Northsider helps highlight horrific dolphin slaughter

A NORTHSIDER with a burning passion for saving dolphins has told how watching a dolphin slaughter in Japan has changed her life forever. 

Last week Maria Nangle, from Santry, helped bring Louie Psihoyos’ Oscar winning documentary ‘The Cove’ to Dublin as part of an event hosted by Freedom For Dolphins Ireland.

‘The Cove’, which won the 82nd Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, was shown at the O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel in Merrion Square and featured a post-screening Q&A with the documentary’s protagonist, Ric O’Barry.

The movie shows O’Barry’s efforts to prevent the annual slaughter of about 2,000 dolphins in Japan, and contains disturbing images of the brutal killing.

O’Barry has been capturing and saving dolphins for the better part of 50 years and originally gained fame in the 1960s for capturing and training five dolphins used in the TV series, Flipper.

The 76-year-old now dedicates his life to rescuing and saving dolphins in danger and has been a huge inspiration to Nangle, who became an activist after seeing O’Barry’s live stream of dolphin slaughtering in Taiji, Japan.

“I came across the Ric O’Barry Dolphin Project’s live stream of the dolphin slaughter in Taiji Japan, and my life changed forever,” the 27-year-old told Northside People.

“From that moment, I was so horrified by what I was seeing, there was no turning back, I was involved.

“I was consumed from then on and I researched and read everything about Ric, the Dolphin Project, Taiji and the dolphin hunt. I wanted to know everything, and more.

“A couple months later while I was visiting Norway to see Orca whales in the wild, I was lucky enough to have a chance meeting with a journalist who works very closely with Ric and the Dolphin Project, and this connection turned out to be my ticket to being involved.”

Nangle has visited Taji twice since watching the documentary and plans to return for a third time in September, in time for the next hunting and capturing season.

Saving dolphins has become a burning passion for the Northsider over the last few years and the child nurse credits her upbringing as one of the main reasons she decided to get involved.

“I loved water growing up,” Nangle added.

“I was forever in swimming pools darting round like a fish but my mam and I would also make trips to Malahide, Howth, Portmarnock, Skerries and Dollymount. We spent a lot of time in Howth watching the sea.

“I find the shear vastness when you look out over an ocean really puts things in perspective.

“We are only a very small part of life on Earth but we are having an enormous impact.”

More information on saving dolphins can be found online at facebook.com/FreedomForDolphinsIreland

REPORT: Jack O’Toole