September signals the start of many things: autumn, harvest time and shorter days.

September is also mass slaughter season for dolphins in Taiji, a coastal town in Wakayama prefecture in Japan.

It’s a time when the entire cove turns into a bloody sea as fishermen in boats herd dolphins into a corner and kill them for their meat. A few are captured to be sold to marine parks, but most are slaughtered. The season runs from September until March.

It’s been two years since the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove" was released and a year since it’s been shown in Japan, despite intense opposition. It’s not an easy documentary to watch, but it’s still relevant because the slaughter continues.

Ric O’Barry, the documentary’s protagonist, is director of SaveJapanDolphins.org, a campaign by the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute, which continues to work toward ending the slaughter.

O’Barry trained the five dolphins that played Flipper in the popular television show. But he had an epiphany when one of the dolphins suddenly died in his arms.

He spent the first 10 years of his professional life in what he calls the "dolphin captivity industry" and has spent the past 40 years fighting against it. He’s one of those people with such a dogged determination and independent spirit of conviction that you might almost think he’s a nut case.

O’Barry was ignored at first but he never gave up, and you have to admire that.

The tide is turning, and with the success of the documentary, a whole movement has started. Thousands have signed a petition asking the slaughter to stop. Hollywood celebrities recorded a public service announcement, but even more important, everyday people are getting involved.

On Sept. 1, protesters showed up at Japan’s embassies across the globe — from New York to San Francisco, Manila, Paris and Melbourne, Australia. In Honolulu a group of about 10 people showed up at the Japanese Consulate in Nuuanu.

Given Hawaii’s ties to Japan, a more vocal protest here could make an impact, joined with the voices of the rest of the world.

MANY RESIDENTS of Japan don’t even know about what happens in Taiji or that dolphin meat, containing potentially high levels of mercury, is being sold.

If you really want to get involved, you can join O’Barry in his annual pilgrimage to Taiji as a "Cove guardian" to shine a spotlight on the dolphin slaughter. He lead a prayer ceremony in Taiji, both for the people who died in the March 11 tsunami and earthquake, and the dolphins that will die in the hunt this year. He reminds people that the work there is "strictly nonconfrontational" and "legal" — no trespassing tolerated.

U.S. race-car driver and environmental activist Leilani Munter was monitoring the cove two weeks ago and has since passed the torch to Tia Butt and two Norwegians. The most recent victims in Taiji include a pod of Risso’s dolphins killed Sept. 7, among them a mother and baby, according to Munter’s blog.

Ending the slaughter in Taiji will take patience.

But there’s hope: Earth Island Institute reported recently that due to negotiations with villagers, no dolphins were killed this past summer in the Solomon Islands for local consumption.

For more information on "The Cove," go to www.thecovemovie.com; to keep up with the most recent news on Taiji, visit the blog at www.savejapandolphins.org.

Nina Wu writes about environmental issues. Reach her at 529-4892 or nwu@staradvertiser.com.