Two additional swimmers have been attacked by the same dolphin suspected of attacking at least six visitors at a Japanese beach resort.
According to Japanese media, at least one guy was brought to the hospital on Thursday after being bitten on Koshino Beach in Fukui. On Thursday morning, a guy was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand. In the afternoon, a second guy was attacked and received damage to both fingers on his left hand.
In recent days, video of suspected assaults on swimmers in and around the Koshino beach region has appeared in Japanese media.
In one, a man is seen wrestling with a dolphin, whose fin pops up out of the water as it grows aggressive. He attempts to flee, but the dolphin pursues and attacks him.
Attacks have also happened on other Fukui beaches, with a video circulating online in which people gather along the coast to watch dolphins swim on Takanosu beach, and a man is pursued by them and forced to flee.
Meanwhile, at least six prior assaults at Koshino Beach are likely to have been carried out by the same dolphin that attacked the two men yesterday, according to Japanese authorities.
Swimmers were bitten in another assault after attempting to picture the animal.
A other girl was attacked by a dolphin and bleeding when it gnawed on her left ankle.
Despite the fact that most dolphins are peaceful, it is not rare for them to be aggressive to swimmers.
Due to an increase in dolphin assaults at the same beach, authorities have now planted ultrasonic transmitters around the beach in the hopes of scaring them away.
Swimmers have also been warned about the hazards presented by dolphins, and have been advised to avoid them if they see them in the water.
According to local media, dolphins in the region are now used to human contact and have been sighted in water as shallow as knee-deep. In other parts of the globe, although dolphin assaults are uncommon, they are not unheard of.
This is despite the fact that experts believe swimming near people is’stressful’ for wild bottlenose dolphins because it disturbs their behavioral rhythms.
In 2013, the same dolphin assaulted two ladies in Ireland over the course of 10 days, inflicting a fractured rib on one of them.
A year later, five swimmers were rescued off the coast of Ireland after being surrounded by an angry dolphin.
Dolphins may also be aggressive against marine animals on occasion. A bottlenose dolphin was once witnessed tossing a porpoise into the air in an aggressive assault.