Ric O'Barry

Ric O'Barry with a wild dolphin (google images)

Born in 1941, Ric O’Barry started his career in the dolphin captivity industry. After the death of his dolphin friend Cathy (the actor of Flipper) he realized what horror the dolphins go through.

He set out to stop the biggest dolphin slaughter in the world, located in Taiji, Japan. He and his team hid cameras in what is known as the death cove to most dolphins and got live footage of the slaughter in action. Using his proof he accomplished getting the slaughter to only occur in September each year. His journey in Japan was made into an Oscar nominated movie, The Cove. Recently Ric has gotten hundreds of people to sign a petition to convince Japan to stop the slaughter completely.

I personally think that Ric O’Barry is a selfless person. He risked his life in Japan because he cared about the dolphins lives more. I think he got his proof because he was persistent. He persisted in saving the dolphins despite the restrictions in the cove. Ric is devoted to not just saving dolphins but also saving other sea mammals in captivity and also trying to stop commercial whaling.

Ric O’Barry is my hero because he has devoted his life to save marine mammals and he stands right back up again if he’s knocked down.