A dolphin thought to be responsible for nearly 50 attacks on humans in recent years may be lashing out because it is lonely, experts have said.
There have been 18 attacks on swimmers at a seaside town in southern Japan since 21 July, all believed to have been carried out by the same male bottlenose dolphin according to NBC, Sky’s US partner, quoting Japanese broadcaster NHK.
The attacks have consistently involved a single dolphin that appears to be on its own, which is unusual as bottlenose dolphins are a highly social species that stick closely together in pods.
NBC quoted Tadamichi Morisaka from the Cetacean Research Center at Japan’s Mie University who has seen photographs from the incidents in Mihama.
Mr Morisaka, who is part of the Dolphin Communication Project, told NBC it’s unusual for bottlenose dolphins of this kind to approach people at all, let alone bite them.
This one appears to have got used to interacting with people after doing it for several years.
He said the bites appear to be playful, suggesting the dolphin “mainly wants to interact with humans”, rather than attack or harm them.
But because dolphins have lots of sharp teeth, even a gentle bite can cause injury to humans.
Swimmers in the area are now being warned to get out of the water if they see a dolphin.
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Last week, NHK said a man in his 50s had been bitten on both hands by a dolphin that approached him as he tried to shoo it away at a beach in nearby Tsuruga, a city in Fukui Prefecture.
He was the 18th dolphin victim since 21 July and the second in as many days. In the past three years, 48 people in the area have suffered dolphin bites, NHK said, leaving some with broken bones.
Mr Morisaka said injuries on the dorsal fin of the dolphin involved in last week’s attack match those of a dolphin spotted off the coast last year.
Dorsal fins are unique to each dolphin, similar to a fingerprint.
“It’s reasonable to assume that they’re the same individual,” Mr Morisaka told NHK.
Elizabeth Hawkins, chief executive and founding director of Dolphin Research Australia, said the attacks appear to be by a “sociable solitary dolphin” that has become isolated from its normal dolphin society, though it is unclear why.
Ms Hawkins said when cast off on their own, the dolphins “try and fulfil their natural social urges with other species, and it’s often humans that they’re seeking out”.
When they are socially isolated, they “can be quite pushy, they can be quite aggressive, they can bite,” she added.