Bottlenose dolphin

Tokyo (AP) – “The Cove”, an award winning documentary which exposes a Japanese village engaging in the acts of hunting down and killing dolphins, has finally made its debut on Saturday after being delayed by angry nationalist protests.

Of the six cinemas which started showing the film, a small number completely sold out, and the others were just plain empty. Another 18 cinemas are scheduled to show the film at a later time.

At a popular art theater in Tokyo, Image Forum, somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 protesters were seen brandishing Japanese flags, and were shouting out slogans against the film. The police were seen trying to stop shoving matches between the protesters and the small group of supporters for the film.

The film goers didn’t seem to take notice, and weren’t the least bit reluctant to go and see the film, as the first two showings at the theater were completely sold out.

One movie goer, Tomokazu Toshinai, had this to say about the film, “I didn’t know about dolphin hunting. Whether it’s TV or movies, Japanese have a right to know these things.”

In the last month, three other theaters which were scheduled to show the film canceled the showings, after some rather intense protests and telephone campaign against the documentary. The Nationalist groups are saying that the United States produced film is Anti-Japanese, has no bearing on reality, and is in cahoots with a militant anti-whaling organization.

The rare Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica) has been declared National Aquatic Animal of India. A few days after the formal declaration, which took place at a National Ganga River Basic Authority meeting in New Delhi earlier this week, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar announced that he has directed state authorities to put a halt to dolphin hunting in the Ganga.

“A close watch is being kept on the ghats of river Ganga by the magistrates, police officials and block development officers to stop hunting and fishing of the mammals,” senior officials said.

Patna District Magistrate J K Sinha said that instructions from chief minister has been passed
to senior officials, including sub-divisional officers, magistrates, police officers and block development officers to ensure close surveillance and act swiftly to stop hunting of the aquatic animal.

“Schools will take steps to aware the students about the gangetic dolphin which would

boost eco-tourism in the region,” he added.

Although the Wildlife Protection Act of India mandates dolphin conservation as a priority, little has been done at the government level to implement or enforce the law.

Where is Bihar?

Bihar is an Indian state located in the eastern part of the country. It is bordered by Nepal to the north, Jharkhand to the south, Uttar Pradesh to the west, and West Bengal to the east. The state is bisected by the Ganga River which flows through the middle of the state from west to east.

What is Ganga?

Outside India, the Ganga River is more commonly known as the Ganges River.

What is the Gangetic dolphin?

The Gangetic dolphine, also known as Ganges dolphin, Ganges river dolphin, Blind dolphin, and Side-swimming dolphin, is a dolphin endemic to the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. Its scientific name is Platanista gangetica and it is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The current population consists of 1,200-1,800 individuals, and roughly half of these are found in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

It is referred to as the Blind dolphin due to its poor eye-sight which is probably an adaptation to the murky waters of the Ganga River.