Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project and star of the Oscar winning documentary “The Cove” has been deported from Japan, where he was been incarcerated for 19 days. Immigration officials cited O’Barry’s trip to Futo on August 27, 2015 as the official reason for his deportation, claiming he did not inform them of his travel plans.

On January 18, 2016, O’Barry was detained by Japanese immigration officials at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. What started off as a “routine” questioning turned into a repeated interrogation. He was placed in a deportees’ facility, similar to a jail, where he was held for over three days. When O’Barry later refused to board a flight that would take him back to the United States, he was placed in a formal detention facility, He was finally deported from Japan on February 6th.

Last August, O’Barry, on his way to Taiji to mark the start of the 2015/16 dolphin hunting season, made a side trip to Futo in support of former dolphin hunter Izumi Ishii’s whale watching tours. Despite not having made these plans until after entering Japan, officials refused to change their findings.

"As tourists, we have a legal right to be in Taiji, provided we do not interfere with, and/or violate the law. We are dolphin watching, as macabre as it sounds. We have never violated a Japanese law, have never lied to immigration and our work methods have been 100% peaceful.." ~ Ric O'Barry

O’Barry’s deportation is cause for concern, especially for other activists, including Dolphin Project Cove Monitors, who are committed to exposing Taiji’s brutal drive hunts. His work methods have been 100% peaceful, yet O’Barry has been treated like a criminal.

Dolphin Project’s legal team has already filed an objection and a formal lawsuit will follow. This is far from over.

Please sign our petition urging the Japanese Government to allow Ric O'Barry to enter the country.