Movie Cricket

The big question mark at the end of "The Cove," the astonishing documentary that exposed a secret dolphin slaughter in a coastal Japanese town, was whether publicity generated by the movie might prompt this year's slaughter to be cancelled.

The early answer seems like, yes, something different is happening in Taiji, Japan, this September.

On the Take Part blog, run by Participant Productions (which produced "The Cove"), dolphin trainer-turned-activist Ric O'Barry reports from Taiji — where on Tuesday, the first day of the annual dolphin hunt, "there were no dolphin killers in sight."

O'Barry is in Taiji giving a tour to reporters from the Associated Press, the German magazine Der Spiegel and the British newspaper The Independent. Then, he reports, he saw Japanese TV crews arrive. O'Barry writes:

You have to understand that this is SO IMPORTANT. These TV stations have REFUSED to cover the story in Taiji for years and years. NOW, for the first time, they have shown up, with cameras rolling.

Of course, it's only one day — and the hunting season goes on for at least a month. But, it's a start.