ATTENTION ANIMAL COMMUNICATORS WANNABE'S/ TRAINEES NATIONWIDE AND GLOBALLY:

Re: THE COVE (a documentary re: dolphin plight in Japanese waters showed last year in movie theaters) + its follow-up TV mini-series called BLOOD DOLPHINS, airing right now - every Friday night).

Suggestion for averting this tragedy: Everyone around the planet agreeing to participate in a GLOBAL SOCIAL NETWORKING EXPERIMENT (at their leisure) but for 7 months duration, explained below:

Background:
Taiji Cove in Japan is the site of a horrific annual slaughter of dolphins from Sept through March, by a small group (less than 30) of fishermen who have been doing this for centuries - where a methodical acoustic sonar nightmare is created by banging on pipes underwater, driving the dolphins to a particular cove in the Taiji area of Japan, where escape to the open sea is cordoned off with nets, and eager customers from around the world come to purchase a bottle-nose dolphin for their traveling zoos or marine aquariums for $150,000 each, while all the rest are slaughtered for food and the entire cove itself turns red from the blood of dolphins trying to escape being harpooned in the shallow water.

An average of at least 20,000 up to 26,000 dolphins annually are killed during this 7-month onslaught. At another city, Iki, dolphin had been abundant, but as many as 1,000 dolphin a day were killed there, and now, no more dolphin come to Iki.

There is also a danger to humans who eat dolphin meat, because mercury levels in all the fish the Japanese people are consuming is a very real threat, as there has yet to be any kind of investigation made by the gov of Japan into suspected mercury levels of their citizens - from 'tolerable' 0.04 ppm to now at a horrific 2,000 ppm.

Emailed the oceanography dept of the local university in my area, asking to be referred to any sources on the internet that John Q Public could obtain (as am not a student with access to academic internet sites) re: not only a visible GPS or satellite picture of Taiji cove and its specific location on the planet, but the underwater topography from the continental shelf coming towards the Taiji coastline itself - but with no reply back from them.

Recently attended a weekend animal communication workshop in Richmond which compliments a nationwide organization called Healing Touch For Animals that travels to all the states and offers weekend courses in communicating with animals -intellectual incredulity aside-I believe this tragic annual dolphin round-up event could be the impetus for attempting an astounding global social networking experiment.

Am not even sure if Ric O'Barry (the creator of the FLIPPER TV series from the 60s) will entertain my proposal either, but even if he too, responds dubiously, it is irrelevant what people "think" where an experiment is involved, because that is what an experiment is all about -to learn from it, right? So will ask him (and perhaps you, too) to suspend any judgment for a moment to hear me out:

This TV mini-series on cable called BLOOD DOLPHINS might be an opportunity (during one of these episodes) for Ric O'Barry to consider this proposal for a social networking experiment worth trying, to encourage such an attempt (by dolphin lovers globally) by announcing it at the end of one of the episodes (or hopefully - as each episode ends), to ask viewers to suspend their own disbelief temporarily to just make a casual effort over the next 7 months to participate in this experiment (at their own leisure) which is this:

If the TV viewer has a visual picture image in their minds of the location of Taiji cove in regards to Japan itself, and also has a mental picture as well of what dolphins see underwater as they approach the geographical underwater markings en route to Taiji cove (distinctive continental shelf outcroppings, etc), the social experiment would be this: To send mental pictures to all dolphins in the ocean near this topography, then send them mental pictures of underwater noise (however they want to visualize it) to warn them to steer them away from heading towards Taiji by recognizing the underwater topographical "road signs." Am hoping that BraveHeart Women would be one group that would not under-estimate the power of millions of people around the world who will be watching this miniseries, and the power of the human mind when millions of people are focusing upon the same thing.

What is the experiment attempting to prove? If at least 20,000 to 26,000 dolphin are acoustically corralled annually, and this social networking experiment works during that protracted 7 months period of time while the slaughtering continues, then the hoped for results would reflect in a definite decrease in the number of dolphins killed. But what is even more staggering to contemplate is this: Think of the marvelous implication if we succeed!

As an aside: I myself had 2 experiences with dolphins: Once when I first came to VA Beach, VA (in 1980) was wearing my grandmother's engagement ring, which flew off my finger while throwing a stick for my retriever to catch in the water, lost forever. The sea that day was perfectly flat, like bathtub water, with waves only 2 inches high, lapping upon the shore. I cried and cried then suddenly, a pod of dolphins jumped out of the water directly in front of me, and put on such a terrific prolonged show for me (alone on the beach) and literally mean "FOR ME" - as they did not pass on by with their antics, but stayed directly in front of me during their entire (half hour? long) entertainment. But the very moment I felt in my heart how wonderful they were, how happy for just a moment they had made me, they all suddenly disappeared beneath the sea, and did not surface again (as I stayed another hour in hopes that they would).

Another time was in 1979 when my mother bought a trailer in FLA (30 mi. north of Key West) on Big Pine Key; her place was on the Gulf side, and her neighbor (across the highway) lived on the ocean side, and well known for a hundred miles because she had a pair of dolphins visit her every day at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Why? Years earlier, a sick dolphin had stranded itself upon her back yard, which was her own private lagoon. She cordoned off the exit back to sea, and nursed it back to health with the help of vets and other marine experts. The dolphin got well, but now was listless. This woman then rescued another dolphin from a going defunct small marine aquarium show, and put it in the lagoon with her dolphin, who immediately perked up. The lady removed the barricade, and they swam off together. Much to the lady's surprise ever since, the dolphins return every day to visit with her, and local residents come by to watch her play with them in the water. Even my own mom was thrilled to be pulled around on an air mattress, a highlight in her life, for sure.

While visiting my mom, we walked across the highway to walk along the ocean, but first stopped by her friend's back yard to show me the lagoon, then stopped by the fence to talk. Having not seen my mom in many years, was tearfully talking about estrangement from my 2 yr older brother. Although I did not acknowledge them whatsoever, shortly thereafter - two dolphins raised their heads out of the water at my very feet, their bottle-noses inches from my toes, and stayed there, looking up at me the whole time. Even my mom, who occasionally glanced downward, felt hard-pressed not to focus upon this marvel as she wanted to give me her undivided attention. Then while walking back home, she asked me quietly if I had even noticed the dolphins, which I had, and nodded.

There is something profoundly special about these creatures, and I really cannot expect "educated" minds (specifically the univ's oceanography dept) to appreciate or acknowledge the reality of animal communication unless they themselves have had a personal experience of some kind to an animal - to open up that skeptically ingrained analytical thought process. Nevertheless, am asking if you will take my request seriously (even if Ric O'Barry might not, as he taught dolphins with words and hand gestures, so am not sure if he intentionally ever did so knowingly - telepathically) ... by agreeing to spend a fleeting few moments every day when you remember to think about it, while lounging on the patio, walking to the store, picking up your kids from school or commuting daily to work - - to send mental pictures of the dolphins in the open sea to steer clear of the Taiji area of the Japanese coastline for the next 7 months during which this horrific assault upon them takes place.

It is my hope that Ric O'Barry will not dismiss the potential power of tapping into the caring efforts of an entire planet of people who love dolphins, who would be willing to suspend even their own doubts to participate in a daily focusing of some mental attention upon their plight right now, and to send mental PICTURES of their fate, should they approach Taiji, Japan, during this prolonged 7-month period of time, to send them thoughts of love and admiration, and ask forgiveness for our repaying their centuries old documented history of saving drowning humans in the oceans all over the entire planet with an annual 7-month long barbaric assault upon their very existence.