A rare albino dolphin that has been captured by Japanese fisherman will be sold for up to $500,000 to be displayed in captivity instead of being slaughtered, according to members of the Sea Shepherd conservationist group.
As part of a controversial hunt that takes place annually between September and March, fisherman caught the rare dolphin and killed 11 other dolphins located in a shallow cove in Taiji, Wakayama, central Japan, CNN reported. While some dolphins are kept alive to be sold to aquariums worldwide, most are killed for their meat during the hunt.
"It is horribly sad to see another albino dolphin taken by the killers here in Taiji," said Karen Hagen, a leader of campaign group "Cove Guardians."
"These rare, beautiful, and unique animals will spend the rest of their days confined to small tanks, where they will live out their shortened lives performing tricks for food," she said.
After capturing the albino during the hunt, it was transferred into a small holding pen in Taiji where it is being trained to interact with humans and feed on dead fish, UK MailOnline reported.
While campaigners are attempting to stop the controversial annual hunt of the dolphins in the town as well as the sale of the mammals to aquariums, locals argue the hunt to be a long-held tradition, asserting that the practice is no different than the slaughter of any other animal.
"This brutal hunt is carnage carried out in the name of profit, not culture," said Melissa Sehgal, a Sea Shepherd campaign coordinator. "These dolphins do not belong to Japan; they belong to the ocean."
Since the beginning of the hunting season this year, about 15 pods of dolphins, totaling over 170 individual animals, have been killed in the cove, according to Sea Shepherd.
Over four days in mid-January, fishermen in Taiji captured 53 dolphins for sale to aquariums, while killing another 41 for their meat. The remaining dolphins were then driven back out to sea.
In 2010, the Taiji hunt was also the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, "The Cove," which thrust the small town into the global spotlight. Despite the use of tarps and other screening strategies, Sea Shepherd and some news organizations obtained photographs and video of the hunt, which has helped fuel global response.
Meanwhile, "earlier this month, researchers in Africa unveiled findings which indicate that dolphins identify each other with signature whistles, in a process similar to the way human beings utilize names," Inquisitr reported. "While captive dolphins were previously known to communicate in this fashion, the African study marks the first time that wild dolphins were proven to exhibit the behavior."
