Thank you Portland, OR!

Thank you to everyone who came out to our screening of The Cove at PSU in Portland! We raised $200 in donations, handed out some literature and had some great questions asked!

Special thanks to Student Animal Liberation Coalition (SALC: http://tinyurl.com/4aw2u8q) for collaborating on this event with us and all the awesome work that they do here in Portland!

Stay tuned for more Portland based events next month!!

An Evening for the Dolphins at Armani's

Come join us on February 23 for good food, good company, and a good cause! There will be a silent auction with a variety of great items to bid on, and all proceeds go towards covering our accommodation costs while in Taiji.

Armani's has been kind enough to reduce the menu prices so the patrons will have the ability to spare a few dollars for donations. This trip wouldn't be possible without the kindness our community, so anything you are able to share is greatly appreciated!

Seating is very limited so RSVP soon as possible. We hope to see you there!!

Thank you Nanaimo!

We would like to thank everyone who came out for An Evening for the Dolphins on January 17th! Over 80 people attended our screening of The Cove and listened to past Cove Guardian Tarah Millen speak about her experiences.  It was a huge success and we were able to raise $1500!!  We have now raised more than enough money to buy our tickets to Japan but are still fund-raising to pay for our hotel, travel and food expenses for the three weeks we are there.

Thank you again to every individual and business who donated time, money, ad space and raffle gifts.  We appreciate your generosity towards this cause, it's heartwarming to see so many people who want to help protect the Taiji dolphins!

Article from the Nanaimo Daily News! January 13th, 2011

Movie inspires locals to fight against a fishery

Movie and speakers will raise funds for an awareness campaign

Jennifer Squires, Daily News

Published: Thursday, January 13, 2011

Every once in a while in life a piece of art inspires people to take action and help incite change.

When Oscar-winning documentary film The Cove came out in 2009, eyes were opened to the capturing and slaughter of 23,000 dolphins a year in a small fishing community in Taiji, Japan.

In the film, a group of activist filmmakers and freedivers go undercover to infiltrate the hidden Japanese cove to expose the horrors of the annual fishing expedition and make people aware of the animal abuse and cruelty sanctioned by the Japanese government despite international laws against commercial whaling implemented in 1986. Many dolphins are sold to aquariums and resorts and others are killed for their mercury-tainted meat, which is sold on the Japanese market.

The trio will travel to Taiji the first week of March, where they'll protest and raise awareness as part of the Sea Shepherd Cove Guardians' ongoing efforts to stop the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. Daviduk, who has worked as an animal-rights activist for about 12 years with groups like Deer Aware and the Vancouver Island Animal Defense League, said they'll be there for the last three weeks of Japan's dolphin-hunting season.When Nananimo's Carisa Webster and Marley Daviduk, and Mike Vos from California saw The Cove, rather than just sit back and discuss the atrocities, they decided to jump on a plane and help fight for the cause.

"We'll be driving into the infamous cove every day and we're going to be documenting with film and stills the fishermen driving in the dolphins and slaughtering them," said Daviduk.

"Our goal is to continue documenting this hunt because it's hard for people to take action against something they can't really see."

As well as filming the hunt, they hope to educate locals about toxic dolphin meat served in elementary students' school lunches and sold as sushi. Daviduk said many Japanese people aren't really aware of the situation.

"There are 26 fishermen there that are involved with this slaughter, 26 fishermen that are leaving this huge blood stain on Japan's international reputation."

When The Cove is screened at Vancouver Island University this Monday, it will be accompanied by a talk with the future cove guardians. Also speaking at the event is cove guardian Tarah Millen, who returned to the Island from her Japanese expedition in November. Tickets to the screening are $10, available at Tourism Nanaimo, Boston Pizza and Thirsty Camel. The movie will be shown at VIU, 900 Fifth St., building 356, room 109 on Monday from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

In addition to the film screening the cove guardians are running a 'bottle nose dolphin drive.' People can drop off bottles for their account at either Nanaimo bottle depot or at 5977 Broadway Rd. in North Nanaimo. Those who want to help with their plane tickets can also donate air miles to account 85008048848.

For more information on their trip or fundraising, you can visit the cove guardians blog at thecoveguardians.blogspot.com, which they'll be updating every day while they're overseas.

Daviduk hopes people will be similarly inspired by The Cove and stressed that although some might fear it's too graphic, it's a beautifully made film and won an Oscar for a reason. "It really changes people's lives."

jsquires@nanaimodailynews.com

In regards to the photograph and article previously posted

I had some people contact me recently about sexism within the animal rights movement and what my position was on the subject. I wanted to clarify my opinion on the matter so I wrote a response. If anyone would care to read it you can follow the link here: http://mikexvx.blogspot.com

Thank you,
Mike

Article posted in the Nanaimo News Bulletin 12/14/10

By Toby Gorman - Nanaimo News Bulletin
Published: December 14, 2010 8:00 AM
Updated: December 14, 2010 1:10 PM

 

Marley Daviduk knows when she travels to a small Japanese cove made famous for its mass slaughter of dolphins, she’ll be upset by what she witnesses.

But she also knows her presence and documentation of the actions of 26 fishermen, who have their government’s blessing to slaughter and supply dolphins for live trade despite breaking international laws, could help bring the annual event to an end.

The Nanaimo animal activist is raising money to travel to the cove near Taiji, Japan to participate as a Cove Guardian for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. For several years, the group has posted volunteers around the cove to capture footage of the slaughter.

Since the beginning of this year’s slaughter, which began in September and ends in late March, Sea Shepherd has had six to 20 volunteers at any given time.

“Every day will be filming, filming, filming, talking to the fishermen, talking to the Japanese media. Making sure the Japanese fishermen don’t get away with anything and that everything is documented so that the entire world can see what is happening on a daily basis,” said Daviduk, who will travel with friends and fellow volunteers Carisa Webster, also of Nanaimo, and Mike Vos, of California.


Despite the international ban on hunting whales, the Japanese government issued a quota of 23,000 dolphins this season. Most are slaughtered for food while some are captured and sold in the live dolphin trade to zoos and aquariums.

Whaling ships also left Japanese ports this week to hunt 1,100 larger whales in an Arctic sanctuary, some of which are listed internationally as endangered.

“We’re trying to expose that and shame the Japanese government into stopping, but we’re also hoping that once we expose this to the Japanese people, that they will put pressure on their own government to stop,” said Daviduk.

Daviduk knows it won’t be an easy three weeks in March. The Japanese government set up coast guard and police stations near the site to discourage violent confrontations.

The cove was brought to international attention by the 2009 Oscar award-winning documentary The Cove, a story about how a small group of people infiltrated the guarded cove for the first time to document what takes place.

Daviduk said the movie inspired her to take action not only for the dolphins, but Canada’s annual seal hunt as well. For several years, she has helped organize Nanaimo seal hunt protests.
“Whether it’s seals, dolphins or a shark hunt to make the Chinese delicacy shark fin soup, it’s wrong,” she said.

To help raise money for the effort, a showing of The Cove will be held at Vancouver Island University on Jan. 17 at 6:30 p.m., featuring a talk by Cove Guardian Tarah Millen, who recently returned to the Island from Japan. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Boston Pizza, Tourism Nanaimo and The Thirsty Camel.

A ‘Bottle Nose Dolphin Drive’ is also underway at bottle depots on Fremont Rd. (off McGarrigle Rd.) and Mostar Dr. When returning bottles or cans, simply indicate you wish the proceeds to go to the Cove Guardians. Bottles and cans can also be dropped off on the driveway at 5977 Broadway Rd. on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

For more information or to donate, please e-mail thecoveguardians@gmail.com. The group will also be blogging at www.thecoveguardians.blogspot.com once they arrive in Japan.

An Evening for the Dolphins: Nanaimo, BC

Monday, January 17, 2011 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Vancouver Island University, Building 356 - Room 109
900 Fifth Street
Nanaimo, BC

Come join us for Oscar award winning documentary The Cove, a powerfully moving film that exposes dark secrets of the small fishing community of Taiji, Japan.

Following the film will be a presentation from past Cove Guardians Tarah and Ryan, and a Q&A session. All funds raised will help pay for us to travel to Taiji, Japan in March 2011.

Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased through our Paypal button on this page (please write "Nanaimo tickets" in the message), or visiting one of the following locations:

TOURISM NANAIMO
BOSTON PIZZA
THE THIRSTY CAMEL

PLEASE NOTE: There are a limited number of seats available for this benefit screening, so get your tickets ASAP! This event WILL SELL OUT!"

THANK YOU!!

Mike, Marley, Carisa