Masked the Cove Star Returns to Japan

Marine activist Ric O'Barry had to wear a mask to cover his face during a recent TV expose about Japan's dolphin killers - because he feared attack from fishermen who recognised him as one of the men behind Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.

O'Barry agreed to take Oprah show TV cameras back to the hamlet where The Cove is set as long as he could keep his identity under wraps.

The special, which aired as part of Oprah Winfrey's Earth Day programmeon Thursday (22Apr10), followed up on developments chronicled in The Cove, which documented Japan's annual bottle-nosed dolphin slaughter.

O'Barry said, "The fishermen told me... 'If the world finds out what goes on here, we'll be shut down.'" The activist confessed he feels obliged to help the world's dolphins - because he helped capture and train them for beloved TV show Flipper in the 1960s.

He revealed, "Now, if there's a dolphin in trouble, anywhere in the world, my phone will ring. "I feel somewhat responsible because it was the Flipper TV series that created this multi-billion dollar industry".