A popular Japanese beach became the site of unusual attacks: people began to be attacked with consequences not by sharks, but by dolphins, beloved by tourists. In connection with this, vacationers are now not recommended to enter the water. Yahoo reported on the series of attacks.
According to the video, dated July 17, a fin can be seen above the surface of the water — while the elderly man in the red cap was peacefully swimming, the dolphin came as close as possible to him and seemed to crash into him. The tourist screamed and changed his swimming style to fast to be on land faster. As it turned out later, the Japanese made the sound because of the pain in his hand. “The dolphin bit my hand, but it was like a playful gesture, not an aggressive one. It became clear to me that it is necessary to keep calm and go to the shore,” he told the local media.
The man was one of several victims of a dolphin attack on a Japanese beach. He was lucky to get out of the water relatively unscathed. Another case that happened on the same beach a day earlier was sadder: a 60-year-old tourist suffered severe injuries in the form of broken ribs. In addition to him, several other bathing men received minor injuries. The series of attacks caused alarm among vacationers and residents.
Experts paid attention to the behavior of dolphins and tried to analyze the situation. Ren Yabuki, a Japanese animal rights activist, said it is important for people to remember that the ocean is the dolphin’s “home.” Interaction with these animals should be carried out with special care because dolphins are not under human control in the wild. They act on their instincts and sometimes attack just like sharks. This can happen if they feel a threat to themselves, their pack, or their offspring, or if they are in a stressful situation.
However, not only dolphins attack humans. Recently, the collision of tourists with the following wild animals was recorded:
- Off the coast of Spain, killer whale attacks on boats have been registered. As a result, the boats went to the bottom. According to experts, this was due to their dissatisfaction with the noise that the boats made. Despite their beautiful and powerful appearance, killer whales are predators and can show aggressive behavior under certain circumstances.
- In Australia, crocodile attacks on people are not uncommon, and the attacks in the far north of Queensland were provoked by the behavior of tourists. Crocodiles are dangerous predators and can attack in a flash, especially if they feel threatened or are used to receiving food from people, which disrupts their natural behavior. So, in May, a tourist was attacked by a sea crocodile while swimming.
- Australia’s K’Ghari Island (formerly Fraser Island) has seen a series of incidents involving dingoes, with more than 130 incidents reported this year. And only recently, have vacationers realized that wild dogs, from which the usual barking as a warning cannot be heard, are extremely dangerous. The problem is related to the growing number of tourists who do not follow the rules: feeding or getting too close to take a selfie – all this increases the risk of attack.
Another reason for the attack is that humans displace wild animals from their usual habitats. Nicola Beynon’s International Society for the Protection of Animals drew attention to this problem. It is difficult for wildlife to “live in peace”, especially where tourists want to be closer to wildlife, so wild animals cannot be blamed for their natural behavior.