A Good Day for the Dolphins

The Taiji dolphin hunt, featured in the controversial film "The Cove", was scheduled to begin on September 1, as it has every year for decades. Instead, the cove was empty on this opening day - no fishermen, no dolphins. Just lots of media and a noticeable contingent of police. And that was just fine with Ric O'Barry, Director of Save Japan Dolphins and one of the driving forces behind the efforts to bring attention to the annual slaughter of 20,000 dolphins.

He writes in his blog from Taiji that he is thrilled to see so much media present - in particular Japanese media, which until now have refused to cover the subject. Ric views this new willingness by the Japanese media to at least explore the subject as a turning point in the efforts to save the Japan Dolphins. He believes that a heightened public awareness in Japan will turn the tides in favor of the animals.

Check out the trailer for the film: take your friends, read more and Take Part.


As one of the principals in the film said, "You're either an activist or an inactivist", so it's time to
Discuss, Share and ACT.

Voices Behind the Camera - ILCP Photographer Cristina Mittermeier

Please meet a fearless woman, wonderful photographer and a true friend of the earth and all of it's peoples :

CRISTINA GOETTSCH MITTERMEIER
The relationship between nature and humans is where Cristina Mittermeier’s photography finds its true mission. The idea that people and nature are not isolated from each other, but are inexorably connected, lies at the heart of her work. This relationship is particularly poignant when it comes to indigenous people and this where Cristina’s images truly shine. Her work has taken her to 54 countries, including some of the most remote and beautiful areas of our planet.

As a photographer since 1996, Cristina has help produce 8 books, including a series published with Conservation International and Cemex. Megadiversity: Earth's Wealthiest Countries for Biodiversity (1996), Hotspots: Earth's biologically richest and most endangered ecoregions (1998), Wilderness Areas: Earth's Last Wild Places (2002), Wildlife Spectacles (2003), Hotspots Revisited (2005), and Transboundary Conservation: A New Vision for Protected Areas (2005), and Pantanal: South America’s Wetland Jewel (2005) are all part of that series.

Her latest book project, The Human Footprint, was produced with the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York in conjunction with her own organization, the ILCP. Cristina serves as Executive Director of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), a prestigious group of photographers which she founded in 2005.

From the popular to the scientific, her work has appeared in major magazines around the world including Nature's Best, Latina, Elan, National Geographic, National Geographic Explorer and American Photo in the United States, Rumbos, Escala and Sale la Foto, in Mexico, Explorador and Terra in Brazil, Man and Biosphere in China, among others.Cristina serves in the Advisory Board of Nature's Best Foundation and is a Board Member of the WILD Foundation.
Visit Cristina's Website

Cristina's images may be purchased at Digital Railroad or Fine Print Imaging

Listen now to the voice behind the camera of Cristina Mittermeier: