The Cove (M) 
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This powerful and polemical Oscar-nominated documentary follows Ric O'Barry – who caught and trained the dolphins used in the 1960s TV show Flipper, but has since crusaded to save dolphins .
He recruits National Geographic photographer and eco-warrior Louie Psihoyos (who directs here) and the Oceanic Preservation Society on a covert commando-style mission in 2008 to expose the slaughter of dolphins, allegedly 23,000 a year, in a heavily guarded cove in Taija, Japan.
Provocative, passionate and compellingly told, The Cove is like a cloak-and-dagger espionage thriller as an elite team of scientists, film-makers and freedivers attempts to infiltrate tight security and film the annual dolphin-killing operation.
The doco also reveals how dolphin meat – with five times the maximum allowable level of mercury – has been mislabelled for sale to an unsuspecting Japanese public.
O'Barry, who eloquently argues against having dolphins in Sea World-type parks, also invades an International Whaling Commission conference. Watch it and be outraged.
- Reviewed by David Manning; DVDs for review supplied by United Video, Nelson.
- © Fairfax NZ News
