIN to 44144". TV Guide labeled the moment as "Fastest Cutaway", and film critic Sean Means wrote it showed that the Oscar ceremony was "studiously devoid of genuine excitement".
• 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 (January 31, 2010)
• National Board of Review – Best Documentary (December 3, 2009)
• 15th BFCA Critics' Choice Awards (2009) – Best Documentary Feature, Critics' Choice Awards in Los Angeles (January 15, 2010)
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association – Best Documentary
• Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (2009) – Best Documentary Feature & Allan King Documentary Award (December 16, 2009)
• Newport Beach Film Festival (2009) – Audience Award for Best Documentary
• New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) – Best Documentary (December 13, 2009)
• Sheffield Doc/Fest (2009) – The Sheffield Green Award (November 8, 2009)
• Cinema Eye Honors (2009) – Outstanding Achievement In Original Music Score – J. Ralph (nominated) (November 5, 2009)

The film also was named "Best Documentary" by many critics organizations (including the Boston Society of Film Critics, San Diego Film Critics Society, Dallas/Ft. Worth Film Critics Association, Utah Film Critics Association, Florida Film Critics Circle, Houston Film Critics Society, and Denver Film Critics Society), and it was screened at film festivals and social events all around the United States. As the film received more and more recognition, the Oceanic Preservation Society translated their website into multiple languages to cater to interest from around the world.

Explanatory notes

References

References

1. The Cove (2009). "The Cove Poster". Impawards.com.
2. [http://opsociety.org/facts.htm OPSociety.org] {{webarchive. link. (June 11, 2009 , Oceanic Preservation Society – Facts)
3. Catsoulis, Jeannette. The Cove (2008) From Flipper's Trainer to Dolphin Defender ''[[The New York Times]].'' July 31, 2009.
4. [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090127a3.html "Dolphin slaughter film a hit at Sundance"] ''[[The Japan Times]].'' (January 27, 2009). Retrieved on January 27, 2009.
5. Jurgensen, John. A Dolphin Horror Film ''[[The Wall Street Journal]].'' July 31, 2009.
6. [http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/cove The Cove] {{webarchive. link. (August 14, 2009 Sundance Festival 2009)
7. "SaveJapanDolphins.org". SaveJapanDolphins.org.
8. "TheCoveMovie.com". TheCoveMovie.com.
9. "Scott Baker | Marine Mammal Institute". Mmi.oregonstate.edu.
10. [https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/covetech/ Wired.com], How Filmmakers Used Spy Tech to Catch Dolphin Slaughter, August 20, 2009
11. Doran, James. (2009-10-19). "The Cove's Louie Psihoyos: 'We weren't just thinking outside of the box. We didn't know there was a box'". The Guardian.
12. "The Cove Movie Reviews, Pictures". IGN Entertainment, Inc.
13. "''Cove, The'' reviews at Metacritic.com". CNET Networks, Inc.
14. link. (November 26, 2012 [[RogerEbert.com]])
15. Catsoulis, Jeannette. (July 31, 2009). "Movie Review - The Cove - From Flipper's Trainer to Dolphin Defender". Movies.nytimes.com.
16. Pols, Mary. (August 10, 2009). "Documentary Review: The Cove".
17. Rainer, Peter. (August 7, 2009). "Review: 'The Cove'". csmonitor.com.
18. Kennicott, Philip. (August 7, 2009). "Mini Movie Review: 'The Cove'". Washington Post.
19. Morgenstern, Joe. (July 31, 2009). "'Funny People': Sick Comic, Bleak Prognosis: 'The Cove' is riveting account of dolphin killing, but factuality evades its nets". Wall Street Journal.
20. Cox, David. (October 26, 2009). "The Cove's message is gruesome but facile". The Guardian.
21. Lowbrow. (July 30, 2009). "MovieLine.com". MovieLine.com.
22. (September 5, 2009). "Hunters Pass On Opening Day Of Dolphin Season". [[NPR]].
23. link. Kii Mimpō (紀伊民報). (September 9, 2009)
24. [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/09/conservationists-say-70-dolphins-in-japan-released.html Conservationists say 70 dolphins in Japan released.] ''[[Associated Press]].'' September 15, 2009.
25. link. Sankei.jp.msn.com. (March 23, 2010)
26. Harnell, Boyd. (August 1, 2007). "Taiji officials: Dolphin meat 'toxic waste' Assembly pair break taboo, warn of acute mercury risk in school lunches". [[The Japan Times]].
27. Alabaster, Jay, ([[Associated Press]]), "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100310a4.html ''Cove'' Oscar Won't End Taiji Dolphin Kill]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', March 20, 2010, p. 2.
28. Alabaster, Jay. (March 3, 2011). "Activists may shift tactics in Taiji; Sigh of relief". [[Japan Times]].
29. (2018-08-14). "Beyond The Cove: what happened after the Oscar-winning documentary?".
30. Mieszkowski, Katharine. (August 7, 2009). "Dolphins Are Dying to Amuse Us". Salon.
31. (April 22, 2010). "The Cove's Shocking Discovery". The Oprah Winfrey Show.
32. Alexander, Brian. (August 6, 2009). "Dolphin hunt film sparks dilemma for tourists". NBC News.
33. Rose, Naomi A.. (2009). "The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity". The Humane Society of the United States and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
34. "Dolphin Kill Film to Shock Taiji Sister City Broome". [[The Australian]].
35. Debbie Guest. (2009-08-23). "Broome Suspends Sister City Relationship with Taiji Over Dolphin Slaughter". [[The Australian]].
36. link. News.janjan.jp. (August 27, 2009)
37. (October 15, 2009). "Australian Town Embraces Taiji Again". The Japan Times.
38. Tabuchi, Hiroko. (October 22, 2009). "Film on the Dolphin Hunt Stirs Outrage in Japan". [[The New York Times]].
39. (2010-04-10). "Right-wingers vow to block release of 'The Cove' in Japan".
40. Matsutani, Minoru. (February 13, 2009). "Distributor Hopes to Screen ''The Cove'' Soon". [[Japan Times]].
41. Matsutani, Minoru. (March 9, 2010). ["''Cove'' Oscar is Taiji's Chagrin"](http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100309a2.html }} (In Japanese: [http://mainichi.jp/select/today/news/20100308k0000e040066000c.html アカデミー賞：「ザ・コーヴ」受賞に和歌山反発] {{webarchive). [[Japan Times]].
42. . (April 23, 2010). ["'Cove' director reacts to base ban"](http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100423b1.html). *[[Japan Times]]*.
43. Harnell, Boyd. (April 13, 2010). "Yokota base bans 'Cove' to be neutral". [[Japan Times]].
44. Harnell, Boyd. (May 23, 2010). "Experts fear Taiji mercury tests are fatally flawed". [[Japan Times]].
45. . (June 4, 2010). "Japan screens controversial film". *[[The Straits Times]]*.
46. . (June 9, 2010). "'Cove' censure threatens free speech: writers, filmmakers". *[[Japan Times]]*.
47. Bassett, Deborah. (July 6, 2010). "The Cove Opens in Tokyo With Clash From Protesters". Huffington Post.
48. Matsutani, Minoru. (June 11, 2010). "Rightist also tells theaters to run 'Cove'". [[Japan Times]].
49. . (June 17, 2010). "Nico Nico Doga plans to stream 'Cove' for free". *[[Japan Times]]*.
50. . (July 4, 2010). "Public screenings of 'The Cove' begin". *[[Japan Times]]*.
51. Matsutani, Minoru. (March 1, 2011). "Activists to give Taiji residents free 'Cove' DVD". [[Japan Times]].
52. "農林水産省/赤松農林水産大臣記者会見概要". Maff.go.jp.
53. . (March 8, 2010). ["Japan defends dolphin hunt in Oscar-winning 'Cove'"](http://www.ctvnews.ca/japan-defends-dolphin-hunt-in-oscar-winning-cove-1.489894). *CTV News*.
54. {{cite AV media. Kuniya. Hiroko. (2010-07-06). [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=144BuVw8N2I{{cbignore{{Dead YouTube link). (February 2022)
55. (August 27, 2010). "Unfazed by 'The Cove,' Taiji's Fishermen Prepare to Resume Dolphin Hunt".
56. link. (May 22, 2011)
57. ewolfhughes. (December 14, 2013). "The Cove-A Real Life Heist Movie". UCLA.
58. {{citation. Endo. Tetsuya (遠藤 哲也). (2004). link
59. Endo ''et al.'' (2002), [[Science of the Total Environment]], '''[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00489697/300 300]''', pp.  15-22
60. Powell, Bill. (March 27, 2014). "A Social Media Storm Descends on Taiji, the Japanese Town at the Center of a Dolphin Slaughter".
61. [[Kyodo News]], "Professor in 'Cove' sues film firms over arbitrary editing", ''[[Japan Times]]'', December 2, 2010.
62. [http://www.cchange.net/?powerpress_pinw=3137-podcast Sea Change Radio] (Interview with Psihoyos)
63. [[Kyodo News]], "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/09/08/films/film-supportive-dolphin-drive-hunts-draws-mixed-reaction-montreal/ Film supportive of dolphin drive hunts draws mixed reaction in Montreal]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 8 September 2015
64. Gilhooly, Rob, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2015/09/19/lifestyle/taiji-drops-anchor-dolphin-hunts-despite-increasing-pressure/#.Vf_1cM7os5t Taiji drops anchor on dolphin hunts despite increasing pressure]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 20 September 2015
65. Denyer, Simon. "Filmmaker tries to bridge cultural divide between Japan, U.S. over whale, dolphin hunting". The Washington Post.
66. "EMA – 20th Anniversary Awards". Ema-online.org.
67. (January 16, 2010). "'The Cove' Tops Cinema Eye Honors". indieWIRE.
68. "Oscar.com – Oscar Night – Winners". Oscar.go.com.
69. [http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html "Nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards"] {{webarchive. link. (2010-04-11 . Retrieved February 11, 2010.)
70. [http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/416343_tvgif7.html TV Guide, "11 Top Oscar Moments"] March 7, 2010 {{webarchive. link. (December 5, 2010)
71. [http://www.sltrib.com/features/ci_14632219 The Salt Lake Tribune, "''Hurt Locker'' Wins Top Oscar Prize"] {{webarchive. link. (March 11, 2010 March 8, 2010)
72. (February 21, 2010). "2010 Writers Guild Award Winners".
73. link. (February 3, 2010 . Retrieved January 31, 2010.)
74. [http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/ The National Board of Review Official Website] {{webarchive. link. (June 12, 2010 , December 2009)
75. ''[[The Japan Times]]'': [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100119b4.html "'Cove' named best documentary" (January 19, 2010)]. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
76. King, Susan. (December 13, 2009). ["L.A. Film Critics announce 2009 winners Updated]". [[Los Angeles Times]].
77. (2009-12-16). "Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2009". torontofilmcritics.com.
78. "Newport Beach Film Festival". Newportbeachfilmfest.com.
79. [http://www.indiewire.com/article/avatar_wins_with_ny_online_film_critics/ IndieWire.com], December 2009
80. "Sheffield Doc/Fest Awards - Spotlight: Sheffield Doc/Fest - International Film Guide".
81. [http://www.indiewire.com/article/the_cove_leads_cinema_eye_honors_nominees/ IndieWire.com], November 2009
82. "BSFC Award Winners – Recent". Thebsfc.org.
83. "San Diego Film Critics Society – Movie Reviews by San Diego's Top Film Critics". Sdfcs.org.
84. Robinson, Anna. (2009-12-17). "Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Awards 2009". Altfg.com.
85. Montgomery, Steve. (2009-12-18). "Utah Film Critics Awards 2009". Altfg.com.
86. "Florida Film Critics Circle – Home". Floridafilmcriticscircle.webs.com.
87. "The Hurt Locker wins top award from Houston film critics – 2009-Dec-19 – CultureMap Houston". Culturemap.com.
88. (2010-01-13). "Denver Film Critics Society 2009–2010 Award Nominations | Denver Film Critics Society". Denverfilmcritics.com.
89. "Welcome". The Cove Movie.