Dolphin Thrashing and Falling Off Platform at Taiji Dolphin Museum Shows What’s Wrong With Captivity (VIDEO)

Unfortunately, Taiji, Japan has become synonymous with the gruesome annual dolphin hunt at the now-infamous “Cove.” The dolphins who survive the brutal hunt are often captured and sold for a hefty profit to marine animal parks and tourist attractions all around the world.

One of these for-profit tourist attractions is the Taiji Whale Museum where numerous cetaceans are held captive against their will. As the above video proves, these intelligent mammals struggle to survive and endure the conditions at these facilities.

Desperate to eat, these beautiful animals are forced to do unnatural tricks for bites of fish. When these “tricks” do not go as planned, dolphins can easily be injured, as you can see in the video above.

Even though the dolphin is obviously struggling on its back, out of water on the platform, the trainers make zero effort to help the animal safely back into the pool. According to the video’s caption on the Sea Shepherd Cove Guardian’s Facebook page, “The dolphin was being coerced to pose for photos with tourists with the promise of dead fish, when they reeled over backward and got stuck on the platform with the dorsal fin bent out of shape. After being stuck for long, agonizing moments, the dolphin flipped over backward and fell into the pool.”

This is certainly not the life these formerly wild animals deserve.

To learn more about how you can help captive dolphins, visit the Sea Shepherd website. Also, please pledge to never Support marine animal parks or other businesses that exploit dolphins and other animals!