The Amazon river dolphin is an intelligent and friendly mammal that appears to grin and flush like a human blushing when it gets excited. But some are concerned about the world's largest freshwater dolphin coming under threat again in Brazil, where fishermen hunt and kill ...
Tokyo court rules against 2016 deportation order for 'Cove' dolphin activist Ric O'Barry
The Tokyo District Court ruled Thursday against a government deportation order issued to a U.S. activist opposing dolphin hunts when he tried to enter Japan three years ago. The government had argued that when Richard "Ric" O'Barry, 79, who featured in the Oscar-winning documentary "The ...
Fleet of boats return empty on first day of Taiji's dolphin hunting season
The hunting season for dolphins using a controversial "drive-hunting" method began Sunday in the whaling town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture, this time without the usual protests from animal-rights groups. While local police officers were on high alert for anti-whaling campaigns, 12 boats left the ...
The lethal consequences of misclassifying dolphins
Japan's animal welfare regulations could halt the Taiji slaughter if Japanese law categorized dolphins as mammals instead of fish.
Japanese aquariums are beginning to consider breeding bottlenose dolphins through artificial insemination as a way to maintain their numbers and avoid continued international criticism of displaying dolphins caught in the wild. A small male dolphin swimming with its mother has become a major attraction at ...
Proliferation of marine parks in China fueling shadowy trade in cetaceans
Eight beluga whales jump in unison out of a bright blue indoor pool, flipping their tail fins and spewing water as a packed audience cheers and snaps photographs. Whale shows like the one at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, located in Zhuhai on China's southern coast, are ...
Activists alarmed over bottlenose dolphin, penguins abandoned at closed Japanese aquarium
The plight of a lonely bottlenose dolphin and dozens of penguins that have been abandoned in a derelict aquarium since the start of the year sparked protests this week, with activists and ordinary people alike calling for the animals to be saved. The female dolphin, ...
Bridge to China brings threat for Hong Kong's native pink dolphin
Hong Kong's rare pale pink dolphins are battling for survival as building work on a 19-mile (31-km) bridge linking the Asian financial hub with China disrupts the communication and feeding activities of the highly sociable animals, marine experts say. The Chinese white dolphin, which appears ...
Defying criticism, Taiji pushes forward with bold plans based on continued dolphin hunts
A few years back, the normally sleepy town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture was filled with activists furious with its traditional dolphin hunt, which was featured in "The Cove," a 2009 Academy Award-winning documentary. But as the fury ebbs, the town is now betting its ...
Big and brilliant: Study links large size of sperm whale's brain to complex social behavior
Cetaceans — whales and dolphins — are among the brainiest of beings. In terms of sheer brain size, the sperm whale is tops on Earth, with a brain six times larger than that of a person. And now, scientists have identified key differences among cetaceans ...
Shimoda aquarium's bottlenose dolphin Nana sets Japan record of nearly 43 years in captivity
A dolphin at an aquarium in Shizuoka Prefecture has set the Japanese record for longest time in captivity, the aquarium in the city of Shimoda said Oct. 4. Nana the bottlenose dolphin has marked 15,666 days, or 42 years and 11 months, living in ...
Aquariums in Kanagawa, Yamaguchi sever ties with national body over Taiji dolphin ban
Two aquariums in Japan said they have canceled their memberships with the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums due to its decision to forbid the acquisition of dolphins caught through controversial drive hunts off the town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture. Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa, ...
