Ric O’Barry Urges Captive Industry Not to Purchase Albino Dolphin

A rare, second albino dolphin has been captured in the Taiji dolphin drives in Japan. The Risso’s dolphin capture — potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, should be condemned by the aquarium industry. Continue reading →

Nov 24, 2014 /prREACH/ --

On November 22nd, an albino juvenile Risso's dolphin was captured in the Cove in Taiji, Japan. A rarity in dolphins, this white dolphin is worth a large sum of money to those who captured it.

Earmarked for captivity, the albino dolphin and one other, were placed into a sea pen in the harbor, after the remainder of its pod was slaughtered.

This is the second albino dolphin captured in the Taiji dolphin drives in two seasons. Last year, a juvenile albino bottlenose dolphin named 'Angel', was taken into captivity and is currently housed at the Taiji Whale Museum. Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project condemns this capture for profit and is urging all facilities and organizations who do business with Taiji, to end the partnership.

The Dolphin Project is calling on the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums: WAZA, the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums: JAZA, and all captive facilities around the world, to immediately condemn the capture of this dolphin, and to refuse to consider purchasing this animal.

The global demand for captive dolphins, the hunts, captures, and slaughters, will continue in Taiji if aquaria purchase dolphins captured in the dolphin drives. The public is urged to also get involved by not purchasing a ticket to any captive dolphin show. Statistics show that while the number of dolphins slaughtered is decreasing, the number of animals captured for aquaria, is increasing.

For more information on the dolphin drives and the capture of this albino Risso's dolphin, please visit Dolphin Project.net, to take action against the slaughter and capture of dolphins in Japanese waters.

About the Dolphin Drives: Taiji conducts its dolphin drives between September and March each year. As featured in the documentary -- "The Cove", these drives can result in the slaughter/capture of almost 2,000 dolphins per year. While some dolphins are hunted for consumption, the primary driving force behind these hunts is the large profit gleaned from the sale of these animals to worldwide aquaria.

Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project was founded on Earthday 1970, with the aim to stop dolphin slaughter and exploitation around the world. This work has been chronicled in films such as 'A Fall From Freedom', the Oscar-winning documentary 'The Cove', and in the Animal Planet mini-series, 'Blood Dolphin$'. The Dolphin Project is the longest-running, leading organization created solely for the protection of dolphins. Ric O’Barry has pioneered the readaption & release of captive dolphins into the wild around the globe.