This weekend New Yorkers and tourists alike looked up at night to see the Empire State Building lit up with red lights. But it was not in honor of Christmas, as many may think. In fact, the landmark was lit up for a much more somber reason. According to Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, the owner of the Empire State Building was inspired to light the building red after seeing the Academy-Award winning documentary The Cove. The Cove is a film about a hidden cove in Taiji, Japan, in which dolphins are killed by Japan’s whaling industry. Therefore, the red lights obviously represent the blood of the thousands of dolphins being murdered in the cove.
Professional race car driver and Save Japan Dolphins volunteer Leilani Munter, was joined by Ric O’Barry, actor John Leguizamo, and The Cove Director Louie Psihoyos for a ceremony on Friday when the red lights were illuminated. Ric O’Barry states,“We are working to get the word out in Japan, so our story (Louie filmed the entire event) and photos are being prepared in Japanese for distribution to the media there.”
To learn more about the dolphin hunt in Taiji, Japan, be sure check out The Cove film. You can also learn more about this massacre at the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society website, whose volunteer “Cove Guardians” stand watch on site at the cove. They provide weekly field reports directly from the cove. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Their mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. You can support their efforts by donating at their website.
Although the red lights on the Empire State Building this weekend was a beautiful sight, it represents a horrific traedgy that is occurring on the other side of the world. Please spread the word about the dolphins in Taiji, Japan so that this atrocity can soon be stopped by shutting down the cove for good.
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