The environmental thriller “The Cove” follows the stealth reconnaissance work of Ric O’Barry as he uncovers the dolphin drive fishery in Taiji, Japan.

Ric was the dolphin trainer who selected and trained the dolphins of the 60’s TV series “Flipper” – which began the American love affair with these sentient and intelligent animals.

The consequences of this national love affair included a rapid rise of dolphin parks and water shows throughout the world – a fact that troubled Mr. O’Barry so much that he has since dedicated his life to reversing this practice – now working for Earth Island’s Marine Mammal Project.

The dolphins in these parks come from many places throughout the world, but perhaps the most disturbing pedigree are the dolphins that are selected from  the victims of the Taiji drive fishery.

Each year some 20,000 dolphins are herded, slaughtered and butchered in Taiji, Japan – except for the few “unblemished” and photogenic specimens that are selected by dolphin “trainers” and sent to parks around the world.

The dolphins that don’t make this ‘cut’ make the death cut and are sold into the Japanese markets falsely labeled as “whale meat.” (People are getting wise to the extreme mercury load of dolphin meat.)

The dolphins are driven into the cove by noise – the fishermen hammer on metal pipes with resonators submersed into the water. The noise is obnoxious enough to drive the dolphins into the cove to escape. Nets are then drawn across the cove and the grisly affair begins.

While the movie is grim, the filmmakers have spared us the most gruesome shots; and if dolphin slaughter can be sensitively displayed, they have done the best that could be done.

“The Cove” is an eco-thriller that will hopefully stop this gruesome fishery in its tracks – and perhaps be the first of a genre of movies wherein environmental activists are honored for their heroism, rather than ridiculed for their zeal.

“The Cove” opens this week in NY and LA and in other major US cities next Friday

See: http://thecovemovie.com/festivals/upcoming_screenings.htm for locations near you.

Nasa Photo

OCR Advisory Board member and ocean champion J. Nichols and “Her Deepness” Dr. Sylvia Earle have founded an organization predicted on a delightful premise. The organization is called “Bluemarbles.org” from the metaphor of the earth seen from space being likened to a blue marble.

The premise involves gifting blue marbles to other people with a suggestion that they do something nice for the ocean. This could be not using a plastic bag, or walking downtown (as opposed to driving), or not using chemicals in your garden, or not buying something that was shipped across the Pacific, or eating wild-caught salmon, or using gray water to flush your toilet, or…well almost anything regenerative that we do will benefit the ocean, because the ocean is connected to everything.

This is part of the idea. And as you pass these blue marbles around – if it works as it should, you may handle two, three or a dozen marbles between now and World Oceans Day on June 11, 2010. This will give you and the dozen other folks you hand marbles to a chance to talk about the ocean and this beautiful blue jewel we live on surrounded by an infinite velvet-black sky.

You can get hooked in here:  http://www.bluemarbles.org/ where you can find marble suppliers (90% of all marbles are made from recycled glass; most are made here in the USA). The site also has some other ways to participate.

For those of you in Marin County, I will be receiving a 5# bag of earth marbles. I would be glad to give you a handful or two. Just e-mail or call me. For others outside of the SF Bay area, you can either order some or just get outside and sooner or later someone will hand you one.

Watch out for the whales!

Part of the US Navy mitigation agreements to protect marine mammals and turtles involves having their crews informed through their Marine Species Awareness Training program. This involves watching a two part video.

The first part is required of all Commanding Officers, Executive Officers, Observation Officers and Junior Observation Officers, Maritime Patrol Officers, Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) and helicopter mine crews. The second part (focused on species identification) is required of all “Watchstanders.”

You too can become MSAT certified by watching this video:

https://portal.navfac.navy.mil/portal/page/portal/navfac/navfac_ww_pp/navfac_hq_pp/navfac_env_pp/msat_training

“One ship strike cost more than a million dollars in damage to the sonar dome…”

Thanks to Jim Cummings of Acoustic Ecology for sending this in. His website has all manner of news and information on ocean noise issues. It can be found here: http://aeinews.org/

Jane Lubchenko teaching about the ocean

This last week has ushered forth two great developments for the ocean. The first is actually a retraction of a Bush-driven policy that would have seriously compromised the National Environmental Policy Act by allowing NOAA to bypass external review when managing fisheries – essentially allowing the proverbial “fox guarding the henhouse” (or “sea lions guarding the fish-pens”) scenario.

The second item is truly a gift. Oregon State professor, ocean scientist, and conservation advocate Jane Lubchenco has been appointed to head NOAA. This is a much needed departure from the last eight years, with Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher at the helm.

From the Washington Post:

“Lubchenco, a conservationist who has devoted much of her career to encouraging scientists to become more engaged in public policy debates, is also a vocal proponent of curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming….The appointment marks a shift for NOAA, which oversees marine issues as well as much of government’s climate work. Lubchenco has criticized the agency in the past for not doing enough to curb overfishing.”

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/12/18/lubchenco_will_helm_national_o.html

The oceans really need our love right now. With the appointment of Dr. Lubchenco our work just got a little bit easier.

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard the Navy Sonar case that originated in California early this year when the Whitehouse attempted to overrule a district court judgment on the US Navy’s proposed sonar exercises off of the California cost.

The actual case is really about executive powers – and whether the executive branch can allow any agency exemptions from federal laws and the judgment of the courts under the rubric of “national security.”

It just so happens that the federal laws in this case are the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act – triggered by the NRDC / California Coastal Commission v. the US Navy cases that came up early in 2008.

At the moment the court is divided, with Souter, Ginsberg, Stevens and Breyer maintaining that this “emergency” was a result of inaction by the Navy (among other arguments).  Justices Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Kennedy are weighing in for the expertise of the Navy and the power of the executive branch (no surprises here).

Justice Breyer is the “on the fence” vote and may determine the outcome on this case over the next few months. A ruling is expected early next year.

More can be read about this here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/08/sonar.whales/index.html and below.

US Justices Seem Split Over Navy Sonar Whales Case

James Vicini for Reuters

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court seemed on Wednesday closely split on whether President George W. Bush can exempt the Navy from federal environmental laws, a case pitting protection of whales against military training exercises.

In the most significant environmental case of its new term, the court is reviewing a ruling that required the Navy to take various precautions to minimize harm to dozens of species of whales and dolphins.

The four liberal justices expressed concern over the administration’s failure to do an environmental impact statement before sonar training exercises began off the southern California coast.

Environmentalists say the intense sound waves used in sonar training exercises can harm or even kill endangered whales, possibly by interfering with the marine mammals’ dive patterns.

During the arguments, the conservative justices appeared supportive of the administration’s argument that judges should defer to the judgment of the Navy and Bush, and allow the submarine-hunting exercises.

After a judge issued a preliminary injunction imposing numerous restrictions on the Navy, Bush intervened. He cited the national security necessity of the training and exempted the Navy from the environmental laws at the heart of the legal challenge.

A US appeals court rejected the White House’s effort to exempt the Navy from the laws, prompting the administration to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Solicitor General Gregory Garre, the administration’s top courtroom lawyer, told the justices the Navy’s ability to use sonar to locate and track enemy submarines is “vitally important” and “critical to the nation’s own security.”

Liberal Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked why the administration planned to complete an environmental impact statement in January, rather than doing it in February of 2007 when the exercises began.

“To the extent that there was an emergency, wasn’t the emergency created by the failure of the Navy to take any timely action?” Souter asked Garre.

Justice John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer raised similar concerns.

Los Angeles lawyer Richard Kendall argued on behalf of the environmentalists that brought the challenge, but encountered a series of tough questions from conservative justice.

Justice Samuel Alito asked whether there was any evidence marine mammals would be harmed by the sonar, and called it “incredibly odd” that a single judge could make a determination at odds with the Navy.

Chief Justice John Roberts seemed concerned that the judge had not properly balanced the harm to marine mammals with the “substantial challenge” imposed on the Navy.

Justice Anthony Kennedy questioned whether the judge in the case should have given greater weight to the administration’s position that the training was necessary for national defense.

And Justice Antonin Scalia said the government’s initial environmental assessment, that the endangered whales would not be harmed, should have been sufficient.

A ruling in the case is expected early next year (Editing by David Wiessler)

Story by James Vicini

Story Date: 9 October 2008