Japan to deport star of Oscar-winning dolphin documentary

Mr. O’Barry starred in "The Cove," which won the 2009 Academy Award for best documentary. In it, dolphins are herded by fishermen into a cove in Taiji, Japan, and speared to death, turning the waters red with blood.

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2010, file photo, Ric O'Barry, a leading global dolphin activist whose efforts to save dolphins is documented in the Oscar-winning film "The Cove," speaks to the media in Taiji, western Japan. O’Barry, the former dolphin trainer for the “Flipper” TV series and the star of an Oscar-winning documentary about dolphin killings in Japan, was detained Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, by immigration authorities at an airport near Tokyo. Immigration officials declined comment, saying it is their policy not to comment on individual cases. O’Barry’s lawyer Takashi Takano said he has appealed the decision, and a decision from the Japanese government is expected in the next few days, with deportation a possibility. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

The star of an Oscar—winning documentary that shows how dolphins are hunted in a Japanese village is to be deported to the U.S. on Friday after Tokyo airport officials barred his entry and he was held in detention for more than two weeks.

Ric O’Barry’s lawyer and his son, Lincoln O’Barry, said on Friday that Japan’s government rejected an appeal of a decision by immigration officials to deny Mr. O’Barry entry and planned to put him on a plane back to the U.S.

Mr. O’Barry (76), has been held in a detention facility at Tokyo’s Narita airport since he landed on Jan. 18. He and his lawyer say officials accuse him of lying during his past visits to Japan. He denies that, and says he is a tourist.

Mr. O’Barry starred in “The Cove,” which won the 2009 Academy Award for best documentary. In it, dolphins are herded by fishermen into a cove in Taiji, Japan, and speared to death, turning the waters red with blood.

“They are trying to shut me up. But they are creating a tsunami of attention for this issue,” he said in a telephone call earlier this week from the detention facility.

“It breaks my heart to be deported,” he said. “I never violated Japanese law. I never lied to Japanese authorities.”

Immigration officials do not comment on individual cases.

Officials and fishermen in Taiji have defended the hunt as traditional, saying that eating dolphin meat is no different than eating beef or chicken.

Mr. O’Barry has vowed to continue his efforts to save the dolphins.

As the dolphin trainer for the “Flipper” TV series, he has long felt responsible for dolphin shows and aquariums. He regularly visits Taiji.

Mr. O’Barry said officials questioned him daily in what he described as an effort to get him to fall for trick questions and end up confessing to wrongdoing.

The lies he is alleged to have told immigration officials were technical, he said, such as initially saying he wouldn’t go to a demonstration when he went, but that was because at that time he had not yet been invited.

Mr. O’Barry heads his own group, Dolphin Project, which aims to peacefully protect dolphins worldwide.

“This is a slap in the face to the freedom of speech,” Mr. O’Barry said. “But this has not shaken my love for Japan.”