Dolphin Jumps Out Of Tank During Show. In Okinawa, Japan the crowd was in shock as they looked on in horror to a dolphin that suddenly leaped out of the tank during a show at an aquarium in southwestern Japan.
The event was captured on camera by an American visitor. The footage shows a dolphin being hosed down by its keepers, wrapped in mats and lifted back into the tank with a crane.
The other dolphins in the tank appeared to be distressed and gathered inside the tank where the dolphin jumped out.
Former US dolphin trainer turned campaigner, Rick O’Berry, said the video showed a dolphin under stress. “The habitat of the false killer whale is so unnatural it leapt out in desperation,” he said. “It wanted to end it. Why does a person jumped out of a building?”
Hideshi Teruya, who manages the dolphin section of the park, said the mammal had suffered minor scratches and bruises on its head and fin, but had a healthy appetite for mackerel and squid after it returned to the tank. “It was playing around and jumped out by accident from the momentum,” he said. T
he age of the dolphin, a female named Kuru, is unknown. It was captured about six years ago in the seas near Okinawa. He acknowledged that the dolphins sometimes did this so they placed mats around the tanks to prevent serious injury. He denied that captivity was cruel, and said the tank was not overcrowded and they followed general aquarium guidelines.
