DOLPHIN MOTHER COMMITS SUICIDE AFTER BEING SEPARATED FROM CALF BY JAPANESE FISHERMEN ENGAGED IN MASS MURDER OF DOLPHINS

DID MOTHER OF PRIZED ALBINO DOLPHIN COMMIT SUICIDE AFTER BEING TORN FROM ITS CALF?

DAILY MAIL -  Marine experts claim mammal deliberately stopped breathing after Japanese fishermen separated pod in notorious killing cove.

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said the distressed dolphin went under and failed to resurface with the rest of the pod after its calf was taken. Ric O' Barry, a former dolphin trainer who founded the Dolphin Project, believes the mother decided not to breathe anymore as a result of the ordeal. He said: 'People don't believe me, but dolphins do it all the time. Captivity is extremely stressful and there is nothing more stressful to a dolphin than taking away its calf.' Japanese fishermen have now finished killing some of the 250 dolphins trapped recently in what activists say was the biggest round-up they have witnessed in the last four years.

Experts say dolphins have been known to commit suicide in captivity after becoming distressed and confused at their conditions.

In several cases, the creatures repeatedly slammed their head against sides of a pool - or simply stopped coming up for air.  Writing on its website, Sea Shepherd said: 'There is widespread speculation that the mother of the albino calf committed suicide after her baby was violently taken from her.  'Our volunteer Cove Guardians documented and witnessed the grieving mother repeatedly spy-hopping, looking for her calf, before lowering herself into the water, never to resurface.

'Dolphins are highly intelligent, socially complex beings who form close bonds with their family, and the trade for captivity regularly rips through these bonds in Taiji.'  The theory has been taken up by Ric O' Barry, a former dolphin trainer who is convinced the mother took her own life as a result of the ordeal.

As conscious breathers, he said dolphins can choose not to take their next breath. Mr O'Barry, who founded the Dolphin Project, told The Dodo: 'People don't believe me, but dolphins do it all the time.  'Captivity is extremely stressful and there is nothing more stressful to a dolphin than taking away its calf.'  The fishermen reportedly hid the baby dolphin under a tarpaulin and transferred it to Taiji Whale Museum.  Assistant Director Tetsuo Kirihata said: 'Albinos stand out and tend to be targeted by predators.  'She must have been protected by her mother and her mates. We will take good care of her.'

Read more -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2543317/Mother-prized-albino-dolphin-COMMITS-SUICIDE-torn-baby-Japanese-fishermen-notorious-killing-cove.html


More recent reports on this year's massacre -
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/01/another-massacre-of-dolphins-by.html


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