After seeing The Cove at Cinemapolis this weekend -- another gem from the good folks at IC's very own Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) -- I was stunned. The thing was, I was not stunned in the way I expected to be stunned. Coming into the documentary of Taijian dolphin slaughter in a specific cove, I had expected to be upset. I had expected to be somewhat revolted. I had not expected to be quite so motivated towards change as I was.

The movie was beautiful, in a terrible way. It showed the secrecy of the slaughter, and let us follow the filmmakers through the espionage that brought the terrible practice to light. The real gem of the experience though was the discussion that took place after the screening with Christopher Clark and Todd Schack, professors at Cornell and IC, respectively.

Between Clark's knowledge of dolphins and bioacoustics and Schack's experience in investigative journalism, they offered an insight into the experience of The Cove that would have been almost impossible to glean otherwise. Through all their academic knowledge, though, the most important thing that they emphasized was that horrible practices such as these are not at all beyond our control. With the proper motivation and exposure, things can and will change.

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