太地 くじらの博物館 白いバンドウイルカ 1. Shoujo, bébé dauphin albinos. Taiji Whale Museum On The Albino Dolphin Calf. Photo Credit: Satoshi Komiyama During my reporting last week on the fate and status of the albino calf (dubbed “Angel”) that was taken captive and shipped to the Taiji Whale Museum, I asked a local Japanese contact if she would relay a list of questions to the Whale Museum for me.
Intrepid person that she is, she managed to reach Assistant Director Tetsuya Kirihata. Somewhat to my surprise he provided pretty detailed responses (which were translated by my extremely helpful contact). For the record (and without comment), I am posting the Whale Museum’s responses here, as I haven’t seen any detailed updates on the calf, and its fate, from the Whale Museum itself.
Q: What is the status of the albino calf? Also, thanks to the determined efforts of Karla Sanjur, who was on the ground in Taiji for Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, we have video footage of the young albino: Angel in the Taiji Whale Museum from Dolphin Project on Vimeo. Like this: Like Loading... The Fate of Angel the Baby Albino Dolphin? By Ric O’Barry Director Dolphin Project Earth Island Institute Back in October 2006, I was present in Taiji with my video camera to record a capture of a pod of bottlenose dolphins for captivity.
One of the dolphins had a very odd characteristic: It had four fins instead of two. It had the usual front flippers, but there were also two very small pectoral flippers towards its tail end, vestiges of the time in the past when dolphins had four legs. In a press release, I said about the capture: "This was one of the most violent dolphin captures that I have ever witnessed in my 45 years of working with dolphins. Essentially, twelve dolphins out of the pod were manhandled out of the water only to be isolated from their pods mates as those pod mates were butchered. An Angel Captured in The Cove. Last Friday, over 250 dolphins were captured by fishermen off the coast of Taiji, Japan.
This small town, made infamous by our film "The Cove," is now known the world over as “a dolphin’s worst nightmare.” A relatively small group of 50-60 fishermen are responsible for the slaughter of thousands of dolphins every year in a single cove in Taiji. However, the few animals with ideal physical characteristics, usually young females with few scars, are first captured and sent to theme parks around the globe.
Although the dolphin drives happen regularly during the open season, from September to March, this weekend's catch was a unique one. The super-pod currently being held captive at the cove is not only one of the largest groups ever to be caught at one time, but it also contains a special member -- an angel, of sorts. Angel Albinos Dolphin captured Taiji 18 01 2014. Mail.tinymill. An earlier version of this post appeared on thedodo.com Last Friday, over 250 dolphins were captured by fishermen off the coast of Taiji, Japan.
Although the dolphin drives still happen during the open season from September to March, this weekend's catch was a unique one. The super-pod that was held captive at the cove was not only one of the largest groups ever to be caught at one time, but it also contained a special member -- an angel, of sorts. A 1-year-old albino calf was easily spotted swimming along her mother's side. The calf was adoringly named "Angel" by observers because of her angelic features that are said to resemble a graceful “angel with wings.” Ric O’ Barry of the Dolphin Project said, “Angel was the first dolphin to be selected. With tragic irony, the Taiji Whale Museum issued a statement from Assistant Director Tetsuo Kirihata: “Albinos stand out and tend to be targeted by predators.