Saturday, September 1, kicks off the fourth dolphin drive-hunting season in Taiji, Japan since 2009’s Oscar-winning documentary The Cove detailed the tiny fishing village’s horrible secret.

There are a lot of Japanese people opposed to it, and there are people in high places working to stop it—they’re just not as visible as Ric O’Barry.

While the kill count has decreased every year—down to an all-time low of roughly 800 dead dolphins in the 2011-2012 season—there is still much work to be done.

No one knows this more than Ric O’Barry, the film’s hero and iconic dolphin freedom fighter.

On September 1, O’Barry and a busload of global activists will conduct a prayer vigil on the shore to honor the dolphins to be killed, and to remember those native villagers killed in last fall’s typhoons.

In the run-up to O’Barry’s visit to Taiji, TakePart caught up with the septuagenarian for a wide-ranging dolphin conversation.

The Cove: Sign the Petition to Help Save Japan's Dolphins

http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/08/27/ric-obarry-slaughter?cmpid=tpnews-eml-2012-08-28-rnc