Terrified dolphin hurls itself at feet of activist Ric O’Barry to escape hunters

In heartbreaking video captured by an American conservationist, a dolphin is seen throwing itself onto the shore in an attempt to escape hunters.

Shot by Ric O’Barry, founder of The Dolphin Project, during Japan’s mass dolphin slaughter, the footage shows the animals trying to escape from boats of fishermen.

O’Barry was featured in the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary ‘The Cove,’ which captures and questions Japan’s controversial six-month dolphin hunt. The practice involves herding migrating dolphins from deeper waters into a cove, where they are netted and killed with spears and knives.

O’Barry was arrested last week near the town of Taiji on the eve of the dolphin hunt for allegedly not carrying a passport. He was released the next day, allowing him to capture this footage.

In the video, Risso dolphins are seen tangled in netting, while others try to escape and end up in the shallow water. One panicked dolphin hurls itself at O’Barry’s feet, who insists he will be “arrested immediately” if he intervenes to help.

“This is anguish,” he says, while shooting the struggling dolphin. “[He’s] panic-stricken on the rocks, and I am heartbroken that I can’t get in the water and help him away from … he’s tearing his skin up. This is awful.”

A boat of fishermen proceed to pull the animal back into the water. It eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor.

“It breaks my heart,” he says. “This is so stressful. This is so difficult to witness. I almost got in the water. I almost got in the water and maybe I should have.”

Commercial whaling is banned in Japan, though the country claims the practice is for scientific research.