Rare albino dolphin captured by Japanese fishermen

Over the weekend, a rare albino Risso’s dolphin was driven into a shallow cove by fisherman at Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.

Sea Shepherd, a conservation organization, is currently staging a protest over the town’s annuals slaughter of dolphins — and sales of the live creatures to aquariums.

“It is horribly sad to see another albino dolphin taken by the killers here in Taiji,” Karen Hagen, a leader of Sea Shepherd’s Cove Guardians volunteers monitoring the hunting in Taiji, said in a statement.

“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.”

According to Sea Shepherd’s site, the fishermen spotted a pod of approximately 16 Risso’s dolphins on Sunday morning. When they noticed the albino dolphin among them, “they wasted no time driving the Risso’s pod ruthlessly toward the cove, where the stressed and frightened family was eventually netted off with no means of escape.”

Eleven of the pod’s dolphins were slaughtered, while two were taken into captivity, including the rare albino — which will likely net the fishermen “a large payday” — up to $500,000 — in the near future.

According to CNN, the albino dolphin is currently in a small holding pen where it is being trained to eat dead fish and adapt to human interaction.

Local defenders claim they are upholding ancient traditions and point out that these dolphins are not endangered. Campaigners argue that many of these fishermen aren’t interested in traditions at all — rather, they are more interested in the sale of the live dolphins.

“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.”

Campaigners claim Taiji fisherman have killed about 170 Risso’s dolphins this hunting season so far. The campaigners are streaming live footage of the bay where fisherman corral dolphins for slaughter.

Taiji became internationally infamous for its controversial dolphin slaughter following the release of the 2010 Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove.”

Follow the Cove Guardians on Twitter for updates on the story.