dolphin leaps from tank 

So I was on facebook and saw a posting from The Cove fan page.  It was about a false killer whale that jumped out of the tank during a July 4 marine show at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, in southwestern Japan. The footage was captured by an American tourist and was sent to Ric O’Barry.

O’Barry says the videos show a dolphin under stress. Hideshi Teruya, who manages the dolphin section of Churaumi, said the dolphin suffered minor scratches and bruises on its head and fin but was fine, and had a healthy appetite for mackerel and squid almost as soon as it was returned to a tank. “It was playing around and jumped out by accident from the momentum,” he told The Associated Press.

Ok, that does not show a dolphin jumping out by accident. Dolphins are used to roaming for many miles a day, not swimming in a circle and doing flips at shows, he said.

Sound is the most important sense for dolphins. So keeping them in a concrete box is cruel, bombarding the animal with strange sounds and depriving a key sensory skill, according to O’Barry.

“It proves that captivity doesn’t work,” he said of the videos. “They are free-ranging creatures with a very large brain. They’re self aware and putting them in a small tank in a stadium setting is abusive.”

 

Here are the videos of the dolphin from O’Barry:

 

First Video

Second Video

Third Video