A horrific dolphin hunt takes place off the coast of the small Japanese town of Taiji. Every year, an estimated 23,000 wild dolphins are killed here due to reckless hunting. This movie follows Rick Aubrey and the OPS team as they go undercover to stop the slaughter.

Why we chose the film

Before choosing this documentary, I was impressed by Luc Besson’s film Grand Bleu. I remembered the scene in which animals and humans, unable to speak, communicate by swimming in a vast blue ocean. Then, I came across the article “Selfie Kills Baby Dolphin. Tourists had inhumanized an endangered dolphin to death for the sake of taking a photo. As someone who believes in the coexistence and interaction between humans and animals, this article was very disturbing. It led me to watch The Cove, an exposé documentary about the dolphin slaughter. I chose to analyze this documentary again because the last line of The Cove, “If we don’t stop it,” implies that we have a right to know, that we must inform the majority, and that we must call out wrongs.

Sequence Summary

**Sequence 1 – Opening Sequence**.
Minimal information is conveyed to the audience by showing a simple sign and a beach. Some of the shots use infrared cameras to show scenes from military movies.

**2 – The beautiful town of Taiji
Depicting a peaceful coastal village, the characters cover their faces with masks and act as if there is a conspiracy in town. After relaying information about the ocean, the film cuts to the town’s problems, showing a ban and barbed wire fence.

**No. 3 – Rick Aubrey and the Dolphins
In 1964, Rick Aubrey begins training dolphins through the broadcast of “Flipper” and his aquarium business grows. He discusses the problems with dolphins’ behavior, intelligence, and daily travel radius. The story of Taiji’s atrocities begins to unfold.

**No. 4 – The Cove ‘Ocean’s Eleven OPS’** (The Cove)
The film depicts Japan’s attitude toward the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Taiji people’s refusal to allow journalists from around the world to cover the issue. A team of military personnel, technicians, divers, and others travel to Taiji to prepare for the shoot, which is followed by Japanese police and defended by local fishermen.

**No. 5 – The media cover-up, the delicious dolphin meat**.
Questions whether people in Japan are aware of the dolphin slaughter problem and addresses the issue of mercury content in edible dolphin meat. The Minamata mercury poisoning case is also mentioned.

**No. 6 – The beginning of full-fledged coverage, and how it was different
The film shows the preparation for the coverage and how the cries of the black back whale in London in 1971 led people to call for a ban on whaling. The first infiltration operation begins, and Taiji Prefecture tries to cover up the facts.

**No. 7 – “Extermination
Taiji residents talk about dolphin hunting as pest control and say they have no intention of stopping. Japan blames dolphins and whales for its overfishing problem, which it hopes to solve by buying IWC’s votes. He concludes the sequence by pointing out Japan’s faults and blowing the whistle.

**Episode 8 – A Slaughter for Whom?
The final undercover footage shows the message Rick Aubrey is trying to convey. It emphasizes the power of small movements to create a larger movement and the need to inform everyone who has a right to know and to speak out against wrongdoing.

The Code Analysis

“The Cove” is a whistleblowing documentary with a well-structured narrative format from start to finish. The movie starts with a narration to intrigue the audience and provides minimal information. The movie then points out the problem by excluding specific information and telling the audience the exact opposite of what they saw at the beginning.
The film explains Rick O’Berry and the duplicitous nature of dolphin breeding, and unravels Taiji’s atrocities. The accusations against the Japanese government and the strong response of Taiji residents arouse the audience’s curiosity. The mercury poisoning case is covered, revealing the Japanese government’s attempted cover-up. The film highlights how dolphins communicate and how humans miscommunicate, culminating in a final undercover report.
The film shows things as they are, with no emotional maneuvering, and gives the audience minimal information, building up frustration and information layer by layer. Using a variety of archival footage, interviews, black-and-white shots of the Japanese government, and 3D animated maps, the film packs a lot into its 90-minute running time.
The use of silly music to accompany IWC’s story, and the use of actual footage 20 minutes before the end of the movie, has a lasting impact on the audience. The movie concludes with a look at what has been accomplished and where we are today.

The Cove review

My first viewing of “The Cove” was very different from my second viewing. The first time I watched it, I followed Rick Aubrey’s point of view and was outraged by the unethical behavior of humans and focused on the slaughter of dolphins. On a second viewing, I questioned myself. When I saw the last line, I felt ashamed that I had the right to know, but did I get it right? Do we speak up when we know something is wrong, or do we remain silent? Watching Rick Aubrey and his crew struggle to protect the dolphins made me question whether I have something to protect.
“The Cove” is a short 90-minute film that relies heavily on interviews and on-the-ground footage, but it’s as well-structured and engaging as a feature film. It skims the surface of the issue and doesn’t answer the primary question of whether genocide is bad or good.
I don’t watch a lot of documentaries, but “The Cove” was one that made me ask questions. This analysis led me to look at director Louis Cihoyos’ recent work. “Racing Extinction” was also described as a documentary about a secret operation to protect endangered species. I was curious to see what questions the director would ask this time. “The Cove” was the film that opened my eyes to the fascination of documentaries.