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The average person would probably rank dolphins pretty low on the list of animals they’re worried about encountering while taking a swim, but one member of the species is causing issues in Japan thanks to a string of attacks experts believe are linked to its inability to find a mate.
Dolphins are widely considered one of the most intelligent species of animals on the planet (there are studies that suggest they’re second only to humans in that category), but they also have a reputation for being fairly discourteous creatures with a sadistic side thanks to documented cases where they’ve killed porpoises, manatees, and even members of their own species for no reason other than entertainment.
They can also be overly aggressive when they’re in the mood to reproduce, and it appears that reality has been highlighted thanks to what’s unfolded in Japan over the past couple of years.
According to The New York Times, officials in the vicinity of Wakasa Bay (a body of water along the coast of the Kyoto and Fukui Prefectures around 200 miles west of Tokyo) are dealing with a headache thanks to a spree of dolphin attacks that have victimized close to 50 people since 2022 with injuries ranging from “minor bites” to broken bones and bloody gashes.
While it’s possible multiple dolphins are responsible, the outlet spoke with the director of an aquarium who’s pinned the blame on a single male of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose variety, saying he believes the dolphin is acting out due to frustration stemming from its inability to find a female partner.
Another expert echoed that sentiment while saying the dolphin in question was experiencing a certain romantic feeling that rhymes with “corny” and suggesting some of the attacks were the result of its attempts to mate with humans who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s worth noting some of the attacks have involved people who went out of their way to interact with a dolphin, a move that has been discouraged by officials who’ve started to post signs warning people to keep an eye out for the animals when wading into the water.
This isn’t the only case of Aquatic Mammals Behaving Badly we’ve been treated to in recent years, as orcas have also caused some issues in the Strait of Gibraltar by attacking hundreds of boats since 2020—including five vessels that had been sent to a watery grave as of earlier this year.