In the 1960s, Richard O’Barry was the original trainer of dolphins used in the Flipper TV series, which led to a worldwide obsession with the seemingly playful aquatic mammals. It also created the multi-billion dollar industry in Taiji, Japan that, on the surface, seems happily devoted to the dolphin entertainment industry, but has a “dirty little secret.”
The documentary follows O’Barry’s attempt to expose the truth about the slaughter and the selling of the animals’ heavily mercury-tainted meat as counterfeit whale that is masked behind a cover operation of capturing dolphins for entertainment purposes.
Don’t let “Documentary” fool you. Critics have described The Cove as a “first rate thriller” and “a classic espionage tale” that is a cross between “Flipper and The Bourne Identity.”
O’Barry will be on hand for a reception, screening and post-screening Q&A at hermanHOME store and Muvico at BayWalk in Downtown St. Pete, May 5th starting at 6pm. Tickets are $20 online at ilovetheburg.com, $25 at the door and include wine, tapas, and desserts.
