Lonely dolphin looking for mate blamed for attacks | BBC live news - video Dailymotion

Experts have attributed the spike in dolphin attacks in Fukui prefecture to a single bottlenose mammal

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00:00A lonely and potentially sexually frustrated dolphin has been blamed for a spike in attacks

00:05on swimmers in a Japanese seaside town. The bottlenose dolphin is believed to be

00:10behind 18 attacks near the town of Mahama so far this year, with one primary school-aged

00:15child's finger needing at least 20 stitches. At least six people were injured in attacks last

00:21year, leaving one swimmer with broken ribs. Another person was injured in a 2022 attack.

00:28It has led officials to warn that not only can the mammals bite you with their sharp

00:33teeth and cause you to bleed, but they can also drag you into the sea, which could be

00:38life-threatening. Despite their reputation as friendly animals, dolphin attacks can be fatal.

00:45In 1994, a dolphin in Brazil attacked two male swimmers who tried to ride it,

00:50killing one and injuring the other. The dolphin, nicknamed Tiao, was believed to have injured at

00:56least 22 people before that. Tadamiki Morisaka, a cetology professor at Japan's Mie University,

01:04said the dorsal fin of a dolphin spotted biting a man's fingers at a beach in Tsuruga,

01:09a port city next to Mahama, matched that of a 2.5-metre-long dolphin observed off the coast

01:15of Fukui province last year. The dorsal fin is like a dolphin's fingerprint, as each has

01:21distinctive notches, ridges and pigmentation. It is reasonable to assume that it is the same

01:26individual, as the wounds on the tail fin are similar to those of the dolphins seen off the

01:31coast last year, and it is rare for dolphins, which normally move in groups, to be alone for

01:36such a long time, Professor Morisaka told NHK. He added that male bottlenose dolphins communicate by

01:44play-biting each other. They are not trying to injure people, but are using the dolphin's way

01:50of communication with people, he said. Others have suggested various theories on why the

01:56same creature may be behind these attacks, including a desire for sex.