Every year in a sleepy little Japanese village called Taiji, a horrific event takes place. And it took one small group of activists with undercover cameras to expose this bloody secret to the world…

This Sunday at 8.30pm on ABC1, you can see the Academy Award-winning film for yourself. The Cove threw the international spotlight onto Taiji and is so explosive that officials in Japan tried to stop it from ever being shown there.

Well now it has been, and as more people become aware and speak out for these dolphins, the harder it becomes for the brutal killing to continue. So make sure you tune in and tell all your friends to watch too!

Head here for more info on the film and ways that you can help save dolphins in Taiji.

Have you already seen the film? What did you think?

Have you ever wondered what your dog or your cat would say if they could talk back to you? I'm certain my dog, Kia would tell me she doesn't care if she has her own chair, she'd rather sit in mine! I also have no doubt that as I type this, she is trying to say "Hurry up, let's go outside for a tug of war!"

And what would animals say to each other? I really hope this video is close to the truth ;)

A biologist from the Bahamas might be on her way to discovering what animals really have to say. Denise Herzing has been working with dolphins for years and has devised an amazing way for humans and dolphins to communicate. Using symbols, and a keyboard synthesizer that creates sounds similar to those naturally produced by dolphins, they can actually ask each other for particular objects, like a ball or a scarf. How incredible! And she thinks it's only a matter of time before more complex interactions get started.

So just what will dolphins tell us?

And what about less fortunate animals? What would foxes and rabbits raised for their fur say? Or chimps and rats in labs? Or pigs and chickens in factory farms?

(Alright Kia, I'm nearly finished!) But I'd love to know, what do you think animals would say to us?

It's one of those things you really hope we would have worked out by now... Whales and dolphins: better off frolicking about the ocean than being bludgeoned to death at the water's edge. Right?? Sadly, in some parts of the world this type of brutal end is still a very real threat for these intelligent marine mammals.

Earlier this week the world wept again for the dolphins killed in Taiji, Japan, thanks to the incredible documentary The Cove at its very deserving win at the Oscars. But there is a lesser-known but equally horrific slaughter of these amazing animals that also needs to stop. Every summer in the Faroe Islands, north of Europe, hundreds of pilot whales and other species of dolphin are rounded up and killed in a bloody event touted by locals as 'tradition'. Men drag the animals ashore by lodging a blunt hook in their blowholes and proceed to hack at their spines and vital blood vessels. It takes several minutes for the animals to die a traumatic and painful death while beached helplessly on the shore. Maybe killing these defenceless animals for food was once necessary in this remote part of the world, but nowadays there is no good reason for it.

Having come from Denmark myself, I find this particularly upsetting, since the Faroe Islands were once governed by Denmark. They are still officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but these days they pretty much govern themselves -- and the Danish people have very little power to intervene to help these animals. That's why we are petitioning the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands, to halt this barbaric and outdated 'cultural event'.

Do you have a moment to help these whales and dolphins? Click here to sign the petition now, post it on Twitter and Facebook, and forward it to all your friends. 'Tradition' is no reason for killing. Don't let the Faroe Islands get away with this -- the whole world needs to know about this shameful practice!

This just in! After receiving thousands and thousands of emails from outraged Animals Australia and Unleashed members, Broome Shire Council held an emergency meeting where they agreed to suspend their sister-city ties with the Japanese town of Taiji, where next month thousands of dolphins will be brutally butchered as part of an unspeakably cruel mass annual dolphin slaughter.

During the slaughter, which every year kills 23,000 dolphins, authorities erect barricades and prohibit photography and videotaping of the brutal event. Not even the Japanese public are aware of the scale or cruelty that goes on in Taiji, or that dolphin meat is often mislabelled and consumed by unknowing Japanese citizens!

This move by Broome sends a strong message to Japan that the international community will not tolerate this dark, bloody secret. With more pressure, we hope that the Japanese government will soon wake up and realise that along with the dolphins, Japan's reputation and appeal as a tourist destination is being bludgeoned to death by callous Japanese fishermen!

Thanks to everyone who took action recently by writing Broome and asking them to sever ties with Taiji! Please also take a moment to write to the Ambassador of Japan to Australia and express your disgust at Japan's annual mass slaughter of dolphins. Let them know that you will not consider visiting Japan whilst this gruesome slaughter continues!

H.E. Mr Taka-aki Kojima
Ambassador of Japan to Australia
cultural@japan.org.au

You learn something new every day... unfortunately!

So I thought by now I was pretty aware of international animal cruelty, but a new documentary I saw last week really shocked me. The Cove, which is being launched in Australia next week, exposes the mass slaughter of Dolphins in a little Japanese town called Taiji.

"Mass dolphin slaughter?? What the!!" Yes, that's right, each year, starting on the 1st of September a whopping 23,000 terrified dolphins are herded into a secret cove. They are netted in, unable to escape and are slowly speared or stabbed to death!

And why haven't we heard of this before? Because the Japanese Government has gone to painstaking efforts to keep the slaughter a secret, even from it's own people. Dolphin meat is being labelled and sold as other types of seafood and the vast majority of Japanese citizens have no idea this is happening, or that they are eating it!

International dolphin expert and former trainer Richard O'Barry has gone to incredible efforts to expose this terrible secret. In creating The Cove he took an elite team of scientists, filmmakers and free-divers to Taiji. He hopes the international outrage The Cove will create will put a stop to this barbaric practice... HOPEFULLY before this September's slaughter begins.

So what can you do? Fortunately, as Australians we're in a unique position to help! Taiji just so happens to be the Sister-City of Broome in WA. By putting pressure on Broome to sever it's ties with Taiji we will expose the slaughter and shame Japan. The good news is that most Japanese people see dolphins the same way westerners do – as intelligent, graceful animals who should never be hurt or eaten – but whilst the slaughter remains a secret sadly it will continue.

[UPDATE: Some great news! After a flood of letters, Broome Councilors met over the weekend and decided to sever their ties with the Japanese town of Taiji.

We still have a couple of 2-for-1 passes to giveaway to see The Cove (opening this week)! If you want to score yourself a pass then please write to Broome to thank them for taking a stand against the dolphin slaughter in Japan and severing their ties with Taiji. Then leave a comment below to let us know you've written.

Broome Shire Council: shire@broome.wa.gov.au

Thanks to everyone who helped in this campaign!]