Plight of Honey the lonely dolphin, captured in ‘The Cove’, sparks protests in Japan

Female bottlenose dolphin and more than 40 penguins have been kept in an abandoned aquarium since January

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Honey at the abandoned Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in Choshi, Japan. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:16pm, 28 Aug 2018Updated: 3:18pm, 28 Aug 2018

The plight of a lonely dolphin and dozens of penguins that have been abandoned in a derelict aquarium in Japan since the start of the year sparked protests this week, with activists and ordinary Japanese alike calling for the animals to be saved.

The female bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed Honey, was captured in 2005 near Taiji, a western port town notorious for its annual dolphin hunt that was featured in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove, media reports say.

The practice of Japanese aquariums buying dolphins from Taiji came under heavy criticism following the release of the film. The hunt involves driving hundreds of dolphins into a cove, where some are taken alive for sale to marine parks, while others are killed for meat. The Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums has since agreed to stop buying dolphins from Taiji.

The operator of the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium closed the facility in January citing a decline in visitors after the 2011 earthquake. Photo: Reuters

The operator of the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in the city of Choshi in Chiba prefecture, just east of Tokyo, closed the facility in January citing a decline in visitors after the 2011 earthquake and nuclear crisis.

Honey and 46 penguins, along with hundreds of fish and reptiles, remain at the aquarium, an official with the Chiba prefectural Health and Welfare department said.