We can apparently add Louie Psihoyos’s documentary The Cove to our list of Movies That Really Made a Difference. The secret-camera-employed expose on the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, is getting credit, at least in part, with a stoppage of the dolphin killing, the season for which would have begun this week.

Dolphin activist and trainer Richard O’Barry, who appears in Psihoyos’ film, showed up to protest as usual accompanied by a group of international journalists and media crews, only to find the titular location void of fishermen.

He immediately reported his happy discovery to Take Part, writing, “it is a good day for the dolphins. And for me personally, as the police only wanted to talk with me, not arrest me!”

While this is certainly good news, it’s also not surprising that a documentary dealing with the killing of animals would be more successful in its goal than the countless films raising awareness of human genocides and poverty.

Of course, this is a sign that documentary as activism can make a difference, so I don’t mean to be cynical. I honestly hope that The Cove will be made an example and that other films inspire similar change.

Check out what other film bloggers are saying about The Cove’s success after the jump:

• O’Barry wants tomorrow and the next day and the next to be a good day for dolphins, too. But in order for that to be, he still needs people to contribute to the cause:
  

  Your donations and efforts are a key part of our success so far on this tour of Taiji. For the first time, thanks to your support, the secrets of Taiji are being told to the Japanese people by television. And thanks to your help and interest, I can go to Taiji with journalists around me and not fear arrest. This is an historic moment for the dolphins and whales of Japan. I sincerely thank you and ask you to join us in spirit for this return to Taiji.

• Jenni Miller at Cinematical finds the story to be inspiring:
  

  If that isn’t news that renews your faith in film and advocacy, well, I don’t know what is.

• Jorge Chapa at Inhabitat compares the success to the other kind of successful summer movies:
  

  In the summer of giant robots, red matter, and aliens in South Africa, one little movie has managed to do what no other has done: have an impact on the real world.

• Lane Brown at Vulture is glad to see that once in awhile a documentary works, maybe:
  

  It’s easy to get cynical about a documentary’s power to effectuate change in the world, what with Sicko’s unsuccessful bid to fix our health care and Helvetica’s sad failure to kill off Comic Sans. But the good news today is that one might have actually worked!

• Alex Billington at FirstShowing is also glad, if the change is true:
  

  If O’Barry and The Cove have effectively put an end to this, and not just caused them to move locations or change their timing, this is incredible news. It’s not often a film can come along, especially a little independent documentary like this one, and truly change the world. It brings a smile to my face to know they had such a powerful impact.

• Michael d’Estries at ecorazzi credits some additional celebs for the at least temporary stoppage of dolphin killing:
  

  Thanks to efforts from celebrities like Hayden Panettiere and Miranda Kerr — as well as several animal rights organizations and documentary filmmakers — Japan’s deadly “Dolphin Slaughter Cove” is today quiet. For now.

• Sasha Stone at Awards Daily isn’t surprised that the fishermen are absent while O’Barry and friends are there:
  

  Then again, who is going to want to go and hunt with much of the US watching?  It would have tossed gasoline on that fire in a big way.

• Sean P. Means at Movie Cricket thinks it’s too early to tell if the film made a definite difference:
  

  The big question mark at the end of “The Cove,” the astonishing documentary that exposed a secret dolphin slaughter in a coastal Japanese town, was whether publicity generated by the movie might prompt this year’s slaughter to be cancelled.

  The early answer seems like, yes, something different is happening in Taiji, Japan, this September…Of course, it’s only one day — and the hunting season goes on for at least a month. But, it’s a start.

• Vadim Rizov at Indie Eye thinks the movie works as an aquatic “Ocean’s Eleven,” but he’s an admitted cold-blooded guy and is doubtful that the film or O’Barry has made any real change:
  

  the most important thing “The Cove” does is mediate between an activist and potentially activist but noncommittal audience. What Psihoyos does is retain O’Barry’s passion and knowledge while mitigating the shrillness and overstatement that almost invariably attends any activist’s persona. Those aren’t bad things — they give you focus and drive — but they make it hard to convert the unconverted. O’Barry’s news is great (although, you know, it’s premature to assume that the dolphin killers maybe weren’t just smart enough to skip that day and/or relocate), but the way he delivers it is kind of ridiculous.

• Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere is also skeptical:
  

  Great, but does anyone believe this is really the end of it? Not I. Maybe the bad guys have simply decided to kill the dolphins in some other cove in some other nearby town? And surely the Taiji fishing industry will at least continue to round up dolphins for sale to marine tourist parks? Most people involved in nefarious enterprises (a) are essentially amoral in matters of income and (b) don’t give up their meal tickets this easily.

• Rama at Rama’s Screen asks if any documentaries are effective at all:
  

  Did Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me stop people from eating unhealthy food or stop fast food chain from giving out junks? Because last I checked, America is still an obese nation.
  Did Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth raise public awareness on global warming or did it just raise the number of celebrities who want to be humanitarians and environmentalists for publicity purposes?
  Did Michael Moore’s Sicko manage to get U.S. government to revamp its medicare?
  Did Ben Stein’s Expelled stop the persecution of scientists who believe in Intelligent Design?

  I’m not saying there shouldn’t be any more outspoken Documentary films to be made but… When was the last time a documentary actually compelled you to become an activist?
  Or is it just like watching the news on TV where afterward you get back to eating your dinner, not remembering you’ve watched anything at all?
  Is it more effective to have a documentary about a genocide in Rwanda or a feature film about it like Hotel Rwanda?

• Adam B. Vary at Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch doesn’t believe it’s the size of the difference that matter, only that something changed, as a result of this and other docs mentioned above:
  

  only time will tell whether the practice is over for good. But like Super Size Me (which seemingly got fast food restaurants to offer more healthy choices on their menus), and An Inconvenient Truth (which injected global warming into the mainstream discussion in a big way), the makers of The Cove can feel proud that at the very least several dozen dolphins are alive today thanks to their efforts.