JoJo and The Cove

If you have ever read into the Turks and Caicos Islands, surely you have read a thing or two about JoJo.  I remember my initial flight over being given some reading material about the extremely rare solitary dolphin who voluntarily interacts with humans.    JoJo was declared a national treasure in 1989, but just a short two years previous was almost deemed a tourist liability and placed in captivity.  Thanks to Dean Bernal,  a Californian who met JoJo in 1984 and went on to share many adventures, an awareness campaign was created that protects JoJo to this very day. 

  I have had the fortune of meeting JoJo face to face on many occasions.  Every experience has been fascinating and remarkable, but witnessing him light up in the presence of Pepper has been thus far incomparable.  JoJo seems to have a real curiosity about dogs, and luckily our potcake loves to jump ship and make chase of JoJo on the surface.  With us occasionally he can seem sleepy, one might even say bored, but as soon as Pepper joins us in the water it is all chatter and chase, twists and turns, fun and frolick. These experiences, as well as research into the intelligence of the species, leaves no doubt in my mind that they should ALL be treasured and protected.

Above photo by Shayna Bigazzi

Unfortunately, in some parts of the world they are not.  I had heard about The Cove, the Oscar Award winning best documentary feature film, quite awhile back but it took some serious self pep talk for me to actually watch it.  Though it was even more painful than I possibly imagined, it accomplished with me exactly what it's objective continues to be- spread the word.  I would encourage everyone to see this brave film about the slaughter of 20,000 plus dolphins a year in Japan.   The production team and all involved took gigantic risks in exposing this very dark secret.  Please see the film, or if you can't muster up the courage, please visit the website and take part in halting this atrocity.  To learn more about sustainable fishing please click here to discover which fish are the safest to enjoy, that have the lowest amounts of mercury.  Then download the Seafood Watch Guide, to discover the best options for sustainable fishing in the area in which you live or will be traveling.