David Bowie Remembered as a ‘Hero’ For Taiji’s Dolphins Thanks to This One Kind Act

The late singer David Bowie was an avid animal lover and now, he will be hailed as a champion for dolphins for giving permission for his 1977 hit “Heroes” to be used as the soundtrack for the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove.” The documentary stunned the world by showing the mass dolphin slaughters that happen every year in the waters of Taiji, Japan. According to Express, thousands of demonstrators plan to sing his “Heroes” outside of the Japanese embassy after the most recent mass slaughter of marine mammals in Taiji.

Film director Louie Psihoyos told Express, “David Bowie could have charged us tens of thousands of dollars to license ‘Heroes’ for The Cove – we didn’t have that kind of money – but one could dream…Pop songs by superstars like him can license for six-seven figures…He made his publishers take the absolute minimum they would take and we were charged nearly nothing for that song. Rest in peace, Mr Bowie – you are my hero.”

Bowie’s hit song “Heroes” was given to the makers of “The Cove” to help the plight of dolphins in Taiji.

Bowie’s kindness and affection for dolphins and marine life will live on as “The Cove” continues to awe viewers, but much work is left to do for Taiji’s dolphins. According to Sea Shepard Conservation Society, the number of cetaceans slaughtered has decreased in recent years due to the film’s ability to spread awareness of the killings, but slaughters do continue. Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project recorded the brutal killing of between 35  and 40 dolphins during the first few days of the 2016 hunts, but there is hope that as awareness grows the yearly totals will continue to drop.

As the film lives on, so does the fight for Japan’s dolphins, and with it is Bowie’s memory.