Nets Cut at Dolphin Base Center in Taiji

Dolphin Base, a recreational facility in Taiji, Japan where visitors can swim and interact with dolphins, reported to police that the net separating their facility pools with the ocean had been cut sometime on the 4th of January. The park stated that a one meter vertical slash was found in one of its containment nets. The escaped four-dolphin pod was seen swimming in the area outside of their pen. They are believed to be between 3-5 years old and had been held at this facility for more than six months.

The park refused to disclose whether the bottlenose dolphins were wild or captive bred. Sadly, according to Dolphin Project, as of January 13, all four dolphins had been recaptured and are now back in the pens. As of now, no groups or individuals have taken credit for the cutting. On its blog, the Dolphin Base wrote that it was “furious” someone with “no expert knowledge had callously exposed the dolphins to danger.” Ironically, no sentiments on behalf of the dolphin's emotional wellbeing while being held captive were expressed.

This is the second time this has happened at the center; a Dutch group called Blackfish performed a similar incident, leaving behind a knife in the process.