Lonely dolphin may be behind series of attacks on swimmers in Japan

A single bottlenose dolphin is believed to be behind a series of attacks on swimmers at a Japanese seaside town — possibly out of loneliness.

TOKYO — A single bottlenose dolphin is believed to be behind a series of attacks on swimmers at a Japanese seaside town — possibly out of loneliness.

Japanese broadcaster NHK reported on Aug. 20 that a man in his 50s had been bitten on both hands that morning by a dolphin that approached him as he tried to shoo it away at a beach in Tsuruga, a city in Fukui Prefecture. He was the 18th dolphin victim since July 21 and the second in as many days.

In the past three years, 48 people in the area have suffered dolphins bites, NHK reported, leaving some with broken bones.

Although it has not been confirmed, the attacks in recent years are widely believed to have been carried out by the same male bottlenose dolphin. The attacks have consistently involved a single dolphin that appears to be on its own, which is unusual considering bottlenose dolphins are a highly social species that sticks closely together in pods.

Injuries on the dorsal fin of the dolphin involved in the Aug. 20 attack match those of a dolphin spotted off the coast last year, said Tadamichi Morisaka, a researcher at the Cetacean Research Center at Japan’s Mie University who has seen photographs. Dorsal fins are unique to each dolphin, similar to a fingerprint.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/dolphin-attacks-swimmers-lonely-japan-rcna168349

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