Dolphin Heroes Paint to Save Dolphins

Here's the article I wrote about the recent mural painting that we were supposed to go to last weekend but failed to attend.  Good thing I got the details from my friend A.G. who led it.

 

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"End Dolphin captivity and slaughter! That is the strong message of dolphin heroes Ric O’Barry and A.G. Saño.

 

Ric O’Barry used to capture and train dolphins in his younger days. He was the former head trainer of dolphins in the 1960s hit TV series Flipper. Years later, he had a change of heart when one of the dolphins playing Flipper died in his arms.

This led him to start The Dolphin Project, an organization committed to educating the public about the plight of dolphins in captivity. Ric O’barry has since dedicated his life to this advocacy by giving lectures and discussions and campaigning around the world about the negative effects of capturing dolphins.

 

Ric O'Barry paints a dolphin.  Photo courtesy of Wendell Rupert Alinea.

He co-authored the books Behind the Dolphin Smile and To Free a Dolphin with Keith Colbourne. He also wrote Die Bucht about dolphins and The Cove with Hans Peter Roth which were published in Germany. He is currently a marine mammal specialist for Earth Island Institute and the director of Save Japan Dophins Campaign. He received the 'Environmental Achievement Award' in 1991 by the United States Committee for the United Nations Environmental Program (US/UNEP).

 

He was featured in The Cove, a 2009 documentary film that won over 25 awards worldwide including Best Documentary Feature at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in 2010 and Best Documentary from the Environmental Media Awards. Louie Psihoyos, former National Geographic photographer directed the film. Paula DuPré Pesmen -- whose film credits include the three Harry Potter films, produced the film together with Fisher Stevens. The film was written by Mark Monroe. The Cove exposed the hunting and massive slaughter of dolphins that happen every year in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan.

 

A.G. Saño, on the other hand, is the artist and dolphin advocate who leads the Dolphins Love Freedom network. Seeing The Cove stirred him so much that he expressed his deep sadness and disgust for the trade and killings of dolphins in Japan by painting 23,000 dolphins as a tribute. Saño has successfully raised the awareness of people through his dolphin murals in the past years. He led volunteers from various sectors in the mural painting of the perimeter wall of the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City last March during the 2012 Month of the Ocean celebration. The mural is considered the longest mural in the Philippines. Another mural that he recently painted with other local artists, marine mammal advocates and volunteers is located at the Quezon Avenue tunnel. He was awarded as WWF Hero of the Environment in 2011 by the WWF-Philippines, part of the world’s largest conservation organization (WWF).

 

A.G. Saño paints a dolphin while on a ladder.  Photo courtesy of Wendell Rupert Alinea.

 

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